General Cuong explains the reasons why America really values ​​Vietnam

(Baonghean)- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is the third Asian leader to be invited to visit the US, and President Donald Trump accepted the invitation to visit Vietnam in his first year in office. According to General Le Van Cuong, this is completely reasonable.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the US has received special attention from both domestic and foreign public opinion. Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Associate Professor, Dr. Major General Le Van Cuong - Former Director of the Institute of Strategy and Science of the Ministry of Public Security about some quite new issues of the trip.

Reporter:Can you analyze why Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is one of the first Asian politicians invited to visit by the US President?

US President Donald Trump stands at the entrance to the West Wing of the White House to welcome Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the afternoon of May 31 local time. Photo: Reuters

Major General Le Van Cuong:The President is the head of the US executive branch, and the US is a superpower, dominating the development of the world in many areas, so the US President invites whom to visit is carefully considered. The US President's invitation to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the third leader of Asia (after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, General Secretary - President of China Xi Jinping) and the first leader of ASEAN to visit the US, explains two issues:

One is that the Trump administration appreciates Vietnam's role in the region. Two is that the Trump administration also has issues that require cooperation with Vietnam in the political, economic and social context that President Donald Trump is facing. In mid-May, China opened the "Belt and Road" conference, which seems to be China gathering new forces, attracting countries to implement their globalization strategy. Raising issues that Trump must think about and calculate. ASEAN itself has also undergone major changes. Since June 2016, the Philippines has shifted to being friendly with China. And a series of ASEAN countries have also pivoted to China. In Northeast Asia, North Korea has continuously tested ballistic missiles.

In the context of unfavorable developments for the US in this region, President Donald Trump sees that Vietnam plays an important role, Vietnam is very necessary for the implementation of the Asia-Pacific policy. Therefore, it can be said that Donald Trump's attitude and approach in the process of receiving Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is sincere, open, originating from the interests of the US, in line with the interests of Vietnam.

Reporter:Could you please summarize the developments and results of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit?

Major General Le Van Cuong:In addition to the official negotiations with President Donald Trump, during his three days in the US, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took advantage of every opportunity to meet with US businessmen and enterprises. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc clearly stated Vietnam's desire to further promote economic cooperation. Vietnam is ready to open its doors to US goods.

I think that this activity of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is completely different from the activities of previous visits of Vietnamese Government leaders, focusing on economic activities, creating new conditions for American businessmen and economic groups to understand Vietnam, ready to create conditions for investment and trade cooperation after the US withdrew from TPP. Focusing on building a bilateral agreement between Vietnam and the US through a series of meetings.

Second, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc spent time reaching out to the US elites in the Senate and the House of Representatives, and key figures in the committees of these houses also worked with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. In the US power structure, the two houses have great significance. This time, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc focused on resolving questions about Vietnam's development path with the US elites, creating a positive impression on the US legislative body.

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc then led delegations from the two countries to have bilateral talks at the White House. Photo: Reuters

Third, the Prime Minister spends a lot of time meeting with the media, non-governmental organizations, KKR Global Investment Fund, etc. Diplomatic activities aim to reach the American public and American media.

Through talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House, the two sides issued a Vietnam-US Joint Statement, more specifically the Vietnam-US partnership. I think the most important result in the joint statement is that the US side supports Vietnam in continuing to discuss the bilateral trade and investment agreement. This can be considered the greatest success of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the US. Next, the second achievement is that the US side continues to support Vietnam in ensuring security in the East Sea region. The US requires countries with sovereignty disputes in the East Sea to resolve them by peaceful means. The third success is that the US supports Vietnam in promoting its role in ASEAN in particular and Asia in general.

Prime Minister Phuc and Secretary of State Tillerson shake hands at the US State Department headquarters in Washington. Photo: AFP

Another important success is that President Donald Trump also accepted the invitation to attend the APEC summit in Vietnam in November 2017, which is different from previous presidents. President Clinton visited Vietnam 6 months before leaving office, President Bush also visited Vietnam in his 8th year in office, President Obama also visited Vietnam 6 months before leaving the White House. Donald Trump visited Vietnam in his first year as President.

With these successes, I highly appreciate Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the US. This visit is completely in line with the United Nations Charter, International Law and the current trend of global cooperation.

Reporter:Thank you, General!

Chi Linh Son