With eye on China, US lifts Vietnam arm sales embargo

HANOI — The United States yesterday announced the lifting of a decades-old ban on sales of lethal military equipment to Vietnam, a historic step that ends one of the last legal vestiges of the Vietnam War.

The move came during a first official visit to Vietnam by President Barack Obama, who portrayed the decision as part of the long process of normalising relations between the two countries more than 40 years after the end of their bitter war.

“This change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment that it needs to defend itself,” Mr Obama said in a press conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. “It also underscores the commitment of the US to fully normalise the relationship with Vietnam, including strong defence ties.”

Mr Obama added that his visit to a former foe showed “hearts can change and peace is possible” and that improved ties with Vietnam made sense for the US, since it was a fast-growing country in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world.

Mr Obama, the third US President to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, has made a strategic “rebalance” towards Asia a centrepiece of his foreign policy.

Vietnam, a neighbour of China, is a key part of that strategy amid worries about Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness in asserting claims to more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea, where it has been turning remote outcrops into islands with runways and harbours.

Yesterday, Mr Obama again indirectly criticised China for its actions, saying that disputes in the strategic waters should be resolved peacefully and not by whoever “throws their weight around”.

“The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” added Mr Obama.

However, he insisted the arms embargo move was not linked to China.

“The decision to lift the ban was not based on China or any other considerations,” he said, with Mr Quang standing stiffly by his side. “It was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving toward normalisation with Vietnam.”

China’s reaction to the decision yesterday was subdued, with a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman saying Beijing hopes “the lifting of the arms embargo can help maintain the peace and stability of the region”.

Mr Obama added that the move should not be interpreted as carte blanche for weapons sales to Vietnam and that the US would review future arms sales to “examine what’s appropriate and what’s not”.

“We’re going to continue to engage in the case-by-case evaluation of these sales,” said Mr Obama. “But what we do not have is a ban that is based on an ideological division between our two sides.”

Hanoi’s military strategists are expected to now seek drones, radar, coastal patrol boats and possibly P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft from the US, say analysts.

Mr Carl Thayer, an expert on Vietnam’s military at Australia’s Defence Force Academy, said the steep prices of US arms would remain a factor for Hanoi, pushing it towards its traditional suppliers of missiles and planes, particularly long-time security patron, Russia. On the other hand, the lifting of the embargo will provide Vietnam with leverage in future arms deals with those suppliers.

American officials have portrayed lifting the embargo as part of a strategy to help Vietnam defend itself against an increasing threat from China in the South China Sea. Analysts have speculated that in return, Vietnam would grant the US access to the deepwater port at Cam Ranh Bay.

While there were no statements about such a deal yesterday, Mr Obama did announce new commercial deals worth more than US$16 billion (S$22.1 billion).

Mr Obama also announced that the two sides had formalised an agreement to allow the opening of Fulbright University Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, the first independent university in Vietnam in which the government will have no role in creating the curriculum or teaching students.

Mr Obama added that for the first time, Peace Corps volunteers will be posted to Vietnam and focus on teaching English here.

Earlier in the morning, he was whisked through the streets of Hanoi for a highly choreographed arrival ceremony at the Presidential Palace, a monument of French colonial architecture painted a dusky mustard. His route was lined with children wearing red, white and blue outfits and waving small American and Vietnamese flags.

In brief remarks as the meeting began inside the palace, Mr Obama hailed the two countries’ growing closeness despite a history of conflict.

“We come here as a symbol of strengthening ties that we have made over the last several decades. Across the board, what we have seen is increased cooperation for the benefit of both of our people,” he said. “My hope is that in the course of my visit here, I continue to express to the people of Vietnam the warmth and friendship” between the two countries and “our continued interest in strengthening these ties in the years to come”. AGENCIES