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| Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Shannon Tiezzi
Chinese media portrayed Yang Jiechi’s trip to Vietnam as a diplomatic and moral victory for China.
Foreign media outlets (including The Diplomat) didn’t see much hope for a breakthrough in China-Vietnam relations during State Councilor Yang Jiechi’s trip to Hanoi this week. “For Vietnam and China, No Easing of Tensions,” The New York Times declared. The BBC highlighted the “Deadlock at China-Vietnam talks” andReuters’ headline read “China scolds Vietnam for ‘hyping’ South China Sea oil rig row.”
Chinese media outlets had a decidedly different approach, one with far more optimism. “China, Vietnam agree to properly handle sensitive bilateral issues,” read Xinhua’s English language headline. “Beijing, Hanoi vow to act on friction,” China Daily emphasized. A video segment on Yang’s trip from CCTV focused on Yang’s statement that even if China-Vietnam relations were much worse than they are now, the two sides would still have to think of a way to quickly solve the issue. Based on the Chinese media reports, it seems that Yang Jiechi’s meetings with Vietnamese leaders were a major step forward in solving the oil rig crisis.
That’s not to say that China is willing to compromise. On the contrary, each article contained the usual Chinese assertions that the oil rig is China’s own affair, and that Vietnam should stop its illegal harassment of the rig’s operation. Instead, the Chinese articles implied that Hanoi had changed its position. None of the articles reported, as Vietnamese and Western media did, on Vietnam’s continued insistence that China should remove the oil rig. Instead, articles from Xinhua emphasized that Vietnam and China have agreed to “properly handle bilateral issues,” not to internationalize the South China Sea dispute, and to keep maritime tensions from interfering with broader bilateral ties.
Read the full story at The Diplomat