
One of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. A Chinese delegation unexpectedly cut short a trip to Vietnam after tempers flared during a closed-door discussion on disputed territories in the region. Credit
Francis R. Malasig/European Pressphoto Agency
HONG KONG — State-run newspapers in Vietnam and China reported in recent days that senior military officials from the two countries would hold a fence-mending gathering along a border where their militaries fought a brief but bloody war in 1979.But Tuesday, the scheduled start of the gathering, came and went without any of the coverage in the state news media that readers in the two countries had expected. The Chinese Defense Ministry later said in a terse statement that it had canceled the event “for reasons related to working arrangements.”