BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping held talks on Monday with Vietnam’s new leader To Lam in Beijing on his first state visit since he took office, Chinese official media Xinhua said.
The meeting signals the close ties between the two communist-run neighbors, which have well-developed economic and trade relations despite the occasional boundary clashes in the energy-rich South China Sea.
China, displaying exuberance over Lam’s choosing China for his first official trip, said last week it “fully reflects the great importance he attaches to the development of ties between both parties and countries.”
Lam arrived in China’s southern province Guangzhou on Sunday for a three-day visit that would include meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other Chinese top officials.
While in Guangzhou, he visited some Chinese locations where former President Ho Chi Minh conducted revolutionary activities.
Last December, China and Vietnam signed more than a dozen agreements when Xi visited Vietnam.
The agreements, specifics of which were not announced, covered strengthening railway cooperation and development, investments in various fields and establishing communication to handle unexpected incidents in the South China Sea.
In a lengthy joint declaration, both countries said they would work on cross-border railway connectivity, naming three rail projects that included one connecting through mountainous Lao Cai in the Vietnam’s northwest to the port city Haiphong and a potential one linking two coastal cities to Haiphong.
The statement mentioned continued support for both countries’ railway companies to further cooperate to improve the efficiency of Vietnamese goods transiting through China.
It also mentioned working on other projects under China’s flagship infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative, and emphasized investment cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure, energy, digital economy, green development and other fields.
China and Vietnam forged diplomatic ties in 1950 and established a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in 2008 that was jointly fortified five years later to extend to more shared international and regional issues of concern.
China and Vietnam’s top leaders meet in Beijing
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China and Vietnam’s top leaders meet in Beijing
- The meeting signals the close ties between the two communist-run neighbors
Ukraine toils to restore power and heat, Zelensky warns of new attack
- Russia has systematically attacked Ukraine’s energy system since it invaded its neighbor in 2022 and the air strikes have intensified in recent months
KYIV: Emergency crews toiled to restore heat and power to beleaguered Kyiv residents on Monday, more than three days after Russian strikes on energy targets, and President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that new air attacks could be imminent.
Officials said hundreds of apartment blocks in the capital remained without heat despite round-the-clock efforts by the crews. Humanitarian centers, dubbed “resilience points,” were open for people to keep warm and charge electronic devices.
Russia has systematically attacked Ukraine’s energy system since it invaded its neighbor in 2022 and the air strikes have intensified in recent months.
Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, said a program was being launched to raise wages and provide support for participants in emergency work brigades.
He issued a new warning to heed air raid alerts as night-time temperatures sank to minus 15 Celsius (5 F) or lower.
“There is intelligence information. The Russians are preparing a new massive strike,” he said.
“Drones to exhaust air defense systems and missiles. They want to take advantage of the cold. The strike may occur in the coming days. Please take care of yourselves. Protect Ukraine.”
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba, writing on Telegram, said 90 percent of Kyiv’s apartment buildings have had heating restored, leaving fewer than 500 dwellings still to be connected.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko put the number with no heating at 800, most on the west bank of the Dnipro River. He said a meeting of the Kyiv city council would be convened on Thursday to debate the most pressing issues facing residents.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, presenting the program for bonus payments, said the work conducted by emergency crews stood “at the very limit of human endurance, often involving life-threatening risks across the entire country.
“This applies to specialists who, in freezing conditions, go directly to the sites of strikes and restore supplies of heat, electricity, water and gas.”
Residents made their way to one of the humanitarian centers on the east bank of the river in the evening — two tents pitched on a small area of open ground.
They charged their devices and chatted, while outside, the din of whining generators filled the air.
“It’s dark in the apartment. I have an electric stove, so it’s impossible to heat up lunch or dinner, or make tea,” said Kateryna Zubko, 67, an engineer who has lived without power, heating and water since the latest attack.
“We support each other. Ukrainians are such resilient people, I think that this war will end someday, it can’t go on forever.”
