By Shannon Tiezzi
With Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hanoi, Beijing wants to prove the China-Vietnam relationship is back on track.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Vietnam for a two-day state visit today, during which he will meet with Communist Party of Vietnam Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, President Truong Tan Sang, and Prime Minister Nguyan Tan Dung. It’s the first visit to Vietnam by a Chinese president in 10 years – and it comes at a time of increasing tension in the South China Sea, where China and Vietnam have overlapping claims.
Xi’s visit is the latest in a string of exchanges meant to build up the China-Vietnam partnership in the wake of a heated dispute over the deployment of a Chinese oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam in May 2014. The move stirred up nationalist sentiments in Vietnam, culminating in anti-China riots, and the relationship has still not recovered fully.
Still, both Hanoi and Beijing have worked hard to send more positive messages, resulting in a flurry of bilateral visits since summer 2014: Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh exchanged visits in June 2014 and 2015; Yu Zhengsheng, member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Council, visited Hanoi in December 2014; and General Secretary Trong traveled to Beijing in April 2015. Xi’s visit to Vietnam this week is the culmination of Vietnam and China’s attempt to keep their relationship moving forward, even as tensions over the South China Sea remain unresolved.
Read the full story at The Diplomat