US tweaked leaders' foreign schedules for Biden visit: Vietnam deputy foreign minister

"President Joe Biden had invited General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to visit the U.S., but since conditions did not allow it, the general secretary has not been able to make that visit, and sent a letter inviting President Biden to visit Vietnam," he told a press conference in Hanoi on Thursday.

For the visit to take place, the U.S. had made "unprecedented" moves, adjusting the schedules of both its president and vice president, he said.

Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc. Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs

"The U.S. president sent the vice president to attend the East Asia Summit in Indonesia in his place and he himself had to shorten his agenda at the G20 summit in India to make a visit to Vietnam."

Biden's visit to Vietnam finally took place as planned and was "a great success," Ngoc said.

During his 24 hours in Vietnam on September 10 and 11 Biden met with all four key leaders, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

He demonstrated the U.S.'s respect for Vietnam's political institutions and leadership, not only in the Joint Leaders' Statement, but also practically, Ngoc said.

After their talks on September 10 Trong and Biden issued a joint statement on establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Joe Biden speak with the press after their meeting in Hanoi, September 10, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

The negotiations to draft the statement were "vibrant, exciting and somewhat dramatic," because it involved a review of 10 years of their Comprehensive Partnership and identifying suitable directions for cooperation in future, Ngoc said.

"Both sides showed a spirit of moving forward, understanding, and respecting each other.

"The eight-page joint statement includes 10 pillars of cooperation, covers all areas, and contains many expectations and sentiments the two sides wanted to express."

Upgrading relations creates immediate and long-term benefits for both sides since Vietnam has favorable conditions to add substance, depth and effectiveness to its relations with the U.S., while the U.S. could strengthen relations with Vietnam, an important partner in the region, as well as with ASEAN, the deputy foreign minister said.

"This will be an important foundation for the relationship between the two countries for many years to come, while strengthening the trust of both U.S. parties with Vietnam, making the foreign policies of the two countries stable, sustainable and predictable."

Besides high-level visits and people-to-people exchanges, Vietnam-U.S. relations would also focus on cooperation in economics, trade and investment, science and technology, infrastructure development, and human resource training, officials said during Biden's visit.

The two sides would also cooperate in other areas such as mitigating the consequences of the Vietnam War, education and training, global issues such as participating in peacekeeping forces, responding to climate change, especially in the Mekong Delta, energy security, food, water resources, healthcare, and anti-terrorism.

"For the first time Vietnam has a strategic partnership with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S.), which creates a framework for stable, long-term development with important partners and strengthens the country's foreign policy position."