China assures intent peaceful

CHINA sought to reassure Vietnam and the Philippines of its peaceful intentions after they condemned the nation’s actions in the South China Sea where oil and gas deposits are at stake.

“China is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Defence Minister Liang Guanglie said.

China’s growing military strength has concerned the US and regional powers with competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Several hundred Vietnamese marched in Hanoi yesterday after Chinese vessels cut survey cables of a PetroVietnam survey vessel on May 26.

“We truly expect no repetition of similar incidents,” Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh said. Vietnam’s recent purchase of six Russian submarines was in part designed to “make a deterrent to those who have an intention to compromise and impair Vietnamese sovereignty.”