Biden Hails ‘Enormous Opportunity’ With Vietnam During Visit

Akayla Gardner and Justin Sink
·3 min read
28

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden hailed closer ties with Vietnam on his first visit to the country, as the US seeks to make deeper inroads in the region by offering nations an alternative superpower to China.

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“I think we have an enormous opportunity,” Biden told General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the leader of the country’s ruling Communist Party, at a meeting in Hanoi. “Vietnam and the United States are critical partners at this very critical time. I’m not saying that to be polite, I’m saying that because I mean it from the bottom of my heart.”

Vietnam formally upgraded ties at Sunday’s meeting, shifting the relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” the highest level and the one it uses for China and India.

Beyond the legacy of the war, the partnership with the US is not without complications. Vietnam has relied heavily on Russia for military equipment, even as the US has sought to isolate Moscow over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

During the visit, Vietnam Airlines JSC is expected to sign an initial agreement to buy about 50 Boeing Co. 737 Max jets in a deal valued at $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported. Any order would be seen as a breakthrough for Boeing as Vietnam Airlines is an all-Airbus single-aisle jet operator.

“Vietnam is a critical relationship for the US,” Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer told reporters on Air Force One en route to Vietnam Sunday, noting that the upgraded status of ties is an important signal for the bureaucracy there.

Security will be part of the relationship, he said, noting that the US believes Vietnam is “increasingly uncomfortable” with its ties to Russia.

Semiconductors and rare-earth minerals will be on the agenda during Biden’s visit, he added, as the US seeks to find alternative sources to China. The US president will meet with local and US business executives while in Vietnam.

Vietnam was the eighth-largest trade partner for the US in 2022, according to the American Embassy in Vietnam, with $139 billion in turnover. US investment has boomed in Vietnam’s open-market economy over the last three decades.

In July, Biden told campaign donors he received a call from Trong seeking a meeting at the G-20 summit. “He wants to elevate us to a major partner along with Russia and China. What do you think that’s about?” Biden said.

“The point is the world is changing in a big way and we want to promote democracies,” he added. Biden didn’t explain how Vietnam’s one-party system fits that category, however.

The US delegation arrived in Vietnam fresh from of the G-20 summit in India where Biden sought to take advantage of the absence of Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to showcase US ties with the Global South. On Saturday, he announced a major transport deal with India, the European Union and Middle Eastern nations, linking partners where China has sought to make inroads.

Read More: India’s G-20 Win Shows US Learning How to Counter China’s Rise

The Biden administration has sought to prioritize relationships in the Indo-Pacific region, notably many of the countries with closest proximity to China. Washington and Beijing have had a series of tense moments over the last year, with Biden referring to President Xi as a “dictator” and the US shooting down an alleged Chinese spy balloon.

--With assistance from Derek Wallbank.

(Updates with shift in status of relationship, Boeing deal from third paragraph)

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