US gifts ship to Vietnam to boost patrols in disputed South China Sea

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the gift reflected a strengthening of US-Vietnam ties

He also vowed Washington would continue conducting freedom of navigation operations in the disputed waterway

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US Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Vietnamese Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich meet in Hanoi on November 20, 2019. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00pm, 20 Nov 2019Updated: 8:00pm, 20 Nov 2019

The United States is giving Vietnam’s coastguard a second cutter vessel, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday, vowing to maintain a routine military presence in the disputed South China Sea.

The new security ship “represents another concrete symbol of our strengthening relationship”, Esper said at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam after a tour through South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.

Washington intends to counter Beijing’s expanding influence in the region and the fiercely contested South China Sea is a source of major tension.

China has built military installations, rammed vessels and sent survey ships into disputed territory in the resource-rich waterway, parts of which are also claimed by several countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

The US has hit out with so-called “freedom of navigation” forays into the waters and the first-ever joint maritime drills with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year.

Esper, who was confirmed as US President Donald Trump’s defence secretary in July, said similar activities will continue.