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Vietnam, China Start Talks Again as Part of 20-Year Fight-Make-up Cycle

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Maritime sovereignty rivals China and Vietnam have
   started talking again after a prolonged standoff earlier this year,
   entering what analysts call a routine show of peace before more
   flare-ups.

   China's withdrawal of a survey ship from disputed waters in October and
   Vietnam's ascent to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
   led the reasons that the two began talking this month, political
   observers say.

   On Wednesday, a Vietnam-China working group on maritime cooperation
   held its 13th round of talks in Ho Chi Minh City. The event brought in
   midlevel officials from each side's foreign ministry, Viet Nam News
   reported.

   "It seems to me they're moving into a phase of talk, because the
   confrontation no longer serves any particular purpose," said Carl
   Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialist emeritus professor with the
   University of New South Wales in Australia.

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