U.S., Vietnam Begin Naval Exercises Amid Tension With China

 

By PATRICK BARTA

The United States and Vietnam launched a series of joint naval exchanges on Friday in the latest sign of warming ties between the former foes, as both nations grapple with ways to contain a more-assertive China.

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Associated Press

A Vietnamese naval officer stands guard near a U.S. Navy salvage ship in Danang, on Friday. The noncombat training exercises between the allies have raised concerns about further straining relations with China.

The exchanges, which are confined to noncombat training, fall short of the kinds of advanced military exercises that occur between the U.S. and longer-term allies in the region, such as the Philippines and Australia. But they underscore a push by the U.S. to deepen military ties across Southeast Asia, especially in the face of greater shared concerns over China, which has spent aggressively in recent years to enhance its military capabilities.

The U.S. strategy includes an expansion of training exercises in other parts of the region to include newer participants, such as Cambodia and Malaysia, in some programs, as well as the deployment of new hardware, including littoral combat ships in Singapore.

Although U.S. officials stressed the week of Vietnam exchanges has been planned for months, the maneuvers risk further straining relations with China at a time when tensions already are high because of disputes over the South China Sea, a potentially oil-rich area where Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and China all have conflicting territorial claims. Vietnam accused China of interfering with a Vietnamese oil-exploration boat in June, and the Philippines has likewise complained about Chinese intimidation of survey vessels recently. Last week, the Philippines told China it plans to raise disputes over the South China Sea with a United Nations tribunal—a proposal China promptly rejected.

Gen. Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said Monday the timing of U.S. naval exercises with Vietnam and also recently with the Philippines was "inappropriate" in light of the South China Sea issues.

On Friday, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference in Tokyo that recent meetings with Chinese military leaders including Gen. Chen were "productive and generally positive," though he noted "there is a long way to go."

The push to expand cooperation between the U.S. and some Southeast Asian nations presents its own challenges, especially between the U.S. and Vietnam, which normalized relations in 1995, 20 years after the Vietnam War. Both countries are wary of going too far and possibly antagonizing China.

>> Meanwhile, some top Vietnamese leaders remain suspicious of U.S. motives. They worry the U.S. intends to more aggressively promote democratic changes in Vietnam or to support human-rights activists whose work could undermine the government there, according to people familiar with discussions between the two countries.

Still, relations have for the most part blossomed in recent years, with rapidly expanding trade and investment ties. Military cooperation has gradually expanded since the first U.S. warship visited the country since the Vietnam War in 2003 and last year included some training exercises.

U.S. officials also are looking to boost training programs elsewhere in Southeast Asia as part of a wider strategy to enhance its ability to police international waterways, and to lift the confidence and military capabilities of smaller Southeast Asian countries, some of which have privately questioned the U.S.'s commitment to the region as it devotes resources to the Middle East.

At the annual Shangri-La Dialogue Asian security meeting in Singapore last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. military would be "increasing its port calls, naval engagements, and multilateral training efforts" in the region to "help build partner capacity to address regional challenges." Those efforts, he said, included stepped-up cooperation with Singapore with the deployment there of littoral combat ships, which are relatively new and fast combat vessels designed to operate close to shorelines.

Other efforts include the expansion this year of annual Cobra Gold exercises between the U.S., Thailand and other Asian countries to include Malaysian troops for the first time. The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, or Carat, program that involves bilateral military exercises between the U.S. Navy and more than a half-dozen Asian countries, recently expanded to include Cambodia and is adding Bangladesh. In June, Carat exercises with Malaysia included a U.S. attack submarine for the first time in the exercise's 17-year history.

"The exercises are becoming more complex and of longer duration," and tend to involve a larger number of countries than in the past, said Ian Storey, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"I think this is going to make the Chinese quite nervous" as the U.S. tries to expand its presence there, added Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

This year's Vietnam activities, held in the port city of Danang, include two guided missile destroyers, the USS Chung-Hoon and USS Preble, as well as a rescue and salvage ship, while last year's activities involved the USS John S. McCain warship. The activities also will feature an increased number of noncombat activities, such as search-and-rescue missions and navigation training, as well as some cultural and trust-building exercises, including community-service projects.

"We've had a presence in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea for 50 to 60 years, even going back before World War II,"' Rear Adm. Tom Carney, who is leading the naval exchange, told reporters in Danang, according to the Associated Press. "We have no intention of departing from that kind of activity."

