Asia | Banyan

Joe Biden’s visit to Hanoi is a signal to China

America and Vietnam have a shared interest in reining in aggression at sea

Image: Lan Truong

SKIPPING AN ASEAN talkfest in Jakarta and hot on the heels of the G20 meeting in Delhi, Joe Biden is set to make a state visit to Vietnam on September 10th. He is the fifth sitting American president to travel to the land of the former enemy. Yet his trip is surely the most significant since Bill Clinton’s in 2000, after he re-established diplomatic ties and drew a line under a bloody and bitter past.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Hanoi upgrade”

From the September 9th 2023 edition

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