here is the second news from the promised land America. Reading between the lines will reveal many things.
Obama says US, Vietnam experiencing 'deeper engagement'
By John Boudreau and Phil Mattingly
Bloomberg News
Published: November 13, 2014
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — President Barack Obama's one-on-one meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a regional summit in Myanmar highlights how the former enemies are edging closer, against the wishes of China.
The bilateral huddle of the leaders follows last month's decision to lift the ban on sales of American nonlethal weapons to Vietnam after tensions escalated between the Southeast Asian country and its communist neighbor. The United States and Vietnam are experiencing "deeper and deeper engagement and opportunities to cooperate," Obama said ahead of Thursday's meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit of Southeast Asian nations and several world leaders.
Vietnam wants a U.S. presence in the region as its leaders use an array of diplomatic moves to counter China's influence in the region. The government in Hanoi is pursuing negotiations to diffuse territorial disputes in the South China Sea while publicly protesting Chinese actions and seeking closer economic and military ties to the United States and other powers, including India and Japan.
"Vietnam is hedging," Alexander Vuving, a security analyst at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii, said by phone. "There are elements of competition and cooperation in the strategy. The approach is to deter China and reassure China of its peaceful intentions."
Obama's meeting with Dung comes after diplomatic relations between Vietnam and China ruptured when a Chinese oil rig was placed off Vietnam's coast in May, triggering clashes between boats and also anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam. Officials in Hanoi on Oct. 9 protested China's completion of an upgraded airstrip in the disputed Paracel Islands.
"Obviously, the United States and Vietnam have a very complex and difficult history, but for the last several years what we've seen is deeper and deeper engagement and opportunities to cooperate," Obama said.
The meeting, he added, gives the two countries "additional opportunities to cooperate."
In October, Secretary of State John Kerry told Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh that Vietnam will be able to buy nonlethal weapons from the U.S.
"We very much share the belief that it is important for all countries, big and small, in the region to abide by rules- based norms in resolving disputes," Obama said.
The U.S. and Vietnam continue to have "productive dialogues on issues like security," Dung said. Relations between the two countries "have achieved significant progress," he said.
Vietnam is seeking "assurance that the U.S. stays the course in its re-balance" to Asia, Carlyle Thayer, an emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, said by phone.
It is easier for China to "manipulate" Vietnam's leadership if no other powers or international bodies get involved with South China Sea disputes, Tuong Vu, an associate professor of political science at the University of Oregon, said by phone.
"China wants to slow down the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam," he said.
China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with Vietnamese officials in Hanoi Oct. 27 to patch up relations. Yang's visit to Hanoi coincided with Dung's trip to India, when the prime minister called on the country to play an active role in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Maritime disagreements "should be resolved through dialogue and consultation by countries directly involved on the basis of respect and historical facts and international laws," Hong Lei, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a briefing in Beijing Oct. 28. "This is in line with international laws and common practices, and is also a consensus reached by China and Asean countries."
Navigating its relations with China while protecting its economic and sovereign interests is risky diplomacy for Vietnam, Vuving said.
Trade between Vietnam and China surged 84 percent to $50.2 billion last year from $27.3 billion in 2010, according to Vietnam government data. The two countries aim to boost that flow to $60 billion in 2015, according to an April 14 statement from Vietnam's government.
The "reset" between Vietnam and China, which includes hotlines and increased high-level meetings, could be brief, Thayer said.
"All it takes is a misstep or perceived misstep by any of the parties" to inflame territorial tensions, he said. "The fundamental sovereignty disputes have not been solved."
John Boudreau reported from Hanoi, Vietnam.
