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By PAUL McLEARY
WASHINGTON — On President Barack Obama’s first day in Beijing at the start of a weeklong swing through Asia, the US State Department published new language in the Federal Register to reflect a change in its policy to allow exports of lethal defense items to Vietnam.
The changes were first announced in early October when Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met in Washington with National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry.
But the official revision of the State Department’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) didn’t come until Nov. 10.
The notice said that it is “in the best interests of U.S. foreign policy, national security, and human rights concerns that exports of lethal defense articles and defense services to Vietnam may be authorized on a case-by-case basis when in support of maritime security and domain awareness.”
Read the full story at DefenseNews