Vietnam and the United States have elevated their ties to the highest diplomatic status during a visit to Hanoi by US President Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi
(Portal) The United States’ move to improve ties with Vietnam is not a Cold War move against China, a U.S. National Security Council official said Wednesday.
“The idea that this is somehow a Cold War move, and also the idea that this diplomatic opening is some kind of attempt to choose between Vietnam and China, because I don’t think it’s one of those things,” said Mira RappHooper, National Security Council Director for the IndoPacific, in a digital press conference.
On Sunday, Vietnam and the United States elevated their ties to the highest diplomatic status during a visit to Hanoi by US President Joe Biden.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning called on the US to “abandon Cold War hegemony and thinking” in response to the updated VietnamUS relations.
“We demand that when dealing with Asian countries, the United States respects the common aspirations of countries in the region for stability, cooperation and development and upholds the basic norms of international relations,” Ning said.
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RappHooper said the updated partnership with Vietnam is dynamic, open and inclusive and aims to support Vietnam and its technological, economic and development ambitions.
“This relationship is not about anyone else,” she said.
“This is about our two countries and the intrinsic value that this relationship has in terms of our shared prosperity, our shared security, our shared interests in a free and open IndoPacific, in a free and open South China Sea.”
The USA and China are Vietnam’s largest trading partners. Vietnam and China have been fighting for years over the potentially energyrich stretch of sea that Vietnam calls the East Sea.