CHINA: VIETNAMESE LEADER DO MUOI VISIT

(28 Nov 1995) Natural Sound

Chinese and Vietnamese leaders have agreed to set aside historical disputes and work towards improving bilateral relations.

The official Xinhua news agency said Do Muoi, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin, shared extensive agreement on many issues during the first day of Muoi's six-day visit to China.

This is the fourth highest level contact between the two countries since the resumption of normal relations in 1991.

Sino-Vietnamese relations have been further strengthened through ongoing high level contacts.

Relations between the two countries have been prickly in the past.

The nationally televised evening news showed the two leaders embracing tightly before a welcoming ceremony on the first full day of Muoi's visit.

Establishment of relations came only after a decade of various disputes ranging from trade restrictions, imposition of high taxes, the tightening of border controls and Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1978.

The two countries fought a brief border war in 1979 and skirmished again nine years later over the Spratly Islands, an archipelago in the South China Sea claimed by both nations.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin is quoted by the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, as saying that issues left over from history will be properly settled through mutual understanding and concessions.

Jiang went on to say that peace and stability were in the interest of the Asian Pacific region as a whole.

Jiang called for deeper interparty contacts, emphasising that they are an important component of relations between China and Vietnam.

Muoi said Vietnam attaches exceptional importance to the development and maintenance of stable relations with China in all spheres, including interparty contacts.

The Vietnamese Communist Party leader also emphasised that Vietnam recognises the Chinese government as the sole and legitimate government of China, and views Taiwan as an integral part of Chinese territory.

Muoi also assured Jiang that the Vietnamese leadership's policy with regard to China has remained unchanged following Vietnam's accession to ASEAN and the normalisation of relations between Hanoi and Washington.

The Vietnamese leader is to visit Shanghai, Tianjin and other cities during his visit, according the Vietnam News Agency.

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