Vietnam to host Biden visit and elevate US links amid rising China assertiveness in South-East Asia | Brisbane Times (9/2/23)
The United States and Vietnam are poised to significantly enhance their economic and technological ties, bringing the former wartime foes closer at a time of increased Chinese assertiveness in South-East Asia.
The deal, expected to be announced when US President Joe Biden makes a state visit to Vietnam next weekend, is the latest step by his administration to deepen relations in Asia.
For Hanoi, the closer relationship with Washington serves as a counterweight to Beijing’s influence.
The establishment of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” will give the United States a diplomatic status that Vietnam has so far reserved for only a handful of other countries: China, Russia, India and South Korea. The deal was confirmed by a senior Biden administration official and two people in Hanoi familiar with the matter.
Tightening the American relationship shows Hanoi is willing to risk angering Beijing but sees the move toward Washington as necessary given how aggressively China is flexing its military muscle in the region, analysts said.
“If you have the United States on the same pedestal as China, that is saying a lot to Beijing, but also to the rest of the region and the world,” said Derek Grossman, a senior defence analyst at Rand Corporation and a former US intelligence officer.
“That’s saying the US-Vietnam relationship has come a long way since 1995”, when the two countries normalised relations.
The agreement, proposed by the Biden administration in recent months, flows from a US strategy to build economic and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific that can serve as a bulwark against Chinese economic and military coercion.
For Vietnam, it “serves both symbolic and substantive purposes”, said Le Hong Hiep, a senior fellow at the Singapore-based ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
The agreement is expected to lead to greater economic activity between the two countries, as the United States seeks to diversify its manufacturing supply chains away from China, and as Vietnam aspires to develop advanced technologies. American semiconductor firms have expressed “a willingness to support them in that ambition”, said a senior Biden administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the agreement has not yet been announced.
The United States is now the top destination for exports from Vietnam, which has made a dramatic economic transformation over the past two decades.
VinFast, the country’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer, is now selling its sleek SUVs in California and recently held an initial public offering of its stock on Nasdaq.
American companies have likewise shown a willingness to do business: Apple and Google suppliers have invested heavily in new factories in Vietnam, and a major announcement is expected from Boeing, which said earlier this year that it intends to expand its footprint in the country.
