VIETNAM-USA/DEFENSE Pentagon chief pledges $18 million for Hanoi to buy patrol boats

Record ID: 149740

  • Title: VIETNAM-USA/DEFENSE Pentagon chief pledges $18 million for Hanoi to buy patrol boats
  • Date: 1st June 2015
  • Summary: **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** THANH AND CARTER STANDING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, ASHTON CARTER, SAYING: "The United States will provide 18 million dollars to Vietnamese Coast Guards to purchase American Metal Shark patrol vessels." UNITED STATES DELEGATES (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Vietnam
  • Country: Vietnam
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABG6GC789LZRC5AXJMTP0WO3YJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Monday (June 1) said the U.S. has pledged $18 million to help Vietnam buy U.S. patrol boats during his trip to Hanoi.
    Carter is on his second visit to Asia since becoming defense secretary earlier this year.
    He signed a "vision statement" on Monday with his Vietnamese counterpart to guide the expansion of bilateral military ties.
    As part of that effort, he said Washington would provide $18 million to help Vietnam buy U.S.-made Metal Shark patrol boats to help Hanoi improve its maritime defence capabilities.
    "The United States will provide 18 million dollars to Vietnamese Coast Guards to purchase American Metal Shark patrol vessels," Carter said.
    Carter opened his trip to the Asia-Pacific by calling for all countries to stop island-building efforts in disputed, resource-rich regions of the South China Sea. He reiterated that call at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference on Saturday (May 30).
    Carter recognised that several countries, including Vietnam, had conducted land reclamation projects in the region but said Chinese activity, covering some 2,000 acres, had outstripped the others and raised questions about Beijing's long-term intentions.
    "The United States opposes militarization and the creation of tensions in the South China Sea, even though we are not a claimant to the South China sea, we, like every other country in Asia and really, around the world, have an interest in the freedom of navigation, freedom of the seas and peaceful resolution," he said.
    China said it had lodged a complaint with the United States over a U.S. spy plane that flew over parts of the disputed South China Sea in a diplomatic row that has fuelled tension between the world's two largest economies.
    Washington has also vowed to keep up air and sea patrols in the South China Sea amid concerns among security experts that China might impose air and sea restrictions in the Spratlys once it completes work on its seven artificial islands.
    "None, no actions by any party will change the United State's behaviour. We will fly and sail and operate wherever international law permits," Carter said.
    Carter on Sunday (May 31) toured a Vietnamese coast guard vessel that was targeted with Chinese water cannons and rammed by a Chinese ship during a confrontation last year.
    The incident occurred after China moved an oil drilling rig into waters claimed by Vietnam. The rig remained for about two months protected by Chinese navy vessels, which were repeatedly challenged by Vietnamese ships.
    Carter is also scheduled to meet Vietnamese Communist Party's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang.
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