FOREIGN AFFAIR
At the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, President of the United States Joe Biden paid a state visit to Vietnam from September 10-11, 2023.
On this occasion, the leaders of both countries issued a Joint Statement on upgrading the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and the USA to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development. This is a historic milestone in the Vietnam - U.S. relations. It is also a highly significant diplomatic event for our Party and State, which contributes to the effective implementation of our independent, self-reliant, multilateral, and diversified foreign policy line aiming at Vietnam’s endeavor to proactively and actively participate in comprehensive, deep, and effective international integration, maintain a peaceful and stable environment and continuously enhance Vietnam's international standing, in accordance with the Resolution of the 13th Party National Congress.
Results of the visit
President Joe Biden is the first U.S. President to have made a state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of our Party General Secretary; and he is also the first U.S. President to have had official meetings with all four key leaders of our Party and State during one visit. It included attending the welcome ceremony, holding talks, delivering a joint press statement with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and issuing an official Joint Statement to establish the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the United States for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development. He also had meetings and attended a state banquet hosted by Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong; the Vietnam - U.S. high-level Conference on Innovation and Investment with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; the meeting with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, and witnessed the Ceremony of Presenting War Artifacts between the two sides.
In addition, President Joe Biden visited and laid a wreath at the statue of Senator John McCain at Thanh Nien Street; and chaired a press conference with the U.S. and international media.
Key contents of high-level exchanges
The leaders of our Party and State, and President Biden affirmed their mutual assessment of the bilateral relationship. They reaffirmed the fundamental principles of the bilateral relationship, including respect for the United Nations Charter, international law, political systems, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity. They also reached a consensus on the directions and measures specified in the Joint Statement to establish the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
In the talks with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese key leaders, President Biden affirmed that Vietnam is a critical power in the world, and a bellwether in this vital region. He expressed admiration for General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the high-level Vietnamese leadership for leading our people in the right direction and gaining many domestic and foreign achievements over the past decades. He emphasized that the United States consistently supports a “strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous Vietnam”.
The history of Vietnam-US bilateral relations has gone over the past 50 years, from war to normalization of relationship, to establishing the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, and now upgrading it to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. President Biden expressed his admiration for President Ho Chi Minh's strategic vision for Vietnam - U.S. relations. He also much appreciated the role and contributions of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Vietnamese top-ranking leaders to the process of reconciliation, building trust, and promoting cooperation between the two countries.
President Biden expressed his happiness at the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations as the highest level in Vietnam’s partnership- ranking. It is commensurate with the reality of bilateral relations and the interests of both peoples. He emphasized that his visit took place at a historic moment, marking the beginning of a great era in US-Vietnam relations, contributing to establishing a framework for further deepening the two sides’ relations, which will contribute to peace, security, and prosperity in this pivotal region of the world, providing conditions for both countries to effectively respond to global challenges.
He requested Vietnamese top-ranking leaders to share Vietnam’s priorities in implementing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the United States in the time to come. From the U.S. perspective, both sides need to focus on promoting areas such as political-diplomatic relations, economic-trade relations, science-technology cooperation, people-to-people exchange, defense-security cooperation, climate change response, ensuring freedom of navigation and over-flight in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.
Regarding specific areas of cooperation, President Biden expressed a desire to maintain mutually beneficial economic-trade-investment cooperation. He appreciated both parties’ efforts in promoting scientific-technological development and emerging key industries, including semiconductor industry construction. He welcomed cooperation in education-training and investment in high-skilled labor development, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. President Biden expressed pride for the achievements that both sides have made in post-war cooperation effort, specifically mine clearance activities, addressing issues related to unexploded ordnance (UXO), Agent Orange/dioxin remediation efforts, assistance for people with disabilities, search and verification of missing U.S. servicemen's remains and Vietnamese soldiers who fell in war. It is considered as evidence of the resilience of the two peoples in rising up past wounds to cherish and nurture the present and future.
(To be continued...)