At a state luncheon in Hanoi in President Barack Obama’s honor, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang (TrAAN Die Kwang) thanked Obama for traveling so far to help achieve “another crucial milestone” in the U.S.
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NBC News reported that White House quickly made a point that the trip of president Obama will not make an apology.
Obama, the third US president to visit Vietnam since diplomatic relations were restored in 1995, has made a strategic “rebalance” toward Asia a centerpiece of his foreign policy. But instead, the trip will highlight Obama’s continued pivot to Asia – specifically economic, trade and security cooperation.
The two nations are also stressing efforts to address issues stemming from the Vietnam War with the US investing almost $90 million in dioxin remediation at the Da Nang International Airport, a project that will finish next year.
“The United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam that has been in place for some fifty years”, he said at a joint press conference alongside his Vietnamese counterpart President Tran Dai Quang.
Obama announced the full removal of the embargo at a news conference where he vowed to leave behind the troubled history between the former war enemies and embrace a new era with a young, increasingly prosperous nation.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said that Washington had squandered a key tool to pressure Vietnam to improve its human rights record.
Obama said the decision to lift the embargo was not based on relations with China but rather part of the normalization of relations with Vietnam.
“At this stage, both sides have developed a level of trust and cooperation including our militaries”, the U.S. leader added.
“As a habitual wave-maker in the Asia-Pacific, the United States has shown no restraint in meddling in regional situation, which is evidenced by its relentless moves to disturb peace in the South China Sea”.
The lifting of the ban may increase South China Sea tensions as China and other nations in the region argue over territory.
China sees US support for rival South China Sea claimants Vietnam and the Philippines as interference and an attempt to establish hegemony in the region.
“China should think twice over anything they can do to Vietnam or the South China Sea”, he said.
Before his visit, China had warned Vietnam to “stay cautious” when dealing with the U.S. and said a removal of the arms embargo would be a “calculated” move and risk stability in Asia.
China itself remains under a weapons embargo imposed by the USA and European Union following 1989’s bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
The US imposed arms embargo on Vietnam in 1984 and the country has been under the embargo despite the normalisation of diplomatic ties in 1995. The United States partially lifted the ban in 2014, but Vietnam has pushed for full access as it tries to deal with China’s land reclamation and military construction in nearby seas.
Unrestricted access to USA arms might not necessarily result in a Vietnamese spending spree on US hardware, but would boost its power to bargain for better prices from all suppliers. Obama said that each deal would be reviewed case by case and evaluated based on the equipment’s potential use.
“(The) arms sales ban was a product of the Cold War and should no longer exist”, she told reporters.
A commentary published by China’s state-owned news agency Xinhua said the USA was “motivated by an insincere agenda”. On Sunday, Obama was in Vietnam, a gesture observers see as his way of reassuring the two country’s support to its cause in the region. He praised the expansion in security and trade ties between “former enemies turned friends” and, standing next to Obama before reporters, called for more US investment.
USA lawmakers and activists have urged Obama to press for greater rights freedoms before granting it.
Vietnam holds about 100 political prisoners and there have been more detentions this year. Hanoi says that only lawbreakers are punished.
The Vietnam War ended in April 1975 with the fall of Saigon – now called Ho Chi Minh City – after the United States withdrew combat forces and the North Vietnamese launched a massive offensive to reunite their homeland under communism.
Obama also made the case for stronger commercial and economic ties, including approval of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that is stalled in Congress and facing strong opposition from the 2016 presidential candidates.
Underlining the burgeoning commercial relationship between the United States and Vietnam, one of the first deals signed on Obama’s trip was an $11.3 billion order for 100 Boeing planes by low-priced airline VietJet.
Obama and the Vietnamese president also attended a signing ceremony celebrating a series of new commercial deals between American and Vietnamese companies, with the White House putting the value of the transactions at more than $16 billion. The deals included US engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney’s plans to sell 135 advanced engines to Vietnamese air carrier Vietjet, and Boeing’s plans to sell 100 aircraft to the airline.
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He has singled out Secretary of State John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, for special mention.
