Posted on 01/29/2018 5:28:05 PM PST by cba123
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A high-level U.S. visit to Vietnam followed by plans to send American naval vessels may herald a tougher American policy toward China in Asia's stickiest maritime sovereignty dispute.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis met in Vietnam last week with the host country’s president, Tran Dai Quang, as well as the general secretary of its ruling Communist Party and a Vietnamese military counterpart.
The U.S. Department of Defense website said they shared concerns about freedom of navigation and "respect for international law," likely references to a six-way dispute over sovereignty of the South China Sea dominated by Beijing. A U.S. aircraft carrier will call in Vietnam in March. Vietnam is the most outspoken rival claimant to China.
"The Mattis visit and the one by the aircraft carrier in March are intended to send a signal to China about its assertive behavior in the South China Sea," ...
(Excerpt) Read more at voanews.com ...
There is a nice photo at the website, with the following caption:
"U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, left, shakes hands with Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong before holding talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan. 25, 2018. "
Good picture.
The Vietnamese killed 55,000 Americans so different people could ride in the government limousines.
Had Woodrow Wilson not suffered influenza at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 and had been able to assert his anti colonial goals, the United States would never had fought a war in Vietnam.
I’ll tell you what.
The war was a (LONG, LONG) time ago. Two generations ago, really.
I’m older than the hills myself, yet I was not old enough to serve in the military. (Just, but I was too young)
I really did not know what to expect. What I found was a little bubble of enchantment. A place that time forgot.
Vietnam is now opening to the outside world again. Europeans have been coming here for quite a while, but Americans are now coming, and our visa policy is such that I think the American presence will rapidly grow.
We (America) have been building up China for one entire generation. A huge, communist country.
Vietnam is far, less threatening. I am very glad I chose to come here.
The language is a real kick in the teeth to learn, but otherwise this place is a real nice place to visit. I have stayed much longer than I originally planned to.
What I have noticed is the virtual ABSENCE of racism. I just don’t see any. From anyone. Ever.
Ever.
I have travelled a bit. This is the very first place, I have ever been with zero racism.
Might be France’s 300 years here. Might have something to do with America’s presence in the 60’s.
But people need to get over the old-style insults.
Vietnam is completely changed.
Sure it is nominally communist. But it is also (VERY MUCH) independent of China. More than all the supposed other countries in the area.
America should actively rebuild our relations with Vietnam.
And stop buying everything from China, for crying out loud.
Rebuild America.
Sorry fourth to the last line, I should have said:
More than all the supposed other (independent) countries in the area.
Sincere apologies to Thailand, the PI, Cambodia and all the rest. No insult intended. You are charming places, all of you.
The Vietnamese killed 55,000 Americans (who were trying to help them) so that different people could ride in the government limousines.
That’s how communists operate.
It should never be forgotten.
And there you have it in a nutshell. There is no such thing as a hardline ex-commie. For you who never served LONG LONG ago, there are those that can and do see it as yesterday.
Heck, they should of scheduled it for Jan 31 the 50th anniversary of their grand TET offensive where they got their aszes handed to them by those that did serve LONG LONG ago. But of course having the visit then wouldn't have been PC, but I sure would loved to have seen it.
A strong, economically developing Vietnam, united with the USA in opposing Chinese Communist Government expansionism
I guess we won the Vietnam War after all.
Good Morning, Vietnam.....We’re Back!
Sure we fought in Vietnam. The people here in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) were the ones we were helping.
The thing is, northern Vietnam, and southern Vietnam, really are the same place.
I understand why we were here. I also understand the social aspects of the war, the draft, all of that.
I get that war basically set our country, on it’s current direction.
But I also understand why the northern forces were motivated so deeply. This really is one country. One language. One people.
I understand there is a whole contingent of Vietnam veterans on FR. I get that.
All I am saying is, it is time to reset our relations with Vietnam.
And it is time to seriously reconsider, our relations with China.
They are turning into something of a nightmare.
We need to rebuild American industry for a change.
Send a copy of the photo to McCain. If he is not in a coma at the moment, it might bring back old memories.
Are you seeing ol butterball Kim in NK the same way as this rosy warm picture ? It is pretty well SSDD.
Complete opposites.
Though one thing I have noticed here which was something of a surprise to me:
The Vietnamese people share a sincere interest in Korea.
For example the coach of their bigtime volleyball team, which incidentally lost in around the tenth overtime, on a snow-covered field last weekend...
Is Korean.
I hope we are on the Vietnamese side in this China Vietnam dispute.
China has never been successful in trying to take Vietnamese territory. Vietnam broke away from China in 939 AD. and China has been unsuccessfully trying to take it or small parts of it back ever since, and the Vietnamese have never lost.
It’s because we lost there, a loss secured by our failed, incompetent leaders more than anyone or anything else, that new relations are a bitter pill to swallow for our country. Our fight against Japan was much more fierce and the scars much more deep—and yet today the US flag and the Japanese flag fly together, our troops are united, and we are prepared to spill blood together. Give it time. Eventually America will form an alliance with Vietnam—something unfathomable 50 years ago. Past is prologue. Ideally this will come at the price of Vietnsm dropping single party communism and socialism in favor of free market capitalism. That is incrementally already starting to happen.
My friend, a Lt Col in the USAF who spent 7 years in Hanoi and was even tortured by the dinks at one point, shared these sentiments to me and his own personal closure on ‘The Nam.’
Sorry. Soccer.
I blame American football for my confusion. :D
“The Vietnamese killed 55,000 Americans so different people could ride in the government limousines.“
Well, we killed a lot more of them.
I’ve been amazed that not that many people from either country seem to hold grudges. People in Europe routinely hold grudges for 1000+ years. It really is true that politics makes for strange bedfellows.
Thanks for your post.
I think things are poised to improve.
Maybe not, but it seems to be, here.
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