The president of the United States, Joe Biden, closed agreements with Vietnam on semiconductors and minerals on Sunday, with which the strategic Southeast Asian nation elevated Washington’s diplomatic status to the level of China and Russia.
The United States had been pushing for a better status for months, as it considers Vietnam a key country in its strategy to protect global supply chains from risks related to China.
Half a century after a long and brutal conflict during the Cold War, Biden arrived in Hanoi for a ceremony organized by the ruling Communist Party, featuring schoolchildren waving American flags and honor guards carrying bayonet rifles.
Biden highlighted the progress made in improving ties. “We can trace a 50-year arc of progress between our countries, from conflict to normalization to this new elevated status,” he said.
The partnership with Vietnam is part of the Biden administration’s effort to “demonstrate to our Indo-Pacific partners and the world that the United States is a Pacific nation and that we are not going anywhere,” Biden told reporters. after the meeting in Hanoi.
Vietnam is moving between the frosty relations of Washington and Beijing as it seeks its own foothold in the international competition to become a low-cost manufacturing hub.
Senior Chinese officials, possibly including President Xi Jinping, are expected to visit Vietnam in the coming days or weeks, according to officials and diplomats, as Hanoi seeks to maintain good relations with all superpowers.
Biden during the welcoming ceremony by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. Photo: Rueters.
Biden also said in Hanoi that he had discussed stability with Xi’s deputy at the G20.
Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, 79, commented on the 80-year-old American president’s appearance inside the party headquarters, saying: “He hasn’t aged a day and I would say he looks even better.” than before.”
