Beijing said it welcomed improving US-Vietnam ties after the Obama administration ended its embargo on sales of lethal arms to Vietnam, an historic step that draws a line under the two countries’ old enmity and underscores their shared concerns about China’s growing military clout. US President Barack Obama announced the full removal of the embargo Monday at a news conference where he vowed to leave behind the troubled history between the former war enemies and embrace a new era with a young, increasingly prosperous nation. “At this stage, both sides have established a level of trust and cooperation, including between our militaries, that is reflective of common interests and mutual respect,” Obama said alongside his Vietnamese counterpart President Tran Dai Quang. “This change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War.” The decision to lift the ban was not based on China... but on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process moving towards normalisation with Vietnam US President Barack Obama Obama, the third US president to visit Vietnam since ties were restored in 1995, has made closer diplomatic and military cooperation with countries across the Asia-Pacific a centrepiece of his foreign policy. Washington partially lifted the embargo on arms in 2014, but Vietnam wanted full access as it tries to deal with China’s land reclamation and military construction in the disputed South China Sea. Obama’s push to deepen defence ties with a neighbour was certain to be eyed with suspicion in Beijing, which has bristled at US engagement in the region and warned officials not to take sides in the heated territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Sandwiched between giants, Vietnam seeks Obama’s assurance Asked about the move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that “as a neighbouring country, we would be happy to see Vietnam develop normal and friendly cooperative relationships with all other countries, including the United States. “And we hope those normal and friendly relationships are conducive to regional stability and development.” Such embargoes are “a product of the Cold War, and should not have existed,” Hua said. She added that China hopes similar embargos will also be lifted, a possible reference to the continuing weapons embargo imposed by the US and the EU following China’s 1989 bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Earlier a commentary by China’s Xinhua said that rapprochement by the United States should not be used as a “tool to threaten or even damage the strategic interests of a third country” and warned Vietnam to be cautious with the United States, which “is motivated by an insincere agenda”. Ni Lexiong, an expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said Obama’s announcement showed that Washington and Hanoi had formed a “quasi-military alliance targeting China”. “Both Washington and Hanoi have apparently viewed the arms embargo issue as a card against China,” Ni said. Such rapprochement should not be used by the United States as a tool to threaten or even damage the strategic interests of a third country Xinhua commentary But Obama claimed the move had nothing to do with China, but made clear the US was aligned with the smaller nations like Vietnam. The United States and Vietnam had mutual concerns about maritime issues and the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, he said. While the Washington doesn’t take sides, he said, it does support a diplomatic resolution based on “international norms” and “not based on who’s the bigger party and can throw around their weight a little bit more,” a reference to China. “The decision to lift the ban was not based on China... but on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process moving towards normalisation with Vietnam,” Obama said. Vietnam’s leader praised the expansion in security and trade ties between “former enemies turned friends”. Though the communist parties that run China and Vietnam officially have brotherly ties, China’s brinkmanship over the South China Sea - where it has been turning remote outcrops into islands with runways and harbours - has forced Vietnam to recalibrate its defence strategy. Security analysts and regional military attaches expect Vietnam’s initial wish list of equipment to cover the latest in surveillance radar, intelligence and communications technology, allowing them better coverage of the South China Sea as well as improved integration of its growing forces. Hanoi’s military strategists are also expected to seek drones and possibly P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft from the United States. “The US move to lift arms sale embargo at such a sensitive moment looks set to embolden Vietnam to take steps to counter China’s claims in maritime disputes. It won’t do any good to help ease the tensions in the region,” said Xu Liping of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Obama’s visit follows what the Pentagon called an “unsafe” intercept last week by Chinese fighter jets of a US military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea. Beijing and Washington offer differing versions of spy plane intercept in South China Sea Aside from the Vietnamese president, Obama was to meet the two others in Vietnam’s triumvirate of leaders, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong on Monday. In remarks to Quang, who until recently was head of the country’s internal security agency, Obama congratulated him on the “extraordinary progress” Vietnam had made. “Whether we are talking about commercial and economic ties or military-to-military consultations or humanitarian work or our legacy of war issues ... Across the board what we’ve seen is increased cooperation for the benefit of both our peoples,” he said. But Vietnam’s human rights record is a sticking point. Officials are mindful of misgivings back in Washington about losing leverage for securing political reforms from a government that rights advocates say is among the world’s most repressive. Any move to revoke the arms ban would make clear that every weapons sale would be on a case-by-case basis, contingent on human rights considerations, officials said. Obama, who has proven himself a pragmatist in balancing security and human rights, plans to meet dissidents during his trip, something that will not sit well with his hosts. China is Vietnam’s biggest trade partner and source of imports. But trade with the United States has swelled 10-fold over the past two decades to about $45 billion, and Vietnam is now Southeast Asia’s biggest exporter to America. Underlining the burgeoning commercial relationship between the two countries, one of the first deals signed on his trip was an $11.3 billion order for 100 Boeing planes by low-cost airline VietJet. The United States and Vietnam released a joint statement citing examples of how the two nations are deepening ties in other areas: ● The two nations are hailing an arrangement granting one-year, multiple-entry visas for short-term business and tourism travellers from both countries. ● In another development, the US is welcoming the Vietnamese government’s approval of the Peace Corps to teach English in Vietnam. ● The two nations also reaffirmed efforts to ratify and implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact that has struggled to gain traction in Congress during an election year. ● The two nations are also stressing efforts to address issues stemming from the Vietnam War with the US investing nearly $90 million in dioxin remediation at the Da Nang International Airport, a project that will finish next year. Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
