Vietnam News Today (April 27): Party leader welcomes Chinese Defence Minister

	Vietnam News Today (April 26): Vietnam, China boost defence cooperation
	Vietnam News Today (April 25): Vietnam, China hold border defence friendship exchange
	Vietnam News Today (April 24): State President runs for NA deputy position in Ho Chi Minh City

Party leader welcomes Chinese Defence Minister

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on April 26 hosted a reception for Chinese State Councillor and Minister of National Defence Wei Fenghe, who is on an official visit to Vietnam.

At the meeting, the Party leader highlighted the successes of the recent sixth Vietnam-China border defence friendship exchange and the seventh defence strategy dialogue at the deputy ministerial level between defence ministries of the two nations.

Wei congratulated the success of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), and congratulated Trong on his re-election as Party General Secretary.

He also praised the remarkable achievements the Vietnamese people have recorded across multiple fields under the leadership of the CPV led by Party leader Trong as well as the relations between the two Parties and countries which have grown steadily over recent years.

The Chinese Party and State attach great importance to strengthening the traditional friendly neighbourliness with Vietnam, and bilateral cooperation across a variety of fields as a contribution to maintaining regional peace, he said.

The two defence ministries will bolster cooperation and friendship, particularly in the context of China celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, and Vietnam embarking on the implementation of the Resolution adopted at the 13th National Party Congress.

In response, Trong also affirmed the importance the Vietnamese Party, State and people place on the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, as well as the mutual support during history between the two Parties, States and peoples, VOV said.

Vietnam willing to support India to overcome hard time due to COVID-19

Vietnam has kept a close watch on COVID-19 situation in India and is willing to support the Government and people of India in this hard time, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on April 26.

In reply to reporters' query on the COVID-19 situation in India and citizen protection measures of Vietnam, Hang said that the Vietnamese Embassy in India had reported that the pandemic is developing complicatedly and causing negative impacts to locals’ living conditions.

The Government of India is mobilising resources and rolling out measures to respond to the pandemic such as increasing medical equipment and medicine and speeding up COVID-19 vaccination, she said.

“We believe that with efforts by the Indian Government, the situation will soon be controlled and become stable,” Hang stated.

Regarding the protection of Vietnamese citizens living, studying and working in India, Hang said that Vietnam's Foreign Ministry and representative agencies in India have worked closely with authorised agencies at home and in the host country as well as airlines to organise flights to bring nearly 1,000 Vietnamese citizens home safely, as reported by VOV.

Vietnam extends condolences to Indonesia over sunken submarine

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on April 26 sent a message of condolences to his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi over the sunken submarine KRI Nanggala-402.

Indonesia’s Antara News Agency reported that KRI Nanggala-402 became untraceable on April 22 during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.

The 40-year-old submarine was found split into three pieces on the sea bed after five days of search efforts. All the vessel's 53 crew have been confirmed dead, according to VNA.

ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting Reflects Bloc’s Determination to Handle Emerging Vital Issues

The ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting, held in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 24, indicates the bloc’s determination to handle emerging vital issues in the region, said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung. Nguyen said the meeting took place amid complicated evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in several regional member States.

Building on the newly-established position in 2020 when Viet Nam assumed the ASEAN Chair, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s participation in the meeting demonstrated Viet Nam’s constant wish to make proactive and responsible contributions to the bloc.

In remarks at the meeting, PM Pham mentioned a range of matters commonly concerned by the regional countries, such as COVID-19 containment, economic recovery, and the East Sea among others.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (Photo: VGP)

Pham suggested the member countries should pay greater attention to narrow development gap between sub-regions within ASEAN in order to ensure no one left behind.

To sustain ASEAN centrality in the current changing strategic environment, Pham, who took office on April 5, 2021, emphasized that trust and goodwill should be translated into concrete actions not aimed at intensifying tensions or complicating the situation.

Pham underlined that ASEAN must stick to its principled positions on the East Sea issue, including those pertaining to maintenance of peace, stability, security, and safety of navigation and aviation and observation of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

He also called for serious implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and for early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), VGP reported.

Vietnam likely to produce first homegrown COVID-19 vaccines this year

Vietnam is hopeful it can produce its first local COVID-19 vaccine this year, with the third trial phase of trials for the NanoCovax vaccine set to be completed in late September while the COVIVAC vaccine will enter the second phase by the end of June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

The MoH also revealed that the research team for the NanoCovax vaccine at the Vietnam Military Medical Academy are due to report the results of the second phase of clinical trials on April 26, with the results proving to be effective as expected.

During the second phase of trials, the research team have conducted clinical trials of the NanoCovax vaccine, with the newly-detected mutated strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus including the B.1.1.7 variant from the UK, with the results also proving effective.

Moving forward, the research team are set to report to the National Council for Ethics in Biomedical Research for the final conclusion on April 27 in order to select the optimal dosage before moving onto the third phase of trials from May 5.

With regard to the third phase, human trials to test the NanoCovax vaccine will be conducted on between 10,000 and 15,000 volunteers, including on foreigners. Roughly 800 people have so far registered to become volunteers at the Military Medical Academy.

With regard to the trial progress of the COVIVAC vaccine, Asso. Prof. Dr. Vu Dinh Thiem, director of the Center for Clinical Trials of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said all 120 volunteers received their first jab on April 17. Indeed, as of April 26, a total of 36 people have been given two doses of the COVIVAC vaccine.

Dr. Thiem added that 30 volunteers will continue to receive their second dose of the COVIVAC vaccine this week, with all 120 volunteers being given their second shot by May 15, according to VOV.

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