U.S. Eases Arms Embargo to Vietnam Amid China Sea Spats

By K. Oanh Ha

Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Pham Binh Minh, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, left, speaks... Read More

Vietnam will be able to buy nonlethal weapons from the U.S. for maritime security after the easing of a decades-old arms embargo, at a time of territorial tensions with Communist neighbor China.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry informed Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, who is also foreign minister, of the decision during Minh’s visit to Washington. Deals will be done on a case-by-case basis, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an e-mailed statement.
“This policy supports Vietnam’s efforts to improve its maritime domain awareness and maritime security capabilities,” Psaki said. “It makes it possible for Vietnam to receive patrol boats equipped with defensive capabilities that can conduct maritime security activities in the waters along its vast coastline.”
The partial lift of the embargo enhances military ties
between the two former enemies about four decades after the Vietnam war, as China asserts its claims to disputed, energy-rich areas of the South China Sea. The arms embargo between the U.S. and Vietnam had been in place since 1984.
“It’s an enormous lift psychologically in the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam. Having that embargo was the thorn in the side of those pushing for closer ties,” said Carlyle Thayer, an emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. “Malaysia and the countries in the region will be happy to see Vietnam enhance its capabilities. One thing they all crave is to find out what the heck China is doing out there everyday. China won’t be happy.”

P-3 Orions

The changes may mean Vietnam can purchase P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft that are part of the U.S. military’s older fleet, Thayer said. The aircraft could be outfitted with surveillance technology to help Vietnam detect submarines over a wide expanse of sea.
“Vietnam is new to the submarine game,” Thayer said. “It has to master how to detect a sub and how to sink it.”
Vietnam is scheduled to receive six submarines from Russia by the end of 2016, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported in March. China’s fleet includes about 70 conventional and nuclear-powered submarines, Thayer said.

‘All Steps’

Vietnam and the U.S. are moving closer about 40 years after the end of a war that killed almost 60,000 American servicemen and probably more than 1 million Vietnamese, with increased trade and investments.
“We welcome all steps to strengthen the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the United States for the benefit of the two countries, for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and in the world,” Vietnam foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Tran Thi Bich Van said in an e-mailed statement.
Sales of weapons could begin with coast guard and maritime systems, Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee, said in August in Hanoi. McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, advocated for the embargo’s lift. The easing of the ban would occur in stages, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said at the same briefing.
The changes were linked to Vietnam improving its human rights record, an area that has shown “positive steps,” Psaki said.
“Achieving further progress on human rights is integral to our bilateral relationship and is necessary for a further deepening of bilateral ties, including in security cooperation,” Psaki said, citing Kerry’s comments to Minh at their meeting. “Vietnam will need to make additional progress on human rights for the United States to consider a full lift of the ban on lethal defense articles in the future.”