China and Vietnam sign 37 deals, including joint patrols in the South China Sea, aiming to boost ties
\nHANOI
\nOld foes China and Vietnam, at odds over claims in the South China Sea, declared on Tuesday they want to boost ties and build a community with a \u201cshared future\u201d, just three months after Hanoi upgraded its formal relations with the United States.
\nAs Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi on his first trip as China\u2019s leader to Vietnam in six years, the two countries signed 37 cooperation deals in what can be seen as a triumph of Vietnam\u2019s \u201cBamboo diplomacy\u201d as both China and the United States vie for influence.
\nAfter China\u2019s push, Vietnam agreed to \u201csupport the initiative of building of a shared future community for human kind\u201d, according to a joint statement shown to reporters.
\nThe countries\u2019 diplomats had debated the \u201cshared future\u201d phrase for months, following Hanoi\u2019s initial reluctance to use it, say officials and diplomats.
\nThe Chinese term literally means \u201ccommon destiny\u201d, but its translation in English and Vietnamese is \u201ccommon future\u201d, which may be seen as less demanding.
\n\u201cOne declaration, many translations,\u201d said a diplomat based in the Vietnamese capital, commenting on the interpretation of the term.
\nHowever, the upgrade in diplomatic ties would just be symbolic, said Le Hong Hiep, a specialist in Vietnamese strategic and political issues at Singapore\u2019s Iseas\u2013Yusof Ishak Institute.
\n\u201cVietnam\u2019s mistrust of China runs deep, and from the Vietnamese people\u2019s viewpoint, there is little to no \u2018shared destiny\u2019 between the two countries, as long as China continues to claim most of the South China Sea,\u201d he said.
\nDespite their existing close ties on the economic front, the neighbours have been at odds over boundaries in the South China Sea and have a millennia-long history of conflict.
\nIn a sign of possible de-escalation, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding for joint patrols in the Tonkin Gulf in the South China Sea, according to one of the agreements.
\nThirty-seven deals
\nBeyond taking ties to a level Beijing may see as being above those with the United States, the upgraded status came with the signing of 37 cooperation deals, according to reporters who saw the signed documents.
\nHowever, that was short of 45 deals initially proposed, according to one Vietnamese official.
\nDeals included a memorandum of understanding on cross-border rail development.
\nTop officials in both countries had urged a boost to a rail link between the southern Chinese city of Kunming and the northern Vietnamese port of Haiphong, which crosses regions in Vietnam rich in rare earths.
\nChina\u2019s ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo said earlier this week Beijing was ready to offer grants to develop rail connections, though the volume and terms of possible loans are not clear.
\nBoosting transport links would allow Vietnam to export more to China, especially farm products, while Beijing wants to further integrate the country\u2019s north with its southern supply chain networks.
\nChinese firms have moved some operations to Vietnam quicker this year than before the COVID pandemic, looking to be closer to Western clients there, to lower risks from US-China trade tension and cut exposure to China\u2019s weakened economy.
\nStronger rail networks would speed import of components from China for assembly in Vietnam, effectively expanding China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
\nCurrently the Hanoi metro is Vietnam\u2019s only project to have received BRI loans, but it has not been labelled as such in a country where anti-Chinese sentiment is still widespread enough that such moves could be viewed as getting too close to Beijing.
\nThe two countries agreed to jointly promote the \u201ctwo corridors, one belt\u201d initiative, which is the Vietnamese term for infrastructure projects supported by China.
\nXi has also urged wider co-operation on security, connectivity, green energy and critical minerals, in a reference to the rare earths, of which China is the world\u2019s leading refiner while Vietnam has the second largest estimated reserves after its neighbour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China and Vietnam sign 37 deals, including joint patrols in the South China Sea, aiming to boost ties HANOI Old foes China and Vietnam, at odds over claims in the South China Sea, declared on Tuesday they want to boost ties and build a community with a \u201cshared future\u201d, just three months after Hanoi upgraded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-374022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n