The leaders of China and Vietnam yesterday hailed as “strategic” their decision to bolster ties and be part of a community with a “shared future,” as a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) entered its second and final day.
During the trip, Xi’s first this year to an Asian nation, the communist-ruled neighbors, close in economic areas but at odds over the South China Sea, signed dozens of cooperation pacts, following months of talks on how best to describe ties.
The two sides “announced the establishment of a strategic China-Vietnam community of ‘shared future’ to promote the upgrading of China-Vietnam relations,” Xi told Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue at a meeting yesterday.
Photo: AFP
In his meeting with Xi, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called the decision “a historically important milestone,” adding that being part of a community with a shared future was a “strategic” choice.
In Chinese, the “shared future” phrasing makes use of a word that means “destiny,” but which is translated in Vietnamese and English as the more prosaic “future.”
As China and the US vie for influence in the strategic nation, the pacts mark an achievement for Vietnam’s diplomacy, although analysts and diplomats said the improvement in relations could be more symbolic than real.
Xi has pushed hard for the upgrade in ties, especially after Vietnam elevated the US in September to the highest tier of its diplomatic ranking, the same as China’s.
The cooperation pacts cover possible investments in rail links and security, as well as three on telecoms and digital data cooperation, a list from Vietnamese authorities showed.
Details of the deals have not been made public, but experts and diplomats said digital economy pacts could pave the way for Chinese support to build a 5G network in Vietnam and investments in undersea infrastructure.
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