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发帖数: 22479 | 1 US aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam in post-war first
By Reuters/Phil Stewart, James Pearson, Mai Nguyen January 25, 2018 | 05:
54 pm GMT+7
US aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam in post-war first
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis reviews the guard of honour during a
welcoming ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam January 25, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Kham
Four decades after the war, U.S. aircraft will enter Vietnam again. This
time, for a very different reason.
In a post-war first, the United States will send an aircraft carrier to
Vietnam, Hanoi’s defense ministry said on Thursday, dramatic evidence of
deepening military ties between the former enemies more than four decades
after the Vietnam War.
The announcement came during a two-day visit to Hanoi by U.S. Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis that had been expected to focus on shared concerns
about China.
The proposed visit is set for March at the central port of Da Nang, Vietnam
’s defense ministry said in a statement. Such a visit by a U.S. aircraft
carrier could bring the most U.S. forces to Vietnam since the conflict ended
in 1975.
“From post-war legacy issues to what Minister Lich called the positive
trajectory of our military-to-military relations, I‘m confident we’re on
the right path,” Mattis told Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang after
meeting Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich.
Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed the carrier visit was
discussed by Mattis and his counterpart, and Vietnam’s defense ministry was
seeking final approvals from national leaders.
“We expect it will be approved and we will have a carrier visit in Da Nang
in March,” Davis said.
The arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in Vietnam will be welcomed by an
emerging network of countries that are nervously eyeing China’s military
rise, particularly its assertive stance and island-building activities in
the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea).
The busy waterway is a vital global trade route linking Northeast Asia with
the Middle East and Europe.
In particular, the militaries of U.S., Japan, India and Australia are
working more closely together as a “quad” of liberal democracies across
what they now term the “Indo-Pacific” – moves driven by mistrust of China.
U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris last week described China as a
“disruptive transitional force in the Indo-Pacific” after meetings with
Japanese and Indian military leaders in New Delhi.
India, Japan and Australia have all boosted military relations with Vietnam
in recent years, with New Delhi providing advanced training for its emerging
submarine forces and jet fighter pilots.
Backroom diplomacy
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (L) shakes hands with Vietnams Defence
Minister Ngo Xuan Lich during a welcoming ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo
by Reuters/Kham
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (L) shakes hands with Vietnam's Defence
Minister Ngo Xuan Lich during a welcoming ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo
by Reuters/Kham
Thursday’s confirmation of the U.S. aircraft carrier visit to Da Nang caps
months of backroom military diplomacy between Hanoi and the Pentagon,
diplomats said.
The prospect surfaced when U.S. President Donald Trump met Vietnamese Prime
Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House last May, and talks continued
when Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich met Mattis in Washington in
August.
Vietnam’s Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh became the country’s
highest-ranking official to tour a U.S. carrier when he led 11 Vietnamese
officials to watch flight operations aboard the USS Carl Vinson off southern
California last October, the U.S. Navy said at the time.
Although no U.S. aircraft carrier has been to Vietnam since the end of the
war, other, smaller U.S. warships have made high-level visits as ties
improved in recent years.
That includes a 2016 visit by submarine tender USS Frank Cable and guided-
missile destroyer USS John S. McCain to Cam Ranh Bay, which was a crucial
logistics complex during the Vietnam War.
The planned carrier visit was “highly significant”, said Ian Storey, an
East Sea expert at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
“It is a potent symbol of the way the defense relationship has moved
forward against the backdrop of China’s rising power,” Storey added.
Decades after the U.S. war in Vietnam, ties between the United States and
Vietnam are increasingly seen through shared concern over China’s
aggressive behavior in the disputed sea, through which more than $3 trillion
in cargo passes every year.
Vietnam has emerged as the most vocal opponent of China’s territorial
claims and has been buying U.S. military hardware, such as an armed,
Hamilton-class Coast Guard cutter.
The ship, one U.S. official said, was larger than anything Vietnam had in
its navy.
“(Vietnam) does have one of the region’s fastest growing economies and so
freedom of navigation and access in the South China Sea will be critical to
them economically and of course in their security efforts,” Mattis said
before arrival on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Vietnams Defence Minister Ngo Xuan
Lich walk to the meeting room in Hanoi, Vietnam January 25, 2018. Photo by
Reuters/Kham
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Vietnam's Defence Minister Ngo Xuan
Lich walk to the meeting room in Hanoi, Vietnam January 25, 2018. Photo by
Reuters/Kham
U.S. ties with Vietnam have developed significantly in the decades since
they normalized ties in 1995. Still, there were vivid reminders of the
history of conflict during Mattis’ visit.
That included a stop by Mattis on Tuesday to a U.S. Defense Department
office in Hanoi that seeks to recover the remains of U.S. troops killed in
the conflict.
About 1,293 U.S. military personnel are still unaccounted for, a U.S.
official said.
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/us-aircraft-carrier-to-visit-vietnam-in-
post-war-first-3703946.html | P****R
发帖数: 22479 | 2 美国航母越战后首次访问越南 或激怒中国
【环球网综合报道】越南国防部25日宣布，美国航母将于3月访问越南岘港。这将是
1975年越战结束后美国航母首次访越。
这一消息是在美国防长马蒂斯访越期间宣布的，马蒂斯于24日至25日对越南进行访问。
路透社称，五角大楼发言人戴维斯25日确认航母将访越一事，称这是马蒂斯与越南防长
吴春历闭门会谈的成果，越南方面还需要该国领导人最后批准。
路透社称，25日正式确认美国航母访越一事前，美国和越南军方进行了数月的密室磋商
。该计划于去年5月越南总理阮春福访美时浮出水面。去年8月，越南防长吴春历访美时
，五角大楼宣布2018年将派航母访越。
路透社称，美国航母将把越战后人数最多的美军士兵带到越南，这是美越加强军事联系
的明显证据。美联社25日的报道则认为，美国航母访越可能激怒中国，北京一直批评美
国往亚太增加军事力量。 |
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