Vietnam plays an important role in Asia and the US highly appreciates its relations with Vietnam, Deputy Assistant Secretary Joseph Yun said in an interview with the Voice of America broadcast on Dec 27.
In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has twice visited Vietnam to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asia Summit (EAS). During both trips she spent time talking with Vietnamese officials on the bilateral relations between the two countries.
In Sept in the U.S., U.S. President Barack Obama and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet co-chaired the U.S.-ASEAN Summit.
Yun said these are important and unusual trips, suggesting that the administration of US President Barack Obama highly appreciated the relationship with Vietnam and wanted to improve the bilateral relations.
In terms of the role of Vietnam in Asia, Deputy Assistant Secretary Yun affirmed that Vietnam lies in an important position in the continent. He said Vietnam was located in a strategic location, between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, had an extensive territorial water line and shared borders with China, Laos and Cambodia.
In addition, according to this American diplomat, Vietnam is also in the centre of economic activities taking place across Asia. Yun said that Vietnam has benefited from development of countries in the region and also acts as a useful bridge between Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.
However, Vietnam and the U.S. still have to negotiate on human rights and democracy as the two countries have different opinion on the issues. The U.S. prioritizes human rights along with democracy as well as respects and recognition of political opposition, the diplomat said, adding Vietnam is still imprisoning political dissidents and the country should implement more democracy.
Regarding disputes in the East Sea between China and Vietnam, and between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei, the U.S. promotes for using multi-lateral forum and peaceful measures to solve the problem, the deputy assistant secretary said.
The U.S.’s goal is to protect rights of all claimants as well as rights for free international transport in the region, Yun noted.
The U.S. also supports Vietnam and other countries in the Mekong River to solve the dispute over the water use of the river by peaceful negotiation with arm to keep stability, said the U.S.’s diplomat.
Vietnam and the U.S. normalized diplomatic relation in 1995. The bilateral relationship has developed very fast in all aspects including politics, economics, investment and trade.
The bilateral trade rose to $15.4 billion in 2010 from $450 billion in 1995, and the American country is the biggest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian country. (Vietnamplus, Voice of America)
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