VIETNAM yesterday raised fears with US officials of Chinese 'miscalculations' during missile tests in a plea for restraint.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Kent Wiedemann, said he told Hanoi that the deployment of a US battle group to the Taiwan Strait was 'prudent' but would not threaten China 'or any other party'.
'The launching of missiles was clearly a provocation,' he told the South China Morning Post after private sessions with Deputy Foreign Minister Le Mai.
'They [Vietnam] have come to the conclusion that there's not an immediate military threat,' he said.
Vietnam, like other Southeast Asian nations, was most concerned about any 'unwitting miscalculations' sparking 'very unfortunate and unpredictable, violent outcomes'.
US sources close to the talks said Hanoi was 'brought fully into the loop' with rundowns on Washington's deployment of the USS Nimitz and other warships, and diplomatic and military exchanges between the two superpowers.
