Leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) have continued sharing information as part of efforts to maintain the political links between the two neighboring countries.

Head of the CPV’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung at the phone talk on April 12. Photo: VNA

The latest move was marked with the talk between Head of the CPV’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung and the CPC’s International Liaison Department Song Tao.

The two sides exchanged views on the recent issues and discussed measures to enhance cooperation between the two parties at the teleconference on April 12.

During the talk, Trung briefed on the results of the CPV’s 13th National Congress that concluded in early February to pick up the new leadership for Vietnam in the next five years.

He spoke of Vietnam’s targets for 2030 and vision to 2045 with two major milestones namely the 100th anniversary of the CPV and the 100th anniversary of the republic’s establishment, respectively.

Highlighting Vietnam’s diplomacy was part of Trung’s speech in which he stressed that Vietnam will continue pursuing its consistent policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of external relations, active and proactive global integration, maintenance of peace and stability, thus improving Vietnam’s prestige and stature on the international agendas.

Political links

Shortly after the conclusion of the 13th Congress, the CPC’s General Secretary Xi Jinping was the first foreign leader to send a congratulatory message to the CPV’s counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong on his re-election for the next term.

China and Vietnam are friendly socialist neighbors and also a community with a shared future of strategic significance, Xinhua News Agency cited Xi.

The Vietnam-China relations was established in 1950. The current stage of the relationship began with the full normalization of relations in November 1991.

The two countries have a deeply rooted diplomatic history, formalizing neighborly relations under the principles of “friendly Sino-Vietnam relations for peace, stability and prosperity.”

In 2008, the two countries upgraded the relations to Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership status, the highest cooperation framework in Vietnam’s relations with its partners.

Ramses Amer, Associated Research Fellow, Institute for Security & Development Policy, Sweden, said the close cultural and political links both historically and in modern times through the leading rule of CPC and CPV have cultivated stronger ties between the two countries.

The expert said the relations remain much to say, naming a number of challenges such as the disputes in the South China Sea (called East Sea by Vietnam), economic competition and uneven trade ties, risks associated with development affecting the Mekong River.

He said challenges must be managed properly so as to avoid negative repercussion of the broader relationship.

Deepening bilateral co-operation in different fields and expanding economic interaction have contributed to the development of a more stable relationship, Ramses Amer said, adding that the future development of the relationship will be determined by how successfully Vietnam and China handle their disputed issues.