Hanoi, Vietnam -- US President Joe Biden hailed closer ties with Vietnam on Sunday as the two countries struck a deal to deepen cooperation, including on semiconductors, but said he was not aiming to contain China. The "comprehensive strategic partnership" with Hanoi is part of Washington's push to bolster its network of allies around Asia and the Pacific in the face of Beijing's rising influence. I just want to make sure we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up, squared away, everybody knows what it's all about," he said.
Biden flew in to Hanoi straight from a G20 summit that failed to agree to a phase-out of fossil fuels and highlighted deep divisions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Global supply chain shocks and fears about US reliance on China for strategic resources have further driven the push to boost ties with the likes of Vietnam.
The new partnership includes an agreement on semiconductors, with the United States committing to help Vietnam develop its capabilities and expand production. There is also a section on rare earth minerals, which used in the manufacture of high-tech devices such as smartphones and electric car batteries.
Vietnam has the world's second-largest deposits of rare earths after China and US officials say it has a key role to play as it looks to diversify and strengthen its supply chains. Biden moved last month to restrict US investment in Chinese technology in sensitive areas including semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence. The deal puts the United States on a par with China -- as well as Russia, India and South Korea -- at the top level of the Vietnamese hierarchy of diplomatic relations.
Trong thanked Biden for his contribution to improving US-Vietnamese ties and said his country would work hard to implement the new agreement. Although it is careful to be seen as not taking sides between the United States and China, Vietnam shares US concerns about its neighbour's growing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea. The report cited a Vietnamese finance ministry document that laid out plans to fund arms purchases from the Kremlin through a joint oil and gas project in Siberia.
