American Policy Towards Vietnam And Vietnam’s Response Since Normalization:Change And Continuity

Nearly two decades after the announcement of normalization, U.S.-Vietnam relations is drawing increasing regional and international attentions and is becoming significant in both governments’diplomatic considerations. Extricating from the specter of Vietnam War, the two nations are hesitating and calculating in every step on the road to the establishment and development of this relationship. In the background of a U.S. Pivot to Asia-Pacific and a rising China, as well as the incremental complication of the South China Sea issue, any adjustment in U.S.-Vietnam relations will trigger feedback from China and affect U.S.-China and China-Vietnam relations in one way or another. Lately established but fast burgeoning, U.S.-Vietnam relation is less touched upon in the studies of U.S.-China-Vietnam Triangle. In this paper, I attempt to delve into those significant aspects of U.S.-Vietnam relations, analyze the considerations of the U.S. and Vietnam, silhouette the changing trajectory of this relationship over the years and reflect on the U.S.-Vietnam-China dynamics. I argue that after completing the transition from the POW/MIA-oriented and economic-oriented interaction in the first decade after normalization, U.S.-Vietnam relationship is converging on security and defense cooperation for the mutual end of balancing a rising China in the Asia-Pacific, most specifically in the South China Sea. However, given the regional and international preponderance of China, both the U.S. and Vietnam are following a "two-Pronged" approach, beefing up their bilateral ties with China as well as striking a dynamic balance in the triangle.