South China Sea: Xi calls for ‘mutually acceptable solutions’ for dispute

Beijing/Hanoi: On a key visit to pacify Vietnam amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday struck a reconciliatory tone, saying that both Beijing and Hanoi should find “mutually acceptable solutions” to resolve the differences.

Xi, 70, arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday for a two-day visit, his first after six years to hold intense round talks with fellow Communist leaders from Vietnam to woo them with a host of new deals, including a new rail project, amid Hanoi’s rising profile in the global markets and its growing strategic ties with the US.

Vietnam is attracting substantial foreign investments as several multinational companies moved supply chains from China over apprehensions of security-related issues.

As he landed in Hanoi with his wife Peng Liyuan to a rousing welcome, Xi called for Beijing and Hanoi to find “mutually acceptable solutions” to their South China Sea dispute and achieve long-term regional stability.

China and Vietnam have “camaraderie plus brotherhood” and should “always keep in mind our shared visions and missions”, Xi was quoted as saying in an article

published in Hanoi mouthpiece Nhan Dan.