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. |