OpinionFormer US diplomat Ted Osius’s new book offers a ringside seat to Vietnam’s reconciliation with America – and an insight to its future with China
- ‘Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam’ by Ted Osius chronicles the trust-building process between the US and one of its most critical partners in Asia
- Hanoi is said to be annoyed at how much Osius has revealed; in Beijing, some wonder if the book is meant to drive a wedge between two communist nations
Hostilities and distrust remained palpable between Washington and Hanoi when the war ended in 1975, but through yeoman efforts by diplomats, military officers, aid workers, academics, war veterans and businesspeople on both sides the two countries moved inch by inch towards partnership and trust.
Former diplomat Ted Osius chronicles this journey of trust-building in his new book, Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam. Osius had a ringside seat to a chunk of this progress toward friendship as a US diplomat in Vietnam in the early days after the normalisation of ties in 1995 and then as an ambassador for three years until 2017.
Osius’ memoir features oodles of fascinating vignettes about the sometimes complicated behind-the-scenes workings of diplomatic ties between the two countries. While the book is quite sympathetic to Vietnam it has created a bit of flap in Hanoi. Not surprisingly, the book is also being scrutinised by officials in China, Vietnam’s communist ally and frequent nemesis over the millennia, to figure out what future moves Washington and Hanoi may have up their sleeves.
Vietnamese officials say they mostly like the book, but they admit privately that some in Hanoi are irritated about the extensive details and quotes Osius provides about his conversations with senior Vietnamese Communist Party officials. Hanoi is particularly peeved about the author’s in-depth description of party chief Nguyen Phu Trong’s 2015 official visit to Washington.