Editorial | China’s storm response a sign of progress in relations with Vietnam
China’s efforts to help Vietnam recover from Yagi are a proactive move that hopefully will continue. Both sides should seize the opportunity
The region’s storm season is far from over. Shanghai is just mopping up after its worst typhoon in 75 years only a week after Super Typhoon Yagi brought chaos further south. Though deadly, Yagi had a silver lining in the form of cooperation between Vietnam and China.
Vietnam was the hardest hit by Yagi, the most powerful storm in Asia so far this year. Soon after it made landfall on September 7, Hanoi had already confirmed at least 290 deaths and damages of around US$1.6 billion. Northern parts of the country including the capital were inundated by the Red River’s worst floods in decades.
Beijing quickly stepped in to store water in reservoirs along the upper reaches of the river, the region’s largest, flowing from Yunnan in southwest China then through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin.
The two nations maintained “close and good communication” on flood control, according to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
It was a welcome sign of progress for neighbours long struggling with bilateral tensions including a long-running dispute in the South China Sea.
Hanoi and Beijing have also sparred over China’s hydropower stations along its section of the 1,280km (795-mile) river.
