Ambassador tells behind-the-scenes stories of high-level visits between Vietnam and the US

The visits by Vietnamese and US leaders over the past 10 years are the result of a long preparation process, contributing to deepening the relationship between the two countries, according to the ambassadors.

Along with strong and substantial developments in all areas from security, economy to culture, Vietnam - US relations in recent years have also "changed" with historic high-level visits. President Truong Tan Sang's visit to the US in July 2013 was such an event, when the two countries decided to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership.

"At that time, the two countries had not yet reached an agreement on upgrading relations from the beginning, so the preparation work also had many complicated tasks to handle," Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US for the 2011-2014 term, told VnExpress .

On July 23, 2013, President Truong Tan Sang and a high-ranking delegation left Hanoi for a three-day official visit to the United States at the invitation of US President Barack Obama.

This is the second visit to the US by a Vietnamese head of state after 18 years of normalization of relations. The first visit was by President Nguyen Minh Triet in June 2007, during the term of President George W. Bush.

President Truong Tan Sang (left) and US President Barack Obama during his visit to the US in July 2013. Photo: AFP

While welcoming President Truong Tan Sang at the airport and accompanying him to several activities in Washington, Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong noticed that his legs were sore and he had difficulty getting in and out of the car. President Truong Tan Sang later told the ambassador that he had been captured and tortured during the war.

Because he refused to confess, an American advisor lost his temper and kicked his leg, breaking it. For decades after the war, his leg always ached whenever the weather changed.

"I was silent and then shared the story with an advisor to President Obama. I also added that among Vietnamese leaders, many had fought in the war and were injured by war like Mr. Truong Tan Sang. Some even still had American bullet fragments stuck in their bodies, some had lost their wives, children or relatives in the war. Therefore, the Vietnamese leaders' agreement to put the past behind them, overcome disagreements to move towards the future, and upgrade relations with the US is truly a historic opportunity," said Mr. Cuong.

President Obama's advisor agreed with Ambassador Cuong and asked if he could report this detail to the head of the White House. "I said it was up to him to decide. Through this story, the US leader will also understand more clearly the vision and determination of our leaders, as well as the tradition of tolerance and forgiveness of the Vietnamese people," the ambassador said.

When Vietnam and the US reached an internal consensus and decided to upgrade their relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership, the US side suggested that both sides jointly issue a press release of no more than one page about this milestone after the meeting between President Obama and President Truong Tan Sang.

However, Vietnam believes that the visit of President Truong Tan Sang and the upgrading of relations are important events, so the two sides need to issue a joint statement clearly stating the principles and content of the comprehensive partnership.

"Vietnam proactively gave the US a draft joint statement. After discussion, the two sides agreed to issue a joint statement of about 3-4 pages with basic content as requested by Vietnam," Mr. Cuong said.

In the Joint Statement establishing the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries, for the first time the two sides clearly defined the principles of the relationship as respecting each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions.

US Presidents since Obama have repeatedly reaffirmed America's policy of supporting a "strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous" Vietnam.

Two years after President Truong Tan Sang's visit, Vietnam-US relations witnessed another historic milestone when General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited the US.

"This is the first visit by a General Secretary to the US," emphasized Mr. Pham Quang Vinh, Vietnamese ambassador to the US from late 2014 to mid-2018.

Mr. Vinh said the invitation for the General Secretary to visit the US was made when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Vietnam in 2012. However, due to differences in political institutions between the two sides with many issues to discuss, this special visit did not take place until 2015.

"2015 is the 20th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries. Such a visit is both practical and extremely important symbolically for the two countries," said Mr. Vinh.

In mid-February 2015, US Secretary of State John Kerry had a phone call with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. In addition to the usual exchanges, Mr. Kerry, on behalf of the Obama administration, sent an invitation to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to visit the US, according to Mr. Vinh.

The ambassador said that the US side had announced the visit in early May, in which the two sides agreed that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong would meet President Obama at the White House on July 7. "This is probably one of the earliest announcements of a visit," said Mr. Vinh.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong met with US President Barack Obama at the White House on July 7, 2015. Photo: VNA

According to the original plan, President Obama would receive General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in the Oval Office and the two leaders would talk for 60 minutes, including 15 minutes for a press conference. However, the actual talk lasted nearly 90 minutes, of which the two sides talked for about 75 minutes. That shows that the exchange covered "many interesting issues".

The vision statement after the meeting called this a "historic visit" by the General Secretary in his capacity as head of the Communist Party of Vietnam. "This is highly symbolic and shows respect for the political system, as well as demonstrating that the relationship between the two countries is also historic," Vinh said.

Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh’s tenure also witnessed two visits to Vietnam by two US presidents. In May 2016, President Obama paid an official visit to Vietnam, held talks with top leaders, and discussed issues of mutual concern to both countries.

"The visit not only emphasizes the Comprehensive Partnership, but also affirms that the US highly values ​​Vietnam's geostrategic role and contributions to Asia and the Asia-Pacific region," said Mr. Vinh. In addition, President Obama also decided to lift the arms embargo on Vietnam, "removing one of the last barriers or consequences of the embargo period."

Half a year later, Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election in November 2016 surprised both the United States and the world. Many countries in and outside the region, including ASEAN, wanted to see how the US President, with his "America First" stance, would change cooperative relations with other countries.

This is also an issue that Vietnam is particularly concerned about, as its relationship with the US is only at the partnership level, according to Mr. Vinh. In mid-December 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had an "open and sincere" phone call with the US President-elect. This event also created momentum for the Vietnamese Prime Minister's visit to Washington in May 2017, becoming the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the US during Mr. Trump's term.

"That effort has helped the Vietnam-US relationship not be disrupted and continue to develop," said Mr. Vinh.

In the first year of his term, President Donald Trump went to Da Nang to attend the APEC summit week and paid a state visit to Vietnam in early November 2017.

Ceremony to welcome US President Donald Trump at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on November 12, 2017. Photo: Giang Huy

Speaking during his visit to Hanoi, Mr. Trump emphasized that "over the past two decades, our two countries have come together, defining common goals, based on common interests. That important bond is what we, here, today, reaffirm."

Assessing the Vietnam-US relationship in 10 years of Comprehensive Partnership, Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh affirmed that this is "the strongest and most substantial development period in all fields", while Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong said that the relationship between the two countries has become deeper with changes "in both quality and quantity" .

Vnexpress.net