Vietnam Considers US a Top Strategic Partner, Deepening Ties

Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam met with Commander of the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) Admiral Samuel Paparo in Hanoi on August 5, 2026, reaffirming the United States as one of Vietnam's leading strategic partners and agreeing to further deepen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Lam stated that Paparo's visit, alongside recent trips by other senior U.S. officials, demonstrated that defense cooperation continues to serve as an important pillar of bilateral ties, helping to substantively and effectively deepen the Vietnam-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership while contributing to peace and development in the region and the world. The Vietnamese leader highly evaluated the long-standing cooperation between USPACOM and Vietnam, highlighting humanitarian partnership programs such as Pacific Partnership and Pacific Angel, which have left positive impressions on local communities. He expressed hope that both sides will continue to effectively implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework, thereby developing bilateral relations in a more substantive, practical, and effective way for the benefit of the two nations' peoples. Furthermore, Lam thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for the warm reception during his attendance at the inauguration of the Board of Peace in February 2026. He also reiterated his invitation to President Trump to pay an official visit to Vietnam and attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in 2027. On the economic front, Lam shared President Trump's view on the need to conclude negotiations on a reciprocal trade agreement at an early date and called on the U.S. to soon conclude the Section 301 investigation and avoid extreme trade remedy measures that could negatively affect overall bilateral relations. He proposed expanding cooperation in science and technology, stressing that breakthroughs in science and technology, innovation, and national digital transformation are among Vietnam’s top priorities in achieving its long-term growth objectives. Regarding defense and security cooperation, the Vietnamese leader welcomed the positive progress made in recent times and suggested that both sides effectively implement existing agreements in line with each country’s needs and interests. Highlighting the profound significance of cooperation in addressing war consequences, he urged the U.S. to maintain and expand support projects in this field, particularly initiatives to strengthen forensic identification capacity and provide records and archives to accelerate the search, recovery, and identification of Vietnamese war martyrs’ remains. Lam reaffirmed Vietnam’s commitment to continuing to facilitate efforts to search for U.S. personnel missing in action (MIA), noting that Vietnam has consistently supported this humanitarian cooperation for more than half a century. Meanwhile, Paparo thanked Vietnam for being among the first countries to join the Board of Peace initiative and reaffirmed that the U.S. attaches great importance to advancing relations with Vietnam. He praised Vietnam’s growing international standing and increasingly important role within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the regional architecture. Sharing the Vietnamese leader’s assessment, he underscored the vision of a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to strengthening ties with ASEAN while supporting ASEAN's centrality. He described the bloc, with a population of around 800 million and strong economic potential, as an increasingly important partner in the U.S.'s regional policy. Paparo agreed with the Vietnamese leader’s proposals on further advancing bilateral ties and pledged that USPACOM would continue working closely with Vietnam in implementing humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and maritime law enforcement capacity-building programs. Thanking Vietnam for its effective humanitarian support in searching for U.S. MIA, he reaffirmed the U.S.'s commitment to assisting Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of war, including supporting the country's 500-day campaign to search for, recover, and identify the remains of Vietnamese martyrs. Discussing regional and international issues, the two sides stressed the importance of maintaining peace, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation, while supporting the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Lam expressed his confidence that Vietnam-U.S. relations would continue to develop in a stable and substantive manner, contributing to shared prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.