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US, Vietnam pledge to strengthen ties when Blinken visits Hanoi

HANOI –

Fifty years after the last US combat troops left South Vietnam, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday sought to strengthen the United States’ relationship with its former enemies in Hanoi as the It seeks to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

Blinken and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged to push their relationship to the next level when they met just two weeks after the 50th anniversary of the US withdrawal marking the end of direct US military involvement. in Viet Nam.

And it came as Blinken broke ground on a new $1.2 billion US embassy complex in the Vietnamese capital, a project the Biden administration hopes will demonstrate a commitment to further improve relations. relations less than 30 years after diplomatic relations were restored in 1995.

Despite concerns about Vietnam’s human rights record, Washington sees Hanoi as a key component of its strategy for the region and has sought to capitalize on Vietnam’s traditional rivalry with its neighbour. much larger neighbor China to expand US influence in the region.

“Now we hope to be able to take[relationships]to the next level,” Blinken said.

“This is a very comprehensive and effective relationship and in the coming time we will continue to deepen the relationship,” Chinh said. “We appreciate the role and responsibility of the United States in the Asia Pacific, or in the larger Indo-Pacific.”

He added that the Vietnamese communist government wishes to “further elevate our bilateral relations to a new level.”

Along with some of China’s smaller neighbors, Vietnam has maritime and territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. The United States has responded by providing diplomatic support and increasing military cooperation with the Philippines and the island of Taiwan, which China claims is a renegade province.

Just last month, China threatened “serious consequences” after the US Navy sent a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for a second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed to be in violation of their sovereignty and security. The Paracel Islands are occupied by China but Taiwan and Vietnam also claim sovereignty.

American officials are reluctant to describe any Asia visit from a Chinese perspective, preferring instead to discuss the importance of improving bilateral relations. But they often talk about broader regional concerns that are clearly aimed at China.

“Washington and Hanoi are almost completely interconnected in the Indo-Pacific way we want to see and where we want to live: a free and open region where all countries are Big and small all play by the same rules, where big powers Dan Kritenbrink, former US ambassador to Vietnam and now the US State Department’s top diplomat for East Asia, says: “Don’t bully countries. small, where countries trade freely but also fairly and disputes are resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law”.

And five decades after the Nixon administration pulled American combat forces out of Vietnam on March 29, 1973, Washington is stepping up efforts to strengthen its military relationship with Vietnam.

Blinken’s visit comes as the administration is grappling with its own troop withdrawal record and is facing congressional criticism and demands for an explanation of the US tumultuous departure from Afghanistan two years ago. .

Some liken it to the experience in Vietnam, especially when it concerns the fate of Afghans who supported the 20-year military mission but were left behind when the government Biden withdraws from Afghanistan in 2021.



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