"Bridging differences and preserving unity" establishes the foundation for strong development of Vietnam-US relations

(Dan Tri) - According to Associate Professor Nguyen Manh Ha, the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and the US is developing strongly. This will be further strengthened after the upcoming visit of US President Joe Biden on September 10-11.

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership. This is also a period showing the strong cooperation between the two countries, since the normalization of relations (1995) to the present. Following the development of relations and cooperation between the two countries in recent years, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Manh Ha, former Director of the Institute of Party History, said he believes in the upgrade of Vietnam-US relations under President Joe Biden. In a conversation with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Ha emphasized the significance of US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to Vietnam, as well as the achievements both sides have achieved in the past 10 years.

President Biden wants to demonstrate commitment to Vietnam

First of all, how do you assess the significance of US President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam on September 10-11? - US President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam has just been announced and we do not yet know the specific content of the work. But this is the 5th time that US Presidents have visited Vietnam while in office, since 2000. I think that proves that Vietnam's position from the US perspective is increasing and important in the region, not only economically but also in all other areas. Obviously, this is one of the priorities in US foreign policy.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Manh Ha, former Director of the Institute of Party History (Photo: VOV).

If counting from 1995, the year the two sides established diplomatic relations, it has been nearly 30 years. 2023 also marks the 10th anniversary of Vietnam - US upgrading their comprehensive partnership. Not only from Vietnam, but also from the US side, it must be affirmed that the relationship between the two countries has never developed as it is today. This is also very special, because the two sides have differences in political institutions, but the US President still welcomed the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. This difference shows that the US attaches great importance to the relationship with Vietnam. Many times, both Vietnamese and US leaders have talked about respecting the choice of regime, political institution, and development path of each country. Regarding President Joe Biden's visit, I know that he will attend the G20 summit in India and will fly to Vietnam immediately afterwards, instead of attending the US - ASEAN summit and the East Asia Summit. After that, he will return to the US to attend the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001 event. Obviously, although the specific content of the discussion between the US and Vietnam during the upcoming visit is not yet known, at least Mr. Biden wants to respond to the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. He also wants to demonstrate his commitment to building a stable, long-term and comprehensive relationship with Vietnam.

Factors promoting the development of Vietnam - US relations

President Biden's visit will take place in 2023, marking the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership upgrade. Over the past 10 years, how do you assess the achievements of cooperation between the two countries? - According to the data I have, since the US and Vietnam established diplomatic relations, the US has been Vietnam's largest export market. In 2022, bilateral trade reached nearly 124 billion USD. On the contrary, Vietnam is also among the countries with a large trade proportion with the US. The above figures show that Vietnam plays an important role in US trade, while this is a demanding market with high requirements for imported goods.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong shakes hands with then US Vice President Joe Biden during his visit to the US in 2015 (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

In addition to the economy, the trust between Vietnam and the US has also gradually increased through cooperation activities in searching for missing soldiers and cleaning up dioxin-contaminated land. Recently, the US has also paid attention to the cooperation in searching for Vietnamese soldiers missing in the war. The US has proactively developed a project and signed an agreement in Vietnam to coordinate the search. In other humanitarian activities or non-traditional security, the US has also made great contributions. Especially in military cooperation. 2016 marked the event when US President Barack Obama signed to lift the ban on selling lethal weapons to Vietnam. This is important, helping Vietnam diversify its sources of weapons procurement. Recently, we have also witnessed many visits by US aircraft carriers and warships to Vietnam. The US has also shown its commitment to building the East Sea - Asia Pacific region as a free and open region, in which it has conducted patrols to maintain freedom, security and navigation in the East Sea. In terms of educational cooperation, Vietnam ranks 5-6th among countries with the most students studying in the US, with about 30,000 people. Mentioning some of these areas shows that the Vietnam-US relationship has developed very quickly. In the past, the two sides were former enemies, but then agreed that it was necessary to put the past behind them to build a better relationship. When I participated in business trips to the US, through contacts, the US side also recognized that the history of the relationship between the two countries had gone through a very tragic chapter. But history cannot be changed. Therefore, the way to correct mistakes is to learn lessons from history to understand each other, thereby building trust with each other, cooperating, developing, and benefiting each other. In short, I think that the Vietnam-US relationship has developed in many fields, quite comprehensively and there are new fields such as climate change, digital transformation, green transformation, food security, supply chains, etc. The visits of US Presidents to Vietnam are evidence of the continuation of those cooperative relationships. As you said, the relationship between Vietnam and the US is developing more strongly than ever. In your opinion, what factors promote that development? - I think it is primarily due to the will of both sides, in which the important basis is Vietnam's foreign policy. Since 1986, Vietnam has determined that it cannot continue to be besieged and embargoed, but must open up and integrate to develop, while still maintaining its identity and independence. In addition, Vietnam also implements a foreign policy of diversifying and multilateralizing international relations, on the basis of mutual benefit, equality, and respect for each other's independence and sovereignty, not a "give-take-all" relationship. That is the basis for long-term cooperation.

