Marc E. Knapper, Ambassador of the United States to Việt Nam spoke to the press on the occasion of the US presidential election on Wednesday. — VNS Photos Nhật Hồng

On the sidelines of the US Embassy's Election Watch Event in Hà Nội on Wednesday, US Ambassador to Việt Nam Marc E. Knapper spoke to the press about the 2024 US presidential election and the impact of the results on Việt Nam-US bilateral relations.

Vietnamese people have been closely following the 2024 US presidential election. What do you think about this?

I am happy for this great interest and great participation in this event today. We are happy that there are so many young people, educators and members of the press here today because it shows this is a great day in the United States.

It is a great day for Americans participating in our political process, and we are happy that there are so many Vietnamese who are interested in learning more about this process and understanding what is going to happen. It is a chance to together celebrate this very important day in US history and politics and we hope that people will leave here understanding more about how we choose our leaders. 

Could you briefly share American voters' concerns?

I cannot speak on behalf of every single American, but certainly, I believe American voters share the same aspirations as many other people around the world, which are stability, peace and prosperity. 

US Ambassador Marc E. Knapper at an information booth at the Embassy's election watch event in Hà Nội, where Vietnamese students could participate in quizzes and learn about the US election process.

Việt Nam and the US upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2023. Should we expect any changes in the two countries' relations after this election?

I can say that the US-Việt Nam relationship has benefitted, for more than 30 years, from bipartisan support for stronger and better ties between our two countries.

If you go back even before normalisation, we had individuals from both parties - the Democratic Party and the Republican Party - individuals like John McCain and John Kerry, who have supported a strong relationship with Việt Nam. We have had every president since Bill Clinton visited Việt Nam - Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump visited twice, and Joe Biden just in September last year. Therefore, I think it reflects the fact that we enjoy very strong bipartisan support in Washington for such an important relationship and such an important country.

We highly value the role that Việt Nam plays regionally and globally. We highly value the relationship that we enjoy with this new comprehensive strategic partnership and the fact that we support a strong, independent, prosperous and resilient Việt Nam.

We support Việt Nam's sovereignty and territorial integrity, we respect each other's political system - these are the things that will not change. These are fundamental to our two countries' ties, and I am very confident that regardless of the results of this election, these basic principles and this basic foundation of our two countries' relationship will continue to stand strong.

What are your expectations for next year as the US Ambassador to Việt Nam?

My expectation is that the US-Việt Nam relationship will continue to grow and will continue to thrive. We will have this important anniversary marking 30 years of normalisation [of bilateral relations]. We will also have the 50th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Việt Nam.

I expect that we will look back on everything we have achieved.

Anniversaries are important to reflect upon what came before, but anniversaries such as next year are also an important way to think about the future - about what we want to achieve together.

The US and Việt Nam have so much that we are doing together, whether it is working with Việt Nam to build a high-tech, high-income economy, whether it is working with Việt Nam to build a green and clean economy by 2050, whether it is working with Việt Nam on its workforce to have computer scientists, electrical engineers and others who can support the kind of high-tech aspirations that Việt Nam has, whether it is working with Việt Nam to build a stronger healthcare system.

These are all aspirations of Việt Nam and these are things the US supports. These are things the US is standing with Việt Nam together, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, to make them successful. Therefore, I expect that next year, we will see much more progress by building upon the great foundation that we already have. — VNS