TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) and Vietnamese President To Lam issued a joint statement on Tuesday (Aug. 20), referring to Taiwan as “an integral part of China’s territory,” which Taiwan’s foreign ministry refuted.  

Lam, who became Vietnam’s new leader in May, arrived in Beijing on Sunday (Aug. 18) for a three-day meeting with Xi. The two countries signed 14 documents, including deals on Chinese loans, technology to develop Vietnam’s infrastructure, Vietnamese imports to China, an international railway connecting the two countries, and strengthened security ties.

The most recent statement used the strongest language yet vis-a-vis Taiwan, aligning Vietnam closer with China. Vietnam and China have released three joint statements since 2022, with the statement this month being the closest in wording to the official stance on Taiwan of the Chinese Communist Party.

In the statement, Vietnam “reaffirms its adherence to the ‘one-China’ policy." It also “supports the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and opposes any form of ‘independent Taiwan’.”

In response, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued a press release reiterating, “Taiwan is a democratic country, and Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other.” “The People's Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan, and only Taiwan's democratically elected government has the right to represent the Taiwanese people,” MOFA added. 

MOFA protested China’s “repeated use of meetings with foreign leaders to make false remarks about Taiwan’s sovereignty.” It called on countries not to follow China’s narratives that “downgrade Taiwan’s status” and “rationalize its authoritarian expansion intentions.” 

Taiwan and Vietnam do not have formal diplomatic relations. However, MOFA pointed to the many recent people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in investment, trade, and tourism.