Beijing looks for echoes of past as Vietnam’s new leader To Lam visits China’s Xi Jinping
- To Lam’s first foreign trip since taking the country’s top job was rich in symbolism and historic significance
Xi Jinping has showered Vietnam’s new leader To Lam with honours during his visit to China highlighting the historic relationship between the two countries’ Communist parties.
On the second day of Lam’s China trip, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a grand welcoming ceremony for Lam, who is both party chief and head of state, and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
As well as the customary flag-waving, 21-gun salute and honour guard, the ceremony also included a marching performance by China’s military band, an honour only granted to select foreign leaders such as Vladimir Putin.
Xi, who told his visitor that he was keen to establish a “good working relationship and personal friendship”, also hosted a small-scale tea ceremony after their formal meeting in an effort to foster what state media described as a “cordial and friendly” atmosphere.
That continued a tradition that Xi initiated for Lam’s predecessor Nguyen Phu Trong, who died last month.