—Yoree Koh contributed to this article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304223804576447412748465574.html

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7/15/2011

US navy ships visit Vietnam amid heightened China tensions

Beijing criticizes port call as Washington strengthens ties with its neighbors

DANANG, Vietnam — Three U.S. Navy ships were welcomed Friday by former foe Vietnam for joint training, despite China's irritation following weeks of fiery exchanges between the communist neighbors over disputed areas of the South China Sea.

U.S. and Vietnamese officials have stressed that the seven-day ship visit and naval training are part of routine exchanges planned long before tensions began flaring between China and Vietnam in late May. China has criticized the port call as inappropriate, saying it should have been rescheduled due to the ongoing squabble.

The U.S. visit, however, did send a message that the Navy remains a formidable maritime force in the region and is determined to build stronger military ties with smaller Southeast Asian countries.

"We've had a presence in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea for 50 to 60 years, even going back before World War II," Rear Adm. Tom Carney, who's leading the naval exchange, told reporters.

"We will maintain a presence in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea as we have for decades, and we have no intention of departing from that kind of activity."

He spoke on the pier in central Danang, once home to a bustling U.S. military base during the Vietnam War, in front of the diving and salvage ship USNS Safeguard. American and Vietnamese flags flapped in the steamy air from the ship, and two guided missile destroyers — USS Chung-Hoon and USS Preble — were visible off the coast.

The two navies will hold exchanges involving navigation and damage control along with dive and salvage training. No live-fire drills will be conducted.

Spat with China

Vietnam and China last month both announced their navies held such maneuvers individually in the South China Sea after relations hit a low point when Hanoi twice accused Beijing of hindering oil exploration within Vietnam's economic exclusive zone.

China responded that Vietnamese boats had endangered Chinese fishermen in a different area near the contested resource-rich Spratly islands, claimed all or in part by both nations and several others.

Tempers appeared to be cooling after Chinese and Vietnamese officials met last month and announced they would work to negotiate a peaceful resolution. But Vietnamese state-run media and a border official on Wednesday accused armed Chinese soldiers of attacking and chasing a Vietnamese fishing boat near the disputed Paracel islands claimed by both countries.

The Philippines has also recently sparred with China, alleging similar interference with its energy exploration efforts in the South China Sea. The United States last month conducted similar joint naval exercises that included live-fire drills with the Philippines, a treaty ally.

On Monday in Beijing, top Chinese Gen. Chen Bingde criticized his U.S. counterpart for going forward with the exercises in Vietnam and the Philippines, calling it bad timing in light of the ongoing spats. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the decision saying the exchanges were pre-planned.

.."I don't know when an appropriate time would be for these kind of activities, which are designed to promote friendship and cooperation," Carney said from the Vietnam pier. "But I don't think there's ever a bad time to do those kind of activities."

Washington has said that the South China Sea, home to major shipping lanes, is in its national interest. China, which has an expanding maritime influence, has designated the area as a core interest — essentially something it could go to war over. Worried smaller neighboring countries have looked to the United States to maintain a strong presence in the region.

"The U.S. has made its point and will continue to do so if pressed, but does not appear to be looking for a fight with Beijing on this issue," said Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS, a Hawaii-based think tank. "It is not likely to heed or back down as a result of Chinese 'warnings,' however, which will likely make Washington feel more compelled to respond."

Improved ties

The current U.S. visit to Vietnam involves about 700 sailors and builds on the first postwar port call in 2003 made to the former Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. Since then, military relations have continued to grow with high-level defense visits and exchanges.

The two sides recently began working together to clean up dioxin contamination from the defoliant Agent Orange. It was mixed and stored at the U.S. air base in Danang and remains one of the lasting legacies of the Vietnam War that killed some 58,000 Americans and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese.

The war ended in 1975 when U.S.-backed South Vietnam fell to northern communist forces and the country was reunified. The U.S. and Vietnam shook hands in 1995 and established diplomatic relations, signing a landmark trade deal six years later.

Today, the U.S. is Vietnam's top export market, while Americans are among the country's leading foreign investors.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43766185/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

 

Vietnam's Colonel Nguyen Van Lam greets U.S. Rear Adm. Tom Carney, right, in a welcoming ceremony at Tien Sa port, in Vietnam, on Friday.