US-Vietnam relations deepen amid growing concerns over China's influence
AFP reported. After departing from the G20 summit in New Delhi, Biden is scheduled to hold a meeting with Nguyen Phu Trong, the leader of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party. During this visit, it is anticipated that they will formalize a "comprehensive strategic partnership," marking the highest level of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and Washington.
The underlying goal of the short visit will be much the same as during Biden's time at the G20 gathering -- to shore up support against China's increasing influence. For Vietnam, the upgrading of diplomatic ties is significant. It only has top-level ties with Russia, India, South Korea and China.
Although it will be careful to be seen as not taking sides between the United States and China, Vietnam shares American concerns about its neighbour's growing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea, AFP noted. The United States and Vietnam -- a key manufacturing hub -- also have increasingly close trade ties, and Washington sees Hanoi as an important partner as it looks to source less from China after supply chain shocks rocked the global economy in recent years. In Hanoi on Sunday, there will be a welcome ceremony, speeches by the two leaders and a press conference by the US president -- who on Tuesday awarded the top US military honour to a helicopter pilot who rescued four soldiers during the Vietnam War.
As reported by AFP, Biden will meet President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh the following day. Ahead of the 80-year-old US president's arrival, Hanoi's central Hoan Kiem Lake area, packed with families out for a weekend stroll, was adorned with American and Vietnamese flags. Nearby in the city's old quarter, a souvenir shop sold T-shirts with Biden's
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