US President Joe Biden Photo:AFP

Washington is likely to use the strengthening of US-Vietnam ties on the economy, trade and national security as a lever to further increase its influence over Southeast Asia with the goal of containing China, which would endanger regional stability and peace, Chinese experts warned, as US President Joe Biden said he plans to travel to Vietnam soon.

"I'm going to be going to Vietnam shortly. Vietnam wants to change our relationship and become a partner," Biden said Tuesday evening at a Democratic fundraiser in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bloomberg reported.

The report noted that Biden had said Vietnam's leader wanted to meet him on the sidelines of the G20 summit, which will be held in India in September.

Biden did not provide a timeline for the Vietnam visit but other senior administration officials including US Vice President Kamala Harris have already visited the country. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met last month with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi, according to the report.

On Tuesday, Biden also referred to an upcoming summit he will hold with the leaders of South Korea and Japan at Camp David on August 18. Some Chinese observers believe the US president is likely to kick off his first official visit to the Asian country after the meeting.

According to media outlet Vietnam Plus, official data shows that in 2022, China was Vietnam's largest trading partner with a total two-way trade turnover of $175.57 billion, followed by the US ($123.86 billion).

Gu Xiaosong, dean of the ASEAN Research Institute of Hainan Tropical Ocean University, believes that during the potential visit, Biden is expected to meet with the Asian nation's leaders and talk about strengthening bilateral cooperation on trade and increasing US' investment in Vietnam.

Coooperation on national defense and security could be a focus of Biden's visit, Gu predicted.

As the US tries to enhance the implementation of its so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy, Washington has been directing its focus on Vietnam, observers revealed.

The USS Ronald Reagan, a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, arrived in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang in June, the third visit by a US aircraft carrier to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War. By paying a visit to Da Nang, the US aircraft carrier was showing off the US' strong military presence in the South China Sea and its influence in the region. In addition, this demonstrates Washington's desire to strengthen military relations with Hanoi. 

This time, through the potential Vietnam visit, Biden will apparently try to use Vietnam to contain China, Gu said. 

The observer warned that the US, through pushing forward its military ties with ASEAN members including the Philippines and Vietnam, is dragging Asian countries into the competition between China and the US and making them pawns under its anti-China strategy.

However, despite Washington's efforts to pull Hanoi to its side to confront and encircle Beijing, it appears Hanoi will continue to try to strike a balance between Beijing and the Washington.

Even though the US and Vietnam have been getting closer in recent years, the unease between the US and Vietnam over the historical issue of the Vietnam War has not yet been completely settled, along with the two sides' irreconcilable conflicts in ideological values, observers pointed out.

Zheng Sining contributed to this story.