US, Vietnam ink historic partnership in Biden visit

Bangkok Post

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday (September 10) secured deals with Vietnam on semiconductors and minerals as the strategic Southeast Asian nation lifted Washington to Hanoi's highest diplomatic status alongside China and Russia. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00 In a visit to Vietnam on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden secured deals on semiconductors

00:06 and minerals as the strategic Southeast Asian nation promoted Washington to Hanoi's top-tier

00:12 diplomatic status alongside China and Russia.

00:16 The U.S. has been pushing for the upgrade for months with the strategic nation in the

00:20 contested Indo-Pacific region.

00:22 "Today we can trace a 50-year arc of progress in the relationship between our nations from

00:29 conflict to normalization."

00:31 Biden praised the upgrade at a news conference, noting the "dramatic change from a half-century

00:35 ago when American soldiers fought a brutal war in the country."

00:40 Biden arrived in Hanoi to a ceremony organized by the ruling Communist Party that included

00:45 schoolchildren waving American flags and honor guards carrying bayoneted rifles.

00:49 The focus of the visit includes another power to the north, China.

00:54 The upgrade in trade ties could help strengthen American access to Vietnamese exports of semiconductors,

00:59 and rare earth minerals, strengthening a supply chain that has proven vulnerable to changes

01:04 in China's output and trade policy.

01:06 Asked about Beijing, Biden said he wasn't interested in containing China, but emphasized

01:11 that stability required playing by the rules.

01:14 "China is beginning to change some of the rules of the game in terms of trade and other

01:21 issues."

01:22 Biden did not specify which rules he meant.

01:25 His visit and the deals brokered aren't the end of this story.

01:29 Officials and diplomats said top Chinese officials, possibly including President Xi Jinping, are

01:35 expected to visit Vietnam in the coming days or weeks.

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