China is outwardly lauding the
lifting of a U.S. arms embargo on Vietnam, saying it hopes "normal and
friendly" relations between the U.S. and Vietnam are conducive to
regional stability.
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry says weapons embargoes are a product of the Cold War and shouldn't have existed.
China itself remains under a
weapons embargo imposed by the U.S. and European Union following 1989's
bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations centered on
Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
The lifting of the ban may
increase South China Sea tensions as China and other nations in the
region argue over territory. The lifting of the ban potentially gives
Vietnam more opportunity to stand up to China's ambitions.
____
3:30 p.m.
The presidents of the U.S. and Vietnam are toasting improved relations between their countries.
At a state luncheon in Hanoi in
President Barack Obama's honor, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang
(TrAAN Die Kwang) thanked Obama for traveling so far to help achieve
"another crucial milestone" in the U.S.-Vietnamese relationship.
Quang spoke of the long effort to "overcome profound grievances" from the war years, and cited a saying of Ho Chi Minh about welcoming the "warm spring" that follows a cold winter.
Obama offered thanks for all who came before to "help our nations reconcile."
He has singled out Secretary of
State John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, for special mention. Obama says
veterans on both sides have shown "hearts can change and peace is
possible."
____
2:40 p.m.
The United States and Vietnam have released a joint statement citing examples of how the two nations are deepening ties.
The two nations are hailing an
arrangement granting one-year, multiple-entry visas for short-term
business and tourism travelers from both countries.
In another development, the U.S.
is welcoming the Vietnamese government's approval of the Peace Corps to
teach English in Vietnam.
The two nations also reaffirmed
efforts to ratify and implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a
12-nation trade pact that has struggled to gain traction in Congress
during an election year.
The two nations are also
stressing efforts to address issues stemming from the Vietnam War with
the U.S. investing nearly $90 million in dioxin remediation at the Da
Nang International Airport, a project that will finish next year.
____
1:50 p.m.
President Barack Obama says the
death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour should send a
"clear signal" to extremists intent on harming U.S. personnel that
"we're going to protect our people."
Obama says Mansour was
specifically targeting U.S. personnel and troops who were sent to
Afghanistan to assist and train the country's military forces.
Obama says Mansour's death
doesn't signal a shift in the U.S. approach to countering terrorism in
Afghanistan. He says the U.S. will not engage in day-to-day combat
operations, but will continue to help the Afghan people secure their
country.
Mansour was killed when a U.S.
drone fired on his vehicle in the southwestern Pakistan province of
Baluchistan. He had emerged as the successor to Taliban founder Mullah
Mohammad Omar, whose 2013 death was only revealed last summer.
____
1:40 p.m.
President Barack Obama says the
decision to lift an arm embargo on Vietnam is not based on relations
with China, but on a desire to complete what has been a lengthy process
of normalizing relations between the United States and Vietnam.
Obama says the U.S. will continue
to analyze weapons sales case-by-case, but it won't have a ban based on
an ideological division between the two countries.
Obama says the U.S. expects
greater cooperation between each nation's militaries, often in response
to humanitarian disasters. He also says there is a mutual concern with
respect to maritime issues.
___
1:15 p.m.
President Barack Obama has
announced the lifting of an arms embargo on Vietnam, removing a vestige
of wartime animosity in an attempt to shore up the communist country in
its territorial dispute with an increasingly aggressive China.
Obama made the announcement Monday during a news conference in Hanoi with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang (TrAAN Die Kwang).
U.S. lawmakers and activists had urged Obama to press for greater human rights freedoms before lifting the embargo.
Washington partially lifted the
embargo on arms in 2014, but Vietnam wanted full access as it tries to
deal with China's land reclamation and military construction in the
disputed South China Sea.
Lifting the restrictions will anger China, which is deeply suspicious of growing U.S. defense ties in areas it sees as its own.
___
12:10 p.m.
U.S. President Barack Obama and
Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang (TrAAN Die Kwang) opened their visit
by touting the deepening economic relationship between the two
countries.
The presidents attended a signing
ceremony celebrating a series of new commercial deals between U.S. and
Vietnamese companies. The White House said the value of the transactions
was more than $16 billion.
The deals included U.S. engine
manufacturer Pratt & Whitney's plans to sell 135 advanced engines to
Vietnamese air carrier Vietjet and Boeing's plans to sell 100 aircraft
to airline. The White House says the Boeing deal is expected to support
60,000 American manufacturing and technology jobs.
The White House also announced an
agreement between GE Wind and the Vietnamese government to develop
1,000 megawatts of wind-generated electricity.
___
12:06 p.m.
U.S. President Barack Obama
starts his visit to Vietnam looking to bolster trade ties with the
government, and possibly lift an arms export embargo, even as he meets
with dissidents and pushes for greater human rights freedoms from the
one-party state.
Obama will try to strike this
balance during his three-day visit to a country Washington sees as a
crucial, though flawed partner as China seeks to boost its claim to
disputed territory in the South China Sea.
Though Vietnam mostly has Russian
equipment, lifting the embargo would be a boost for the country. It
would show relations are fully normalized and open the way to deeper
security cooperation.
U.S. lawmakers and activists have urged Obama to press for greater rights freedoms before granting it.
A decision could come Monday.
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