The arrival of the USS Carl Vinson marks the biggest US military presence in the country since 1975 but also illustrates Hanoi’s complex and evolving relationship with Beijing over the disputed South China Sea as China announced its largest rise in defence spending in three years.
The US Navy’s nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is anchored off the coast near the central Vietnamese city of Danang where the 103,000-tonne vessel and two other US ships are on a five-day visit.
US ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink said: “The visit marks an enormously significant milestone in our bilateral relations and demonstrates US support for a strong, prosperous and independent Vietnam.
“Through hard work, mutual respect, and by continuing to address the past while we work toward a better future, we have gone from former enemies to close partners.”
Vietnamese envoys have been working for months to ease Chinese concerns over the visit and the prospect of broader security cooperation between Hanoi and Washington, according to diplomats and others familiar with the talks.
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US carriers frequently cross the South China Sea in a rising pattern of naval deployments and are routinely shadowed by Chinese naval vessels.
Rear Admiral John Fuller said: “We’ve met with numerous international entities. We’ve seen several, so yes, we’ve seen Chinese ships.
“We’ve seen other ships out there, so nothing extraordinary. It’s been a routine deployment and everything we’ve seen has been exceptionally professional.”
China’s rapid construction and build-up of the land it holds in the disputed Spratly islands group has alarmed Vietnam and other regional governments as it seeks to enforce its claims to much of the disputed waterway, through which some $3 trillion in trade passes each year.
While some Chinese commentators have used the Vinson’s presence to demand an even greater Chinese military build-up in the South China Sea, official reaction from Beijing has been relatively muted since the stop was announced in January.
Although no US aircraft carrier has been to Vietnam since the end of the war, smaller US warships have made high-level visits.