ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue attends the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, pays an official visit to the Republic of Indonesia and the Islamic Republic of Iran

At the invitation of Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia, President of the 44th AIPA, Puan Maharani, and the Speaker of the Parliament of Iran Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will attend the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-44) and pay official visits to Indonesia from 04 to 07 August 2023 and to the Islamic Republic of Iran from 08 to 10 August 2023.

This year’s AIPA-44 is held in Jakarta, Indonesia under the theme, “Responsive Parliaments for a Stable and Prosperous ASEAN”. President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue is expected to attend the Opening Ceremony and deliver remarks at the first Plenary session, attend the AIPA Executive Committee’s meeting, meet with AIPA-44 President Puan Maharani, among other important bilateral meetings.

During the official visit to Indonesia, President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will meet with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia Puan Maharani, renew the cooperation agreement between the two countries’ legislative bodies, meet with President Joko Widodo, attend the legal and policy forum to promote economic and trade cooperation, meet with the Vietnamese community and businesses in Indonesia, among other important activities. This is also the first visit by a Vietnamese President of the National Assembly to Indonesia in 13 years.

During the official visit to Iran, President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will hold talks with Speaker of the Parliament of Iran Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, sign the cooperation agreement between the two legislative bodies, meet with President Ebrahim Raisi, attend the legal and policy forum to enhance economic, trade and investment cooperation, deliver remarks at the Institute for Political and International Studies, meet with a number of local leaders and agencies of Iran, and the Vietnamese community in Iran… President of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue’s official visit is the first high-level exchange of delegations between Viet Nam and Iran since 2018 and an important milestone in the 50th anniversary of Viet Nam - Iran diplomatic relations.

2. Events commemorating the 56th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN and the 28th anniversary of Viet Nam’s accession to ASEAN

To celebrate the 56th anniversary of ASEAN (8 August 1967 - 8 August 2023) and the 28th anniversary of Viet Nam’s accession to ASEAN (28 July 1995 - 28 July 2023), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with relevant agencies, is organizing a number of commemorative events in August.

The ASEAN Flag raising ceremony will take place at 7:30, Tuesday morning, 8 August 2023 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters at no. 1 Ton That Dam street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi. Attending the flag raising ceremony will be leaders of relevant ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the People’s Committee of Hanoi, Ambassadors and chargé d'affaires of ASEAN countries and Timor Leste as an observer, as well as ASEAN partners in Hanoi.

On 20 August 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ASEAN Community Women’s Circle of Hanoi will cooperate to organize the ASEAN Family Day 2023 in Hai Phong.

ASEAN Family Day is an annual event which has been organized for many years to commemorate ASEAN Day on 8 August.

The Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon release further announcements for domestic and foreign journalists wishing to register to cover these events.

Q&A

1. Viet Nam News Agency: What is Viet Nam’s reaction to the information that a group of Filipinos were seen protesting in front of the Embassy of Viet Nam in Manila and tearing the flag of Viet Nam on 01 August 2023?

The red flag with a golden star is the sacred flag of Viet Nam. The vandalism of Viet Nam’s flag is an insult to the Vietnamese people and needs to be strictly condemned.

We ask that the Philippines strictly handle the incident, effectively prevent reoccurrences to avoid negative impacts on the flourishing Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

2. Reuters: What is your comment on President Joe Biden’s recent statement related to the potential upgrade of the Viet Nam - US relations?

Recently, the Viet Nam - US Comprehensive has developed deeply, effectively and substantially in all areas of bilateral cooperation, as well as within multilateral mechanisms.
 Senior leaders of both Viet Nam and the US have agreed to further deepen the relationship between the two countries in a stable, meaningful and long-term manner, aiming toward upgrading to a new level only when the conditions are right, and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

3. Tuoi tre: Chinese officials revealed on 28 July that China held a military exercise in the South China Sea from 29 July to 02 August, and the areas partially overlapped with the Paracel islands which are under Viet Nam’s sovereignty? What is Viet Nam’s response to this?

The inclusion of a part of the Paracel islands within the scope of China’s military exercise in the South China Sea from 29 July to 02 August, 2023 is a serious violation of Viet Nam’s sovereignty over these islands. It goes against the spirit of the Declaration on the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and has complicated the situation in a manner that is not conducive to current negotiations between China and ASEAN on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, and the maintenance of a peaceful, stable and cooperative environment in the South China Sea.

Viet Nam strongly opposes this and asks that China respect Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the Paracel islands, and to prevent similar reoccurrences./.