Earlier in October, at the inaugural summit of ASEAN defense ministers in Hanoi, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared the US a “resident power” in Asia. And earlier this summer, while hosting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vietnam encouraged her to intervene in the growing maritime disputes between China and Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, and Vietnam itself.
去年10月，河内举办了东亚峰会，会议将美国和俄罗斯视为在区域内拥有重要利益的“亚洲势力”。在今年10月于河内召开的首届东盟国防部长峰会上，美国国防部长罗伯特·盖茨声称美国是亚洲的“常驻力量”。今年夏天早些时候，在热情接待美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿的同时，越南还鼓动她干预中国与马来西亚，菲律宾，日本以及越南之间逐渐升级的海事纠纷。