US boosts military ties with Vietnam
Mon Jun 5, 2006 9:13am ET14
Vietnam is one of several Asian states with which the Pentagon has built close ties to help its war on terrorism and to hedge against a rising China, which Washington says is too secretive about its military spending and its intentions.
The two sides agreed to start medical training under a Pentagon-funded program, and step up cooperation on de-mining and finding remains of soldiers from the Vietnam War, he said.
Rumsfeld, the second Pentagon chief to visit communist-run Vietnam since the fall of U.S. ally South Vietnam in 1975
The military talks took place less than a week after the two countries signed a new trade pact that paves the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization by year-end.
U.S. analysts say Vietnam, which fought a brief war with China in 1979, shares America's desire for good relations with Beijing and wariness about rapid Chinese military growth.
"want China to take note that there is a regional response to Beijing's military build-up" and that both Washington and Hanoi benefit from warming military ties.
Exchanges under the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training (IMET) program would begin with English-language training for Vietnamese officers in San Antonio, Texas
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