On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Vietnam to improve relations with a crucial trading partner that shares U.S. concerns about China’s expanding might.
Hanoi must balance openness to the U.S. with angering China, a big neighbor that supplies essential components for Vietnam’s vital export trade, or Russia, another historical.
In a globe divided between the U.S. and its allies and China and Russia, Vietnam has succeeded at balancing, but it is becoming increasingly difficult.
Blinken will see Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi on Saturday before attending Tokyo’s Group of Seven affluent nations gathering.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Hanoi in August 2021, but this is the first visit by the Biden administration’s secretary of state.
Washington hopes to move relations from “comprehensive” to “strategic” during the next decade.
Officials have not specified this closer relationship. However, Southeast Asia specialist Murray Hiebert visited Vietnam in February and spoke with senior government officials. He suggested military collaboration and U.S. arms deliveries.
However, Vietnam’s policy of not permitting foreign bases, soldiers, or coalitions against other countries limited him. Hanoi is also concerned about U.S. senators blocking military deliveries on human rights grounds and the expensive cost of U.S. armaments.
The senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, dubbed Blinken’s groundbreaking on a new U.S. embassy property in Hanoi “a stunning new symbol” of the U.S.’s “enduring partnership and friendship.”
“One of America’s most important partners in the region” is Hanoi, according to Kritenbrink, as the Vietnam War fades.
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