Go Ahead and Sell Arms to Vietnam

Senator John McCain has given one good reason for lifting the U.S. arms embargo on Vietnam: China. A better-armed Vietnam, deploying U.S. weapons, would make a stronger partner in the American effort to counter Chinese ambitions in the South China Sea. That, however, is not the only -- or even the best -- reason to end the ban.

More than 40 years after the U.S. evacuated Saigon, and two decades since the former enemies restored diplomatic ties, the embargo is a relic. The U.S. has become Vietnam’s second-largest trading partner after China. Nike and Intel have set up huge operations there, and the U.S. is on track to become the country’s largest investor. Vietnam has agreed to hefty concessions in order to ensure passage of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership. Lifting the remaining limits on lethal weapons sales would affirm the ongoing normalization in ties.