Vietnam's priorities for the opening up of Cam Ranh Bay are intriguing.
As well as the United States navy - whose ships are already being serviced in the strategic port on the South China Sea - other navies would be welcome too, such as those of India and Russia, Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh told the Sunday Morning Post recently.
It was only when he was pushed about whether the PLA's ships would also be welcome at Cam Ranh that Vinh said: 'Oh, yes, and China, too.' It was especially surprising, given that, in the same interview, Vinh talked up the importance of what he said were improving Sino-Vietnamese military ties. Speaking on the eve of last week's historic visit to Cam Ranh by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, he seemed keen to head off any anger from Beijing about the trip.
Chinese officials' expressions of concern about Panetta's trip to Asia last week, and Washington's plans to boost the already considerable US naval presence in the Asia-Pacific, were relatively mild.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said China hoped the United States would respect China's regional interests and warned that the Pentagon's ambitions were 'out of keeping with the times'.
A People's Daily editorial went further, saying the US was creating schisms. 'While establishing a new security array across the Asia-Pacific, it has invariably made China its target,' the editorial read.