US Defense Secretary Reaffirms Partnership with Vietnam in Historic Trip

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to Vietnam has underscored the importance of addressing the legacies of the Vietnam War in the bilateral defense relationship. Hegseth's trip marks 30 years of diplomatic ties between the two former foes, which were upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership two years ago. The partnership is built on cooperation on postwar issues, including clearing unexploded ordnance, recovering remains of missing service members, and cleaning up dioxin from former U.S. air bases. Hegseth's visit comes at a crucial moment, as Vietnam is hedging against doubts about U.S. reliability in the Indo-Pacific.

Key Takeaways:

• The U.S. defense relationship with Vietnam is built on addressing the legacies of the Vietnam War, which includes clearing unexploded ordnance, recovering remains of missing service members, and cleaning up dioxin from former U.S. air bases.
• Hegseth's visit marks 30 years of diplomatic ties between the two former foes and two years since they upgraded relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
• The partnership provides essential political cover for Vietnam to expand its relations with a former adversary, and demonstrates long-term responsibility and goodwill by the U.S. to solve lingering war consequences.
• Vietnam's Communist Party chief, To Lam, visited North Korea in early October, and reports suggest Hanoi may pursue the purchase of 40 Russian Su-35 fighter jets, indicating that Vietnam is hedging against doubts about U.S. reliability in the Indo-Pacific.
• The U.S. defense chief's visit demonstrates Vietnam's deliberate deepening of defense ties with the U.S., but strictly on Hanoi's terms.
• Hegseth's visit comes at a time when cooperation on postwar issues is being re-committed by the U.S. after temporary halting of some cleanup work earlier this year.

Statistics:

• 30 years: The amount of time since diplomatic ties were established between the U.S. and Vietnam.
• 2 years: The amount of time since the two countries upgraded relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
• 1995: The year the U.S. and Vietnam normalized ties.
• 40: The number of Russian Su-35 fighter jets that Vietnam is reportedly considering purchasing.
• Early October: The time when Vietnam's Communist Party chief, To Lam, visited North Korea.

Sources:

• A visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore's ISEAS--Yusof Ishak Institute, Nguyen Khac Giang
• The Associated Press (AP) has previously reported that Moscow and Hanoi have explored ways to maintain financial transactions despite U.S. sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
• AP.org (AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas)