U.S. - Vietnam Relations
Congressional Research Service
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20485319/us-vietnam-relations-feb-16-2021.pdf
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations
between the United States and Vietnam in 1995, overlapping strategic and
economic interests have led the two countries to expand ties across a wide
spectrum of issues. The United States is Vietnam’s 2 nd largest bilateral
trading partner (after China), and Vietnam is the United States’ 10th largest
trading partner. Since 2010, the two countries have formed partnerships on many
regional security and economic issues, due in part to shared concerns about
China’s increased assertiveness in the region and to Vietnam’s position as a
rising middle power. Vietnam is serving as a 2020-2021 non-permanent member of
the United Nations Security Council, providing addition opportunities for
bilateral cooperation.
The pace and extent of the improvement in bilateral
relations is limited by several factors. First, Vietnam usually does not
undertake large-scale diplomatic moves— especially with the United
States—without first calculating China’s likely reaction. Second, though
opinion polls show the Vietnamese public holds positive views of the United
States, many Vietnamese officials remain suspicious that the United States’
long-term goal is to see an end to the Vietnamese Communist Party’s monopoly on
power through “peaceful evolution.” Third, U.S. concerns about Vietnam’s human
rights record, which has deteriorated in recent years, remain a barrier to
improving the bilateral relationship.
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