Chinese President Begins 3-Day Visit
Chinese President Jiang Zemin began a three-day visit to Vietnam and hailed progress in relations with a neighbor that is one of the world’s last communist states.
Vietnam’s state television said that in Jiang’s talks with Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh and President Tran Duc Luong, both sides pledged to boost political and economic ties and resolve territorial disputes peacefully.
Vietnam and China both claim the Paracel Islands and the reputedly oil-rich Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea.
The latter is also claimed by several other Southeast Asian states.
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