VZCZCXRO1673
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHNH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #2670 1100904
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 200904Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7098
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 8672
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 002670 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/CM AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2017 
TAGS: PREL ENRG PHUM CH VN PF
SUBJECT: CHINA-VIETNAM: BEIJING PRESSURING HANOI ON ENERGY 
DEALS NEAR SPRATLY ISLANDS 
 
REF: BEIJING 2360 
 
Classified By: Political External Unit Chief Edgard Kagan, Reasons 1.4 
(b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Chinese protests last week over Vietnamese energy 
exploration and survey activity in the South China Sea were 
especially "heavy-handed" and timed to gain leverage during 
the visit of Vietnam's National Assembly Chair to Beijing, 
according to a Vietnamese diplomat.  MFA officials confirmed 
that they "could not keep silent" in the face of Vietnam's 
actions to renew oil and gas exploration leases that China 
views as contrary to the South China Sea Declaration of 
Conduct.  Beijing privately also objected to Hanoi's 
cooperation with Russia to explore Vietnam's continental 
shelf claims.  Hanoi is sending a delegation to China to 
discuss China's human rights report on the United States and 
related issues, our contact said.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) MFA officials last week called in the Vietnamese 
Ambassador in Beijing to strongly protest Vietnamese gas and 
exploration activity in the South China Sea, MFA Southeast 
Asia Division Director Chen Dehai and Vietnamese Embassy 
Political Officer Tranh Viet Thai separately told poloff. 
The Chinese objected to three Vietnamese activities in the 
South China Sea, although they mentioned the third item only 
in private, not in the MFA's public statement, Thai said: 
 
- renewal of a previous bid concession for oil and gas 
exploration near the Spratly Islands, 
 
- announcement of the second phase of a pipeline project with 
BP to transport LNG from the Spratlys and 
 
- a Russian-backed project in which Vietnam is surveying its 
continental shelf to more accurately determine its 
territorial rights under the UN Convention on the Law of the 
Sea. 
 
On April 10, the MFA Spokesman said Vietnam's "new moves" in 
the Spratly Islands are "illegal and invalid," as they 
infringe on China's undisputed sovereignty of the Islands and 
violate the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the 
South China Sea (reftel). 
 
Disrupt Visit by Vietnam Assembly Speaker 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Thai said that none of the Vietnamese actions in the 
Spratlys are new but that Beijing opted to take the dispute 
public as a way of gaining maximum leverage and seeking to 
disrupt the visit of National Assembly Chair Nguyen Phu 
Trong.  Thai said MFA Asia Department Director General Hu 
Zhengyue called in Vietnam's Ambassador on one-hour notice, 
threatening that failure to appear would result in a 
disruption of Trong's schedule.  The Vietnamese took this as 
a sign of particular heavy-handedness, he said.  Ultimately, 
Trong's meetings with President Hu Jintao, Politburo member 
Jia Qinglin, NPC Chair Wu Bangguo and others went forward 
without incident. 
 
¶4. (C) MFA's Chen told us that the timing of the protest, 
during Trong's visit was a coincidence.  China welcomed Trong 
but "could not keep silent" about Vietnam's disregard for the 
previous consensus to refrain from exploiting energy 
resources in disputed areas of the South China Sea, he said, 
even if there was an ongoing bilateral visit. 
 
Vietnam Studying China's Report on U.S. Human Rights 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. (C) Separately, Thai mentioned that Vietnam is sending a 
delegation to Beijing later this month to learn how China 
handles American human rights criticism.  In particular, the 
Vietnamese delegation will study China's Human Rights Report 
on the United States.  A resurgence of anti-government 
activism linked to the "8046 group" is behind Hanoi's 
interest in this topic, Thai said.  While Vietnam seeks to 
earn from China on this topic, it generallyfeels that it is 
"ahead" of Beijing with respect to its handling of issues 
such as elections for government and party officials and 
relations with the Vatican, Thai said. 
RANDT