Chinese premier urges China, Vietnam to jointly meet external challenges

China

Chinese premier urges China, Vietnam to jointly meet external challenges

2024-10-14 20:50 Last Updated At：10-15 01:47

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday that China is ready to work with Vietnam to firmly advance the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, jointly meet external challenges and better achieve common development.

While meeting with Tran Thanh Man, chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, in Hanoi, Li said in recent years, China-Vietnam relations have maintained a momentum of sound and steady development, and the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future has been advancing in depth and for real.

Noting the accelerating changes unseen in a century, Li said that China is ready to work with Vietnam to follow the strategic consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, carry forward the traditional friendship, consolidate political mutual trust, and strengthen solidarity and cooperation.

The Chinese side is willing to enhance exchanges and cooperation with Vietnam's legislative bodies, strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral fields, and provide solid support for promoting each other's socialist construction, Li said.

It is hoped that the legislatures of the two countries will strongly support practical cooperation in various fields, focus more on innovation, provide legal guarantees for China and Vietnam to strengthen cooperation in emerging industries such as digital economy, new energy and 5G, and jointly cultivate and strengthen new drivers of development, said Li.

At the same time, the two countries' legislatures will actively provide public guidance to enhance mutual understanding and goodwill between the two peoples, especially among the young people, and continue to consolidate the social foundation for bilateral cooperation, he added.

For his part, Tran Thanh Man congratulated China on its all-round development achievements in recent years, expressing his belief that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China will surely make new and great achievements on the path to modernization.

Vietnam has always regarded China as a priority and a strategic choice in its foreign relations, and will, in accordance with the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, strengthen exchanges with the Chinese side at all levels and in all fields, deepen traditional friendship, consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields, and constantly inject new impetus into bilateral relations, he said.

The Vietnamese National Assembly is willing to maintain close exchanges with the National People's Congress of China, strengthen the exchange of experience in the construction of socialist rule of law, and play a positive role in consolidating the people-to-people friendship between the two countries and promoting the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future with strategic significance, he said.

Li paid an official visit to Vietnam from Saturday to Monday. Vietnam is the second stop of his ongoing Asia tour. Prior to this, he visited Laos, where he attended a series of leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation and paid an official visit to the country.

PLA drills shows "all-weather" capacity, combat readiness: military experts

2024-10-14 23:32 Last Updated At：10-15 01:37

The People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s drills in the Taiwan Strait show its "all-weather" combat readiness and capabilities, military experts said on Monday.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command on Monday organized army, navy, air force and rocket force troops to conduct "Joint Sword-2024B" drills in the Taiwan Strait and the north, south and east of the island of Taiwan.

The Liaoning aircraft carrier group participated in the drill, said Li Xi, spokesperson of the Eastern Theater Command.

During the military exercise, the air and sea forces coordinated with each other as the Liaoning aircraft carrier group deployed at a choke point east of Taiwan island, with the bomber formation breaking the "first island chain" and conducting joint exercises with the aircraft carrier group.

"What does an aircraft carrier do? An aircraft carrier is a portable airport on the sea, and it has a relatively larger combat radius. So its presence reflects the great improvement on our army's cooperative combat and joint operation capability so as to be ready for any such situation in the future," said Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the National Defense University of Chinese People's Liberation Army.

The operations were accompanied by patrols of China Coast Guard vessels, showcasing the PLA's enhanced joint command and combat capabilities.

The exercises also simulated blockades of key ports, presenting the PLA's ability to conduct such operations if necessary. "In this drill, we enriched our operation pattern including sea-air combat police patrol, the containment of key ports and areas, jointly seizing air and sea control and long-range precision strikes on critical targets. Meanwhile, we employed flexible organization of fire units and strike modules. It can be seen that the PLA's toolbox is getting more resourceful and its fist is getting stronger," said Zhang Chi, associate professor at National Defense University of Chinese People's Liberation Army. The exercises commenced overnight into Monday, with forces rapidly deploying and initiating military deterrence actions by 05:00, and experts say the drills send out a clear signal of the PLA's combat capabilities and readiness.

"What do [the drills] imply? They imply that the combat readiness level of our army is very high, at all times. Last night the Eastern Theater Command issued a poster with just four words 'be ready for battle'. That means delivering all-weather battle readiness, ready to fight at any time," Meng said.