HANOI, April 15 (Reuters) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed a desire to strengthen ties on Saturday as Washington seeks to consolidate alliances to counter a China increasingly firm.
In his first visit to the Southeast Asian country as the top US diplomat, Blinken met with senior officials including Vietnamese Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The main theme was the possibility of improving bilateral ties.
“For President Biden, for Washington, this is one of the most dynamic and most important relationships we’ve ever had,” Blinken said at a news conference to cap off a day of engagements in Hanoi. “It has had an extraordinary trajectory in the last two decades. Our conviction is that it can and will grow even more.”
It was not clear when an improvement in formal ties might be agreed, but Blinken expressed hope that it could happen “in the coming weeks and months.”
Before his meeting with Blinken, Chinh said the two sides were seeking to take ties “to a new height,” following a phone call last month between President Joe Biden and the head of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, a conversation that, according to what he said, had “a great success”.
The diplomatic anniversary and the Biden-Trong call could lead to a meeting between the two in July or other high-level meetings, according to analysts, although it is not clear what exactly the improvement in ties would consist of.
Blinken told reporters that security was one of the key components of relations between the two countries, noting that it was growing.
Washington and US defense firms have been vocal in their desire to bolster their military supplies to Vietnam – hitherto largely limited to Coast Guard ships and training aircraft – as the country tries to diversify away from Russia, which is currently your main provider.
But military deals with the United States face many potential hurdles, as Washington lawmakers could block arms sales over human rights concerns. In addition, US weapons are expensive, risk provoking Chinese reactions and may not integrate easily with Vietnam’s legacy weaponry, analysts say.
Blinken’s visit is part of a broader US strategy in Southeast Asia to build a coalition to counter China and deter any possible action by Beijing against Taiwan. Many countries in the region are reluctant to antagonize their gigantic neighbor, which is not only a military power but also a key trading partner and source of investment.
For the United States, Vietnam is a crucial trading partner of Southeast Asia with which Washington wants to strengthen ties. But for Hanoi it has been a difficult balancing act, between cooperating with Washington without upsetting Beijing, even as Vietnam has been alarmed by China’s growing claims in the South China Sea.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Francesco Guarascio in Hanoi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and David Holmes, Editing in Spanish by Juana Casas)
Source: Ambito
