Vietnamese Prime Minister &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2002/11/02/39036.html ' target=_blank>Phan Van Khai said on Thursday he planned to visit the United States in late June -- the first such trip by the communist country's top leader since the end of the Vietnam War 30 years ago.
Khai said his visit was aimed at "elevating and strengthening" Hanoi's relations with Washington and should not affect ties with neighboring China.
Relations between China and the United States, two of the world's major powers, are uneasy and distrustful on many front, tells Reuters.
According to ABC News, during the visit, Khai will likely bring up Vietnam's strong desire to join the World Trade Organization. The former foes are currently involved in bilateral negotiations that would help pave the way for Vietnam's entry to the global trade body.
Khai would be the highest-ranking leader to visit Washington since the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/letters/2003/04/03/45505.html ' target=_blank>Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when former U.S.-backed South Vietnam surrendered to communist forces. In addition to Khai, Vietnam's other top leaders include President Tran Duc Luong and Nong Duc Manh, the powerful head of the ruling Communist Party.
In November 2003, Vietnam's Defense Minister Pham Van Tra met with Secretary of Defense &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2003/01/27/42558.html ' target=_blank>Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington, becoming the first senior military official of Hanoi's government to visit the United States.
Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan traveled to Washington a month later to sign a landmark aviation deal between the two countries. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was in Washington in 2001 for a ceremony for the landmark bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam.
Khai rejected suggestions that the visit was to strengthen defense and strategic ties as part of a wider policy of containing the power and influence of China.
NR
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