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Rajaratnam School of International Studies and
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
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NormalizationNormalization
China-Vietnam
Cambodian Conflict 1979-91
1990-91 Normalization
1999-2000 ComprehensiveCooperation in the New Century
No defence clause
2005 bilateral defenceconsultations
2008 strategic partners
United States-Vietnam
Vietnam War 1965-75
1994 trade embargo lifted
1995 Normalization andappointment of first DA
2001 Bilateral Trade Agrm.
2003 VCP Plenum
2004 annual defence dialogue
June 2005 IMET Agreementand intelligence sharing
DA = Defence Attache; IMET = International
Military Education and Training
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HighHigh--Level VisitsLevel Visits
China-Vietnam
2002-06 four visits byVietnamese Defence
Minister and only one returnvisit by Chinese DefenceMinister
Roughly equal exchanges bychiefs of General Staff, GPD
and GLD (political/logistics)
Exchanges by MilitaryRegion Commanders
United States-Vietnam
2000-06 two visits by U.S.
Secretary of Defense and
only one visit byVietnamese Defence
Minister
1994-2007: nine visits by
Commander Pacific
Command
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Naval Port VisitsNaval Port Visits
China-Vietnam
2000 Gulf of Tonkin delineationand Fisheries Agreement
Nov. 2001 PLAN JiangweiIIguided missile frigate visits HoChi Minh City
April 2006 joint naval patrols inGulf of Tonkin
December 2006 joint navalpatrols in Gulf of Tonkin
United States-Vietnam
2003 USS Vandergrift HCMC
2004 USS Curtis Wilbur, Da Nang
2005 USS Gary, HCMC
2006 USS Patriot and USS Salvor,
HCMC
2007 USSPeleliu, Da Nang; and
USSPatriotand USS Guardian,
Hai Phong
2008 USSMercy, Nha Trang
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ProfessionalProfessional
Military Education and TrainingMilitary Education and Training
China-Vietnam
Extensive discussions on
army-building
Under consideration:
Exchanges in personnel
training
Vietnamese participation
at National Defence
University suggested
United States-Vietnam
Extended IMET
Foreign Military Training:
FY2003 & 2004 = nil
FY2004 N = 20 (13 at APCSS)
FY2005 17 (9 at APCSS and 8
IMET).
IMET English language andmedical training
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OtherOtherDefenceDefence CooperationCooperation
China-Vietnam
Demining along land
border
Agreement on land border
(1999) and subsequent
demarcation
United States-Vietnam
MIA-POW full accounting
Demining and UXE
Agent Orange joint research
Humanitarian assistance anddisaster relief (flood control)
Counter-terrorism
Military medicine research(HIV/AIDS)
UXE = unexploded ordnance
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OtherOtherDefenceDefence CooperationCooperation
Vietnam-United States
2003 Vietnamese observers atCOBRA GOLD
May 2007 Vietnameseobservers at Western PacificNaval Symposium
2007-08 Vietnamese
observers at annual mid-yearUS-Southeast Asia bilateral
joint exercises
United States-Vietnam
1997 Proposed: tacticaldiscussions and joint trainingexchanges in Jungle warfare
2002: counter drug trafficking
2007: send US officers andcadets to train in Vietnameseuniversities
2009 participation in SARexercise?
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Arms Sales & NDIArms Sales & NDI
China-Vietnam
2005 NORINCO ammunitionfor small arms and artillery,military vehicles, and co-
production ammunition andheavy machine guns
2005 Defence Ministers discussNDI cooperation
2005 Chinas Commission forScience, Technology andIndustry visits Vietnam
United States-Vietnam
1994 CINCPAC proposesequipment exchanges/sales
2003 David Lamb, LAT: anattractive arms market
2005 US Ambassador: repairand maintenance mooted, USNto purchase supplies
2006 Secretary RumsfieldVietnam to buy military spareparts
LAT = Los Angeles Times
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Arms Sales & NDIArms Sales & NDI
United States-Vietnam
non-lethal crowd control devicesand night vision devices.
2007 InternationalTrafficking in ArmsRegulations amended toallow trade with Vietnam oncase by case basis
2007 U.S.-ASEAN BusinessCouncil opens office inHanoi
United States-Vietnam
2007: U.S.-ASEANBusiness Council hosts visit
to Hanoi by U.S. Defenseand Security Corporate
Executive Delegation (ITT,
Aerospace, Lockheed
Martin, Northrop
Grumman, Oracle)
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Former USFormer US DepSecDepSec DefenseDefense
Perhaps the greatest opportunity over the next15 years lies in Vietnam, where political reformsneed to complement the economic reformsalready well underway if the nation is to reach its
potential and contribute more to the overalleffectiveness of ASEAN. ASEAN has beencentral to the fostering of a regional consciousnessand is a driver of proliferating pan-Asian
groupings. Richard Armitage and Joseph Nye, February 2007
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Former U.S.Former U.S. DefenseDefense SecretarySecretary
[regarding rise of Chinese military]Washington must also maintain andexpand U.S. alliances in Asia, including
with Japan, South Korea and Australia,pursuing deeper military partnershipswith the Philippines, Singapore, India
andpossibly Vietnam.William Perry, April 2007.
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U.S.U.S.--Vietnam StrategicVietnam Strategic
CooperationCooperation
Attended meeting of Proliferation Security Initiative
held in New Zealand
2004 Attended CHOD meeting (Asia-Pacific CHiefs
OfDefence) for first time, Tokyo
U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative
Shangri-La Dialogue (2008) US Chairman JCS met with Vietnam representative
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VietnamVietnams National Maritimes National Maritime
Strategy to 2020Strategy to 2020
10th VCP Congress policy on
maritime economy (April 2006)4th VCP plenum Maritime
Strategy Towards the Year 2020
(January 2007)
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SinoSino--Vietnamese Friction 2007Vietnamese Friction 2007
BP oil and gas plans shelved temporarily (March-June)
Chinese naval vessels detain 4 Vietnamese fishing craft(April)
Chinese sink one Vietnamese boat and kill one fisherman(9th July)
Peoples Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) naval exercise in
Paracels (November)
National Peoples Council creates Shansa county leveladministrative district
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AntiAnti--China Student DemonstrationsChina Student Demonstrations
Anti-China student demonstrationsin Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on
9th and 16th December 2007
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SinoSino--Vietnamese Friction 2008Vietnamese Friction 2008
Vietnamese students stage anti-China protests (9 and16 December), China protests
China-Vietnam Steering Committee convenes (23
January)
China accused Vietnamese fishermen of attackingChinese trawlers in Gulf of Tonkin (January)
Beijing Summit of party chiefs (30 May-2 June)
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SanyaSanya
Naval BaseNaval Base
5 Aug 05 to5 Aug 05 to
28 Feb 0828 Feb 08
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SanyaSanya Base, HainanBase, Hainan
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Tentative ConclusionsTentative Conclusions
Vietnam faces an emerging contradiction betweenits foreign and defence policies.
Vietnam seeks to leverage its external relations
with China in order to boost economicdevelopment,
Yet Vietnamese plans to develop its maritimezone in the East Sea has provoked a Chinese
counter-reaction designed to scuttle this initiative.
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Tentative ExplanationsTentative Explanationsfor Vietnamesefor Vietnamese BehaviourBehaviour
Band-wagoning
Accommodating
Aligning
Balancing
Hedging
Engagement
Omni-enmeshment
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