VOA慢速英語:中越南海爭端鬧到聯(lián)合國

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China and Vietnam are asking United NationsSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help end theirdispute in the South China Sea.

On Monday, China sent a letter to Mr. Ban. The letteraccused Vietnam of, in its words, “illegally andforcefully” affecting Chinese oil drilling in parts of thesea claimed by both countries.

China’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Wang Min wrote thatVietnam was violating China’s territorial rights. And hesaid Vietnam’s actions threaten the safety of Chineseworkers.

Vietnam later said it had also sent a letter to Mr. Ban. The letter demanded that China immediately move aChinese oil-drilling platform and other ships. Vietnamsaid they violated its territorial claims.

Vietnam also called on China to, in its words, “createconditions” for talks on a plan “to stabilize the situationand control the maritime issues between the twocountries.”

Both letters talked about international treaties --including the 1982 United Nations Convention on theLaw of the Sea. And both countries asked Mr. Ban togive their letters to U.N. members.

Last month, China deployed a state-run oil-drilling platform near the ParacelIslands in the South China Sea, within what Vietnam considers its economiczone. China also has territorial disputes in the area with the Philippines,Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

The dispute about the oil-drilling platform has caused tensions betweencommunist neighbors China and Vietnam.

Vietnam accused China of firing water cannons at, and ramming, Vietnamesefishing boats -- including one that sank last month. China said Vietnam was the aggressor and that its ships rammed Chinese vessels.

A Vietnamese sinking boat (L) which was rammed and then sunk by Chinese vessels near disputed Paracels Islands, is seen near a Marine Guard ship (R) at Ly Son island of Vietnam's central Quang Ngai province May 29, 2014.

The dispute also led to large anti-China riots last month in Vietnam. AngryVietnamese destroyed Chinese-owned factories, killing at least four peopleand wounding many. It forced the removal of thousands of Chinese workers.

Vietnam also asked the United States to help end its territorial disputes withChina. The U.S. has declined to take sides in the dispute.

Jen Psaki is a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department.

“We encourage the sides to maintain dialogue with each other, but we’re notgoing to weigh in on speculation about their location and what it means.”

Michael Auslin studies relations between the United States and Asian nationsat the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Auslin disagrees with the decision by the United States to not get involved in the dispute.

“When the administration goes so far as to say that it’s not going to determinewhether or not these waters are in the common definition of the exclusiveeconomic zone of Vietnam, you’ve taken a very great step towards abdicatingany input that you can have into this situation.”

Hillary Mann Leverett is a professor at American University in Washington and a former U.N. and State Department official. She said the decision by the U.S. to not get involved would hurt its efforts to become more involved militarily anddiplomatically in Asia.

“That’s what China wants to show to Vietnam: ‘You are under the biggeststress that you’ve been under, and the one person, one country that could cancome and help you out isn’t going to do it. You need to make amends withChina.’ That’s I think very much part of the strategy and why we will continueto see more.”

I’m Christopher Cruise