China And Vietnam Issue Joint Statement (1999)
China and Vietnam February 27 issued a joint statement during the visit of Le Kha Phieu, general secretary of the central committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).
Phieu is in China at the invitation of President Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the central committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), for a six-day official goodwill visit. He and Jiang held talks on Thursday and Li Peng, Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, Li Ruihuan, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Vice-president Hu Jintao, and Vice-premier Li Lanqing met with Phieu on Friday.
The statement says that the two sides discussed the political and economic situation in their respective countries and exchanged views on strengthening friendly co-operative relations between their Parties, states, and peoples, as well as regional and international issues of common concern, in an amiable and frank atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding.
It says that they agreed that Phieu's visit has been successful and will make a major contribution to the two Parties and two countries in building friendly and co-operative relations for the 21st century and will have a positive effect on regional peace, stability and development.
It says that the consolidation and positive development of friendly and co-operative ties between the two Parties and countries are not only in their fundamental interest, but also benefit peace, stability, co-operation, and development in the region and the world as a whole.
The two sides agreed to build long-term, stable, future-oriented good-neighborly and all-round cooperative relations on the basis of the acknowledged principles of the joint statements after the normalization of Sino-Vietnamese ties and the consensus reached by their Party and state leaders.
The statement also says that the CPC and CPV will continue to develop friendly and co-operative relations based on the principle of independence, full equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in the other's internal affairs, while promoting full-scale development of relations between the two countries.
The two confirmed that they will increase friendly exchanges and means of co-operation between the Party and government departments, organizations, and regions and that exchanges between young people should be strengthened so that the development of Sino-Vietnamese ties can follow through.
The two sides reiterated the early agreements and understanding reached between their top leaders since 1991 and agreed that an early solution to the border issue between the two countries is in the fundamental interest and is the common aspiration of the two peoples, and that they were satisfied with the "positive progress" made in border negotiations in recent years.
The two sides agreed to properly solve the existing border and territorial issues through peaceful negotiations in the spirit of "proceeding from the overall situation, mutual compromise, fairness and friendly consultation', and on the basis of international laws and relevant international practices.
The two sides agreed to speed up negotiation pace and improve efficiency. The two sides plan to sign the land border agreement within 1999 and solve the demarcation issue of the Beibu Gulf within 2000. The two sides agreed to build a peaceful, friendly and stable borderline between the two countries.
The two sides agreed to maintain the current negotiation mechanism on marine issues and stick to peaceful negotiations in an effort to seek a mutually acceptable and long-standing solution.
Before the problems are finally resolved, the two sides will actively explore cooperative possibilities and measures for marine cooperation in such fields as oceanic environmental protection, meteorology and hydrology, as well as disaster prevention and reduction. At the same time, the two sides will neither take any action that may complicate and enlarge disputes, nor resort to the use of force or threat by force.
The two sides will timely hold consultations whenever divergence occurs and agreed to properly handle disputes in a calm and constructive manner so that the normal development of the ties between the two countries will not be affected by the divergence.
The two expressed satisfaction with the progress in expanding bilateral trade, economic, scientific, and technological co-operation in recent years and said that there is great potential and broad prospects for bilateral economic, trade, scientific, and technological co-operation.
The two have decided to make an effort to increase trade, encourage large project co-operation between the two countries' businesses, create more favorable conditions for investment, and to work for the healthy growth of border trade under the principle of equality, mutual benefit, stressing benefits and quality, and joint development and will explore new ways to bring bilateral economic, trade, scientific, and technological co-operation to a new high.
The two sides signed an agreement on economic and technological cooperation between the two governments.
They reaffirmed the consensus of the Sino-Vietnamese joint communiques of 1991, 1994, and 1995: the Vietnamese recognize that the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory; Vietnam will only have unofficial economic and trade ties and no official relations with Taiwan.
The Chinese said they understand and appreciate Vietnam's stance and reaffirm that the Taiwan issue is China's internal affair and that China firmly opposes any country that has diplomatic relations with China to establish official ties in any form with Taiwan or have any official contact with Taiwan.
The two expressed their pleasure with their reforms, opening up, socialist construction, and improvements in the standards of living and the Vietnamese praised China's achievements in its reforms, opening up, foreign relations, and reunification and the Chinese praised Vietnam's achievements in its reform and international co-operation.
The two expressed satisfaction with the consensus reached on regional and international issues of common concern and said that guarding and consolidating regional and world peace and stability and reinforcing bilateral, multi-lateral and regional economic co-operation are the common wish and in the fundamental interest of the people of the region and the world as a whole.
The two said they will strive to establish a just and rational new international political and economic order and will make an effort to maintain regional and world peace, stability, and development.
The two said that the Asian financial crisis has had a negative impact to various degrees on many Asian countries and that these countries should take responsibility jointly and strengthen co-ordination and co-operation to overcome the crisis.
The Vietnamese praised China's contribution to easing the financial crisis and stabilizing the regional economy and the Chinese praised Vietnam's positive effort in resisting the effects of the financial crisis and maintaining domestic economic growth.
Le Kha Phieu expressed his thanks for the warm and friendly reception he received from the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government, and the Chinese people.
Le invited Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president, to visit Vietnam at his convenience, and Jiang expressed thanks for the invitation and accepted it with pleasure.
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