Initiative can improve ties with Vietnam

Editor's Note: Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's latest film Youth, which partly reflects on the China-Vietnam war of 1979, has earned high ratings after being released earlier this month following a two-month delay. The delay sparked a debate on China-Vietnam ties nearly four decades after the border war. Two experts and a film critic share their views on the subject with China Daily's Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:

Makes no sense to raise the unfortunate past

The Sino-Vietnamese war is an unfortunate historical fact for both sides, and Feng's film plays it down. Feng also desists from using the term "enemy" in the film. The war was triggered by various historical and political factors both at home and abroad. And it doesn't make sense to raise that unfortunate past now that both sides want to improve their relations and boost regional economic growth. In fact, they have already achieved progress on these two fronts.

But the territorial dispute between China and Vietnam over some islands in the South China Sea in recent years has refreshed the memory of the 1979 war on both sides. Moreover, Vietnam should welcome the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and participate in the Trans-Asia Railway project, which connects Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan province to the Eurasian continent in the north and Southeast Asia in the south.

Striking the right balance between the betterment of humankind and the strategic methods of economic and political cooperation is the key to convincing Vietnam about participating in China-proposed projects and improving bilateral ties. More importantly, the dispute over the South China Sea islands has to be handled cautiously to improve China-Vietnam relations.