Vietnam and the US officially upgrade relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

On the afternoon of September 10, 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.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed and highly appreciated President Joe 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, providing an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to discuss bilateral relations and international issues for the benefit of the two peoples, contributing to peace, cooperation and sustainable development in the region and the world .

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong welcomes President Joe Biden. Photo: VNA

The General Secretary recalled the good memories of the sincere exchange with Mr. Joe 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 Joe Biden in June for sending a letter inviting the General Secretary to visit the US again soon.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong reported on Vietnam's achievements over nearly 40 years of comprehensive renovation aimed at the goals of "rich 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 internationally.

The General Secretary congratulated the US on its important socio-economic achievements under the leadership of President Joe 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 deeply; Vietnam is a friend, a reliable partner and an active, responsible member of the international community.

Vietnam implements the "four no's" defense policy. In complex situations and international conflicts, Vietnam hopes that parties will engage in 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.

Overview of the meeting. Photo: Pham Hai

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 requesting the establishment of full relations with the US. However, the relationship between the two countries has gone through many ups and downs, especially the longest and fiercest war in the 20th century after World War II.

Vietnam is pleased to note that since the two countries normalized relations in 1995, especially after establishing the 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 Joe 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 systems, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

The General Secretary stressed that mutual understanding, mutual 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 towards 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 between the leaders of the two countries on the Joint Statement on upgrading 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 Vietnam-US relations.

This includes continuing to enhance mutual understanding, implementing guiding principles, creating long-term stability, high-level meetings and 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 bilateral relations, 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 climate change response. 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 the importance of the South China Sea to international prosperity and stability and reaffirmed the US position on the South China Sea. The President also stated the US's appreciation for the goals of the Indo-Pacific Economic Cooperation Framework.

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, American and international press.

Source