Barack Obama is not mucking around during his final months in office.
During a diplomatic visit to Vietnam, the US President announced alongside Vietnamese leader Tran Dai Quang that a long-running arms trade embargo between the nations would be completely dissolved.
Obama said it’d put to bed a “lingering vestige of the cold war,” and described how “at this stage both sides have developed a level of trust and co-operation” not seen for decades.
With China continuing to assert its dominance in the region, especially in the South China Sea, Vietnam has been looking to enforce a lil’ distance between it and its Communist big brother.
Not only will the US be funneling weapons into the nation, but a series of other huge deals – including power-players like Boeing and GE – will reportedly result in US $16B traded between the countries.
In exchange, the States will likely have first dibs on goods from Vietnam’s burgeoning manufacturing market. A slew of giganto-corps including Ford and Intel have already established bases there.
Oh, and they’ll have an increased presence in the region. FWIW, China is understandably miffed, with one ambassador to ASEAN saying “the tension in the South China Sea was intentionally churned and hyped” by this newfangled deal.
Whether that churning and hyping compares to the kerfuffle over a series of islands jointly claimed by China and the Philippines is yet to be seen.
Source: CBS / The Age.
Photo: The White House / YouTube.
