Theo nguồn tin trên trang mạng của Đại Sứ Quán Hoa Kỳ ở tại Hà Nội
Antony J. Blinken Deputy Secretary of State University of Social Sciences and Humanities Vietnam National University-Hanoi April 21, 2016 Moderator: First I would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Blinken for his wonderful presentation. It’s about the future of Vietnam, about the future of the region, about you in this hall. So now I would like to advise all of you, first of all students, to write questions to Mr. Blinken. I think he is already prepared for this session. Deputy Secretary Blinken: We’ll find out. Moderator: We will have about 20 minutes. So please, write the questions. It is a good chance for you to write such kind of question in this very important event. Question: Good morning, sir. My name is Linh. I am the third-year student of the Linguistics Faculty. Thank you for your speech and I wonder if you allow me to ask one question. Will the US continue to maintain its engagement with the Asia Pacific? Thank you. Deputy Secretary Blinken: Thank you very much. Thank you for your question. Not only will we continue to maintain our engagement in the Asia Pacific, we’re going to strengthen it and to grow it even more. This has been one of the top priorities for President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry. We call it the rebalance. What it means is that we’re focusing more of our time, more of our energy, more of our resources, more of our engagement right here in the Asia Pacific region, and there are a few reasons for that. The first is that the United States is an Asia Pacific country and that legacy, that history, is something that is not only part of the past but fundamentally part of our future. Because when we look around the Asia Pacific we see some of the fastest growing economies in the world. We see some of the youngest nations on earth. We see some of the most innovative, connected and wired people anywhere on the planet, and that’s a future that we want to be part of because it will be good for the United States. So we work very hard to strengthen across the board our engagement and relationships in the Asia Pacific. We work to strengthen our partnerships with individual countries. Some of our traditional partners and allies like Japan, like South Korea, like the Philippines. But also emerging countries, new partners starting with Vietnam. We’ve worked to strengthen the institutions that exist already here in the Asia Pacific and need to look at new ones, because those institutions like ASEAN, like APEC, like the East Asia Summit and Leaders Forum, they create opportunities for countries to come together, to talk together, to debate together, and to act together. We’ve expanded our military presence in the region because we believe it has been a force for stability and helped create an environment in which countries could grow and develop in peace. We’ve worked, as I said, to deepen our relationship and cooperation with China, because it’s such an important country for the future. And as I said a few moments ago, we’ve succeeded in broadening and deepening that cooperation in critical areas like climate change, like dealing with Ebola, like dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, even as we deal directly with our differences. And we’ve worked to create new connections, especially in trade and commerce that will link us far into the future with this region, and that’s where the Trans-Pacific Partnership comes in. When you take all of these things together, it’s building a beautiful fabric of connections and networks between the United States and the rest of the region. So not only will we sustain it, we’re going to make it grow stronger and it’s going to be a fundamental part of our common future. Thank you. Question: Good morning, Mr. Blinken. Good morning, Ambassador Ted Osius. My name is Ha. I’m currently the senior student majoring in international studies. So first of all, thank you very much for your speech. And I think that it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me to meet you and to listen to your sharing about the future. As a token of appreciation, I would like to raise a super difficult question. Are you ready? Deputy Secretary Blinken: I don’t know. Question: As you know the YSEALI, the Young South East Asian Leaders Initiative was launched in 2013 as initiative of President Barack Obama, right? So I assume that this is part of the U.S. pivot to Asia which is a long-term strategy. So my question is as President Obama’s term is going to end, that will this program be be likely to continue or stop? I have this question because a few days ago, I watched on the internet a video about Donald Trump. He said that once he became the President, he would replace the ObamaCare, which is also an issue of Obama, right? So I was quite interested in the YSEALI because the program was launched to enhance the leadership of the people in South Asia. So how do you see the future of this program after President Obama’s term ends? Deputy Secretary Blinken: Thank you. First, I want to thank you because you improved upon my answer to the first question because a critical part of the rebalance is exactly what you just talked about. It’s connecting the young people in our countries, the future of our countries, through programs like [WASALI]. So thank you for making my answer better. Second, I can’t predict what a future administration will do, but I believe that any administration, whoever is elected, looking at the merits of a program like [WASALI] will continue and hopefully even grow it and strengthen it because it’s so profoundly in the interest of the United States, not just in the interest of countries in this region. We have a lot of experience with bringing young people to the United States through our exchange programs over the last 70 years, and we’ve learned some lessons from it. First, we found that the people that we bring to the United States that our agencies often identify turn out years later to become the leaders of the countries when they go back home. The people that come to the United States on exchange programs over the years, programs