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While U.S. pundits see Vice President Kamala Harris's visit to Hanoi as a way for her to get out of town and avoid awkward questions, the Chinese media responded with sharp commentary accusing her of inciting Vietnam against China. For her part, Harris accused China of "bullying" in the South China Sea. The U.S.-China-Vietnam strategic triangle is certainly on the minds of ordinary Vietnamese.At a park in central Saigon, some students asked me, "Do you know why we love Trump?""Is it because he hates China?" I asked."Yeah!" They responded in unison.Yes, Donald Trump is a Vietnamese folk hero.  In fact, Trump...

VietNamNet - China placed bricks that build the foundation for today’s disputes to seek control of the East Sea over 20 years ago. What will China think and do in the next 10, 20 or 40 years? It is not strange that after making threats of using forces against Vietnam on the Global Times on June 21 2011, a high-ranking meeting between China and Vietnam was held to confirm the both sides’ respect of the 16-golden words of good neighborhood. The two events are only four days from each other, with absolutely different signals from central agencies of China. The...

A major US-South Korean military exercise involving about 20 ships, 200 planes and 8,000 personnel will start Sunday in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) to deter North Korea, the US military said on Tuesday. The July 25-28 drill will highlight the resolve of the two countries "to face any threat North Korea may pose", the US-led United Nations Command said in a statement. The war games are a response to the sinking of a South Korean warship earlier this year, which Seoul and Washington blame on North Korea. The announcement followed talks between visiting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates...

The nuclear-powered aircraft - carrier USS George Washington will make a port call in South Korea Wednesday, ahead of a joint naval drill in the East Sea next week. The 97,000-ton ship based in Yokosuka, Japan, will arrive at South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan with some 60 aircrafts, including F-18 Super Hornets, news agency Yonhap said. The report quoting the US military said, three destroyers from the US carrier's strike group, including the USS McCampbell and the USS John S McCain, will also arrive in South Korea on the same day. SKorea and the US have agreed to...

The United States may dispatch its high-tech F-22 Raptor stealth fighter to the Korean Peninsula for the upcoming joint military exercises with South Korea aimed at sending a warning message to North Korea for its continued provocative acts, a government source said Sunday. "Chances are high that the F-22 fighter jet will take part in the South Korea-U.S. joint drills to be held in the East Sea within July, in which a U.S. aircraft carrier will also participate," the source said on the condition of anonymity. "The U.S. is considering the F-22's participation in the training."In response to the March...

South Korea and the United States will push ahead with a joint naval exercise to warn North Korea against making attacks on the South, officials in Seoul and Washington said. But a defense ministry official told the JoongAng Ilbo that the two countries have arrived at a compromise to avoid angering China, which objected to the exercise being held in the Yellow Sea near its own territorial waters. “We will hold drills in both the Yellow Sea and the East Sea,” the official said. In addition, the U.S.S. George Washington, a U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, will participate in the exercise...

North Korea has unilaterally designated eight areas in the waters north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea on the west coast of the peninsula and the East Sea as “naval firing zones” for three days starting today. The South Korean Defense Ministry said yesterday that the North announced the zones via Navtex, the Russian maritime broadcasting system. It said the zones were in effect for all three days between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. It is the fourth time the North has declared naval firing zones since Jan. 25. The four zones in the Yellow Sea...

(LEAD) 11 N. Koreans defect to S. Korea through East Sea SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap)-- Eleven North Korean defected to South Korea through waters off the South's east coast on Thursday, a government source said. The source said the 11 North Koreans -- five men and six women -- expressed their willingness to seek asylum in the South after crossing the sea border in a ship around 6:30 p.m. and arriving in the South Korean port city of Jumunjin on the east coast. The Ministry of Defense is expected to announce details on their defection soon, according to the source.