![]() In the end, only Vietnam can ensure that bilateral ties preclude trouble.įrom Hanoi’s perspective, raising U.S.-Vietnamese ties to strategic partnership level may simply be asking for trouble. Although foreign partnerships are certainly important to help Vietnam balance against China, the Vietnamese are mindful of an ancient Chinese saying: “Distant water will not quench the fire nearby.” In other words, Vietnam cannot count on faraway partners to help manage problems with China. In its long history, Vietnam has been invaded multiple times by its much larger northern neighbor-most recently in 1979-and is highly reluctant to unnecessarily antagonize Beijing. Of course, the most important obstacle to a more formalized U.S.-Vietnamese alignment is Beijing’s likely reaction. attempts to leverage Vietnam against China not only have limits, but are futile over the long-term. But if Hanoi forgoes strategic partnership status with Washington, it would validate Beijing’s view that Vietnam remains firmly ensconced in China’s geostrategic orbit-and that U.S. Of course, deepening U.S.-Vietnamese ties does not fundamentally depend on any official diplomatic status. There are good reasons why Vietnam has been delaying the upgrade for so long-and why it may ultimately decide that elevating to a strategic partnership simply isn’t worth it. There, Blinken told reporters “Our conviction is that can and will grow even stronger … in the weeks and months ahead.” Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in turn, said Hanoi sought to take the relationship “to a new height.” Speculation is now rife in Washington that the stage is set for the two countries to finally establish formal strategic partnership status, maybe at the White House during Trong’s possible visit this July.īut the Biden administration would be wise to manage expectations for now. Secretary of State Antony Blinken soon followed. ![]() ![]() While little was revealed about the content of the call, a trip to Hanoi by U.S. President Joe Biden held his first call as president with his Vietnamese counterpart, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. In late March this year, the United States may finally have achieved a breakthrough. In the administration’s 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, Vietnam also made the prominent list of “leading regional partners,” on par with India, New Zealand, Taiwan, and other critical countries. ally in Southeast Asia, stating that both countries would help “to advance shared objectives” in the Indo-Pacific. In its 2021 Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the Biden administration mentioned Vietnam alongside Singapore, a de facto U.S. Both countries want to prevent China from dominating the Indo-Pacific and both have a strong interest in upholding the rules-based international order. The Biden administration-like at least two administrations before it-is convinced that U.S.-Vietnamese ties should be intensified, precisely because both countries share long-term strategic interests. The United States has been left wondering why. Instead, Washington and Hanoi announced a comprehensive partnership in 2013-a relationship that implies a less serious geopolitical alignment for Vietnam. ![]() Vietnamese officials, however, never followed up on Phung’s newsworthy announcement. But from what we know about Vietnamese diplomacy, Hanoi’s definition of strategic partnership is not just boilerplate, but signifies concrete, mutual, long-term strategic interests. During a ceremony held in Washington to commemorate the Lunar New Year in 2011, then-Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Le Cong Phung surprised the audience by announcing that the two countries would raise their ties to the level of “strategic partnership.” Phrases descripting partnerships can be nebulous, of course.
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