like [WAILI]. More than 350 have gone on to become a president or prime minister; 52 won Nobel Prizes; and thousands went on to become leaders in business, in academics, in culture, in sports. So what happens? These young people come to the United States, they see our country first-hand. They see what’s good, they see what’s not so good, they meet Americans, they form friendships, they build networks and return home. And nine out of ten, maybe even ten out of ten, come away with a very favorable impression of the United States, even with the challenges that we face. That’s the best possible investment we can make in America’s future and in our relationship with countries like Vietnam. So I believe that anyone who looks at it objectively will have to conclude that it’s the right thing to do. Question: Good morning, Mr. Deputy Secretary. Thank you so much for your coming and your speech. I would like to ask a question regarding the U.S. rebalancing to the Asia Pacific region. Specifically I would like to ask about the US strategy. My question is, are there any contradictions between strengthening US security alliances the region and supporting ASEAN’s centralism? Deputy Secretary Blinken: Thank you very much. I think to the contrary, these two go hand in hand and that’s exactly why we work to support and help ASEAN develop as a strong, thriving institution. Again, it creates a place, a mechanism, where countries can come together, talk about challenges, think about solutions and then hopefully act together. It’s a place where the smaller countries in the region can find strength in being joined by others. That’s a very powerful thing. So I believe that the institutions in the region like ASEAN are critical parts of the success of the rebalance. But also a critical foundation for the region to grow stronger, for people to prosper, and for nations to work together in peace and security and stability. That’s why the President and Secretary of State, all of us have spent so much time on trying to work with it. And I have to say I’m pleased with the products we’ve seen. Tomorrow I’ll be in Indonesia, and one of the things that I’ll do there is to meet with the ASEAN Ambassadors who are resident in Indonesia. It’s a great opportunity to talk in one place about some of the common challenges that we face. And as you know, President Obama had the leaders of the ASEAN countries to the United States to Sunnylands for a truly historic meeting. I think that’s a clear reference as to how we see this as one of the foundations of our own engagement with the region. Thank you very much. Question: Good morning, sir. My name is Hang. First of all, I’d like to thank you for your observations. It is very useful for me. I am the third-year student from the Faculty of International Studies and I have a small question for you. As you may know, there is a saying that nations have no permanent friends or allies. They only have permanent interests. So, can we, Vietnam, and the U.S. build up a permanent friendship or alliance? Thank you. Deputy Secretary Blinken: Thank you, that’s a great question. I believe that increasingly the partnership between the United States and Vietnam will not simply be one of convenience, of temporary interests, but one of conviction, of shared values, of shared friendships, of a shared future. In that sense I believe very strongly in the long term potential of this relationship. No one can fully predict the future. Nothing is really ever permanent. But when I look at the relationship, when I look at the foundation that we’re building, when I look at the interests that we have in common, but also increasingly the values that are emerging, I believe that it will last for a very long time. And yes, it does start with the interests of our people. It’s true that when we think about partnerships and relationships with other countries it starts with, is this something that’s in our interest, just as for Vietnam. You have to conclude that it’s in your interest. But there’s something that’s much deeper that’s going on. First, we have an extraordinary connection between our peoples that is different in many ways than other places. We have so many Vietnamese Americans who connect us together in personal ways, in family ways, in cultural ways. That’s very powerful. And that’s another reason why we want to build and grow the exchange programs we were talking about. We want more Vietnamese coming to the United States for education, while we want more Americans coming to Vietnam to learn about each other. To understand each other. To build those kind of friendships and partnerships. If we do that then it will be as permanent as a relationship between nations and between people can be. I really believe that to be true. Thank you. Question: Good morning, Sir. Thanks for your interesting presentation. My name is Lan Chi. I am a student, the first year student of Oriental Studies. I have a question for you. Vietnam and the U.S. are very different. How can they overcome such differences to cooperate with each other? Thank you. Deputy Secretary Blinken: Thank you very much. First I want to add something to the answer to the last question because it connects directly to your question as well. The other thing that is so important in building that long-term future for us are the connections among our business and investment communities, our entrepreneurs, our innovators. And that’s something that the Trans-Pacific Partnership opens an incredibly wide future to, and that’s a very important element of building a lasting foundation. Not just a temporary one between our countries. But you’re right. We do have differences. Different philosophies, different views of government, obviously different histories that sometimes have merged in very difficult ways. Different cultures, different traditions. And we profoundly respect those differences. It’s very important that nations do that, that we work together out of mutual respect as well as mutual interest. But what I saw this morning suggests to me that for all of these differences, appropriate differences, there is so much more that joins us together than separates us, and I