US, Vietnam upgrade ties as Biden visits in hedge against China
World
US, Vietnam upgrade ties as Biden visits in hedge against China
HANOI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden secured deals with Vietnam on semiconductors and minerals as the strategic Southeast Asian nation elevated Washington to its highest diplomatic status alongside China and Russia.
The U.S. has been pushing for the upgrade for months as it sees the manufacturing dynamo as a key country in its strategy to secure global supply chains from China-related risks.
A half-century after a lengthy and brutal Cold War-era conflict, Biden arrived in Hanoi to a ceremony organised by the ruling Communist Party that included school children waving American flags and honour guards carrying bayoneted rifles.
Biden noted the strides that had been taken toward improved ties.
"We can trace a 50-year arc of progress between our nations, from conflict to normalization, to this new elevated status," he said.
Vietnam is having to navigate frosty relations between Washington and Beijing as it seeks its own foothold in the international economic competition.
Top Chinese officials, possibly including President Xi Jinping, are expected to visit Vietnam in the coming days or weeks, officials and diplomats said, as Hanoi seeks to maintain good relations with all super powers.
It also comes as Vietnam's longstanding relationship with Russia faces tests over the war in Ukraine, including talks with Russia over a new arms supply deal that could trigger U.S. sanctions.
Reuters has seen documents describing talks for a credit facility that Russia would extend to Vietnam to buy heavy weaponry, including anti-ship missiles, antisubmarine aircraft and helicopters, antiaircraft missile systems and fighter jets.
One of them, a letter sent in May by Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the Russian government, showed interest in the possible new deal.
A Vietnamese military officer confirmed the authenticity of the letter and the talks for a new $8 billion credit facility to buy heavy weaponry.
A spokesperson for Vietnam's foreign ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the documents, which show Moscow pushing for months for a loan deal that would bypass Western sanctions on Moscow.
Hanoi is in similar talks with multiple arms suppliers including the United States. In recent weeks, Vietnam has engaged in several high-level defence meetings with top Russian officials.
The upgrade will include a security dimension, Jon Finer, the U.S. principal deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Sunday, while on the plane with Biden to Vietnam from a Group of 20 summit in India.
