Vietnam and the US will this week stage a fresh demonstration of their military ties at a time of escalating tensions with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The destroyer USS John S. McCain, making a call at the central port city of Danang with a crew of around 270 sailors, was to depart yesterday for a four-day program with the Vietnamese navy.
“Training that we are conducting is of a non-combat nature,” Jeffrey Kim, the ship’s commanding officer, told a news conference.
PHOTO: AFP
A mine countermeasures ship, the USS Avenger, was supposed to make a port call in Danang along with the John S. McCain but it had to stay in Japan for “operational reasons,” said Mike Morley, the ship’s public affairs officer.
The visit will feature “the first ever training exchanges with the Vietnamese navy on damage control, emergency repair and fire fighting,” Morley said.
On Sunday, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which recently took part in military exercises with South Korea that were denounced by Beijing, hosted a Vietnamese military delegation in the South China Sea off Danang.
The visit by the US Navy vessels to Vietnam, part of celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between the former enemies, has acquired greater significance due to recent regional friction.
The South China Sea has long been the subject of territorial disputes, particularly over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.
Last week, Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga denounced China for sending ships to carry out seismic studies in the Paracels zone, which “violated Vietnam’s indisputable sovereignty.”
Lately Hanoi has become particularly “uneasy about Chinese territorial ambitions,” a Vietnamese defense ministry source said.
“The presence of American ships in Vietnamese ports has a great strategic significance for Vietnam,” which “shows a regional balance in defense matters,” he said.
“I think that the United States could play a much more important role in the region,” he added.
Kim said that the John S. McCain’s visit had “been planned for several months and is not coincidental to any events,” but the US and Vietnam “share common interest in maritime security in the region” and Americans “believe that freedom of the sea is very important for trade and relations between nations. Over the last 15 years, we’ve established trust, mutual respect. And I know that in the coming years, our friendship and relationship will become better.”
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