see it in this room, and I saw it with the young innovators and entrepreneurs that I met this morning at Vietnam’s Silicone Valley. You know, if I was closing my eyes and not looking at the immediate surroundings I could have been, as I said, in Silicon Valley in California or in any other innovative community around the world. And this generation of young people, because they’re so connected, because they talk to each other and engage each other across oceans, through social media, they know more about each other, they’re developing a more common vision than any generation of young people in the entire history of the world. And that’s having a profound transformational effect. It is bringing people closer together. IT is creating greater understanding. It is creating a greater interdependence where it makes sense for us to work together and to develop strong relationships. Even when we have differences in history and culture and political approach. I believe those forces that are driving us together are the most important and dominant forces in the 21st Century, and it’s in the interest of countries to allow those forces to flourish. Now it’s also true, as I said, that some of that can bring with it great new challenges and even dangers. The very same technology and information that connects people more, that brings us together can also enable terrorists, extremists and other bad actors to do terrible damage. And we have to work together and guard against that future as well. But I believe what we’re living all together is a more interconnected world than at a time before where what we have in common will become ever more evident; and what separates us will become less relevant. Thank you. Question: Good morning. Thank you for your wonderful presentation. My name is Lan Nguyen. I am a student from the Faculty of Sociology. I have a question for you. What is the future of the US pivot if there will be the new government in 2017? Thank you. Deputy Secretary Blinken: One of the great advantages of my job as a diplomat is I can stay out of politics, so I’m going to happily not predict the political future. But again I come back to something we were talking about a few minutes ago. When people come to office in the United States, often they’ve said things during the campaign to get support and to succeed, and then when they come to office they see some of the new realities that they weren’t aware of when they were just a candidate for office. And suddenly, your perspective sometimes changes. I think what any President will look forward to in 2017 is to look at what makes the most sense for the United States? How can we both advance our interests around the world and our shared values? So what that tends to produce is some consistency. Even when there’s change there are some fundamental things that stay the same. And one thing I believe that would stay the same no matter who is elected next year is this engagement and focus in the Asia Pacific region, and through recently discussed [inaudible] because it’s so profoundly in our interest and I believe anyone that comes to office will see that and act on it. Thank you. Question: Good morning, my name is Van. I’m the third-year student of the Linguistics Faculty. I have a question for you. My question is, does Obama’s Asia policy intend to contain the rise of China? Deputy Secretary Blinken: No. United States policy is not to contain China. On the contrary it is to welcome its emergence as a strong and important participant in the international system, now that meets its responsibilities as a leading member of that system. That’s why we’ve worked to, as I said earlier, deepen our own cooperation with China in many different areas. But with the emergence of China as a leading nation comes responsibility. And that’s what we also care about. You know, 70 years ago, a little over 70 years ago after the end of World War II the United States emerged as a leading country in the world. We came out of the war with great power, and many other countries that had suffered greatly had lost power. And we had to decide, how do we use that power? And our leaders at the time made a very important decision. They decided to take the lead in creating rules and norms and laws and international institutions that would be obligations on everyone including the United States. And some to some people that seemed maybe not so logical because it seemed to tie us down because we were making ourselves subject to the same laws and rules and norms and institutions as everyone else, and we were giving other countries a voice and a vote in the decisions about the international system. There was great wisdom in that approach because often what’s happened in history when one nation emerges and rises is that other nations get very nervous, understandably sometimes, and they get together to try and prevent its rise. And when that nation that’s rising acts in ways that are counter to the rules and norms, when it uses its size and strength not its ideas to advance its interests, then it’s going to create adversaries and other countries getting together to try and put a check on it. That didn’t happen to the United States because we acted with great wisdom in creating the system. My hope is that China will draw inspiration from that history and act with similar wisdom as it emerges. To uphold, to respect, and even to add to the rules and the norms and the institutions, to resolve disputes peacefully, not coercively. To ensure [inaudible] the freedom of navigation and the freedom of flight. To act in accordance with international norms and the rules and laws. Because if it does that I believe that this emergence will be welcomed by everyone because we all have a lot to benefit from a China that is investing and trading and building ties between people. But if China chooses another course, if it chooses to ignore the rules and the laws and the institutions, then I think it’s going to alienate many countries, and we will find over time that instead of expanding its power, it’s actually going to diminish it. So that’s what we’re looking at. Thank you.
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