Biden skips differences on Russia to court allies
President warms to Modi, Saudi prince, lauds Vietnam deals
HANOI, Vietnam —President Joe Biden on Monday wrapped up a five-day diplomatic sprint through Vietnam and India that put a spotlight on imperfect partners that he believes will be crucial for global stability in the years to come.
The whirlwind visit demonstrated that as Russia’s war on Ukraine plods on with no end in sight, Biden appears to have become more willing to look past differences with complicated allies that he badly needs to keep close for the sake of stability in the Indo-Pacific, Middle East and beyond.
Biden closed out his Asia trip in Hanoi on Monday by spotlighting new business deals and partnerships with Vietnam after celebrating the Communist government’s elevation of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
“My message today is quite simple: Let’s keep it up,” Biden said of his desire to keep strengthening the nations’ partnership during a meeting with CEOs. “We need to develop and drive our collaboration. We need to forge new partnerships.”
He denied the steps were meant to counter China’s increasing efforts for influence in the region.
Before departing Vietnam on Monday afternoon, Biden paid his respects at a memorial honoring his late friend and colleague Sen. John McCain, who endured a lengthy imprisonment in Hanoi during the Vietnam War.
The stone memorial is located near where McCain’s Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down in 1967 by the North Vietnamese. Both sides exchanged documents Monday on unaccounted-for U.S. service members and Vietnamese soldiers. Biden left one of his commemorative coins at the memorial.
At a state luncheon hosted by President Võ Văn Thuong, Biden praised McCain and John Kerry — another Vietnam War veteran and now the president’s climate envoy — for playing critical roles in the two nations’ “50-year arc of progress.”
“Where there was darkness, you all found light,” Biden said.
The president’s pragmatic approach was also on display over the weekend at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi in his friendly interactions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, two leaders who have not shied from saying no to Biden and have paid little regard when he has raised concerns about their human rights records.
In Hanoi, Biden showcased the new elevated U.S. diplomatic status with Vietnam even as the country is reported to be nearing a weapons deal with Russia that would contravene U.S. prohibitions on countries doing business with Russian military and intelligence agencies. That could put Biden in the awkward position of having to decide whether to sanction a nation that he has put great effort into courting.
“It is important to acknowledge Vietnam has had a decades-long relationship with Russia and a decades-long military relationship with Russia,” said
Jon Finer, Biden’s principal deputy national security adviser. “But our strong sense is that there is an increasing discomfort on the part of the Vietnamese with that relationship.”
Big business announcements during Biden’s first-ever visit to Vietnam included Boeing’s $7.5 billion deal with Vietnam Airlines to buy about 50 aircraft and Arizona-based Amkor Technology’s plans for a $1.6 billion factory in Bac Ninh Province.
Biden insisted his visit to Vietnam was about burnishing stronger ties with Hanoi and sought to push back against the notion his travels were linked to Washington’s tensions with Beijing.
“I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said during a Hanoi news conference after he met with Nguyen Phú Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, for the formal announcement of the elevation of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship. “We’re not trying to hurt China.”
Yet his administration has put a premium on strengthening relations in the Indo-Pacific in the face of growing concerns about China’s military and economic assertiveness.
And Biden’s effort to delicately put aside differences over the Russian invasion of Ukraine was on display over the weekend in New Delhi.
At the G20 summit, Biden warmly greeted Saudi Arabian Crown Prince bin Salman, less than a year after warning the Saudis that they would pay “consequences” for padding Moscow’s coffers by engineering a cut in oil production that spiked the price of crude.