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14-10-2024
HANOI: Vietnam and China agreed on Saturday to boost defence and security cooperation, the Vietnamese government said, despite their years-long maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector.
The two countries on Saturday also agreed to boost economic ties, with China pledging to further open its market for Vietnamese farm produce while Vietnam would facilitate Chinese investment, the government added in a statement.
It said the two countries will prioritize cooperation in developing railway links.
The statement came after Chinese premier Li Qiang met Vietnamese President To Lam in Hanoi late on Saturday, as Li began his three-day state visit to Vietnam.
Sources told Reuters on Friday China and Vietnam are expected to sign new agreements, including pacts to boost railway links and agricultural trade, during the visit.
Early this month, Vietnam protested to China over what it said was an attack on a Vietnamese fishing boat in contested South China Sea waters that injured several fishermen.
Vietnam since Wednesday protested to China over what it said was an attack on a Vietnamese fishing boat three days ago in contested South China Sea waters that injured several fishermen.
The Vietnamese foreign ministry said in a statement that Chinese law enforcers beat the Vietnamese fishermen and took away their fishing equipment when their boat was operating near Hoang SA, Vietnam’s name for the Paracel Islands.
The Chinese-controlled islands, also claimed by Vietnam, are in the South China Sea, a busy global maritime waterway, almost all of which is claimed by China.
“Vietnam is extremely concerned, indignant and resolutely protests the brutal treatment by Chinese law enforcement forces of Vietnamese fishermen and fishing boats operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam,” foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said in a statement.
The ministry delivered a strong protest to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi demanding that China respect Vietnam’s sovereignty, investigate the incident and desist from further such actions, Hang said.
Vietnamese state media reported this week that around 40 people from two foreign vessels had beaten the fishermen with iron pipes, injuring 10.
China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the Vietnamese boats had been fishing illegally in Paracel waters without the permission of the Beijing government, and that Chinese authorities had taken measures to stop them.
“The on-site operations were professional and restrained, and no injuries were found,” it said in response to a Reuters request for comment, without specifically referring to the attack. China and Vietnam are expected to sign new agreements, including pacts to boost railway links and agricultural trade, during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Hanoi this weekend, two people briefed about the plans said.
Seamless rail links are a sign of growing trust between the two countries and would be a boost for trade and supply chains, as a growing number of Chinese manufacturers move some export-oriented operations to Vietnam amid trade tensions between China and the United States.
The deals, which one of the people said also included agreements on payment systems and customs procedures, could further boost economic ties between the two Communist-ruled neighbors after a series of high-level meetings and cooperation agreements signed in recent months. (Int’l News Desk)
