China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Officials Visit China to Mend Ties After Rig Spat

Apr 7, 2015 | Tran Van Minh, Associated Press
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Vietnam sent a high-ranking delegation of Communist Party officials and Cabinet ministers to China on Tuesday as the countries seek to mend relations strained by the giant northern neighbor's deployment of an oil rig last year in disputed waters.

The four-day trip was led by Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh and Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang, the party said in a brief statement on its website.

The Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper said in a front page editorial that Trong's visit "creates favorable conditions" to resolve problems between the countries, although it did not mention the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.