VietNamNet Bridge - Deputy Defense Minister and Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh spoke with VOV during his recent trip to Washington to promote defense cooperation between the two countries.

Q: What is the focus of defense cooperation between Vietnam and the United States at present?

A: The defence relations between Vietnam and US are very special, the relations between the two countries that had a long war, the two militaries were on both sides of the front line and the winner and the loser were distinguished.

A long time after the war, the two countries normalized relations, in which the defense relations have a special role. The most important point in the Vietnam – US defense ties is building trust. The trust that Vietnam and the US will no longer be enemies of each other, will not use force against each other, will not confront each other by weapon but they need to work together to preserve peace, to jointly develop and contribute to peace and stability in the region and the world. That is the most important thing that defense cooperation can bring.

To do that, the two sides should cooperate in many areas, do a lot of work for a long time and with a moderate pace, to please both parties, in accordance with the development of the present, but must also be suitable with the specific history of relations between the two countries.

So the first important thing is that the two sides seek similarities in views on regional security, ensuring sustainable peace and stability for Vietnam as well as for the Asia - Pacific region in which the US is responsible for that peace and stability.

That is a very important goal in defense cooperation between Vietnam and the US. Secondly, the war has passed but its consequences have extended, so cooperation to overcome the consequences of war is extremely important. It not only overcomes the consequences of the past but also opens the door to the future, a future of no war, no hatred, the future of working together.

The US and the world have seen how Vietnam has good cooperation with the US in overcoming the consequences of war. It can be seen as an example in Vietnam – US relations as well as in overcoming the consequences of war between nations.

Another point of interest in defense cooperation between Vietnam - US is cooperation to contribute to peacekeeping operations around the world. This is not simply cooperation in peacekeeping operations, but its nature is cooperation to bring peace, stability and cooperation in the region and the world.

The two countries also promote cooperation in areas such as English, science and technology, and legal training in the US.

In addition, Vietnam is also working with the US in the field of maritime security, such as capacity building for law enforcement forces at sea, training of maritime law, experience to defend the continental shelf ...

More broadly, in 2011, Vietnam and the US signed a memorandum of understanding in five fields of defense, and all of them have proved to be effective and have evolved in accordance with the needs and the capacity of each party.

That cooperation benefits Vietnam and the US, without prejudice to any other country, contributing positively to peace in the region, and it is strongly recognized by all the countries in the Asia - Pacific as well as worldwide.

Q: What is the role of defense cooperation in the overall relationship between Vietnam and the US?

A: The Vietnam - US relationship is comprehensive, including political, economic, cultural, defense and security cooperation ... and the role of defense cooperation in that picture is building trust.

Without trust, there can be no sustainable relationships and benefits to both parties.

Defense cooperation must show the states and the peoples of the two countries as well as the whole world that we can assure  cooperation with the US. We also have to show the US that in cooperation with Vietnam, peace, stability, equality, and respecting each other's political system is a prerequisite. So far, the US has admitted all the value of Vietnam and this is also the driving force for development of the relationships between the two countries.

Q: The Asia-Pacific currently has complex movements; what direction should defense cooperation between Vietnam and the US take so that Vietnam can maintain independence, sovereignty, and ensure harmonious relations with other countries?

A:  The US defense officials also asked me this question. I answered that in defense relations in particular and the general strategic relationship in the context of the Asia-Pacific region with the involvement of many forces, especially big countries with various factors, different strengths, we only require two points.

The first is peace and stability to Vietnam. The second is that we will not participate in any game of power of the big countries. We do not stand for any party against the others, we only perform our obligations to contribute to peace and stability in the region and around the world on the basis of compliance with international law, and the United Nations Charters.

Q: Forty years have passed but the Vietnam War has still left many serious consequences; what do you think about cooperation to deal with the consequences of war between the two countries?

A: Before normalization of relations, Vietnam and the US had collaborated in the search for remains of missing Americans.  This activity is still one of the main, important and very typical contents of the Vietnam-US relations.

We helped the US look for the remains of their soldiers, with all our capabilities and it was very effective. These were the comments of the Government, Department of Defense, and the Department of State of the US.

In the coming time, we will promote this operation so that no family or mother has to wait to find the remains of their son. We ourselves also have great difficulty when hundreds of thousands of martyrs and revolutionary soldiers died in the war against the US but their remains have not been found. We are responsible for our country, for those who have sacrificed and especially their families. It is the responsibility of the Party, State and the people; we do not wait for someone to help us do it.

However, we welcome the cooperation of other countries including the US in this matter, especially in providing information and technical assistance, and equipment so we can strengthen the search of Vietnamese missing martyrs. In recent years, with the cooperation of a number of countries such as Australia, South Korea and the US in particular, we have improved the pace of our search for Vietnamese martyrs.

The next point is solving the consequences of dioxin. Increasingly, experts of Vietnam, the US and the world have found that the consequences of dioxin are terrible. Until now, scientists have yet to know when we are able to solve the basic consequences of dioxin. The consequences are extremely severe, and life-long, causing terrible tragedy for the families of the victims. Even in the 21st century, the third generation of dioxin-infected soldiers were still disabled at birth.

The US has recognized this problem and has helped us through a decontamination project in Da Nang and in the coming time they will survey and develop a similar project in Bien Hoa. Dioxin is a very serious issue and we look forward to having US assistance.

I met with US Senator Patrick Leahy, who is very enthusiastic about cooperation with Vietnam to solve the problem of dioxin. I told him that I would invite him to Vietnam again, to visit families with children born with dioxin consequences. He will see the suffering of the mothers, their families and he will understand how we suffer. He said he would come and visit such families.

Another field of dealing with war consequences is bomb and mine clearance. According to preliminary calculations of experts, with the speed of 5 years ago, we will need 300 years to clean mines in Vietnam. Vietnam has many people who have been killed or injured by mines.

Five years ago, the Government established the Steering Committee to deal with the consequences of bombs and mines and take advantage of state resources to speed mine clearance.

According to calculations, Vietnam still needs about 100 years to complete this task, while we are looking to shorten it to only 30 years or 50 years, and try not to have more people die or injured.

Recently, the two countries signed a memorandum on this issue. During this visit, I proposed three projects for the US’s consideration. The first is to clean mines in localities with a high rate of many mines - called the red zone.

Secondly, the Government has established the Vietnam Bombs and Mines Center and now this center needs a data center on mines and the victims of bombs and mines. We have asked for the US’s support for this center.

Thirdly, the landmine victims in Vietnam need artificial limbs. In Vietnam there are also foreign-funded artificial limb manufacturing facilities but their skills are limited.

Therefore, we proposed to the humanitarian organizations of the United States to help Vietnam build at least one artificial limb manufacturing facility in each province that have many victims of bombs and mines. Our proposal received a very positive response from the US Department of State and Senator Leahy. I hope that Vietnam and the US will sign such specific projects.

Q: 2015 is the 20th anniversary of the normalization of Vietnam-US ties, so what would be the key point in defense relations between the two countries this year and in the future?

A: It's actual cooperation, especially in humanitarian fields. The first is the peacekeeping operations of the United Nations, the second is overcoming the consequences of war, and the third is strategy exchange in order to have common views on the security situation in the region and to have a voice and actions to ensure sustainable peace, stability, and development for our country and the region, and better cooperation with the US in many areas.

Translated by Tran Cham