PROMISING STABILITY AFTER PRESIDENT QUITS
He also told the US audience not to expect policy turbulence in Vietnam despite recent political upheaval.
The Communist Party last week announced that Vietnam’s president, Vo Van Thuong, had quit after barely a year on the job due to unspecified “violations and shortcomings”.
“Vietnam’s campaign for anti-corruption has been going on, and it is welcomed by the international community, including the businesses,” the foreign minister said in explaining the resignation.
He noted that Vietnam has “collective leadership”, with a party congress taking place every five years and a policy vision set out through 2045.
“The resignation of the president, I think, it would not affect our foreign policy as well as our own policies of economic development,” Bui said.
Despite the trauma of war between the two nations, the United States and Vietnam have sharply expanded cooperation since the re-establishment of relations 30 years ago.
Vietnam has historic tensions with China including disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing has increasingly exerted claims against Hanoi, the Philippines and others.
Bui said Vietnam was committed to relations with both the United States and China, which over the past year have expanded dialogue to ease once-soaring tensions.
“We believe that competition among major powers is natural, but conflict is not inevitable,” Bui said.
“In this connection, Vietnam welcomes the ongoing efforts to stabilise relations between the United States and China.”