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Reuters

In a telephone call, US president-elect Donald Trump told Vietnam’s prime minister he wanted to further strengthen fast-warming ties between the two countries, Hanoi said on Thursday.
Vietnam has advanced ties with the United States to a new level under the Obama administration as it faces down communist neighbour China’s challenge to its territorial claims in the busy waterway of the South China Sea.
During Wednesday’s conversation, Vietnamese premier Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulated Trump on his election win and stressed the importance of maintaining friendship and cooperation.

“President-elect Trump spoke highly of the achievements of Vietnam, as well as the positive developments in bilateral ties,” Vietnam’s government said on its news website.
“He also asserted his wish to cooperate with Vietnam to accelerate the relationship between the two countries.”
Trump has had conversations with several leaders of countries locked in maritime disputes with China, among them Japan, Philippines and Taiwan.
Trump was strongly critical of China during his campaign.
China’s President Xi Jinping in his first telephone conversation with Trump in November, said stepping up cooperation is the only choice for China and the US.

His trade platform runs counter to Vietnam’s interests, however, with his opposition to a Trans-Pacific Partnership proving a major setback for Southeast Asia’s biggest exporter to the United States.
Trump and Phuc discussed ways to promote economic ties, trade and investment, the government added.
In a statement, Trump’s transition team confirmed the conversation, saying the two men “discussed a range of shared interests and agreed to work together to continue strengthening the relationship between the two nations”.

Just days after Trump’s win, Phuc told parliament that ratification of the TPP would be shelved because of political changes in the United States, but Vietnam still wanted good relations with Washington.
In a separate development, a US guided-missile destroyer, the Mustin, visited Cam Ranh international port on Thursday in a routine technical stop, the US embassy said.
The ship’s visit was “an example of the depth of our comprehensive partnership and the importance of strengthening our civilian and military ties,” said US Ambassador Ted Osius.
Vietnam has expressed support for the United States to maintain its security presence in Asia. Washington fully lifted a US lethal arms embargo on Vietnam in May, allowing closer defence links and some joint military exercises.


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Donald Trump

Trump talks ties with Vietnam after it dumped Obama’s signature trade pact

In a telephone call, US president-elect Donald Trump told Vietnam’s prime minister he wanted to further strengthen fast-warming ties between the two countries. Photo: AP

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the phone with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump at her office in Taipei, Taiwan, in this handout photo made available December 3, 2016. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. TAIWAN OUT.

epa05603205 Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks to media during a press conference after the 8th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit (CLMV-8) and the 7th Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit (ACMECS-7) in Hanoi, Vietnam, 26 October 2016. EPA/LUONG THAI LINH/POOL

This handout photo taken by the Presidential Photographers' Division on December 2, 2016 and released December 3, 2016 shows Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte gesturing as he talks to US President-elect Donald Trump on the phone at Legaspi Suites in Davao City. US President-elect Donald Trump told Duterte that Manila was conducting its deadly drug war "the right way", Duterte said on December 3, in stark contrast to the criticism he received from President Barack Obama. / AFP PHOTO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS' DIVISION / Richard Madelo / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS' DIIVISION / RICHARD MADELO " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Vietnam vows full speed ahead with economic reforms, with or without the TPP

Garment manufacturing is major industry in Vietnam. Photo: SCMP Pictures

An employee monitors Traphaco JSC capsules moving along a conveyor at the company's manufacturing facility in Van Lam district, Hung Yen Province, Vietnam, on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. Traphaco, Vietnam's second-largest listed pharmaceutical company, has spent heavily to increase its competitiveness, including the construction of $22 million factory to prepare for the expected rise in foreign medicines entering Vietnam if TPP came into effect, said Chairwoman Vu Thi Thuan. Photographer: Maike Elan/Bloomberg

FILE--Workers are shown stiching for Nike shoes, in this July 26, 1997, at the Korean-owned Tae Kwang Vina factory, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. An audit has found a variety of unsafe working conditions at the Nike factory in Vietnam, although the athletic shoe manufacturer says it already has begun making improvements. Nike has been under a barrage of criticism in recent weeks from human rights groups that say the company tolerates unsafe working conditions at its plants in Third World countries. Nike company officials say the Nike-aligned factories offer respectable wages, where working conditions have improved and abuses are relatively few. (AP Photo/The Oregonian, Paul Kitagaki Jr.)

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