Celebrating 20 years of Vietnam-US relations: Short journey, long strides

Nghe An Electronic Newspaper respectfully introduces an article by Party Central Committee member, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam - United States diplomatic relations (July 12, 1995 - July 12, 2015).

For a person, 20 years is a long time, but in the history of relations between nations, 20 years is just a moment. Few people can imagine that after only two decades since normalization, the relationship between the two countries has achieved so many impressive steps. The 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States (July 12, 1995 - July 12, 2015) is an important moment for us to reflect on the past, look forward to together shape a better future for the two nations as well as for peace, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong holds talks with US President Barack Obama.

* Strong drivers of the Comprehensive Partnership

At the time the two countries normalized relations in 1995, most Americans knew Vietnam as a war rather than a country, but today, the two words Vietnam have become familiar in the daily lives of Americans. There is hardly a large supermarket in the United States that does not have goods originating from Vietnam, from agricultural products, shoes to other essential items. Over the past 20 years, especially since the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) was signed in 2000, bilateral economic and trade relations have really taken off. From a small figure of 400 million USD in 1994, bilateral trade turnover has increased 90 times to 36.3 billion USD in 2014. With an export turnover of 30.6 billion USD in 2014, Vietnam has become the leading ASEAN country in exporting to the United States and surpassed India to enter the list of 10 countries with the largest trade surplus in the world's largest purchasing power market.

For its part, over the past five years, the United States has risen from 11th place to become the seventh largest investor in Vietnam with a total capital of about 11 billion USD. Several large US corporations have been planning to set up their "headquarters" in Vietnam, opening up the prospect of making the United States the number one investor in Vietnam as Ambassador Ted Osius has set out. It is expected that after the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is signed and comes into effect, economic relations between the two countries will explode even more.

Along with the strong progress in economic relations is the constant upward trend in scientific and technological cooperation and education and training between the two countries. Cooperation in many key sectors from wind power, space research to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes has many new developments, especially after the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (Agreement 123) was approved by the US Congress in 2014. From only about 500 students studying in the US in 1995, that number has increased 34 times to nearly 17,000, making Vietnam the leading country in ASEAN and the eighth in the world in terms of the number of students in the US. The two countries are working hard to implement the project to establish Fulbright University Vietnam.

But what is more important than the impressive figures mentioned above is that the two countries have gradually overcome suspicion and disagreement, and have continuously strengthened political relations and mutual understanding. Since 2000, Vietnam and the United States have exchanged six high-level visits, in which the two countries' senior leaders adopted four Joint Statements in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2013. In particular, the Joint Statement between President Truong Tan Sang and President Obama established the Vietnam - United States Comprehensive Partnership with nine areas of cooperation, opening a new phase of qualitative development in the relationship between the two countries. In recent years, contacts and meetings between the two countries' senior leaders on the sidelines of important multilateral conferences have become frequent. From the initial stage of only having a single dialogue mechanism on searching for US soldiers missing in action (POW/MIA), up to now, the two countries have established more than ten dialogue mechanisms, including very important mechanisms such as the regular ministerial dialogue, the Political - Security - Defense Dialogue, the Defense Policy Dialogue, the Asia - Pacific Dialogue, and the Human Rights Dialogue.

* The spirit of putting the past behind, looking towards the future and respecting differences

The past is not easy to forget, especially when it is marked by the scars left by war, but with a forward-looking mindset, Vietnam and the United States have been making great efforts to overcome the past and shape future relations. With a spirit of tolerance and humanity, Vietnam has actively cooperated with the United States in searching for missing soldiers in the war. To date, about 950 sets of American soldiers' remains have been found, of which 700 sets have been identified. For its part, the United States has also provided more than 300 sets of documents, contributing to the collection of more than 1,000 remains of Vietnamese martyrs. To date, the US Government has supported Vietnam with 100 million USD to clean up Agent Orange - dioxin in Da Nang and 80 million USD to support the clearance of bombs and mines left over from the war. There are still many problems to overcome, but the efforts of both sides have contributed significantly to healing the wounds of war, promoting reconciliation, and building trust between the two countries.

Of course, there are still disagreements and differences of opinion between the two sides, especially in the fields of democracy and human rights. But the important thing is that both sides have been clearly demonstrating the spirit of respecting differences, having frank and open dialogue to narrow differences and enhance cooperation. To date, the two countries have held 19 Human Rights Dialogues and are currently members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

* Vietnam and the United States in the "Asian Century"

Many forecasts say that the 21st century will be the century of Asia. If that becomes a reality, the Trans-Pacific Partnership between the United States and Asian countries, including the Comprehensive Partnership with Vietnam, will contribute to shaping the future of the region.

Beyond the bilateral level, the Vietnam-US relationship has been making increasingly important contributions to peace, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. From ASEAN-centric frameworks such as EAS, ARF, ADMM+ to broader forums such as APEC and the United Nations, Vietnam and the United States are increasingly coordinating closely in combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, responding to climate change, ensuring water security, and participating in UN peacekeeping operations.

With the establishment of the ASEAN Community by the end of 2015, both sides are moving towards realizing the goal of building an ASEAN-US Strategic Partnership. Vietnam will continue to play an important role in promoting ASEAN-US relations, especially through accelerating the implementation of the Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) Initiative and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the two sides.

* Shared vision for the road ahead

In a letter to President Truman on February 16, 1946, President Ho Chi Minh clearly stated Vietnam's goal of "complete independence and comprehensive cooperation with the United States". He also affirmed that Vietnam "will do its utmost to make this independence and cooperation beneficial to the whole world". Today's world is moving very quickly, requiring the two countries not to miss historical opportunities like in previous periods.

The past 20 years, especially since the two countries established a Comprehensive Partnership in July 2013, have shown that peace and prosperity in Southeast Asia in particular and the Asia-Pacific region in general have more conditions to be maintained when the Vietnam-US relationship develops smoothly; the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the US are in line with the common interests of all countries in the region.

The ups and downs of the relationship between the two countries, especially the strong progress in the past 20 years, have also proven that Vietnam and the United States have no other choice but to cooperate equally and for mutual benefit in the spirit of respecting each other's political institutions, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, abiding by the United Nations Charter and the basic principles of international law, and dialogue instead of confrontation. That is the only way to overcome the past, join hands to build a better future for each nation as well as actively contribute to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world./.

According to VNA