As a Vietnam vet I have VERY mixed feelings about Obama’s motives in this case.
But I also know Vietnamese hatred of China goes back more than 1,000 years to a Chinese occupation of Vietnam that lasted 1,000 years before that.
Vietnam regards the Paracel & Spratly islands as theirs. Might as well make things dicey for Beijing as the Dragon learns how to swim.
Meanwhile Japan has cut off its younger generations from knowledge of its atrocities in Asia 1937-1945. But in China those memories are very much alive.
I do wonder what communist Vietnam will have to offer in foreign exchange to buy all these new toys.
“I do wonder what communist Vietnam will have to offer in foreign exchange to buy all these new toys.”
Last year the U.S had a trade deficit of $31 billion with Vietnam. So, Vietnam has a lot of dollars with which to buy military goods from us.