Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), June 22 (EFE).- The US Deputy Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel J. Kritenbrink, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam in Hanoi just one day after that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to increase defense cooperation with Vietnam during a visit.
Kritenbrik, who arrived in Hanoi on Friday, then met with the country’s foreign minister, Bui Thanh, according to the official press, and it is expected that this Saturday he will continue his meetings with members of the Vietnamese communist leadership on what will be the last day. of your trip.
The visit of the American diplomat acquires relevance especially as it occurs a day after Putin was in Hanoi and signed a dozen agreements there, including energy, and committed to improving its defense cooperation with Vietnam, cushioning international isolation. from Moscow.
The trip to Vietnam by Putin, who had previously been in North Korea, with which he agreed on mutual military assistance in the event of an attack, was not liked by the United States, which last September, during a visit to the nation President Joe Biden’s Asia, elevated the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership.
In practice, the agreement seeks to boost semiconductor production in Vietnam, consolidated as a prominent regional manufacturing center and which some American companies see as an alternative production destination to China.
For Vietnam, both trips are another example of a foreign policy of balance between the great powers known as “bamboo diplomacy”, which illustrates how the Asian country does not choose sides, for its own benefit, also having strategic partnerships with China and Russia.
In that sense, the country has received Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping (last December), and Putin in less than a year.
Vietnam buys weapons from Russia, has China as its largest trading partner, and in turn receives help from the United States in its territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.
The White House security communications advisor, John Kirby, stated the day before at a press conference in Washington that Kritenbrink’s visit will show the US commitment to ensuring a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, according to a statement. disclosed on its website.
“I will let those involved speak for themselves about the details of the visit and what comes of it. But I think it is timely to remember that the US and President Biden elevated the bilateral relationship to historic levels, and that partnership reflects the strength of relationships.
“We are going to focus on continuing to deepen, expand and improve them for mutual benefit and that of the region,” he stressed. EFE
pav/rrt
