China hits Asean chief for wanting its exit from disputed sea

MANILA, Philippines — Beijing was not happy about Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh's statement that China must leave the disputed waters to avoid further confrontations.

China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told China Daily on Tuesday that China regrets that the Vietnamese leader of the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc expressed his opinion on the issue over China's oil rig in the Vietnam-claimed maritime area in the South China Sea.

Hong said Minh's words "ignored the facts, violated Asean's neutral stance and unilaterally sent out the wrong signals" in the issue over China's oil rig.

"[Minh should] not..say or do things that are not commensurate with his position," Hong said.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Friday, Minh said that China's exit from the contested zone will be "conducive to restoring confidence" in talks among China and rival claimants Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei--all of which are Asean members.

"[The] next step now, we have to get China out of the territorial waters of Vietnam. That's the first thing," Minh said.

The statements were made following a standoff between Vietnamese and Chinese vessels near Paracel Islands over the newly established oil rig earlier this month.

In the clash, several Vietnamese crew members were injured, triggering a series of violent riots in Vietnam against China.

The civilian demonstrations involving deadly burning of some Chinese-run businesses forced thousands of Chinese nationals to flee Vietnam.

Last week, Asean leaders declared that claimants over various maritime areas should stop raising tensions amid China's show of military muscle at sea.

Another statement of Asean ministers the same week called for "self-restraint," "peace and stability" and the resolution of disputes "without resorting to threat or use of force."

Read: China slams 'certain country's scheme' in Asean forum

The statement did not mention China, but Asean Secretary General Le Luong Minh said afterward that the statement was on the "conduct" of China and other members of the 10-nation bloc.

"We know which countries are mentioned in the statement," Minh said.