Hanoi - A Chinese Navy warship will visit Vietnam next week, only the second such visit since Vietnam and China normalized relations in 1991, Vietnam's government spokesman confirmed Thursday. The Chinese Navy training vessel Zheng He, which carries more than 400 military personnel, will dock at the port of Danang from November 18-22.
The "friendly visit" of the Chinese warship to Vietnam, government spokesman Le Dung told a press conference in Hanoi, will "help to promote friendship and cooperation between the two ministries of defence as well as the two peoples."
Vietnamese political experts welcomed the visit, and said it would be better if there were more such visits.
"Vietnam's agreement to receive a Chinese Navy ship at this time makes sense," said Bui Truong Giang, deputy director of the Centre for International Security and Strategic Studies in Hanoi. "Vietnam has agreed to receive the US's and many other countries' warships, like Japan and Australia. Why shouldn't Vietnam receive Chinese warships?"
"This visit is significant because the Chinese [ship] is calling at Danang, which has operational control over the East Sea," Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian National Defence University, wrote via email. He said the visit followed other confidence-building measures such as Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to China in October.
Dung said the ship's officers would meet city leaders in Danang and hold talks with Vietnamese Navy and other military officers.
The two countries' marines are scheduled to stage several activities during the visit, including playing volleyball against each other, Dung said.
The Zheng He recently visited Cambodia and Thailand.
The Zheng He is named after the Chinese admiral who led the country's huge fleet in expeditions across the Indian Ocean in 1405 and 1433.
