President Xi’s State Visit to Vietnam Results in New Commitments, Including Avoiding Disputes in South China Sea

PRESS RELEASE

President Xi’s State Visit to Vietnam Results in New Commitments, Including Avoiding Disputes in South China Sea

Nov. 13, 2017 (EIRNS)—During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Da Nang, Vietnam and China agreed today to avoid all conflicts in the South China Sea (called East Sea in Vietnam), in a move aimed at easing tensions over Beijing’s claims to most of the waterway, Agence France Presse reported. In a joint statement issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Hanoi, they agreed to

"well manage disputes at sea, make no moves that may complicate or expand disputes, [and] maintain peace and stability on the East Sea,"

according to the Vietnamese version of the statement, AFP reported.

In his meeting with President Tran Dai Quang, Xi stressed that the two countries should consolidate the momentum of the steady growth of the bilateral trade, and speed up the alignment of their development initiatives—the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam’s "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan. He also said that the two sides should promote cooperation in key areas such as infrastructure, production capacity and cross-border economic cooperation zone, reported Xinhua.

President Xi, who is General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, said the party-to-party and state-to-state relations between China and Vietnam are solid.

Xi also said he had friendly and in-depth exchanges with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong on Nov. 12, and that both agreed to further deepen bilateral cooperation and advance the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

"As the international and regional situations in the new period are undergoing profound changes, the significance of China-Vietnam relationship is becoming more prominent, Xi said,"

wrote Xinhua.

Thanking President Xi for choosing Vietnam as his first overseas destination after the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress, Trong said the friendly talks on Nov. 12 fully reflected the bond of camaraderie and brotherhood.