SHANGHAI – Yu Zhengsheng, the head of China’s top political advisory body, vowed on Thursday to boost high level exchanges and mutual trust between China and Vietnam. The comments came on Thursday when he met Vietnamese Communist party Politburo member Le Hong Anh during a largely ceremonial visit to Hanoi.
Yu, ranked fourth in the Chinese Communist Party Leadership, is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political bureau of the Communist party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Anh is a Vietnamese Politburo member and standing secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee. Anh had previously visited Beijing in August as special envoy of the CPV Central Committee General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
“My current visit to Vietnam, commissioned by Xi Jinping, aims to enhance mutual trust, build consensus and boost progress of China-Vietnam relations in a correct path” said Yu, according to Chinese state media. He added that China is willing to enhance communication with the ASEAN member state and deal with their bilateral ties from a long term perspective.
Relations between China and Vietnam soured earlier this year due to territorial disputes over contested waters and islands in the South China Sea.
Setting Up a Foreign-Owned Travel Business in Vietnam and China
Tensions escalated in May when a Chinese state-owned oil company dispatched a US$1 billion deep sea drilling rig off the coast of Vietnam; the resulting anti-Chinese violence and rioting in the Southeast Asian country left five Chinese nationals dead and around 20 foreign factories burned down.
Since then China has made some attempts to mend ties with Vietnam, but to mixed results. Chinese State Councillor and former Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi’s comments during a visit to Hanoi in June were seen as patronizing and were badly received. Earlier this month, Vietnam lodged a legal challenge at The Hague rejecting a Chinese position paper on its South China Sea territory.
Despite these setbacks, there are still some signs that relations are improving. For example, despite lodging its own complaint, Vietnam didn’t directly join the Philippines in their case against China. This allowed Vietnam to make its views heard without alienating Beijing, which warned them against joining Manila’s legal challenge.
Additionally, bilateral trade between the two has swelled to over US$50 billion. China has been Vietnam’s largest trade partner for the last nine years, while Vietnam has become China’s second largest trade partner in ASEAN.
These figures, along with the mutual visits from officials, suggest that neither country wants to see a complete breakdown in relations. However, the issues that caused all the tension this year are as yet unresolved, and it remains to be seen what direction they will take in 2015.
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