U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris landed in Vietnam on Tuesday, after three hours delayed following an unexplained health incident
She will be in Vietnam from August 24 to 26, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Vietnam – U.S. relations have been seeing a positive momentum.
Related: U.S. Vice President trip to Vietnam delayed over ‘health incident’
The U.S. has in recent times stepped up cooperation with Vietnam in the field of maritime security.
The U.S. has sold two Hamilton-class patrol boats and a number of Metal Shark patrol boats to help Vietnam enhance its ability to patrol its waters and protect its sovereignty and ensure maritime security.
It has given Vietnam around five million doses of Covid-19 vaccines through the Covax mechanism.
Vietnam is among the top 10 recipient countries under a U.S. program to share millions of doses to improve global vaccination rates, local media reported.
In 2021 the U.S. remained Vietnam’s largest export market with shipments rising by 37.7 percent year-on-year in the first seven months to $53.7 billion, according to VNExpress.
Harris left Washington on Friday night, boarding Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and flying on to refueling stops in Alaska and Japan before arriving in Singapore and Vietnam.
According to AP, she is expected to use the trip to communicate U.S. views regarding China’s growing power and influence in the region – including the communist regime’s efforts to take control of the South China Sea.
The timing of the trip has been awkward for the Biden administration, as the Afghanistan crisis has drawn many comparisons to the problematic U.S. pullout from Saigon in 1975.
The Asia trip is Harris’ second foreign trip as vice president, after visiting Guatemala and Mexico in June.
Next Friday, Harris to scheduled to campaign in California for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing a recall effort later this year.