President and Party Secretary Xi Jinping has arrived in Hanoi to meet his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Phu Trong, and other top leaders as part of a two-day visit meant to bolster economic ties even as tensions simmer over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, The Wall Street Journal reported. Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert and emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales, said Xi expected to use his visit to counter the United States’ growing influence in Vietnam “Mr. Xi will try to convince Vietnam’s leaders to mute their public comments on the South China Sea and not openly support US actions,” Thayer said.
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