Việt Nam gives top priority to developing ties with China: Party official

Trương Thị Mai, Politburo member, standing member of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Secretariat, had talks with member of the Politburo Standing Committee, Secretary of the Secretariat and Director of the Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Cai Qi on Tuesday in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Phương Hoa

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam considers developing relations with China a top priority and a strategic choice in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation as well as its “four no’s” defence policy, said a senior official of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV).

Trương Thị Mai, Politburo member, standing member of the CPV Central Committee Secretariat and head of the CPV Central Committee’s Organisation Commission, made the statement at her talks with Cai Qi, member of the Politburo Standing Committee, Secretary of the Secretariat and Director of the Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

Both sides expressed their pleasure at the very good outcomes of the high-level talks between General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng and General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping, with the two leaders reaching important common perceptions on major viewpoints, principles, orientations and measures to continue deepening and elevating the relationship between the two Parties and countries in the new era.

This demonstrates the great vision and high determination of the two Party leaders regarding the importance and good prospects of Việt Nam-China relations, they said.

The two Party officials once again affirmed the important, substantive and comprehensive progresses of the relationship between the two Parties and countries in all fields, especially after 15 years of their Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership.

They believed that along with Party General Secretary Trong’s visit to China in late 2022, this visit to Vietnam by Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping will create new important driving forces, constantly deepening and making the relationship between the two Parties and countries more comprehensive and substantive.

The Chinese official reaffirmed that China sees Việt Nam as a priority in China’s neighbourhood diplomacy and support the Southeast Asian nation to uphold a greater role in the region and the international arena, thus raising the voice of developing countries in solving international problems.

The two sides discussed in depth the situations of and relations between the two Parties and States, focusing on orientations and measures to enhance the awareness of the ties in deepening and upgrading the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, building a community of shared future, and striving for happiness of the people of the two countries and for peace and progress of the mankind in line with the UN Charter and international law.

Accordingly, they agreed to bring into play the role of strategically orienting of the Party channel in the bilateral ties, enhance high-level contacts, and improve the efficiency of the cooperation mechanisms through the Party channel, while promoting exchanges and collaboration through the channels of the Government, National Assembly and Fatherland Front.

Besides, they concurred to step up cooperation in defence and security, improve the cooperation efficiency in economy, trade and investment so as to connect the two economies in a more sustainable and deeper fashion, and consolidate the social friendship foundation for the bilateral relations to thrive.

They laid stress on the necessity to make efforts to control and handle disagreements at sea, respect each other’s legitimate interests in accordance with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

They asked competent ministries and sectors from both sides to grasp and implement the perceptions reached between high-level leaders, contributing to developing the ties between the two Parties and States stably and sustainably. — VNS