Biden Hails ‘Enormous Opportunity’ With Vietnam During Visit

(Bloomberg) — U.S. President Joe Biden hailed closer ties with Vietnam on his first visit to the country, as Washington seeks to make deeper inroads in the region by offering nations an alternative superpower to China.

“I think we have an enormous opportunity,” Biden told General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the leader of the country’s ruling Communist Party, at a meeting in Hanoi. “Vietnam and the United States are critical partners at this very critical time. I’m not saying that to be polite, I’m saying that because I mean it from the bottom of my heart.”