Biden in Vietnam: Biden forges deeper ties with Vietnam

As President Biden wrapped up his first trip to Hanoi, Vietnam on September 11, he and John Kerry, another veteran, visited a memorial to their old friend, Senator John McCain, who was captured by North Vietnamese from 1967 to 1973.

For Mr. McCain, Mr. Kerry, and other veterans, the war of Vietnam changed their lives, leaving both physical disabilities and mental trauma that recast their ideologies and careers for decades.

Mr. Biden, though he never put on the uniform of war, is a contemporary of his two friends. The 58,000 lives lost during the Vietnam War left an indelible scar that continues to remind Biden of the terrible consequences wrought by needless war. As Mr. Kerry said, Biden “made comments to [him] about feeling the responsibility to make sure that as president you don’t get yourself into an unwanted war.”

For President Biden, then, amending relationships with Vietnam during his trip was more about seeking solidarity and maintaining US interests without further invoking and escalating the tension with China. Despite China’s not-at-all-veiled accusation of the United States having a “Cold War” mentality, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China stressed that the United States was trying to “create regional tension and incite antagonism and confrontation by pushing ahead with the Indo-Pacific Strategy” even as Biden repeatedly attempted to appease China. “I don’t want to contain China,” he said, “I just want to make sure that we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up.” By strengthening ties with Vietnam, the United States can diversify its supply chain and secure more friends in the region.

COVID-19 remained a cautionary tale to American technology companies about the dire risks of a monotonous supply chain. Out of necessity for supply-chain diversification, major companies eye Vietnam as an alternative to China for manufacturing hubs.

The signing of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with the Vietnamese, therefore, communicates signs of reassurance for those companies. Vietnam now puts the United States in the top level of its three-tier hierarchy for bilateral relations, along with four other countries: China, Russia, India and South Korea.

In addition, the Biden administration has urgently sought allies in Southeast Asia, furthering cooperation with India, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea. For these reasons, Vietnam represents “a critical swing state.” Though paying lip service to Chinese programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative, Vietnam has never made any actual commitments. Indeed, Vietnam is looking to give itself a little more choice and establish a little more distance from China.

Despite continual accusations of being cowardly and timid, Biden is continuing to push foreign policy that is a calm expansion of the US’s own power, but is also careful not to further provoke China. From avoiding direct military support to Ukraine, to pulling American forces out of Afghanistan, and now the visitation to Vietnam, Biden manifests his unwavering intention to reduce unnecessary loss of human life and resources. Far from cowardice, Biden’s decisions are guided by true wisdom: no costs can be equivalent to death and affliction aroused by warfare between two world powers.

Gina Zhao