A strategic partnership with US would ‘help Vietnam improve its diplomatic position’ but analysts say Vietnam has long been nervous about provoking China.
Blinken’s trip is part of US efforts to upgrade diplomatic relations with Vietnam, which has been hesitant to formally upgrade ties over fears of alienating Beijing.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris said Washington wants a strategic partnership with Hanoi but even as Vietnam pushes back against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, experts say it’d be loathe to provoke its neighbour.
Ex-intelligence agent Pham Minh Chinh was a dark horse candidate to head the government, observers say, but they expect him to maintain good ties with Washington while not excessively alienating Beijing.
Robert O’Brien is expected to meet Vietnam’s PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and national security officials in the Philippines, as part of a move aimed at cementing Trump’s legacy of countering Beijing in Asia, analysts say.
American producers wrestling with the US-China trade war are being forced to offload meat and fruit at knockdown prices in countries such as Vietnam. Shoppers are delighted but local farmers are struggling to compete.
The country ranks ahead of Thailand and Indonesia in English proficiency, even though a government initiative to make all students learn the language has fallen short.
Trump’s trade war is boosting Vietnam by driving Chinese firms south, but the rising labour costs this has caused are a mixed blessing. What’s more, a greater Chinese presence could put Vietnam in Washington’s crosshairs.
From a navy captain bombing Hanoi to an esteemed friend of the country, the late senator mirrors America’s complex relationship with Vietnam. But there’s more to McCain’s appeal in Vietnam – he was years ahead of his peers in rooting for friendship.
Catholics make up just 7 per cent of Vietnam’s population, but play an outsize role in the nation’s underground dissident movement. In return, they say, churches are demolished, priests arrested and the religion smeared