U.S., Vietnam to Hold Joint Naval Activities Starting July 15
The U.S. and Vietnam will hold joint naval activities in the city of Danang beginning on July 15, the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City said.
The planned events include a pier-side welcome ceremony for the USS Chung-Hoon at Tien Sa Port in Danang, as well as community relation projects, search and rescue, damage-control and dive salvage training between the navies from the two countries, the consulate said in a press release.
Military ties between the two countries have gradually increased since the USS Vandegrift in 2003 became the first American naval vessel to dock in the Southeast Asian nation since the end of the Vietnam War. Improved relations have drawn more attention amid tensions between China and Vietnam over disputed areas in the South China Sea.
Vietnam has accused Chinese vessels of harassing Vietnam Oil & Gas Group survey ships twice since May, while China responded by saying one of its fishing boats was “chased” by armed Vietnamese ships last month. The U.S. weighed in with a statement last month that referred to “troubling incidents” in the South China Sea.
Preparations for the week-long operations began about a year ago, and there is no connection with recent events in the South China Sea, said Lt. Cmdr. Mike Morley, a Singapore-based public affairs officer for the U.S. Navy.
“It’s merely a coincidence of timing,” Morley said in a telephone interview. “We did this last year and we’ll probably do it again next year.”
The planned events are not described by the U.S. Navy as exercises “so as not to confuse these exchange activities with military exercises that we do with other navies in the region,” he said.
“This is focused on relationship-building and non- combatant activities,” Morley said. U.S.-Vietnamese ties are “growing in terms of complexity and familiarity.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Folkmanis in Ho Chi Minh City at folkmanis@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
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