Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
September 15, 2023
One reason why Biden went to Vietnam was to show-off his global leadership and vitality. The US is focused on containing China which is ruled by Chinese Communist Party. Biden’s trip to Vietnam makes some many uncomfortable, they are convinced that Communism is evil.
Thus, Biden went all the way to meet with Vietnamese Communist Party’s General Secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi on September 10th was a paradox. Because Biden’s strategy against China calls for enticing Vietnam to join the US alliance to counter China. Communist China and Communist Vietnam share land border as well as some disputes over south China sea.
The US led the anti-Communism Vietnam war from November 1, 1955, to April 30, 1975. It was a bitter war that ended with a total defeat by the US and resulted in the entire nation under the communists’ rule. The chaos of panic refugees scrambling from Saigon’s US Embassy roof top is till vivid in many people’s hearts, including most of the Vietnamese now.
Most likely, Biden’s trip will result only as “music to Biden’s ears”: Every feature of you, Mr. President, is very much complimentary of your image.
No wonder, Trump says the problem with Biden is competence, not age.
‘You Have Nary Aged a Day,’ Vietnamese Leader Tells Biden
Akayla Gardner
Sun, September 10, 2023 at 5:36 AM PDT
(Bloomberg) — While polls show Joe Biden besieged by questions about his age at home, his trip Sunday to Vietnam yielded at least one person unconcerned by the US president’s age: Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
“You have nary aged a day and I would say you look even better than before,“ Trọng told Biden as the men met at Communist Party headquarters in Hanoi. “Every feature of you, Mr. President, is very much complimentary of your image.”
Biden, 80, laughed off the warm words from the 79-year-old Trong, who is Vietnam’s longest-serving leader since the war era.
Biden is the oldest president in US history, and polls show that his age is consistently his largest liability as he seeks reelection again next year.
Some 73% of Americans surveyed in a CNN poll released earlier this week said they were seriously concerned the president’s age might negatively impact his competence, while 76% said they were worried he could be too old to serve out another full term. Biden would be 82 at the start of his second term in January 2025, while leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would be 78 years old.
Trump says his problem with Biden is competence, not age
AFP
Sep 16, 2023 Updated 55 min ago
Polls show that while the age gap between the two men is small, Americans worry more about Biden’s age, with one survey finding that three in four people doubt his ability to last a second term.