By Alexander L. Vuving
A recent visit embodies the astonishing change in bilateral relations.
Emerging as one of the key bilateral relationships in the Asia-Pacific, ties between the United States and Vietnam have experienced a significant breakthrough in recent times. Somewhat below the radar of the international press, this breakthrough was embodied in the March 15-20 visit to Washington by Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang. Perhaps the media paid little attention to this trip because it was seen as a routine exchange at the minister level. But Quang’s mission was far from routine, and the contents of his talks indicated a qualitative change in U.S.-Vietnam relations.
Heading one of the two most powerful ministries in the Vietnamese government (the other is the Ministry of National Defense), Quang is also a key member of Vietnam’s collective leadership, the Communist Party’s Politburo. Vietnamese news sources reported that he travelled to the United States primarily as a Politburo member and the trip’s main purpose was to prepare for the inaugural visit in June by Vietnam’s supreme leader, General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong.
Unusually for a minister, Quang held talks with senior officials from various U.S. government agencies, including not just the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, but also the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Department of Justice, and the CIA. Quang also met with high-ranking lawmakers in Congress. The topics of his talks went beyond the purview of the minister of public security and ranged from defense and security to trade and investment. Human rights were also a focus of his exchanges with American interlocutors. According to Vietnamese news sources, an important part of Quang’s mission was to strengthen U.S. support for Vietnam in the South China Sea disputes and regional security issues.
By dispatching Quang to the United States, the Politburo in Hanoi was sending a clear message about its attitude toward its former enemy. Quang was picked to go on a preparatory trip for Trong’s visit because he had the confidence of the Communist Party chief. But he was also the commander of the security forces that are responsible for protecting the regime. In this capacity, he would be a primary target of human rights critics in the United States. Quang’s trip as the first official visit by a Vietnamese minister of public security to America implies that Hanoi is now comfortable engaging its ideological challenger. For its part, Washington’s friendly treatment of Quang has reinforced Hanoi’s lower threat perception of the United States.
Read the full story at The Diplomat