Vietnam suddenly announced that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Hanoi

Vietnam announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid an official visit on October 29-30, shortly after Vietnam released a US citizen sentenced to 12 years.

The news of Mr. Pompeo’s visit to Vietnam was kept private until the last minute, because there was only the official announcement from Vietnam on October 28, while the United States said nothing.

Before that, the State Department did not say that Pompeo would go to Hanoi.

Pompeo is in India and will call Indonesia on October 29.

The Vietnamese government said Pompeo’s visit “marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations” between the two countries.

The bulletin in English on the Vietnamese government website says that Vietnam “always considers the United States as one of its main partners.”

A few days ago it was confirmed that a Vietnamese-American citizen, Michael Nguyen, was released from Hanoi.

Michael Nguyen was sentenced to 12 years in prison last year on charges of “conspiracy to overthrow the government.”

Recently, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) invited contributors to comment after announcing two separate investigations related to Vietnam.

On October 2, the USTR announced that, on the orders of President Donald Trump, they have opened an investigation on two Vietnam-related issues.

One is an investigation into whether Vietnam deliberately devalues ​​the dong, causing harm to the United States.

The second is to investigate whether Vietnam’s timber export is based on illegal timber imports.

The announcement made by the US Trade Representative, in accordance with Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, is the same process the US uses to impose tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the US.

On October 26, 2020, the Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Nguyen Thi Hong, met with representatives of the US Department of Finance in Hanoi.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong is temporarily appointed to head the State Bank of Vietnam after the Politburo entrusted Governor Le Minh Hung to be the Head of the Party Central Office, replacing Mr. Nguyen Van Nen as Committee Secretary. of the City Party. .

At the meeting, Lieutenant Governor Nguyen Thi Hong was quoted as saying that Vietnam “always pursues a prudent and flexible policy aimed at stabilizing the macroeconomy, improving the resilience of the economy, preventing, preventing and limiting the impact of negative external shocks on domestic economic activities. “.

He said that the State Bank operates the exchange rate policy, within the framework of general monetary policy, to achieve consistent and consistent objectives of controlling inflation and stabilizing the macroeconomy, not to create a competitive advantage. in international trade, not to support specific industry policies or to harm trading partners.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton declared that the United States was normalizing diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

Since then, the bilateral relationship has progressed strongly.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo himself said: “In the past, we were rivals on the battlefield. But today, our security relationship is a partnership.”

Cooperation takes place in many fields, including defense.

According to the US side, in the last three years, the US Coast Guard has transferred 24 patrol boats and one 3,000-ton, 115-meter long coastal patrol boat to the Vietnam Coast Guard.

Recently, two Vietnamese pilots participated in training programs with American officers in the Aviation Leadership Program of the United States Air Force.

The two-way trade turnover between the US and Vietnam is now more than $ 77 billion.

Most recently, the Indo-Pacific Business Forum (IPBF 2020) will be held in Vietnam on October 28-29.

Here, AES Group and Vietnam Gas Corporation (PV GAS) signed a joint venture agreement to develop the Son My liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project with a total investment of $ 1.4 billion.