The United States and Vietnam have discussed possible U.S. sales of
weapons and spare parts to Vietnam, as well as American military help
with disaster relief and a range of other issues. The two nations'
first strategic dialogue on political, defense and security issues
shows the continuing improvement in U.S.-Vietnamese relations, as Matt
Steinglass report from Hanoi.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt says the talks in Hanoi touched on a wide range of security affairs.
"Primarily
peacekeeping, military assistance, security assistance, potential arms
transactions, [that are] lethal, [and] non-lethal, and a host of other
issues of mutual concern," he said.
Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh calls the talks, which ended Monday, productive.
Minh says the dialogue helped contribute to the strengthening of ties between Vietnam and the U.S.
The
Vietnamese military has asked the U.S. to supply spare parts for its
American-made helicopters, leftovers from the Vietnam War. The two
governments also discussed integrating Vietnamese soldiers into United
Nations peacekeeping operations, and American military help with
disaster relief in Vietnam.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense James Clad, who was also at the talks, says Washington simply
wants to develop the same kind of military cooperation with Vietnam
that it already has with other countries in the region.
"It
would be incorrect to cast it is as something very bilateral. We have,
for example, routine exchanges with the Malaysians, with the
Indonesians, with the Filipinos, with the Thais. And I think as a large
ASEAN country, Vietnam is more and more coming into that world," he
said.
Experts generally see the growing U.S.-Vietnamese security
relationship as an effort by both to balance rising Chinese power.
China and Vietnam have a dispute over the ownership of two island
groups in the South China Sea which may hold rich undersea oil deposits.
But Clad says the U.S. wants Vietnam and China to have good relations, to promote regional stability.
Martin
Gainsborough, a Vietnam expert at Bristol University in Britain, says
the talks carry promise for Vietnam, but also domestic political risks.
"Individual
leaders that are, in a sense, fronting this dialogue - they have to be
careful personally that they're not seen as leaning too heavily toward
the U.S. Again, not least because of the relationship with China," he
said.
The two sides hope to make the talks an annual event. The next meeting is scheduled for autumn 2009 in Washington.
