15 July 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is stepping up military ties with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as part of a deepening relationship with Southeast Asia amid competition for influence from China, officials said.

The United States and Laos, they said, plan to exchange military attaches by the end of the year as part of the strategy aimed at beefing up defense links with the trio in the heart of a once central Cold War battleground.

Three years after resuming full military ties with Indonesia soured by human rights concerns, "we are beginning to develop those same kind of ties with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia," deputy US assistant secretary of state Scot Marciel said.

"We are starting off small -- doing some training, some exchanges which we think are very useful," he said.

"And by the end of this year, we and the Lao government will open defense attache offices in each other's capitals, which is a big step, an important step," Marciel, the US ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said at a Washington forum last week.

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were latecomers to ASEAN together with Myanmar.

The other ASEAN states are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

US officials rejected any notion that the move to build military ties with Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos was to check China's rising influence in Southeast Asia, saying it was part of broadening the overall relationship.

"It doesn't really signify more than that," said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

China is rapidly building up its military and could challenge traditional US naval dominance in the region, experts say, citing among other examples, Beijing's setting up of a new underground nuclear submarine base on the southern tip of Hainan Island, close to vital sea lanes in Southeast Asia.

Unlike many other Southeast Asian states which have substantial military ties with the United States, "we havent had that so much with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia because of the history," the State Department official said, referring to the Vietnam War.

As the conflict escalated between the United States and Vietnam, neighbors Laos and Cambodia became increasingly involved in the war.

The Ho Chi Minh Trail -- a supply route from North to South Vietnam that the United States wanted to cut -- passed through both countries.

US officials said they were looking at expanding an international military education and training program in Vietnam, now confined largely to ship visits and a modest English language teching project for Vietnamese military officers.

The former battlefield enemies exchanged defense military attaches in the mid 1990's after Hanoi cooperated in accounting for missing Americans from the Vietnam War.

US defense ties in Laos also centered on the recovery of soldiers missing.

China is fast emerging as a top economic player in Cambodia and Laos.

In Cambodia, where the 1975-1979 communist Khmer Rouge regime was backed by Beijing, China is the largest foreign donor.

"It is a fact that China is growing economically and playing a more active role in much of the world, certainly including in Southeast Asia, but we don't see this as a zero sum game," Marciel said.

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Tony   |07-15-2008 14:30:34 This is a natural step in the development based on what was observed in PM Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to Washington last month. Certainly that trip, in which NTD met with Robert Gates, the US Defense Chief, helped prepare the way for the boosting of ties. And it couldn't come any sooner considering the prospects of what China is doing in the region. Reply | Quote

bibo   |08-03-2008 10:28:22 The US needs to act before it's too late. However, we can't ask much from anyone for favor unless the person/nation see benefits in it. US is no exception. Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia need to unite and communicate to the world that coming to Indochine means getting mutual benefits, not charity kind of trip. Reply | Quote

loco   |08-05-2008 10:02:10 it'll fun to see the American fights with the Chinese. Reply | Quote

mao   |08-10-2008 05:18:37 pay attention to the recent Georgia, Russia conflict. Georgia is a democracy country, an strong ally of the US in iraq, sending 2000 men there. Yet, now Russia is attacking them, what does US and EU do? Nothing... except talking.. some simpletons thinking if China taking naval actions against Vietnam on those unpopulated islands, US is going to step up and protect Vietnam... Fantasy 101.. lol. Reply | Quote

bibo   |08-10-2008 15:57:32 Agree, if China attach Vietnam now, the US will not do anything. The US left South Vietnam after a long engagement of almost 20 years. You are right, Mao. So, do it then. But remember, this is not the first time, we perceive an invading threat from China. Such threat has been there as long as we know, and it had been realized many times too. However, we are still independent and sovereign. What's wrong in this picture? Reply | Quote

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