Time for a Closer U.S.-Vietnam Relationship

Real Clear Defense ^ | March 14, 2016 | Robert C. Thomas

[billorites]

The United States has a curious history of forging particularly close relationships with countries with which it was once at war – just ask Germany, Japan, and the United States’ colonial parent the United Kingdom. Recent trends suggest that it is time for the United States to add Vietnam to that list. Officially Communist, Vietnam might seem like an odd partner for the United States. However, U.S. security interests in Southeast Asia, the clear preference of Vietnamese officials for closer ties, and the opportunity to improve governance and human rights protections in Vietnam should make a U.S. push for closer relations, an uncontroversial priority.

The top question to ask of any new international relationship is what interest it serves that would not be met otherwise. U.S. economic and security interests in Southeast Asia are immense, with over 60 percent of U.S. exports flowing throughout the broader Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam is strategically located next to the Southeast Asian trade choke points and the South China Sea. Given China’s role as both a top trade partner and frequent geopolitical rival of the United States, its reliance on shipments of oil and other goods through the South China Sea only magnifies the area’s importance.

Historically, the United States has relied on the Philippines and Thailand as key Southeast Asian partners, but the reliability of these partnerships has been called into question. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has made recurring statements for downgrading U.S. ties. Additionally, given the potential instability of Thailand’s military Junta, especially without the steady hand of the now deceased long-time ally King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the future of the country’s relationship is unclear. The unstable and uncertain nature of these historical alliances should motivate the United States to diversify its partnerships in that region. Vietnam is well positioned to step into the gap as a strong and stable regional trade and security partner.

Vietnamese leaders have already demonstrated a concrete interest in closer economic and security ties with the United States. In 2015, the Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, visited the United States as part of an unprecedented high-level meeting aimed at strengthening relations. This was in part an attempt by Vietnamese leaders to reduce their country's dependence on (and resulting vulnerability to) their powerful Chinese neighbors. In addition to Vietnam's disproportionate economic dependence on China, the two countries remain locked in a tense territorial dispute in the South China Sea. Perhaps reflecting these concerns, polls show that the Vietnamese public’s opinion of the United States is much more favorable than its opinion of China. The combination of clear strategic incentives for Vietnam, support for closer ties with Vietnamese leaders, and a positive view of the United States among the Vietnamese public should make the opportunity to tighten the relationship a clear case of low-hanging fruit for U.S. policymakers and diplomats.

Vietnam’s poor human rights record remains the main sticking point for US policymakers. However, past U.S. policy toward the Vietnamese government has failed to produce any serious improvement in the country’s human rights situation in the decades since the Vietnam War. In fact, the primary leverage that the United States has over Vietnamese policy is precisely through the potential economic and security benefits that a closer bilateral relationship would offer. The United States, therefore, has a chance to incentivize improved human rights practices in Vietnam through carrots instead of sticks.

There are several ways in which U.S. policymakers can capitalize on this opportunity. Although the Vietnamese government seems to have reduced its focus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) since it became clear that the United States would not participate, it remains committed to boosting international trade as an economic priority. U.S. and Vietnamese officials could revisit some of their respective proposals and goals from the recent TPP negotiations as a starting point for a new bilateral trade agreement. Additionally, the Obama Administration ended a long-standing U.S. arms embargo on Vietnam in 2016, which opened the door for defense procurement deals and other forms of military cooperation. The United States could work to secure Vietnamese participation in multilateral exercises, such as the Rim of the Pacific drills. Offering incentives on both the economic and military fronts in exchange for U.S. expert assistance on issues like the rule of law, human rights, and transparency in daily governance, for example, could prove more effective than top-down mandates on human rights issues directed at senior leaders in Hanoi.

So far, the Trump administration has provided little detail on how it will approach issues in Southeast Asia, beyond taking a tough line on China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea. The administration should recognize the opportunity that strengthened bilateral ties with Vietnam would provide to secure US interests and positions in this critical region.

