China’s new Vietnam envoy calls for ‘patience’ in dealing with differences

Chinese ambassador He Wei arrives in Hanoi as the countries pledge to improve trust despite South China Sea strains

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Beijing’s new ambassador to Vietnam He Wei (second from left) arrives in Hanoi on Wednesday. Photo: Chinese embassy in Vietnam

Published: 7:00am, 13 Sep 2024

China’s new ambassador to Vietnam called for the two countries to work together to cement solidarity and manage differences with “patience”.

Upon his arrival at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on Wednesday, He Wei, who previously oversaw boundary and ocean affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, praised bilateral ties between the two neighbours as being like “comrades plus brothers”, borrowing a phrase first used by Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

He said he looked forward to working with the Vietnamese people under the guidance of the top leaders of the ruling parties of the two countries to “firm up confidence in the [socialist] system, to resolve to work in solidarity and cooperation, and to maintain patience in controlling differences”.

“[We] should make bilateral relations a model of good neighbourliness and win-win cooperation between countries, and will continue to give new meaning to the traditional friendship of ‘comrades and brothers’ between China and Vietnam in the new era,” he said, speaking to Chinese and Vietnamese diplomats at the airport.

He took over the post from Xiong Bo, who, after nearly six years in the position, left Hanoi at the end of last month in a diplomatic reshuffle, according to China’s foreign ministry.

A career diplomat, He served stints in the foreign ministry’s department of Asian affairs and China’s embassy in Manila before becoming a counsellor at China’s diplomatic missions in Trinidad and Tobago and later in India. He also spent 14 months as consul general in Toronto from 2017 to 2018.

He was named deputy chief of the ministry’s department of boundary and ocean affairs in 2013. At the time, tensions were mounting in the South China Sea after the Philippines brought an international arbitration case to counter Beijing’s “nine-dash line” claims to much of the waterway.