Jiang says China wants prosperous Vietnam, but mum over 1979 invasion
Chinese leader Jiang Zemin followed in the footsteps of US and
Russian counterparts Bill Clinton and Vladimir Putin in making a
live televised address to the Vietnamese nation on the second day of a state visit to the
former foe.
But whereas Clinton used his speech to make an explicit plea for reconciliation between
the two peoples after the Vietnam War, Jiang made no direct reference to China's brief
but bloody 1979 border war with its smaller communist neighbour.
Instead he appealed to the two countries' shared Marxist ideology and Confucian culture
and their common history of fighting Western imperialism.
"In history, both Vietnam and China suffered invasion by the imperialists but we both
successfully fought off the imperialists, liberated our peoples and unified our countries,"
said Jiang in the keynote speech delivered at a Hanoi university campus.
"The friendship between Vietnam and China derives not only from history but also from
the reality noted by the late Ho Chi Minh that we are people of the same ideas and we
are brothers," Jiang said in reference to Vietnam's revered wartime communist leader.
The Chinese leader acknowledged that the ideological soulmates had known "difficult
periods" in their relationship, but insisted that they had "always maintained their underlying
friendship."
The 1991 normalisation of relations between the former foes was a "just decision by the
two (ruling communist) parties and peoples."
The rapprochement had led to the "proliferation of commercial ties" between the two
fast-growing economies, which saw two-way trade mushroom from just 30 million
dollars in 1991 to 2.8 billion dollars last year.
Jiang said he had held "frank talks" with Vietnam's leadership Wednesday on the border
disputes "left over by history".
The territorial cost of Vietnam's rapprochement with its giant neighbour has come in for
mounting criticism in the run-up to Jiang's visit, sparking growing sensitivity over the issue
on the part of the communist authorities.
"Lasting stability between our two nations requires mutual understanding and shared
concessions so that we can develop our countries together."
But there were clearly insufficient "shared concessions" on the table for Jiang to reach
agreement on the border issue in his talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nong Duc
Manh on Wednesday.
A joint communique carried by the official Vietnam News Agency overnight said the two
leaders had failed to resolve a fisheries dispute which is blocking implementation of a
2000 agreement on their sea border in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Diplomats say Hanoi has been loath to be seen to be making further concessions to
Beijing, amid mounting criticism by dissidents and hardliners of a 1999 agreement on the
land border which the neighbours started to implement in December.
Jiang insisted that it was in Bejing's interests to have a stable and prosperous neighbour.
"China needs a stable and peaceful environment ... It will consistently support a stable
and prosperous Vietnam," he said.
Diplomats say a shared desire to focus on economic development has underlain the
communist rivals' determination to set aside their differences on the border issue.
In a sign of the pace of change in the two communist states, whose state-managed
economies are much the fastest growing in the Far East, Jiang's invited audience at Hanoi
University included business students.
The soulmates' very similar "socialist market economies" both delivered average annual
growth rates of seven percent over the past decade.
Now only the rhetorical commitment to socialism remains.
"The young generation in both our countries must stick to their ideals and work tirelessly
for socialism," Jiang told his youthful audience.
Agence France Presse - February 28, 2002.
Vietnam, China youth must work on friendship-Jiang
HANOI - China's President Jiang Zemin
urged the youth of Vietnam and China on Thursday to work to
build the friendship between the two countries, which are communist ideological allies but
also traditional rivals.
In a keynote speech at Hanoi National University on the second day of an official
friendship visit to Vietnam, Jiang told an audience of hundreds of students:
"The friendship tree needs to be nurtured regularly and watered; friendship and
cooperation need to be enhanced non-stop and expanded.
"In the 21st century, a better future for Sino-Vietnamese relations is opening, and the
common effort of the two countries' youth cannot be separated from this."
Jiang said the foundation of the Sino-Vietnamese relationship was mutual trust, long-term
stability the pre-condition, and friendly neighbourliness the guarantee.
"Comprehensive cooperation is the bridge and the target a prosperous future," he added.
He said the youth of China and Vietnam had inherited a revolutionary friendship founded
by late communist leaders Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong and had a duty to continue to
build socialism.
"The youth of China and Vietnam need to inherit and bring into full play the revolutionary
spirit of their elders, to be persistent in ideology, hard in study, to strive for the cause of
developing socialism, for the wealth and prosperity of their Motherland," he said.
Although Vietnam and China are ideological allies as two of the world's last remaining
communist states, Beijing is still seen by many Vietnamese as more of a rival than an ally.
Only 23 years ago, in February 1979, it launched a brief but bloody border war to
punish Hanoi for ousting the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Ties were not normalised until
1991.
Lingering territorial disputes underline that fact that they have often been at odds during
their long history, and despite repeated pledges of enhanced economic cooperation,
China's recent entry into the World Trade Organisation has rekindled age-old fears in
Vietnam about being swamped by its giant northern neighbour.
Reuters - February 28, 2002.
Jiang lands in Vietnam
HANOI - China's President, Jiang Zemin, has begun a
three-day visit to Vietnam - his second official
visit to the country since the former rivals
normalised relations in 1991.
Beijing and Hanoi have several shared concerns
in military and economic matters.
And there is evidence of
mounting concern within
Vietnam about territorial
agreements, signed in
1999 and 2000 with
China, that demarcate
their common land
border and sea areas.
After the usual
ceremonial welcome at
Hanoi's presidential
palace, President Jiang
Zemin is expected to
quickly enter what the
official organisers have
simply called "talks".
Possible agenda
There have been no details on the agreement
he is expected to sign before beginning a
round of meetings with some of Vietnam's most
powerful present and past leaders.
There are several things on a possible and
private agenda:
the deal could simply be a loan
agreement
military and border matters could be at
issue.
Many eyes are on Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay.
Russia left the naval port in January after its
lease expired. Vietnam says it intends to use
the port for its own socio-economic
development which does not necessarily
preclude visits by its friends.
There is also the matter of the border. In
December, the two sides signed a secret
agreement on new boundaries, a subject which
landed one Vietnamese journalist under house
arrest after he alleged Hanoi had made land
concessions.
There are also continuing disputes over
sovereignty over the oil-rich Spratly Islands
and fishing rights in the Tonkin Gulf.
Lessons to be learned
But what has been generating more interest
among observers of the two sides in recent
times is the economic and social progress of
the communist giant and its developing
neighbour.
China has entered the World Trade
Organisation and Vietnam is keen to do the
same as quickly as possible.
The party in Hanoi is watching closely to see
the lessons and the traps in further opening
Vietnam's economy to global capitalism.
President Jiang Zemin will be in Vietnam for
three days. After talks in Hanoi and the
obligatory visit to the mausoleum of Vietnam's
modern founder, Ho Chi Minh, he will visit some
of Vietnam's heritage sites, including the
ancient city of Hue and the old picturesque
port town of Hoi An.
By Clare Arthurs - BBC News - February 28, 2002.
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