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Foreign Leaders Meet On The Sidelines Of UNGA

United Nations General Assembly

Leaders from various countries are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The 79th session of the General Assembly in 2024 will center on the theme of “advancing peace, sustainable development, and human dignity.” It featured the much-anticipated Summit of the Future, aimed at tackling pressing issues in global governance and collaboration amid rising geopolitical competition and conflict.

Biden To Meet Lam

U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Vietnam’s President and ruling Communist Party Chief To Lam on Wednesday, the White House said on SundaY The meeting is expected to take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Biden has been eager to deepen relations with the strategic Southeast Asian country and manufacturing hub in a bid to counter Russia and China, with which Vietnam also retains ties.

Last September, Biden visited Vietnam and secured deals on semiconductors and minerals and an upgrade to Hanoi’s highest diplomatic status, alongside China and Russia.

In his first U.S. trip since he was named in early August as head of the party, the country’s most powerful job, Lam will speak at the U.N. event and meet with representatives from several U.S. corporations, including Alphabet’s Google GOOGL.O and Facebook owner Meta, META.OReuters previously reported.

Ahead of To Lam’s trip to the United States, authorities in communist-ruled Vietnam had released some prominent activists from prison before the end of their jail terms, sources told Reuters.

They include Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in January 2010 on charges of subversion, and environment activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong who was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax fraud in September last year.

Lam’s trip also includes a stop in Cuba, Vietnam’s long-term Communist partner.

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Japanese FM To Meet Her Chinese Counterpart 

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa will meet her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in New York on Monday, the foreign ministry said.

Kamikawa will request that security be enforced following the stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in China, public broadcaster NHK reported.

A child enrolled in a Japanese school died after being stabbed last week in Shenzhen, in southern China, the second such attack near Japanese educational centres in the country in recent months.

Some Japanese companies in China have offered to send their staff and families home following the incident, Reuters has reported, with such safety concerns coming as ties are strained between the countries.

South Korea, US and Japan Meet

The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan will also hold a meeting on Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

(With input from Reuters)