US tries to strengthen military ties with Vietnam

BANGKOK, Tuesday (Reuters) The United States, hoping to strengthen military ties with its old adversary Vietnam, will send a senior Pentagon official to the country on Tuesday for high-level talks. Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Rodman, who oversees international security affairs, is to visit Hanoi and return to Washington on Thursday, defense officials said.

"We're talking about an evolution of military relations," one senior official said. The trip comes ahead of a planned June 21 meeting between Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President George W. Bush in Washington. Khai will be the most high-ranking Vietnamese to visit the United States since the Vietnam War.

The two countries mark the 10th anniversary of their normalization of relations in July. U.S. Undersecretary of State Robert Zoellick was in Vietnam last month and urged the government to press on with economic reforms if it wanted to compete against neighbouring China and become a part of the world economy.

Defense analysts have said an improved relationship with the United States may offer Vietnam a strategic counterbalance to China's growing influence in the region.