[stilts]

Hanoi on Sunday ruled out the possibility of any formal agreement with Washington

I notice they didn't rule out an informal agreement.

[Shermy]

But the ministry spokeswoman left open the possibility of US access to the base on an informal or multilateral basis.

Which means in Vietnamese: "Yes, but let's not scare China too much. Hey, we gotta live next door to them!"

[piasa]

fyi