The US will offer an US$18 million support package to Vietnam Coast Guard to purchase patrol vessels while helping the southeast Asian nation build the peace-keeping training centre.

This was announced by US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter at a June 1 meeting with Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh in Hanoi.

The US is committed to supporting a Vietnam of independence, strength, prosperity and respect for human rights and the rule of law, Ashton Carter said, adding that his country will continue working with Vietnam on dealing with problems left by the war.

In regard to the East Sea dispute, principally the illegal construction of islands, Defence Minister Thanh reiterated Vietnam’s unswerving policy of settling sovereignty disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and taking no actions to expand or complicate disputes.

ASEAN member countries will exert joint efforts with China towards the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), Thanh said.

During his visit, the US Secretary of Defence will have meetings with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang, and tour some Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) units.

US defence delegation welcomed in Hanoi

On June 1, Defence Minister General Phung Quang Thanh hosted a welcoming ceremony for the US high-ranking defence delegation headed by Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter.

The US delegation was also greeted by Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, and Vo Van Tuan Lieutenant General and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) and other senior officers.

Immediately after the ceremony, talks were held between Thanh and Ashton on measures to boost defence cooperation on par with bilateral relations on the basis of   respecting independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity without affecting relations of each nation with other countries.

Vietnam is willing to befriend and a reliable partner of other countries in the international community for the sake of peace and independence and development, Thanh told his guest.

After the talks, both sides inked a joint vision statement outlining orientations for stronger defence cooperation based on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation signed in 2011.

Accordingly, they agreed upon post-war recovery measures like unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, dioxin clean-up in heavily affected areas, searching the remains of US servicemen missing during the war in Vietnam, and supporting war victims.

Earlier on May 31, the US defence official visited the Vietnam Naval High Command and the Vietnam Coast Guard’s High Command Region 1 in the port city of Hai Phong. 

Some images of the welcome ceremony: