A Chinese naval fleet made a port call in Vietnam days after the two nations held talks on joint maritime patrols, as they move closer on defence despite their long-standing disputes over the South China Sea.
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The fleet – led by the Changsha, a destroyer, and amphibious warfare ship Jinggangshan – docked in Da Nang on Vietnam’s east coast on Saturday, according to a statement from the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command.
It said they were welcomed by Vietnamese navy officials and Chinese diplomats.
The port call came days after the two navies wrapped up a four-day meeting on joint patrols, in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. The annual talks focus on management of the Gulf of Tonkin, which is known in China as the Beibu Gulf.
Neither side has released any details of the meeting.
The talks coincided with a joint patrol by the Chinese and Vietnamese coastguards in the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin, according to the state-run Vietnam News Agency.
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It was their fourth such joint patrol, held in waters off the coast of China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province.