Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Australia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
Vietnam, US display military ties amid China tension
AFP - Tuesday, August 10
Send
IM Story
Print
DANANG, Vietnam (AFP) - – Vietnam and the United States will stage a fresh demonstration this week of their military ties at a time of escalating tensions with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The US destroyer USS John S. McCain, making a call at the central port city of Danang with a crew of around 270 sailors, departs Tuesday for a four-day exchange programme with the Vietnamese navy.
"On the 12th we will have the first ever training exchanges with the Vietnamese navy on damage control, emergency repair and fire fighting," said Mike Morley, the ship's public affairs officer.
The port call will take in sports events and medical and dental projects, according to a statement sent by the American embassy in Hanoi.
A mine countermeasures ship, the USS Avenger, was supposed to make a port call in Danang along with the USS John S. McCain but it had to stay in Japan for "operational reasons", Morley added.
On Sunday, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which recently took part in joint military exercises with South Korea which were denounced by Beijing, already hosted a delegation of Vietnamese military in the waters of the South China Sea off Danang.
The visit by the US Navy vessels, part of official celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the former enemies, has taken on greater significance due to recent regional friction.
"Tensions in relations between China and the US are much more tense than a year ago and this has spilled over to the South China Sea," said Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
"The US is demonstrating a military presence and Vietnam is letting this occasion speak for itself," he said.
Hanoi normally treads carefully in its relations with its Chinese ideological ally, but the regional ambitions of its large neighbour have stoked a degree of apprehension in Vietnam.
Relations between Hanoi and Washington have come a long way since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two 20 years later.
The United States has become an important partner of Vietnam, and not only in the commercial sphere.
Lately Hanoi has become particularly "uneasy about Chinese territorial ambitions", a Vietnamese defence ministry source said.
"The presence of American ships in Vietnamese ports has a great strategic significance for Vietnam," which "shows a regional balance in defence matters", he said.
"I think that the United States could play a much more important role in the region," he added.
The South China Sea has long been the subject of territorial disputes, particularly over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.
Since 1974, Beijing has been in de facto occupation of the Paracels, which are also claimed by Hanoi. China also claims sovereignty over the Spratlys, as does Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Vietnamese foreign ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga last week denounced China for sending ships to carry out seismic studies in the Paracels zone, which "violated Vietnam's indisputable sovereignty".
Top US commanders have made it clear they are keeping a close eye on Beijing's military build-up, in particular its naval presence in the South China Sea.
China last month held a large naval and air exercise in the South China Sea, a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said resolution of the territorial disputes was "pivotal" to regional stability.
Speaking at Asian security talks in Hanoi, Clinton indicated that Washington was prepared to facilitate multilateral discussions on the island chains and said the US had a "national interest" in seeing international law respected in the area.
Beijing swiftly denounced any such attempts to "internationalise" the disputes, saying such moves could worsen the situation.
And visits by US naval ships to Vietnam risk further irritating China.
"The Vietnamese are ever sensitive to how China will react," said Thayer. "The visit of US warships to Danang indicates that Vietnam is willing to risk Chinese verbal displeasure."
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Japan issues fresh apology for colonial rule of Korea AFP - 13 minutes ago
Major earthquake frightens Vanuatu AFP - 33 minutes ago
More than 70 rescued in Indonesia ferry sinking AFP - 1 hour 6 minutes ago
S.Korea says to "act resolutely" against N.Korea AFP - 1 hour 20 minutes ago
Bangladesh bans beating in schools AFP - 1 hour 39 minutes ago
News Search
Top Stories
Extreme weather fuels debate over global warming
Visitors attack Taiwan 'haunted house' actors
Fed expected to downgrade US growth outlook
BP makes first deposit into Gulf disaster fund
Putin cuts Russia harvest forecast
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Sauna contest in Finland cut short as Russian dies
Massive ice island breaks off Greenland glacier
BP spends $6.1 bln on Gulf spill response
Campbell said she got diamond from Taylor: Farrow
Former HP boss reaches settlement with accuser
More Most Viewed »
Argentine students crack three-decade-old murder mystery
40 US billionaires pledge half wealth to charity
World's first full face transplant man appears on TV
Calcium supplements linked to heart attacks: study
Massive ice island breaks off Greenland glacier
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010