By Zhai Kun

A sizable economic and trade delegation headed by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet arrived in Washington on Monday for an official visit to the United States. This is the first time a Vietnam head of state has stepped onto US soil since the Vietnam War ended 32 years ago.

There is no doubt that the US-Vietnam relationship has taken a historic leap forward from normalization of diplomatic ties to further cooperation. For Vietnam, the significance not only lies in the efforts to wipe away the shadow of the Vietnam War. Looking ahead, it also further clarifies the country's foreign strategy - a new breakthrough in its major power diplomacy.

The end of the Cold War and resolution of the Southeast Asian hot issue laid the foundation for Vietnam to improve its once terrible foreign relations. It sees China and the US as the most important of the major powers.

It is the right strategic decision for Vietnam to leave behind its bitter history with these two nations and move forward.

The normalization of official relations with China in 1991 and with the US in 1995 constitutes two significant breakthroughs for Vietnam diplomacy. Since then, its foreign environment has been improving, allowing the nation to focus on reform and opening to the world.

Sino-Vietnam relations have been improving since 1991, as high-level exchanges became more frequent, with heads of the two states paying regular visits like relatives.

In contrast to Sino-Vietnam relations, US-Vietnam ties have gone through a difficult process. Entering the 21st century, their fluctuating bilateral ties achieved a sudden spike upward.

In 2000, then US Defense Secretary William Cohen visited Vietnam, followed by then President Bill Clinton as the first US head of state to visit post-war Vietnam. In late 2001, the US-Vietnam trade agreement took effect. In 2003 Pham Van Tra became the first Vietnamese defense minister to visit America, while US naval warships made a historic port call at Ho Chi Min City.

In 2005, Vietnam Premier Phan Van Khai became the first high-ranking Vietnamese government official to visit the US.

In November 2006, US President George W. Bush attended that year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Hanoi and paid his first friendly visit to the Southeast Asian nation. President Nguyen Van Triet's visit to America is a reciprocal gesture of the highest order.

The improved relations with major powers have produced immediate results in Vietnam's drive to innovate and open to the world.

Today, Vietnam is the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia. It has sustained a growth rate of more than 7 percent in recent years, second only to China in Asia, and is now the most lively "little tiger" on the world's largest continent.

Both the US and China are Vietnam's key trading partners. The total value of US-Vietnam trade in 2004 reached US$7 billion, while that of Sino-Vietnam trade exceeded US$6 billion.

Last year trade between Vietnam and the US topped US$9.7 billion. The US is now Vietnam's largest export market. The Sino-Vietnam trade was valued at over US$10 billion.

Both the US and China have approved Vietnam's World Trade Organization (WTO) membership. This means that a ticket into the global economic system has been given to Vietnam by the world's largest developing nation as well as the largest developed nation.

It is almost certain that Vietnam will continue to push forward its strategic relations with the US.

It is Vietnam's strategic decision as a nation focused primarily on development to enhance cooperation with the US to improve its foreign environment.

It also has the social foundation for developing bilateral ties with the US. Two-thirds of Vietnam's 82-million people were born after the Vietnam War and half of all Vietnamese are aged 25 or younger. This younger generation more or less knows about or envies American culture and way of life. Brands such as Microsoft, IBM and Coca Cola have become part of their lives. Vietnamese leaders like to meet Bill Gates.

At the same time, because of different social systems, historical issues and the huge gap between levels of development, the two countries will find it difficult to further develop high-level ties in the foreseeable future. Each time the US launched a war, from Kosovo to Iraq, and each time it instigated or supported a "democratic revolution", be it in Ukraine or Uzbekistan, it gave rise to suspicions on Vietnam's part.

Vietnam will surely further enhance its good neighbor relations with China. The two countries have an inseparable geopolitical bond and China's development brings opportunities to Vietnam.

If China's reform and opening efforts can be described as "crossing the river by feeling the stones" - in the words of Deng Xiaoping, Vietnam's opening to the world should be seen as benefiting from China's experience, which has dramatically reduced the cost of repeating mistakes.

Currently, China remains the major power in the closest relationship with Vietnam. However, the two nations are still divided over the South China Sea territorial issue, though they have reached the consensus to resolve their differences peacefully.

Vietnam has long been a country looking for its own place around major powers. As history testifies, it has never worked for Vietnam to stand against or lean on a major power.

The post-Cold War reality has shown that a diplomacy dealing with the major powers gives Vietnam more leverage for self-decision and paves the way for economic development.

The author is head of the Southeast Asia and Oceania Studies Division of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily June 22, 2007)