US to send aircraft carrier to Vietnam as ties between old foes deepen in response to rising threat of China
Decades after the US war in Vietnam, relations are increasingly anchored by shared concerns over China’s aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea
In a post-war first, the United States will send an aircraft carrier to Vietnam, Hanoi’s defence ministry said on Thursday, a major demonstration of deepening military ties between the former enemies more than four decades after the Vietnam war.
The announcement was made during a two-day visit to Hanoi by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis that had been expected to focus on shared concerns about China.
The proposed visit is scheduled for March at the central port of Da Nang, Vietnam’s defence ministry said in a statement. Such a visit by a US aircraft carrier could bring the most US forces to Vietnam since the conflict ended in 1975.
Freedom of navigation and access in the South China Sea will be critical to [Vietnam] economically
The arrival of a US aircraft carrier in Vietnam will be welcomed by an emerging network of countries that are nervously monitoring China’s military rise, particularly its assertive stance and island-building activities in the South China Sea. The busy waterway is a vital global trade route linking Northeast Asia with the Middle East and Europe.
In particular, the militaries of US, Japan, India and Australia are working more closely together as a “quad” of liberal democracies across what they now term the “Indo-Pacific” – moves driven by mistrust of China.
US Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris last week described China as a “disruptive transitional force in the Indo-Pacific” after meetings with Japanese and Indian military leaders in New Delhi.
India, Japan and Australia have all boosted military relations with Vietnam in recent years, with New Delhi providing advanced training for its emerging submarine forces and jet fighter pilots.
Thursday’s confirmation of the US aircraft carrier visit to Da Nang caps months of back room military diplomacy between Hanoi and the Pentagon, diplomats said.