Vietnamese president vows to strengthen ties with China

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said Monday that Vietnam attaches great importance to the development of Vietnam-China traditional friendship, and is willing to enhance the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with the Chinese side.

Sang made the remarks during the meeting with Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ma Xiaotian, who is currently in Hanoi for the sixth defense and security consultation between Chinese and Vietnamese defense ministries.

During the meeting, Sang said Vietnamese party, government and people will always cherish the support and assistance that China offered them in the causes of national liberalization and socialist construction. He said Vietnam greatly treasured the traditional friendship with China, adding that Vietnam attaches great importance to the development of Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership guided by the 16-word motto and the four-good spirit principles.

Vietnamese leaders pledge their support for the Vietnam-China military cooperation. Vietnam always believes that China's stable development is conducive to the development of Vietnam and the regional stability, he said.

Ma Xiaotian, for his part, said China and Vietnam are friendly neighbors and enjoy a traditional friendship between two peoples. Friendship and cooperation have remained the mainstream of China- Vietnam relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

He said under the current situation, the two sides should properly handle differences and effectively control the crisis. China hopes that the two armies will continue to further enhance understanding, strengthen mutual trust, promote cooperation, to inject positive factors into the development of bilateral relations, and jointly safeguard the China-Vietnam friendship relations.

Ma Xiaotian left Beijing on Sunday for visits to Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore. Vietnam is the first leg of Ma's ongoing four-nation Asia tour.