`The establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the United States during President Joe Biden’s visit is a wonderful development, bringing a sense of completeness to the two countries’ relationship,` said US Ambassador to Vietnam.
According to him, this also shows President Ho Chi Minh’s wise vision of `full cooperation` between the two countries, expressed in a letter to US President Harry Truman 77 years ago.
In a letter to President Truman dated February 16, 1946, President Ho expressed Vietnam’s desire to be `completely independent` and his wish to establish a relationship of `full cooperation` with the United States.
Ambassador Knapper said that the wishes expressed by President Ho Chi Minh in the letter show a long-term vision of bilateral relations, because Vietnam and the US have cooperated together since 1945 against fascism during World War II.
`We shook hands as friends during those years in Tuyen Quang,` he commented.
The US Ambassador shared about Uncle Ho’s letter to the US President
Ambassador Knapper answered about President Ho Chi Minh’s vision for Vietnam – US relations.
Ambassador Knapper emphasized that over the past 28 years, since the normalization of relations, Vietnam and the US have continuously strengthened and expanded bilateral cooperation.
According to him, cooperative efforts to overcome the consequences of war play a huge role, serving as a premise for the two countries to normalize relations in 1995, helping to build trust and create a solid foundation for healing.
`The American people greatly appreciate the humanitarian spirit of the Vietnamese government and people when supporting the search and return of the remains of American soldiers missing during the war,` he shared.
This is also the content of cooperation throughout Vietnam – US relations before and after normalization.
The new cooperation between the two countries in this field is to support the search and verification of remains of Vietnamese soldiers missing during the war, in which the US will proceed in two directions, including documentary research and remains analysis.
Vietnamese documentation experts, historians and researchers will be supported in accessing official and unofficial archives in the US to determine the burial places of Vietnamese soldiers who died during the war.
`This is an effort by the American side to bring peace and truly close the past to the families of Vietnamese martyrs who have been waiting for information for many years, just as the government and people of Vietnam have tried to do.`
On September 27, Mr. Knapper went to Kim Lien Special National Monument, Kim Lien and Nam Giang communes, Nam Dan district, during a working visit to Nghe An province.
As the son of an American veteran who fought in Vietnam, Knapper shared that he was very moved by the efforts to heal and strengthen relations between the two countries.
The US Ambassador recalled that his father, during his visit to Vietnam in 2004, met a number of Vietnam veterans and almost immediately felt `a sense of brotherhood and friendship` with those who were on the other side of the front line.
He called it a very strong bond that perhaps only soldiers like his father and veterans have.
`I think if my father could see Vietnam today, he would be even more impressed,` he expressed.
Ambassador Knapper lit incense at a grave site at the martyrs cemetery in Vinh city during a working visit to Nghe An on September 27.
The US Ambassador said that after upgrading bilateral relations, the two countries will maintain recent efforts to heal as a way to show appreciation for the achievements the parties have achieved in this field.
He also expected the two countries to strengthen cooperation to promote the semiconductor ecosystem in Vietnam, cooperate in high-tech education as well as people-to-people exchanges.
`These are all meaningful areas of cooperation for both the US and Vietnam, connecting the two peoples and helping Vietnam achieve the expectations set in the coming decades,` he said.
