U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with senior Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Friday (Oct. 30, 2020) to conclude a five-nation trip to Asia aimed at uniting allies and partners in resisting China’s malignant expansion.
While in Hanoi, Pompeo held talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, and Minister of Public Security So Lam. He told Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc: “We have great respect for the Vietnamese people and for the sovereignty of your country. We look forward to continuing to work together to enhance relations and build security, peace and prosperity in the region, which includes the entire Southeast Asian region, Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.”
In an earlier statement, the U.S. State Department said, “The United States supports a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea. The United States respects the rights and interests of Vietnam and seeks to preserve peace and maintain freedom of the seas in accordance with international law.”
The statement also reiterated Secretary of State Pompeo’s July 13 statement, which explicitly declared that the U.S. considers Beijing’s claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea to be “completely illegitimate” and rejects China’s maritime claims to the waters around Van Anh Beach off the coast of Vietnam. The statement said, “The United States is prepared to take firm action to resist China’s bullying.”
Pompeo also discussed the Mekong River basin’s resources with Vietnamese officials. The State Department statement on Thursday said, “The United States is deeply concerned about China’s lack of transparency in its dam projects on the upper Mekong River and its limited sharing of water data with downstream countries. China’s malicious and destabilizing actions in the Mekong River Basin negatively impact the millions of people who depend on the Mekong River for their livelihoods.”
Pompeo’s unexpected addition of a trip to Vietnam near the end of a four-nation tour of South and Southeast Asia shows that both sides are looking forward to supporting each other in their joint efforts to resist China’s malignant expansion.
In addition, bilateral trade was an important part of the talks between the two officials. The United States is now Vietnam’s largest export market, and Vietnam is one of the fastest growing U.S. export markets. Annual bilateral trade has grown from almost zero 25 years ago when the two countries established diplomatic ties to $80 billion today.
Pompeo arrived in New Delhi on Monday to begin a tour of Asia, followed by visits to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia. Everywhere he went, Pompeo said bluntly that the theme of his Asia trip was seeking a common response to the Chinese threat. Officials from the host country who stood with him at the podium after his meeting were mostly reluctant to publicly criticize China, but generally welcomed the U.S. leadership role in regional security affairs.
In many of the countries Pompeo visited, Chinese embassies issued statements accusing Pompeo of sowing discord and interfering in China’s relations with those countries, interfering in his domestic and foreign policies, and saying that the United States would not succeed in its efforts.
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