US President Joe Biden praised the stronger relationship between the United States and Vietnam on Sunday. They agreed to work together more closely, especially on semiconductors, but President Biden emphasized that their goal is not to limit or control China.
The United States and Vietnam have become very close partners. This is part of the United States’ effort to make more friends in Asia and the Pacific, especially because China is becoming more powerful. President Biden believes that China is trying to change the way things work in the world, especially in trade.
The United States has been working hard to build strong relationships with other countries in Asia. They have groups like the Quad with India, Australia, and Japan, and agreements like AUKUS with Britain and Australia. President Biden wants to make sure that everyone knows the rules for how they interact with China.
President Biden just came from a meeting with other important leaders in the G20, where they couldn’t agree on stopping the use of fossil fuels and had big disagreements about Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
One of the things they talked about was semiconductors, which are important for many electronic devices. The United States promised to help Vietnam get better at making semiconductors. They also talked about rare earth minerals, which are needed for things like smartphones and electric car batteries. Vietnam has a lot of these minerals, and this can help them make their supply chains stronger.
President Biden recently made a decision to limit how much the United States invests in certain types of technology from China, like semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
President Biden met with an important leader from Vietnam and said that this partnership is just the beginning of even better cooperation. He thinks that Vietnam and the United States are very important partners, especially right now.
This agreement puts the United States on the same level as China, Russia, India, and South Korea when it comes to how important they are to Vietnam.
The leader of Vietnam thanked President Biden for helping make their relationship better. He promised to work hard to make this new agreement happen.
Vietnam doesn’t want to take sides between the United States and China, but it does worry about China acting too boldly in the South China Sea.
There was a report that Vietnam was secretly trying to buy weapons from Russia, even though the United States said they shouldn’t. This report said Vietnam was planning to use a joint project in Siberia to pay for the weapons. We’ve asked the Vietnamese government for a response.
A person from the United States government said they understand that Vietnam has had a long relationship with Russia, especially in the military. But they also said that Vietnam seems to be getting a little uneasy about this, and this new partnership can help them work with the United States and its friends instead.
President Biden mentioned that he talked about human rights when he met with Trong. He promised to keep having open discussions about this topic.
Vietnam has a very poor track record when it comes to human rights. People who criticize the government often face threats, trouble, and unfair trials that lead to imprisonment. Human Rights Watch has reported instances of police using force to get confessions from people.
While President Biden has spoken up about China’s human rights issues, he hasn’t said much about Vietnam’s. Some worried he might not bring it up at all.
On Monday, President Biden visited a memorial in Hanoi for his friend John McCain. McCain was a US senator who was shot down and kept prisoner during the Vietnam War. In later years, he played a big role in rebuilding the relationship between the two countries.
SOURCE: FRANCE24