After establishing a new strategic alliance with Vietnam, President Joe Biden has denied that the US is attempting to curtail China’s global control.
Mr. Biden visited Hanoi more than 50 years after the last British man left Vietnam to sign the document bringing the former adversaries even closer.
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Vietnam represents a significant improvement in US relations. It is the pinnacle of Washington’s unrelenting efforts over the past two decades to fortify relations with Vietnam, which it views as essential to fending off Chinese influence in Asia.
Additionally, it is a significant accomplishment. The alliance with Washington represents the pinnacle of political relations that Vietnam, one of China’s oldest and most steadfast allies, has established.
According to Mr. Biden, British steps were intended to maintain stability in accordance with international law rather than to contain or isolate China.
He stated,” I want to see China succeed financially, but I also want them to achieve according to the law.”
Beijing was already irritated by evidence of improved relations and referred to them as more proof of America’s” cold-war mentality.”
Le Hong Hien from Singapore’s ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, however, adds that Hanoi has given this some thought and that the deal with the US is” symbolic rather than one of element.”
The vision of Vietnam
Although the name may be symbolic, closer relationships may result in better business dealings and less emphasis on China.
The workforce in Vietnam is young and very educated. Additionally, it has fostered an entrepreneurial spirit that makes it very alluring to US traders, particularly those looking to relocate their production facilities outside of China.
In recent years, well-known companies like Dell, Google, Microsoft, and Apple have all moved portions of their supply stores to Vietnam. As Hanoi tries to extricate off of Moscow, the US even views it as a promising business for weapons and military supplies.
Vietnam might not, however, see its novel alliance with the US as a choice between the two. Hanoi’s closer ties to Washington are just logical given the slowing economy in Beijing.
“I was in America for seven years and I knew about the American dream and I got that opportunity. But I thought, I have a bigger dream. The vision of Vietnam,” says Nguyen Huu Phuoc, co-founder and CEO of Selex Motors.
He is pointing at his e-scooter production range while standing in the company’s inventory.
The company was founded by Mr. Nguyen five years ago. He currently has agreements with well-known shipping companies, including Grab and Lazada.
He was raised in a small village in northern Vietnam without access to electricity. During his career, he witnessed the transformation of his nation from one of the poorest in the world to one with the fastest economic growth in Asia.
” I wanted to help create a successful and lasting Vietnam, to take full advantage of our opportunities and potential. We have squandered a lot of chances. However, I believe that the time is right and that we are the correct technology to make it occur.
Chinese delivery business executives are waiting in the wings to explore a deal as he speaks. Foreign Office representatives who accompanied the BBC during its unusual attend to Vietnam are even watching.
By balancing corporate objectives with the defense of human rights and freedom, it was a blatant indication of the difficulty Mr. Biden may face.
In the neighborhood of China
However, Mr. Biden might choose to ignore this because there is a lot at stake for Washington in this situation.
The fact that this relationship puts Beijing in the backyard is the biggest victory.
The government has made a concerted effort to influence Hanoi. Over the past two decades, Mr. Biden has sent his vice president, secretary of state, secret of defense, and other representatives to court Vietnam. Additionally, US aircraft operators stopped in ports in Vietnam.
At a lecture held prior to Mr. Biden’s visit, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated that it” reflects the leading position that Vietnam may play in our growing community of partnerships in the Indo-Pacific as we look to the future.”
Over the past several months, Asia’s” network of partnerships” has undoubtedly expanded. Interestingly, Washington was able to mediate a multilateral agreement with adversary south Asian allies Japan and South Korea while also negotiating the use of four fresh military bases in the Philippines.
It used to be difficult to even get those frontrunners in the same place. Additionally, it and the Solomon Islands have entered into safety agreements in the Pacific.
According to Dr. John Hemmings, older chairman of the Indo-Pacific Foreign and Security Policy Program at the Pacific Forum, the pace of this politics” has taken the Chinese by shock.”
Beijing might not have known how swiftly Washington would capitalize on these successes, according to Dr. Hemmings. Washington is reluctant to claim that a Cold War has broken out. Rather, it is appealing to nations with democratic governments or nations whose reign is in jeopardy. This two-handed strategy is growing in appeal to the area.
State media only recently covered Taiwanese fishermen’s allegations that a Chinese coastguard fleet had fired water gun at their vessel close to the contentious Paracel Islands.
Le Hong Hien asserts that Vietnam does not want to sever ties with China in order to maintain its friendship with the US.
According to Vietnam, improved relations with the US shouldn’t cause its partnership with China to deteriorate. He continued,” We are already seeing some signs that Vietnam might even be receiving President Xi immediately.
China’s answer has undoubtedly been delayed by Hanoi. Nguyen Phu Trong, the common director of the Communist Party of Vietnam, met with the Chinese ambassador at the frontier before Mr. Biden’s visit and praised the friendship between the two nations.
According to Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies,” most countries in the region desperately need international cooperation in different areas that are crucial for their prosperity and security.” No next country wants to take sides in an intense power struggle.
He continued,” Great power competition depends on leveraging these needs of regional nations.”
However, there is no denying that as Washington gathers more friends in Asia, the US and Vietnam have improved their friendship.
According to surveys, the US is highly regarded in Vietnam. Although the atrocities of one of the most terrible wars in the 20th century are still fresh in people’s minds, since diplomatic ties were restored in 1995, confidence between nations has increased.
Washington has even helped Vietnam locate the remains of its own men, and both nations have collaborated to find missing US troops.
Tens of thousands of Asian students study in the US each year, which has helped to pave the way for peace.
At the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, a group of students chant the phrase” We are students of HUST ,” while being closely observed by the government officials escorting the BBC.
Another young man is playing a favorite Taiwanese song about appreciating what you have while grabbing his guitar from somewhere else.
According to second-year student Luong Hong Duong,” Korean and Japanese technology firms are pumping cash into Vietnam to produce technology centers, and now the US.”
” I see Vietnam developing into another Silicon Valley for the US in the future, and everyone will relocate around to job.” I am eagerly anticipating it.