China’s new ambassador to Vietnam called for the two countries to work together to cement solidarity and manage differences with “patience”.
Upon his arrival at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on Wednesday, He Wei, who previously oversaw boundary and ocean affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, praised bilateral ties between the two neighbours as being like “comrades plus brothers”, borrowing a phrase first used by Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
He said he looked forward to working with the Vietnamese people under the guidance of the top leaders of the ruling parties of the two countries to “firm up confidence in the [socialist] system, to resolve to work in solidarity and cooperation, and to maintain patience in controlling differences”.
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“[We] should make bilateral relations a model of good neighbourliness and win-win cooperation between countries, and will continue to give new meaning to the traditional friendship of ‘comrades and brothers’ between China and Vietnam in the new era,” he said, speaking to Chinese and Vietnamese diplomats at the airport.
He took over the post from Xiong Bo, who, after nearly six years in the position, left Hanoi at the end of last month in a diplomatic reshuffle, according to China’s foreign ministry.
A career diplomat, He served stints in the foreign ministry’s department of Asian affairs and China’s embassy in Manila before becoming a counsellor at China’s diplomatic missions in Trinidad and Tobago and later in India. He also spent 14 months as consul general in Toronto from 2017 to 2018.
He was named deputy chief of the ministry’s department of boundary and ocean affairs in 2013. At the time, tensions were mounting in the South China Sea after the Philippines brought an international arbitration case to counter Beijing’s “nine-dash line” claims to much of the waterway.
In 2016, the tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines, denying most of China’s claims to the South China Sea. Beijing has rejected the ruling.
Vietnam is also a rival claimant to several areas of the South China Sea and, like the Philippines, it is a vocal critic of Beijing’s extensive claims to the resource-rich waters.
In an effort to consolidate its presence in the South China Sea, Hanoi has quietly but dramatically accelerated land reclamation on several contested reefs.
That includes island construction in the Barque Canada Reef, a narrow atoll that is also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia and China.
The atoll has become Vietnam’s largest outpost in the Spratly Islands, known as the Nansha Islands in China, and has potential to host a 3,000-metre (9,843-foot) runway like those China has built on artificial islands at Fiery Cross, Mischief and Subi Reefs, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
In a move that drew protests from Beijing, Hanoi filed a submission with the United Nations in July to seek formal validation of the outer boundaries of its legal continental shelf beyond the 200-nautical mile (370km) limit, extending into the contested area.
Still, leaders of the two countries have repeatedly vowed to make bilateral ties a diplomatic priority and pledged to improve mutual trust and cooperation.
In a display of solidarity, days after being named general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, To Lam, the country’s former police chief, made China his first overseas trip as the Southeast Asian nation’s top leader.
In his meeting with Lam in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed his country’s ideological bonds with Vietnam and said the two sides should focus on developing “higher political mutual trust, more solid security cooperation, deeper practical cooperation, a stronger foundation of public opinion ... and better management and resolution of differences”.
More from South China Morning Post:
- South China Sea: why Beijing takes a low-key approach to Vietnam but not the Philippines
- Why the South China Sea’s impact extends far beyond its waters
- China says it’s working with Vietnam on flood control after Typhoon Yagi
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