Emergence of Vietnamese -U.S. Cooperation
247Vietnam is a perfect candidate to be a US ally in the containment of
China, considering the size of its population and territory, its significant
economic growth, as well as its ambitions for regional power projection.
Also, and especially, it holds a very favorable geographical position, with
a long coast line, acting as a gateway to easily access any point in the
South China Sea. There is clear evidence of the relationship between
Vietnam and the US becoming increasingly close as a reaction and in
regard to China’s assertive rise. Even in China this has been noted in the
Chinese Communist Party newspaper, The People's Daily, which said that
Vietnam and other neighbors were trying to contain China with help from
the United States.^22
The cooperation between Vietnam and U.S. can be seen in 3 main
areas: political (at the official level), security (military) and economic.
Political Cooperation
Although normalization of the relations between the US and Vietnam
started during the Clinton presidency in 1995, considerable growth in the
political cooperation has been evident in recent years due to the rise of
China. Namely, the Vietnamese side has officially started the process of
building up closer political ties and alignment with the US in regard to
China. Worried about China’s continuing push in the South China Sea and
in the states along Vietnam’s periphery, in June 2003 in the Central
Committee plenum, the communist party of Vietnam surmised that the
situation in East Asia was developing in an unfavorable way and efforts
had to be made to develop ties with the US.^23
Recently, Vietnam has been even more carefully approaching the US,
and there has been an increasing frequency of visits and meetings between
high ranking Vietnamese and American officials.^24 Three American top
officials and key political figures, such as former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton^25 and the last two Secretaries of Defense, Robert Gates and Leon
Panetta, have visited Vietnam in the last two years and held official
meetings with top Vietnamese officials, including the prime minister and
(^22) British Broadcasting Service, “Vietnam refuses to stamp new Chinese passports
over map“: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20491426
(^23) Chanda, “The slow reaproachment“.
(^24) Sehnálková, “China’s growing assertiveness in the South China and East China
Seas: Reactions of the U.S. and other regional players”, 84.
(^25) TuoiTreNews, “Hillary Clinton arrives in Vietnam“:
http://www.tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/politics/hillary-clinton-arrives-in-
vietnam-1.79272