Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia calls for all parties involved in the South China Sea conflict to refrain from conducting violent acts and prioritize a diplomatic solution, according to Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministrys press statement received here on Friday.

The statement was issued following recent tensions between China and Vietnam where it was reported that one Chinese worker was killed and over 100 injured during an anti-China riot in front of a steel plant in Vietnam.

"Once again, Indonesia calls for both China and Vietnam to refrain themselves and respect the commitment that has been made in the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) of the parties in the South China Sea," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa noted in the statement.

Indonesia also called on the related parties to communicate intensively in order to stabilize the situation.

"There is only one solution to the conflict, it is a peaceful solution. The use of violence and violation of international law have no place in this region," emphasized Marty.

Earlier, the AFP news agency reported on May 15 that a riot had taken place at a steel plant in Vietnam leaving one Chinese worker dead and over 100 injured.

Long-simmering enmity between the communist neighbors has boiled over in Vietnam with protests in major cities and mobs torching foreign-owned factories after China deployed an oil drilling rig in waters also claimed by Hanoi.

A top Chinese general stated that his country will continue to man the rig, despite the worst anti-China tensions in Vietnam in decades.

"What we are going to do is ensure the safety of the oil rig and that the operations will continue," General Fang Fenghui, the chief of the general staff of the Peoples Liberation Army, informed during a news conference after talks at the Pentagon with his US counterpart General Martin Dempsey.

His comments came after worker demonstrations spread to 22 of Vietnams 63 provinces, according to the Vietnamese government, which called for "tough measures" to bring the escalating situation under control before alarmed foreign investors pull out of the country.

According to the local police, hundreds of Chinese nationals have fled across the border into neighboring Cambodia amid fears that a wave of patriotic fervor initially encouraged by Hanoi is spiraling out of control.

EDITED BY INE/a014
(A051/KR-BSR/A014)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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