Since this article was published, US President Barack Obama has lifted the embargo on arms sales to Vietnam, according to BBC reports.
The trip is aimed at sealing a partnership with America’s former enemy and part of his strategic “rebalance” towards Asia to counter China’s growing strength in the region. Four decades after a war that deeply divided opinion in America, Obama will press for stronger defence and economic ties with the country’s communist rulers, but prod them on human rights too, aides say.
The president’s three-day stay is unusually long for one country, underscoring the importance he places on expanding relations with Hanoi. Ahead of the visit, pressure had mounted on him to roll back the arms embargo, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity. Such a step, however, will anger Beijing, which resents American efforts to forge stronger military bonds with its neighbours, amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea.
What Were Opinions Within the US?
Most top aides favoured at least easing the ban, arguing that Washington needs to demonstrate tangible support for Hanoi’s efforts to build its deterrent against China, people familiar with the discussions said.
Obama’s visit follows what the Pentagon called an “unsafe” intercept last week by Chinese fighter jets of a US military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea.
Nobody has any illusions. This trip sends important signals to China about US activism in the region and growing US concern about Chinese behaviour.Evan Medeiros, Obama’s Former Top Asia Adviser
Obama, who has proven himself a pragmatist in balancing security and human rights, appeared to be trying to keep the pressure on Hanoi for concessions up to the last minute. He plans to meet dissidents during his trip.
The third US president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, Obama has made closer diplomatic and military cooperation with countries across the Asia-Pacific a centrepiece of his foreign policy.
Reminders of the Past
There has been much excitement about Obama’s visit in a country with a young population firmly behind closer US ties and resentful of their economic dependence on China. State media has detailed the scale of the task of hosting Obama along with his delegation, security detail and culinary needs.
As a sign of the capitalism that now thrives in Vietnam, some opportunistic businesses used pictures of a smiling Obama to sell their products.
Vietnam’s manufacturing-led economy is growing at one of Asia’s fastest rates, prompting US firms such as Intel, Microsoft, Ford Motors and General Electric to expand their operations here. But even as the two sides look forward, there will be reminders of the past.
Obama is accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry, who after a tour in Vietnam as a young Navy officer became a protestor against the war, which killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and 58,000 US troops.
In the commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Obama will tout a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal he has championed, in which Vietnam would be the biggest beneficiary of the 12 members. But the name of the city, the capital of the now-defunct South Vietnam, evokes searing images for many Americans of a final frantic US airlift in 1975.
Obama arrived hours after voting ended in the country’s five-yearly parliamentary election, in which nearly all the candidates were Communist Party members. For some among the Vietnam old guard, there are still suspicions that the US endgame is to undermine their one-party rule.
(This article has been published as a special arrangement with Reuters)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)