Posts distort flag protocol to misleadingly claim 'Vietnam humiliated US' during Blinken visit
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 18, 2023 at 05:49
- 3 min read
- By Clara IP, AFP Hong Kong
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"The United States was really humiliated by Vietnam. The Vietnamese did not display the American flag when they met Blinken. This is extremely disrespectful in terms of diplomatic etiquette. Unexpectedly, Blinken put up with it and used the picture in his own tweet," reads a simplified Chinese tweet posted on April 16.
It features a photo of Blinken in a room with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other officials. The Vietnamese flag can be seen circled in red next to Chinh while another red circle marks an empty spot next to Blinken.
The photo was also shared more than 200 times alongside a similar claim elsewhere on Twitter here and here, as well as on Weibo and Facebook.
Blinken, passing through Hanoi on his way to a Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in Japan, met Vietnamese leaders on April 15 to pave the way for a potential diplomatic upgrade to a "strategic partnership" (archived here).
The two countries have increasingly close trade links, while both share concern over China's growing strength in the region.
Blinken tweeted the photo on April 15 with the caption: "Met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh today. I thanked him for 10 years of success under the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership and celebrated its essential role in upholding our shared vision for an open, prosperous, resilient, and peaceful Indo-Pacific" (archived link).
Flag protocol
A spokesperson for Vietnam's foreign ministry told AFP that according to international practice, the display of national flags "is done in accordance with the host country's protocol".
The spokesperson went on to say rules regarding the display of national flags during meetings in Vietnam with foreign officials were set out by "provisions of Decree 18/2022/ND-CP on diplomatic protocol and ceremonies" to ensure equal rights between the countries.
Article 24 Section 9 of the decree says: "Fly National Flags of both nations in the guest reception room for guests with the rank of Ministers and equivalences or higher (reception of the same rank). In case the guests have a lower rank than the host, only fly the National Flag of Vietnam" (archived link).
Photos published by AFP -- including the one below -- show the US flag was displayed when Blinken met his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son at the Government Guest House in Hanoi on April 15 (archived links here and here).
Moreover, images taken from previous diplomatic visits to Vietnam show the same protocol for the hoisting of flags was followed.
News reports show no respective national flags of the guests were displayed when Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met PM Chinh in April 2022 and when South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin did the same in October 2022 (archived links here and here).
But the Australian flag was flown during Governor-General David Hurley's visit in early April and the US flag during Vice President Kamala Harris' visit in August 2021 (archived links here and here).
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