Sydney (VNA) - Carlyle A. Thayer - Emeritus Professor, The University ofNew South Wales, Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy, hasemphasised turning points in Vietnam-Australia relations in his exclusive article to Vietnam NewsAgency on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomaticties (February 26).

Following is the full text of Thayer’s article.

“Australia and Vietnam established diplomatic relations in 1973 afternegotiations were concluded in Paris that resulted in an Agreement to End theWar and Restore the Peace in Vietnam. Bilateral relations have been continuallydeveloped with two major turning points.

The first major turning point was reached in 2009 during the visit to Canberraby Nong Duc Manh, Secretary General of the Vietnam Communist Party. On September7, Deputy Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Pham Gia Khiem signed a jointstatement raising bilateral relations to a comprehensive partnership.

This partnership was based on six major areas of mutual co-operation: politicaland public policy exchanges; economic and trade relations; developmentassistance and technical cooperation; defence and security; people-to-peoplelinks; and global and regional issues. The comprehensive partnership wasimplemented through a three-year Plan of Action (2010-13).

The second turning point in bilateral relations took place in March 2015 duringthe visit to Canberra by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Senior ministers fromboth sides signed the Declaration on Enhancing the Australia-VietnamComprehensive Partnership. This declaration identified five major areas ofcooperation: deepening bilateral ties; regional and international; economicgrowth, trade and industry development; development assistance; defence, lawenforcement and security ties.

“The significance of the enhanced comprehensive partnership lies in therecognition by Australia and Vietnam that there is a growing convergence ofinterests and outlook between them. For example, the preamble to theDeclaration asserted: ‘Vietnam and Australia have built strong relations on thebasis of mutual respect and interest. The relationship contributes to thepeace, stability, cooperation and development of each country as well as theregion and the world.’

Both Vietnam and Australia share a mutual interest in maintaining regionalsecurity, stability and economic development based on respect for sovereigntyand international law. Both are also in agreement of the importance ofmultilateral institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the East Asia Summit(EAS).

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“Vietnam and Australia also have convergent views on the importance oflong-term global and regional economic integration based on trade andinvestment liberalisation. For example, both countries participated in effortsto negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement or TPP. When the PresidentTrump withdrew from the TPP, both Vietnam and Australia participated insuccessful negotiations for a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership Agreement or TPP-11.

“Little noticed at the time, in March 2015 the prime ministers of Vietnam andAustralia agreed to establish a strategic partnership in the future.

Currently Vietnam has eleven strategic partnerships, including four of the fivemembers of the United Nations Security Council as well as Japan and India. TheVietnam- Australia strategic partnership will lead to more regular exchangesbetween the top leadership and better coordination to deal with the manychallenges to economic development, transnational issues, and peace andsecurity in the region and globally.

Both Vietnam and Australia share convergent views on the East Sea territorialdispute. They both agree on the peaceful settlement of disputes, without theuse or threat of force, on the basis of international law including the 1982United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Both are in agreement thatASEAN and China should negotiate a binding Code of Conduct in the South ChinaSea. Both support freedom of navigation and aviation. Both countries call onall parties to exercise restraint and refrain from actions that could increasetensions in the region. Both countries agree on the urgent need to conclude acode of conduct for the South China Sea.

No better example of cooperation to contribute to global peace and security canbe provided than Vietnam’s commitment to deploy a Level 2 Field Grade Hospitalto the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and Australia’s offer to fly theVietnamese peacekeepers in Royal Australian Air Force Hercules transportaircraft.

The time is now ripe to raise bilateral relations to a strategic partnership onthe occasion of the visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Canberra from March14-15 to mark the forty-fifth anniversary of diplomatic relations. This willmark the third major turning point in bilateral relations.” - VNA