Vietnam’s top leader to visit China next week: media

Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam will visit China next week, his first foreign trip since being appointed to the top job this month, Reuters reported.

Lam will arrive on Aug. 18, and plans to meet President Xi Jinping and other senior officials over the following two days, the news agency said, citing two unidentified Vietnamese officials and a Hanoi-based diplomat familiar with the matter.

Radio Free Asia’s call to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs went unanswered. 

On Aug. 3, Vietnam’s Communist Party Central Committee voted unanimously to elect Lam general secretary, replacing Nguyen Phu Trong, who died two weeks earlier.

Lam, 67, was named president in May after serving as Vietnam’s public security minister and he currently holds both positions.

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China’s President Xi sent Lam a congratulatory message upon his appointment as general secretary, expressing his readiness to work together “in building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, jointly carry forward traditional friendship, consolidate mutual political trust, deepen strategic communication, and promote practical cooperation.”

Xi added that this collaboration aims to bring more benefits to the two peoples and make positive contributions to the cause of peace and progress of mankind, as reported by China’s Xinhua News Agency.

While the two sides have clashed over rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, Vietnam and China have a “comprehensive strategic partnership” considered the highest level of engagement.

Xi last visited Vietnam in December 2023, meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, then-president Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.