Vietnamese PM voices desire to visit Trump

By Bennett Murray

HANOI, Vietnam (AA) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc wants to make a state visit to the United States to meet the new president amid tensions in the South China Sea and protectionist trade rhetoric, according to a government statement Friday.

"Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc confirmed he is ready to visit the U.S. to promote Vietnamese-U.S. ties,” read the statement, which was posted on the Vietnamese government’s verified Facebook account.

Phuc and Trump reportedly spoke during a telephone conversation in December, according to the Vietnamese government.

Trump reportedly extended an open invitation for the prime minister to visit the U.S. “whether in Washington or New York”.

Concerns linger in Vietnam, however, over Trump’s anti-globalization rhetoric, which is largely centered on re-shoring factory jobs to the U.S. from developing Asian nations.

While Trump has only mentioned Vietnam incidentally in his comments bemoaning outsourcing, Vietnam’s export heavy economy would stand to lose steam should Trump enact wide sweeping tariffs as he has pledged to do.

The regional Trans-Transpacific Partnership, which Vietnam had signed but was scrapped by Trump, was widely seen as a potential boom for the low middle income country’s economy.

Under the treaty’s provisions, Vietnam would have had tariff free access to the U.S. market.

Concerns over Chinese territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, however, remain a mutual concern as Beijing continues to claim most of the sea as an integral part of its territory.

With islands claimed by Vietnam, as well as parts of its internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, falling within China’s so-called nine dash line, Hanoi has expressed support for ongoing U.S. “freedom of navigation” naval operations in the sea.