US, Vietnam Hold First Political-Military Dialogue | Voice of America - English
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.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Mark Kimmitt says the talks in Hanoi touched on a wide range of security affairs. "Primarilypeacekeeping, military assistance, security assistance, potential armstransactions, [that are] lethal, [and] non-lethal, and a host of otherissues 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. TheVietnamese military has asked the U.S. to supply spare parts for itsAmerican-made helicopters, leftovers from the Vietnam War. The twogovernments also discussed integrating Vietnamese soldiers into UnitedNations peacekeeping operations, and American military help withdisaster relief in Vietnam. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary ofDefense James Clad, who was also at the talks, says Washington simplywants to develop the same kind of military cooperation with Vietnamthat it already has with other countries in the region. "Itwould be incorrect to cast it is as something very bilateral. We have,for example, routine exchanges with the Malaysians, with theIndonesians, with the Filipinos, with the Thais. And I think as a largeASEAN country, Vietnam is more and more coming into that world," hesaid. Experts generally see the growing U.S.-Vietnamese securityrelationship as an effort by both to balance rising Chinese power.China and Vietnam have a dispute over the ownership of two islandgroups 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. MartinGainsborough, a Vietnam expert at Bristol University in Britain, saysthe talks carry promise for Vietnam, but also domestic political risks. "Individualleaders that are, in a sense, fronting this dialogue - they have to becareful personally that they're not seen as leaning too heavily towardthe U.S. Again, not least because of the relationship with China," hesaid. The two sides hope to make the talks an annual event. The next meeting is scheduled for autumn 2009 in Washington.