During his visit to Vietnam in May 2016, US President Barack Obama gave a speech to young Vietnamese "leaders". (Photo: Cong Quang)

Second, it comes from building trust. The two sides have clearly stated each other's views on the development regime. The US has repeatedly affirmed its respect for Vietnam's policies and its readiness to cooperate for mutual development. In the Joint Statement on the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013 between Vietnam and the US, the basic principles in the relationship between the two countries were identified as follows: Respect for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; Respect for each other's political regime; Respect for international law and the United Nations Charter. The US has declared its commitment to supporting a prosperous, independent, and strong Vietnam. This is very important.

Expectations for President Joe Biden's visit

Under President Joe Biden, how do you think the Vietnam-US relationship will develop? - I think we have reason to be optimistic. President Joe Biden has a lot of experience in foreign affairs, having served for many years as a Senator, then Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Vice President under President Barack Obama. He has a fairly moderate viewpoint, advocating dialogue and cooperation rather than confrontation. With his experience in politics and his role as the leader of the United States, President Joe Biden clearly understands the need to promote diplomatic relations, promote Vietnam's role in the region, in addition to continuing to diversify relations with South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, etc.

Late last June, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) - the flagship of the US Navy's Carrier Strike Group 5 (CSG 5) - arrived in Da Nang (Photo: Tien Tuan).

Of course, besides the advantages, there are still difficulties and challenges that need to be overcome to promote the development of bilateral relations. Those difficulties come from the differences between the two countries in terms of institutions and policies. I think that the two sides need to follow the motto "seeking similarities while preserving differences". That is, aiming for similarities, striving to increasingly reach a common understanding, accepting existing differences to gradually resolve them. Continuing to implement the motto "responding to all changes with the unchanging", determining that independence and sovereignty are paramount and unchanging, while other fields and aspects will be flexible to negotiate and respond. Above, you mentioned the numbers as the results of economic cooperation between the two countries. Recently, we have also witnessed an unprecedented increase in Vietnam's investment in the US. In your opinion, what does this show? - Vietnam's increased investment in the US shows that Vietnam is increasingly integrating deeply into the global economy, including the US economy. Recently, we have witnessed a wave of investment by Vietnamese enterprises in the US, some of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This is not simple at all because the US has very high and strict regulations and standards on this issue for listed enterprises. In addition, the participation of Vietnamese private economic groups in the large international market demonstrates Vietnam's policy of creating conditions and encouraging the private economy and other economic sectors to develop together, not just focusing on state-owned enterprises. Along with that, it is worth noting that the supply chain for chip and electronic microcircuit production is shifting to Vietnam. Accordingly, the US considers Vietnam a place to supply and participate in the supply chain when we have a lot of potential in this field. These are the results of mutually beneficial cooperation that are very commendable. In addition to the economy, the US has also made efforts to overcome the consequences of the war, such as carrying out dioxin cleanup campaigns at Da Nang and Bien Hoa airports, and providing material and technical support to clear bombs and mines. On the contrary, the search for US soldiers missing in action (MIA) has been and is still being carried out by Vietnam, clearly demonstrating Vietnam's humanity without any conditions. While the number of US soldiers missing is currently less than 2,000, the number in Vietnam is more than 200,000. The US has the responsibility to contribute to this with Vietnam through the Project to coordinate with Vietnam to search for missing Vietnamese soldiers implemented by Harvard University. I understand that the US currently retains quite a lot of documents related to the search for missing Vietnamese soldiers in the war. After the above cooperation achievements, what do you expect from President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to Vietnam? - I think that Mr. Biden's visit to Vietnam has specific goals and the two sides may consider agreements aimed at upgrading the relationship. Because the Vietnam-US relationship is on the upward track, despite resistance, the main trend is still moving forward. With the comprehensive partnership established, the two sides will sit down to summarize what has been achieved and what has not been achieved, to consider the next step of promoting the relationship in a mutually beneficial direction. In the context of the increasingly complicated international situation, especially with disputes at sea, President Joe Biden's visit during this period once again shows the US administration's interest in relations with Vietnam. I believe that in the upcoming visit, the two sides will reach an agreement to upgrade the comprehensive cooperation relationship in all areas, not just the economy. This will help the cooperative relationship between the two sides develop, the interests of the people are guaranteed, contributing to the stability of peace in the region as well as the world. Thank you for the exchange!

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