Vietnam, US display military ties amid China tension
AFP – A Vietnamese border-guard stands nearby the US destoryer USS John S. McCain at anchor at Tien Sa port …
18 mins ago
Tue Aug 10, 3:37 am ET
DANANG, Vietnam (AFP) – Vietnam and the United States will this week stage a fresh demonstration of their military ties at a time of escalating tensions with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The destroyer USS John S. McCain, making a call at the central port city of Danang with a crew of around 270 sailors, departs Tuesday for a four-day programme with the Vietnamese navy.
"Training that we are conducting is a non-combat, non-combat nature," Jeffrey Kim, the ship's commanding officer, told a news conference.
A mine countermeasures ship, the USS Avenger, was supposed to make a port call in Danang along with the John S. McCain but it had to stay in Japan for "operational reasons," said Mike Morley, the ship's public affairs officer.
The visit will feature "the first ever training exchanges with the Vietnamese navy on damage control, emergency repair and fire fighting," Morley added.
On Sunday, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which recently took part in military exercises with South Korea that were denounced by Beijing, hosted a Vietnamese military delegation in the South China Sea off Danang.
The visit by the US Navy vessels to Vietnam, part of celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the former enemies, has acquired greater significance due to recent regional friction.
The South China Sea has long been the subject of territorial disputes, particularly over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.
Last week, Vietnamese foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga denounced China for sending ships to carry out seismic studies in the Paracels zone, which "violated Vietnam's indisputable sovereignty".
Lately Hanoi has become particularly "uneasy about Chinese territorial ambitions," a Vietnamese defence ministry source said.
"The presence of American ships in Vietnamese ports has a great strategic significance for Vietnam," which "shows a regional balance in defence matters," he said.
"I think that the United States could play a much more important role in the region," he added.
Kim said that the John S. McCain's visit had "been planned for several months and is not coincidental to any events".
But he added that the US and Vietnam "share common interest in maritime security in the region" and that Americans "believe that freedom of the sea is very important for trade and relations between nations.
"Over the last 15 years, we've established trust, mutual respect" with Vietnam, Kim added. "And I know that in the coming years, our friendship and relationship will become better."
Hanoi normally treads carefully in its relations with China, its ideological ally, but the regional ambitions of its large neighbour have stoked a degree of apprehension in Vietnam.
Relations between Hanoi and Washington, on the other hand, have come a long way since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two 20 years later.
The United States has become an important partner of Vietnam, and not only in the commercial sphere.
Top US commanders have made it clear they are keeping a close eye on Beijing's military build-up, in particular its naval presence in the South China Sea.
China last month held a large naval and air exercise in the South China Sea, a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said resolution of the territorial disputes was "pivotal" to regional stability.
Speaking in Hanoi, Clinton indicated that Washington was prepared to facilitate multilateral talks on the South China Sea island chains and said the US had a "national interest" in seeing international law respected in the area.
Beijing swiftly denounced any such attempts to "internationalise" the disputes, saying such moves could worsen the situation.
Visits by US naval ships to Vietnam risk further irritating China, according to Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
"The Vietnamese are ever sensitive to how China will react," he said, but added that "the visit of US warships to Danang indicates that Vietnam is willing to risk Chinese verbal displeasure."
AFP – A Vietnamese border-guard stands nearby the US destoryer USS John S. McCain at anchor at Tien Sa port …
18 mins ago
Tue Aug 10, 3:37 am ETDANANG, Vietnam (AFP) – Vietnam and the United States will this week stage a fresh demonstration of their military ties at a time of escalating tensions with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The destroyer USS John S. McCain, making a call at the central port city of Danang with a crew of around 270 sailors, departs Tuesday for a four-day programme with the Vietnamese navy.
"Training that we are conducting is a non-combat, non-combat nature," Jeffrey Kim, the ship's commanding officer, told a news conference.
A mine countermeasures ship, the USS Avenger, was supposed to make a port call in Danang along with the John S. McCain but it had to stay in Japan for "operational reasons," said Mike Morley, the ship's public affairs officer.
The visit will feature "the first ever training exchanges with the Vietnamese navy on damage control, emergency repair and fire fighting," Morley added.
On Sunday, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which recently took part in military exercises with South Korea that were denounced by Beijing, hosted a Vietnamese military delegation in the South China Sea off Danang.
The visit by the US Navy vessels to Vietnam, part of celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the former enemies, has acquired greater significance due to recent regional friction.
The South China Sea has long been the subject of territorial disputes, particularly over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.
Last week, Vietnamese foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga denounced China for sending ships to carry out seismic studies in the Paracels zone, which "violated Vietnam's indisputable sovereignty".
Lately Hanoi has become particularly "uneasy about Chinese territorial ambitions," a Vietnamese defence ministry source said.
"The presence of American ships in Vietnamese ports has a great strategic significance for Vietnam," which "shows a regional balance in defence matters," he said.
"I think that the United States could play a much more important role in the region," he added.
Kim said that the John S. McCain's visit had "been planned for several months and is not coincidental to any events".
But he added that the US and Vietnam "share common interest in maritime security in the region" and that Americans "believe that freedom of the sea is very important for trade and relations between nations.
"Over the last 15 years, we've established trust, mutual respect" with Vietnam, Kim added. "And I know that in the coming years, our friendship and relationship will become better."
Hanoi normally treads carefully in its relations with China, its ideological ally, but the regional ambitions of its large neighbour have stoked a degree of apprehension in Vietnam.
Relations between Hanoi and Washington, on the other hand, have come a long way since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two 20 years later.
The United States has become an important partner of Vietnam, and not only in the commercial sphere.
Top US commanders have made it clear they are keeping a close eye on Beijing's military build-up, in particular its naval presence in the South China Sea.
China last month held a large naval and air exercise in the South China Sea, a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said resolution of the territorial disputes was "pivotal" to regional stability.
Speaking in Hanoi, Clinton indicated that Washington was prepared to facilitate multilateral talks on the South China Sea island chains and said the US had a "national interest" in seeing international law respected in the area.
Beijing swiftly denounced any such attempts to "internationalise" the disputes, saying such moves could worsen the situation.
Visits by US naval ships to Vietnam risk further irritating China, according to Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
"The Vietnamese are ever sensitive to how China will react," he said, but added that "the visit of US warships to Danang indicates that Vietnam is willing to risk Chinese verbal displeasure."
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