[Graybeard58]

but they've been trying to stay independent of China for more than 2000 years, and the US is the natural counterbalance .

Except for when Viet Nam needs men and arms from China when they are killing American soldiers?

[Red Badger]

Vietnamese Negotiator to Panetta: Okay, we got deal on Cam Ranh Bay. BUT WE WILL NOT TAKE JOHN MCCAIN BACK!..........

[kearnyirish2]

I agree that this is much too soon; I thought that when BJ Clinton basically pretended the war never happened. Until the Hanoi government gives the South Vietnamese people the freedoms they enjoyed before the fall of Saigon, there is no reason to engage them in diplomatic relations. This sends a horrible message to the people who fought there, the families of those who died there, and the American public in general about fickle we are about our foreign policy. Right now we have troops around the world fighting, and they can’t disregard the possibility that the people they are fighting might be “friends” in 10 years.

Red China resents North Vietnam because their slaves are even cheaper for “American” companies than those in Red China.