Vietnam - US establish Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Vietnam and the United States established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace , cooperation and sustainable development, following talks between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Biden.

The decision to upgrade Vietnam-US relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was stated in a statement by the Central Foreign Affairs Commission on September 10.

Below is the full text of the announcement from the Central Foreign Affairs Commission:

On the afternoon of September 10, 2023, right after the official welcoming ceremony, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with US President Joe Biden and the high-ranking US delegation on a state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed and highly appreciated President Biden's visit to Vietnam, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries. The visit is of special significance, as it is an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to discuss bilateral relations and international issues for the benefit of the people of the two countries, contributing to peace, cooperation and sustainable development in the region and the world . The General Secretary recalled the good memories of the sincere exchange with Mr. Biden when the General Secretary visited the US in July 2015, highly appreciated the exchanges between the two leaders in the past time, and thanked President Biden for sending a letter inviting the General Secretary to visit the US again in June.

*General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with US President Joe Biden at the Party Central Committee Office on the afternoon of September 10. Photo: Giang Huy*

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong discussed Vietnam's achievements over nearly 40 years of comprehensive renovation towards the goals of "prosperous people, strong country, democracy, equality and civilization" in the main directions of economic development, social progress and equality, promoting the building of a socialist rule-of-law state and proactively and actively integrating into the world. The General Secretary congratulated the US on its important socio-economic achievements under the leadership of President Biden and its contributions to promoting global cooperation to address major challenges such as healthcare, environmental protection, climate change response and food security.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong stated that Vietnam's consistent foreign policy is independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralization of foreign relations; proactive and active international integration comprehensively and extensively; Vietnam is a friend, a reliable partner and an active, responsible member of the international community. Vietnam implements the "four no's" defense policy. Regarding complicated situations and international conflicts, Vietnam hopes that the parties will dialogue and resolve them peacefully on the basis of respecting the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter.

Vietnam highly appreciates the US's stance in support of Vietnam and ASEAN's stance on the East Sea issue. It requests that the US continue to support and actively contribute to peace, security, cooperation, ensuring freedom of navigation and aviation and the legitimate and legal interests of countries in the East Sea, not using or threatening to use force, not taking actions contrary to international law that further complicate the situation, resolving disputes by peaceful means, implementing the DOC, and soon signing an effective and efficient COC in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong recalled that Vietnam cooperated with the US to fight fascism during World War II. President Ho Chi Minh quoted a part of the US Declaration of Independence in the opening of Vietnam's Declaration of Independence and sent a letter to the US Government proposing to establish full relations with the US. However, the relationship between the two countries has experienced many ups and downs, especially the longest and fiercest war in the 20th century after World War II. Vietnam is pleased to see that since the two countries normalized relations in 1995, especially after establishing a Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, the relationship has developed strongly, deeply, substantially and effectively.

On the above important grounds, for the benefit of the people of the two countries and the desire to enhance cooperation towards the goals of peace, cooperation and sustainable development in the new context, Vietnam welcomes the establishment of a new level of relations between the two countries as a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Biden agreed that past experience has shown that the most important factors for the development of Vietnam-US relations are full respect for the basic principles guiding bilateral relations, including respect for the United Nations Charter, international law, and each other's political institutions, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The General Secretary emphasized that mutual understanding of each other's circumstances, respect for each other's legitimate interests, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs are always important. The specific motto for the development of Vietnam-US relations is "putting aside the past, overcoming differences, promoting similarities, and looking toward the future". Vietnam highly appreciates and values the US's affirmation of supporting a "strong, independent, self-reliant, and prosperous" Vietnam.

The General Secretary highly appreciated the contents agreed upon by the leaders of the two countries on the Joint Statement on Elevating the Vietnam-US Relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace, Cooperation and Sustainable Development. Accordingly, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized a number of major directions to promote the Vietnam-US relationship. These include continuing to enhance mutual understanding, implementing guiding principles, creating long-term stability, meetings, high-level cooperation, between sectors and levels, and people-to-people exchanges. The General Secretary welcomed the strong promotion of economic-trade-investment cooperation and inclusive economic growth towards innovation, which continues to be the core foundation and driving force for the bilateral relationship, and the two sides' agreement to create breakthroughs in cooperation in science and technology.

President Joe Biden expressed his pleasure to visit Vietnam, thanked the President and his delegation for their warm welcome, and was pleased to meet General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong again. The President emphasized that the visit has historic significance not only for the bilateral relationship but also for the Indo-Pacific region and the world, and expressed the US's stance on supporting an open, stable, secure, connected, and prosperous region.

President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of Vietnam's role and position in the region, highly appreciating Vietnam's active role on many regional and global issues, including the issue of responding to climate change. The President affirmed his support for ASEAN's central role and his desire to cooperate with Vietnam to contribute to ASEAN's solidarity and prosperity. The President emphasized that the East Sea is important to international prosperity and stability and reaffirmed the US's stance on the East Sea. The President also stated the US's respect for the goals of the Indo-Pacific Economic Cooperation Framework.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Joe Biden speak to the media in Hanoi on September 10. Photo: Giang Huy — *President Joe Biden speaks to the media in Hanoi on September 10. Photo: Giang Huy*

President Joe Biden expressed his respect for Vietnam, highly appreciated Vietnam's achievements in development, contributions to international affairs, and the contributions and leadership role of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The President expressed his support for Vietnam's development, including economic and scientific-technological cooperation in the new period, including the development of the electronics industry, response to climate change, and development of clean energy. President Joe Biden highly appreciated the two countries' upgrading of relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is beneficial to both countries and in common international interests.

The two leaders agreed that the talks took place in an atmosphere of friendship, equality, understanding, mutual respect, in-depth and comprehensive exchanges and achieved good results. The important results of the talks and President Joe Biden's visit will contribute positively to the development of bilateral relations in the new period for the benefit of the two peoples, for peace, stability and sustainable development. After the talks, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Joe Biden spoke to the Vietnamese, US and international press.