The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to the ministry’s deputy spokesman Doan Khac Viet.

He made the remark during the ministry’s regular press briefing on Thursday afternoon in response to reporters’ inquiry about Vietnam’s reaction to the Chinese military drills encircling Taiwan.

Vietnam has repeatedly expressed its stance on the cross-Strait relations, Viet said.

“We hope that peace, stability, and cooperation in the cross-Strait relations would be maintained for the interests of the region, the world, and the people across the Strait,” the Vietnamese diplomat stated.

On Thursday morning, the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced that it launched two-day joint military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan from 7:45 am the same day.

The exercises, named ‘Joint Sword-2024A,' are taking place in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south, and east of Taiwan Island, as well as areas around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin.

According to the PLA, the drills would involve military services including the army, navy, air force, and rocket force of the theater command, focusing on joint sea-air combat-readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, and joint precision strikes on key targets.

The drills are aimed at testing the joint real combat capabilities of the PLA forces around the island of Taiwan.

Mainland China launched the PLA military drills three days after Lai Ching-te, who was denounced by Beijing as a “separatist," was sworn in as Taiwan’s new leader.

“The drills serve as a strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces,” the PLA stressed.

This is the second time in May that Vietnam has expressed its view on the cross-Strait ties.

On Monday this week, the foreign affairs ministry’s spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang reiterated Vietnam’s consistent stance to uphold the ‘One China’ policy and develop no state-level relations with Taiwan, in reply to reporters’ queries on Vietnam’s viewpoint on China’s ‘One China’ policy amid the context that Lai Ching-te, a member of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, became the island’s new leader earlier on the same day.

“On the basis of steadfastly implementing the ‘One China’ policy under which Taiwan is an integral part of China’s territory, Vietnam maintains and develops people-to-people and non-governmental relations with Taiwan in various fields including economics, trade, investment, science and technology, culture, and education, but does not develop any state-level ties with Taiwan,” Hang underscored.

Vietnam respects the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and believes that peace, stability, and cooperation in the Taiwan Strait is crucial for both the region and the global community, the spokesperson stated.

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