[billorites]

My excellent new laser printer came from Vietnam.

Feisty little bastards too.

[Farmer Dean]

Let’s wait until after the last Vietnam war vet dies.Anything sooner is an insult.

[dfwgator]

The best way to end the Communist regime in Hanoi is to boost trade. We have a lot more leverage with them because they fear the Chinese. Most of the generation that was around during the war have died off and the younger generation doesn’t really care about what happened.

[redcatcherb412]

Heck yeah, the last moron climbing the White House fence and trying to get into the White House in the middle of the night to obviously give the President the benefit of ‘charlies’ view of the use of mace as a president deterrent was a viet.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/03/14/man-charged-white-house-fence-breach-free-pending-trial/99153958/

[KC_Lion]

Ping!

[Surrounded_too]

vets die off - Ain’t anytime soon. We don’t need them. They need us. I’d rather let China try to take them over. It will keep China busy and spread a little Schadenfreude around.

[maro]

He’s 26 years old and from California. Quite possibly not quite right mentally. Do you really think he was put up to it by the Viet Cong? Come on.

[BuffaloJack]

> Let’s wait until after the last Vietnam war vet dies. Anything sooner is an insult.

Speaking as a Vietnam War vet, nothing could be better than to have closer relations with Vietnam.

[Army Air Corps]

We have a lot more leverage with them because they fear the Chinese.

That is long-standing blood feud that goes back quite a way.

[Army Air Corps]

I’d rather let China try to take them over.

Look at the Sino-Vietnamese War.

[katana]

You are certainly entitled to your hard feelings, but there are still quite a few veterans of WWII and the Korean War around and that hasn't stopped us from doing business with Japan, Germany, and China. Considering the levels of horrific atrocities committed by all three against our forces there should be even worse feelings among veterans about our having let bygones be bygones with them. The Vietnamese very much want a friendly relationship to develop, politically and militarily because of their very uncomfortable proximity to an expansionist China.

We basically defaulted, never a battle lost, to the North because of incompetent and later treasonous leadership and conduct by a Democrat president and Congress, and a fifth column press. But when China tried to push her little neighbor around she got her nose well bloodied. And the reasons why it would be advantageous for us to develop a relationship with a country adjacent to China, with several excellent seaports on a thousand mile long coast line, ought to be pretty obvious. To the Vietnamese I've met overseas the war is ancient history and they crave a new relationship with us. Personally, I think having one with them is long overdue.

[BubbaJunebug]

I've made 63 trips to VN the past 20 plus years on business. Never had a bad experience other than mis dating a visa 😁 One time..just a short delay and a Benjamin solved the problem.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Viet Nam is one of those countries that won’t accept it’s deported US immigrants. Starting point.

[redcatcherb412]

Rumor has it that black pajamas and straw hat were found in the south lawn rice paddy :) /jk

Seriously though, old hatreds, and ones passed down generations never die. Asian communists seem to be long term haterz.

[maro]

The odds are his parents came here running away from the Communists.

[Uncle Sam 911]

Free South Vietnam and we can talk. Otherwise, NO.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Rumor has it that black pajamas and straw hat were found in the south lawn rice paddy :) /jk

Were they in John Kerry's size? :)

It isn't about Communists - WWII is not over in any of the countries Japan brutalized, and China is still mad at Britain over the Opium Wars. China is staging a five act drama over the THAAD deployment in South Korea and stirring up their native population with an anti-Korean propaganda campaign worthy of a CNN profile on Trump.

Vietnam would be a useful military ally in the region, and I think they would abandon the last vestiges of Communism far more quickly than China has if given the opening to do so. Have you seen Saigon, lately?

[Uncle Sam 911]

China? I believe you have mixed up WW 2 and Korea.

[Terry Mross]

I’m all for it if they’ll release the “Songbird’s” treason records.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

If he was Viet Cong he’d have tunneled under the fence, not hopped over it.