China and Vietnam vow to talk more but South China Sea tensions – and others – remain

Foreign ministers from both countries met on the sidelines of a Mekong River cooperation meeting in Myanmar

Both parties agreed they should properly handle conflict over the South China Sea and Vietnam’s Bui Thanh Son sought improvements in travel and trade

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Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, meets Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on the sidelines of the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) foreign ministers’ meeting in Bagan, Myanmar, on July 4, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:30pm, 5 Jul 2022

Senior diplomats from China and Vietnam have vowed to hold more high-level talks and to view their bilateral relationship as a diplomatic priority as Beijing faces heightened US efforts to boost ties with its regional alliance.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Vietnamese counterpart, Bui Thanh Son, met on the sidelines of a Mekong River cooperation meeting in Myanmar on Monday.

Wang said China and Vietnam should keep up strategic communication and briefed Son on the upcoming Chinese Communist Party’s national congress, where a major leadership reshuffle is expected.

06:24

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“Global challenges have emerged one after another. As socialist friendly neighbours, important forces in emerging markets and developing countries, China and Vietnam share highly consistent common strategic interests,” a Chinese foreign ministry statement quoted Wang as saying.

“China is implementing a high-quality opening up, which will bring more dividends to Vietnam and create better conditions for bilateral cooperation. China and Vietnam should share opportunities, seek common development, maintain stability and create prosperity.”

Son was quoted as saying that Vietnam always regarded relations with China as its top diplomatic priority and was willing to maintain high-level talks and achieve a “breakthrough” in cooperation.

But Son also put forward conditions for improving China-Vietnam relations. A report by Vietnam News Agency said Son demanded that China create favourable conditions for the export of Vietnamese products and resume commercial flights between the two nations which have been affected by tighter border controls brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

China and Vietnam vow to talk more but South China Sea tensions – and others – remain

Foreign ministers from both countries met on the sidelines of a Mekong River cooperation meeting in Myanmar Both parties agreed they should properly handle conflict over the South China Sea and Vietnam’s Bui Thanh Son sought improvements in travel and trade

Foreign ministers from both countries met on the sidelines of a Mekong River cooperation meeting in Myanmar

Both parties agreed they should properly handle conflict over the South China Sea and Vietnam’s Bui Thanh Son sought improvements in travel and trade