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China’s actions in disputed sea ‘bringing Vietnam, US closer’

HANOI — China’s territorial manoeuvres in the contested South China Sea are bringing its communist neighbour Vietnam and the United States closer, according to the new Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Ted Osius.

HANOI — China’s territorial manoeuvres in the contested South China Sea are bringing its communist neighbour Vietnam and the United States closer, according to the new Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr Ted Osius.

In his first interview with a Western news organisation since arriving in December, Mr Osius said human rights concerns remain an obstacle to even deeper ties. Even so, the former war foes are holding more high-level talks, particularly on how to manage tensions with China, he said in an interview on Thursday in Hanoi.

In recent weeks, China’s navy has followed a US coastal combat ship in the South China Sea and warned off a US surveillance plane by radio, causing unease among other claimant states. The US and Vietnam both view China’s assertions in what is a major global shipping lane as a threat to their strategic interests.

“That has caused us to cooperate more closely than in the past,” Mr Osius said. “It’s beneficial to both countries to have a strong partnership. We see the importance of powerful partnerships where our partners are more and more capable.”

China last week said it reserved the right to establish an Air Defence Identification Zone over the area. It stationed an oil rig last May near the Paracel Islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam, triggering a diplomatic row and violent anti-China protests in its neighbour.

“The way we want to go is through diplomatic pressure (to defuse the South China Sea tensions),” Mr Osius said. “This does not have to end in conflict. There are many, many ways to avoid this ending in conflict.”

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter is scheduled to visit Vietnam at the end of this month, during which military cooperation will be discussed, Mr Osius said.

Mr Carter will be at the annual Shangri-La defence forum in Singapore, which is usually also attended by senior Chinese military officers.

The partnership between the US and Vietnam “is deepening — weekly, if not daily”, Mr Osius said. “We have a huge amount of back-and-forth at the very highest levels. This year, there will be five or maybe six politburo members going to the United States. We will have several Cabinet officials and maybe an even bigger visit than that from the United States to Vietnam.”

Bilateral trade between the US and Vietnam soared to US$36 billion (S$47.9 billion) last year, from US$451 million in 1995, the US Census Bureau said. The US is providing Vietnam with six patrol boats and has lifted a decades-long ban on the sale of non-lethal weapons to the country.

Vietnam is engaged in delicate diplomacy, according to Dr Nguyen Manh Hung, a professor emeritus at George Mason University in Virginia. While it seeks closer ties to the US it must be mindful not to upset China, its biggest trading partner last year.

“There are a lot of differences between Vietnam and the US,” he said. “There are still suspicions. And Vietnam does not have unity of command. It has a lot of internal differences that make it difficult for Vietnam to make a dramatic move in foreign relations.”

Mr Osius, who served as a political officer in Vietnam from 1996 to 1998, has seen ties evolve from post-war suspicion to collaboration since diplomatic relations were normalised 20 years ago.

“I was here 20 years ago and there was only one subject we talked about: (Accounting for) prisoners of war (and those) missing in action,” he said. “This was unthinkable 20 years ago — to achieve this level of collaboration and to have identified so many areas of common interests. It’s quite amazing.” BLOOMBERG

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