Comprehensive upgrade puts Australia in Vietnam’s top tier
The conclusion of a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” by two states leads few observers to experience frissons of excitement. However, the Partnership agreed yesterday between Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Minh Chinh is more than an announceable wrought by officials to garner a headline or two for their principals.
For many countries -including Vietnam- formal gradations in relationships from “comprehensive” to “strategic” to the top tier of “comprehensive strategic” are a sign of where a relationship stands within their global perspective, a mark that the relationship has substantive content, and a signal to their bureaucracy that policies and activities under the carapace of the partnership are priorities.
For years the only countries with which Vietnam had the top relationship were China and Russia -partly stemming from their historical support in the Vietnam war -and India, which, while nominally neutral, tilted towards Vietnam.
Now -within the space of about a year -the United States and three of its allies (Japan, South Korea and Australia) have moved into the top tier.
First off, the Vietnam/Australia upgrade is a win. Last year we celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations with Hanoi. We have come a long way from when we opened our first embassy in Hanoi-a bedraggled couple of hotel rooms with lino floors........
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