The Biden administration-like at least two administrations before it-is convinced that U.S.-Vietnamese ties should be intensified, precisely because both countries share long-term strategic interests. The United States has been left wondering why.
Instead, Washington and Hanoi announced a comprehensive partnership in 2013-a relationship that implies a less serious geopolitical alignment for Vietnam. Vietnamese officials, however, never followed up on Phung’s newsworthy announcement. But from what we know about Vietnamese diplomacy, Hanoi’s definition of strategic partnership is not just boilerplate, but signifies concrete, mutual, long-term strategic interests.
During a ceremony held in Washington to commemorate the Lunar New Year in 2011, then-Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Le Cong Phung surprised the audience by announcing that the two countries would raise their ties to the level of “strategic partnership.” Phrases descripting partnerships can be nebulous, of course.
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