By Truong-Minh Vu and Ngo Di Lan
The partial embargo removal sends a clear signal to South China Sea rivals.
The establishment of an “implicit military partnership” between Vietnam and the U.S. has reached a critical juncture, as the U.S finally agreed to ease its lethal weapons embargo on Vietnam to improve maritime security during a recent visit to Washington by Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
This movement showed that both sides have overcome some significant obstacles in their bilateral relationship. The U.S. has long considered the lifting of its lethal weapons ban on Vietnam a sensitive issue because of the differences in political systems and values between the countries. Washington’s reluctance to end the embargo is due to claims that these weapons will be used to suppress dissidents. Such opinions are supported and lobbied by Vietnamese in the U.S., who insist that the change must be followed by political reforms. However, U.S. politicians on both sides of the isle have reacted with hesitation. There is an implicit bipartisan understanding that the lifting of the weapons embargo is a necessary strategic response to recent Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea (SCS).
Within the Vietnamese leadership, numerous critics claim that the country’s “three nos” defense policy (no military alliances, no country allowed to set up military bases on Vietnamese territory, and no reliance on any country in combating other countries) no longer benefits its national interests and sovereignty, especially after China deployed the HD-981 oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Though varying in approach and degree, these critics all try to push Vietnam closer to the U.S. From the perspective of Vietnamese strategists, only the U.S. can alter China’s SCS calculus so as to deter it from using military force to change the status-quo. Meanwhile, being backed by a great military power means a desirable change in the power balance in favor of Hanoi vis-à-vis Beijing in SCS disputes. During his trip to the U.S., Pham repeatedly avowed that Vietnamese efforts to seek U.S. weapons are “normal” and not aimed at “any third country.” However, it is clear that both Hanoi and Washington are simply playing a realist strategy.
Read the full story at The Diplomat