Australian media comments on Vietnam - Australia relations
Vietnam and Australia's upgrading of bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership is considered a major milestone in bilateral relations, playing an important role in enhancing Canberra's influence in the region.
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| Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull |
According to information published by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on March 11, Australia and Vietnam will upgrade their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership when Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits and works in the capital Canberra from March 14.
The upgrading of Vietnam-Australia bilateral relations comes at a time when the two countries have many similarities in strategic priorities, commented the AFR newspaper.
AFR said that Vietnam is an important country in the sovereignty dispute in the East Sea. At the same time, Vietnam is also one of the few countries with a tough stance against Beijing's illegal construction and militarization of artificial islands in this sea.
According to the Australian magazine, this is considered an important event in the context of Australia wanting to increase its influence in the region as well as establish a system of security compromises to deal with an increasingly assertive China.
At the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, paid an official visit to Australia from March 14 to 17, 2018 and attended the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit from March 17 to 18.
The visit is an important milestone, contributing to enhancing Vietnam's position when the two countries officially upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (February 26, 1973 - February 26, 2018) and the first ASEAN - Australia Special Summit taking place in Sydney, Australia.
When outlining plans to sign the Strategic Partnership in November 2017, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull emphasized that “defense and security cooperation” was at the heart of the upgraded relationship with Vietnam.
The Australian leader at that time said that Vietnam was the fourth country with the largest number of international students in the land of kangaroos, the sixth largest agricultural market in Australia, and more than three-quarters of the "bread" used in meals in Vietnam was made from Australian wheat.Ahead of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit and the signing ceremony to upgrade Vietnam-Australia relations, the Australian leader also had an interview with the Australian Financial Review magazine.
"Australia and ASEAN are close strategic and economic partners. This special summit is an opportunity to make our region more secure and prosperous" - Prime Minister Turnbull expressed optimism about Australia - ASEAN cooperation.
"The summit marks a coming of age in Australia's relationship with Southeast Asia. ASEAN is one of Australia's top three trading partners, and we have strong cooperation in addressing security threats in the region," the Australian leader added.
Vietnam and Australia signed a declaration establishing a comprehensive partnership in 2009 and announced to strengthen the comprehensive partnership in 2015. Upgrading the relationship to a strategic partnership this year is considered the next major milestone in the bilateral relationship.
Commenting on the warm relationship between Vietnam and Australia in AFR magazine, Professor Carl Thayer from the University of New South Wales said: "Australia is pushing Vietnam to be more confident to play a stronger role in the region."
Vietnam and Australia first agreed to begin discussions on upgrading their relationship in 2015. Last year, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Da Nang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull finally agreed to upgrade relations.
