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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.
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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.”
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.
