Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi said at a regular pressconference in Hanoi on July 18 that President of Vietnam Truong TanSang will pay an official visit to the United States of America fromJuly 24-26 at the invitation of President Barack Obama.
The visit aims to affirm Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence,self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralisation,diversification of relations, and proactive international integration,said Nghi.
President Sang will hold talks withPresident Obama to exchange opinions about major directions of the twocountries’ bilateral ties, especially in economics, trade, investment,science, technology, education and training, and humanity, he added.
He further revealed that the two sides will discuss international andregional issues of mutual concern, adding that President Sang will meetrepresentatives of the US Government, Congress and a number ofinternational organisations and businesses in the US as well as theVietnamese community in the country.
Answering aquestion on the possibility of upgrading the relations between the twocountries during the visit, Nghi said since Vietnam and the USnormalised their relationship in July 1995, bilateral ties between thetwo countries have been developing positively.
Thetwo sides have agreed on establishing a relationship of activepartnership and friendship, developing multifaceted cooperation, mutualrespect and benefit. The upcoming visit of President Sang has asignificant meaning in continuing the promotion of their bilateral tiesin a deeper and wider manner in the future, he said.
Spokesperson Nghi also answered a number of questions d uring the press conference.
On why Vietnam has yet to put its fisheries hotline into operation tohandle the recent case of the Vietnamese ships chased by Chinese vesselsin Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago, Nghi said the two sides arecontinuing to implement the agreement on establishing a hotline toreceive unexpected cases relating to sea fisheries.
“We hope that once the hotline is operational, the two sides can rapidlyand timely exchange information and measures to tackle unforeseen casesrelating to fisheries,” said Nghi.
Speaking aboutChina’s move to issue the first identity cards and resident cards forits citizens in the so-called “Shansha city”, the spokesperson saidVietnam’s stance on the so-called “Shansha city” has been repeatedlyclarified. The above-mentioned act violated Vietnam’s sovereignty overHoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos and was totallyvalueless.-VNA