(MENAFN- The Peninsula) AIt will be a strong warning to China, which is accelerating its militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea and expanding its effective control over the region.
US President Barack Obama has made his first visit to Vietnam and held talks with Vietnamese officials, including President Tran Dai Quang.
He has become the third US president to visit the country since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, following Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Obama announced that the United States is fully lifting the arms export embargo on Vietnam, saying, “Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself.”
He says concerns remain over the human rights situation in Vietnam. But Obama probably made his latest decision on lifting the embargo in response to the increasingly tense situation in the South China Sea.
Washington’s providing Hanoi with U.S.-made reconnaissance planes and missiles in the days ahead will certainly enhance deterrence against China’s expansionist maritime advances.
The US and Vietnamese leaders also agreed on boosting cooperation to improve the capabilities of the Vietnamese Navy and on increasing US Navy vessels’ calls at Vietnamese ports.
Vietnam is confronting China over issues such as territorial rights concerning the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It is significant for Vietnam to have confirmed that it will work jointly with the United States to deal with Chinese threats, which are intended to alter the status quo by force.
According to the US Department of Defense, China had reclaimed land in the Spratly Islands totaling about 13 square kilometers as of the end of last year, about a six-fold increase in reclaimed area in the space of one year.
By building radar and supply facilities, China is said to have reached the final phase of making the islands into permanent military outposts. China’s intention may be to control almost all the South China Sea region, despite having no legitimate grounds to do so under international law.
In the middle of this month, there was also an incident in which Chinese fighter jets carried out an intercept, flying unusually close to a US military reconnaissance aircraft that was on a routine patrol over the South China Sea.
This was a dangerous, provocative action of China, which may bring about an unforeseen contingency. It is utterly absurd for China to have asserted that the United States is the one disrupting regional stability.
Obama has repeatedly demanded that Chinese President Xi Jinping stop China’s building artificial islands into military bases in the South China Sea. But there has so far been no change in China’s self-centered stance.
It is essential that the United States not only continue its patrol activities near the man-made islands to embody “freedom of navigation” on the basis of international law but also to establish a system to intensify pressure against China with countries concerned, including Vietnam.
In holding China in check in economic fields, the expansion in trade and investment between Vietnam and such countries as Japan and the United States through the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord will be helpful. Early effectuation of the TPP accord is needed.
In April, Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers made a visit to a port on Cam Ranh Bay, a strategic point for Vietnam, facing the South China Sea.
It is important for Japan to cooperate closely with the United States and promote defense exchange with Vietnam, including joint drills.
Bloomberg