By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Vietnam’s President and ruling Communist Party Chief To Lam on Wednesday, the White House said on Sunday.
The meeting, reported first by Reuters, is expected to take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Biden has been eager to deepen relations with the strategic Southeast Asian country and manufacturing hub in a bid to counter Russia and China, with which Vietnam also retains ties.
Last September, Biden visited Vietnam and secured deals on semiconductors and minerals and an upgrade to Hanoi’s highest diplomatic status, alongside China and Russia.
In his first U.S. trip since he was named in early August as head of the party, the country’s most powerful job, Lam will speak at the U.N. event and meet with representatives from several U.S. corporations, including Alphabet’s Google and Facebook owner Meta, Reuters previously reported.
Ahead of To Lam’s trip to the United States, authorities in communist-ruled Vietnam had released some prominent activists from prison before the end of their jail terms, sources told Reuters.
They include Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in January 2010 on charges of subversion, and environment activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong who was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax fraud in September last year.
Lam’s trip also includes a stop in Cuba, Vietnam’s long-term Communist partner.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Lisa Shumaker and Lincoln Feast.)
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