Thayer Vietnam's Defence Relations: China and the US

8/14/2019 Thayer Vietnam's Defence Relations: China and the US

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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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

Documents

Thayer Vietnam's Defence Relations: China and the US