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PLAYBOOK SLUG: US VIETNAM PREVIEW (TV/R)
HEADLINE: Blinken Visits Vietnam to Boost Bilateral Ties
TEASER: US secretary of state will attend a ceremony to mark the formal launch of construction of a new US Embassy in Hanoi
PUBLISHED AT: 4/13/2023. 1:04p
BYLINE: Nike Ching
DATELINE: HANOI, VIETNAM
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Steve Hirsch SV
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Reuters, VOA Zoom interviews
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:06
VID APPROVED BY:
TYPE: TV/ R
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO))
[[U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Vietnam later this week. Blinken’s first trip to Hanoi as the top U.S. diplomat comes as the two countries are eyeing an upgrade in bilateral ties to a strategic partnership. Blinken will also break ground on a new U.S. Embassy compound. State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has more from Hanoi, Vietnam.]]
((NARRATOR))
The United States and Vietnam celebrate the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership this year. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Vietnam follows a phone call between leaders of the two countries in late March.
((Radio track: Andreyka Natalegawa is an associate fellow for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He spoke to VOA via Zoom))
((Andreyka Natalegawa, Center for Strategic and International Studies)) ((Zoom))
“Part of these discussions include mutual visits by leaders on both sides to each other's capitals. It's to be determined when exactly those will take place, but based on the call between [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden and [Vietnamese] General Secretary [Nguyen Phu] Trong, there's certainly a lot of mutual interest in making that happen at some point this year.”
((NARRATOR))
Trong was among the first foreign leaders to visit Beijing last October, after Chinese President Xi Jinping started his third term as the Chinese Communist Party leader.
The U.S. has been ready to upgrade its relationship with Vietnam to the next level, a strategic partnership.
Hanoi has held back, though, in part over concerns about the reaction from China, analysts say.
((Radio track: Andrew Wells-Dang is a senior expert at the United States Institute of Peace. He spoke to VOA via Zoom.))
((Andrew Wells-Dang, United States Institute of Peace)) ((Zoom))
“Vietnam does not want to send a signal to China that they're becoming too much closer to the U.S. Or another way of saying that is that in the past, whenever U.S.-Vietnam relations have taken a step forward, Vietnam has been careful to advance relations with China at the same time.”
((NARRATOR))
Secretary of State Blinken’s first visit to Vietnam comes after Blinken’s meetings with senior Vietnamese officials during the U.S.- ASEAN summit last May, and Vice President Kalama Harris’ visit to the country in 2021.
((Nike Ching, VOA News, Hanoi, Vietnam))
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