page_title: United States–Vietnam relations
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: United States–Vietnam relations / Military
caption_attribution_description: English: Da Nang, Vietnam (July 28, 2004) – Vietnamese military officials watch as USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) prepares to moor in the Vietnamese port of Da Nang. The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer is on scheduled port visit, and is the second U.S. Navy ship to visit Vietnam and the first to visit Da Nang since 1973. These visits symbolize the continuation of normalized relations between the United States and Vietnam. Curtis Wilbur is part of the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group (CSG), the Navy’s only permanently forward deployed carrier strike group, currently operating from Yokosuka, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Timothy Smith (RELEASED)
context_page_description: United States–Vietnam relations refers to international relations between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After a 20-year hiatus of severed ties, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the formal normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 11, 1995. Subsequent to President Clinton's normalization announcement, in August 1995, both countries upgraded their Liaison Offices opened during January 1995 to Embassy status, with the United States later opening a consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City, while Vietnam opened a consulate in San Francisco, California.
  U.S. relations with Vietnam have become deeper and more diverse in the years since political normalization. The two countries have broadened their political exchanges through regular and regional security. The annual Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue resumed in 2006 after a two-year hiatus. They signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement in July 2000, which went into force in December 2001. In 2003, the two countries signed a Counternarcotics Letter of Agreement, a Civil Aviation Agreement, and a textile agreement.
context_section_description: According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Vietnam's defense policy is based on the "three nos" principle: no military alliances, no foreign troops stationed on Vietnamese soil, and no partnering with a foreign power to combat another.
  Cooperation in other areas, such as defense, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and law enforcement, is also expanding steadily. Vietnam hosted visits by five U.S. Navy vessels in 2007, including a port call to Da Nang by the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu carrying a multinational contingent of medical and engineering personnel. In June 2007, Vietnamese observers took part for the first time in the multinational naval exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), organized by the U.S. Navy. The Vietnamese Prime Minister has stated that the country is in the final stages of preparation to take part in international peacekeeping, as part of its contribution as a new member of the U.N. Security Council.
  In response to the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, Nguyen Phuong Nga, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry of Vietnam said, when asked about the death of bin Laden, "Terrorists must bear responsibility for their acts and should be severely punished. Vietnam will continue to join the international community in the fight against terrorism, based on the UN Charter and the basic principles of international law, to eliminate terrorism."
  The ongoing and increasingly tense South China Sea dispute with the People's Republic of China, who has of late become more assertive in its territorial claims, has also gradually strengthened relations between Vietnam and the U.S. and other Chinese rivals, including India and fellow ASEAN member and U.S. ally the Philippines. According to a top official, the U.S. Coast Guard has repeatedly helped protect Vietnamese fishing vessels from China.
  In June 2013, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that he would welcome the U.S. playing a larger role in tempering regional tensions, as China and some of its Southeast Asian neighbors remain deadlocked over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea - "No regional country would oppose the strategic engagement of extra-regional powers if such engagement aims to enhance cooperation for peace, stability and development. We attach special importance to the roles played by a vigorously rising China and by the United States — a Pacific power."
  In October 2013, the United States and Vietnam signed a pact allowing for the transfer of nuclear fuel and technology from the U.S. to Vietnam, who is already working with Russia to complete its first nuclear plant by 2014 to meet its rising energy demands, with an American official noting that, "Vietnam is actively taking steps now toward development of a robust domestic infrastructure to support a nuclear energy program."
  Additionally, the United States and Vietnam also cooperate in the Clean Energy Sector. In 2014, the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam announced technical assistance for developing Wind Power Systems.
  In early October 2014, the United States approved a relaxation of its longstanding arms embargo on Vietnam. In May 2016, President Obama announced the full lifting of the embargo during his visit to Vietnam.
  On 2 October 2016, US Navy destroyer USS John S. McCain and submarine tender USS Frank Cable made the first port visit to Cam Ranh Bay since 1975. A US Navy aircraft carrier (USS Carl Vinson) visited Vietnam in March 2018. According to the Vietnam Foreign Ministry, the visit will "contribute to maintaining peace, stability, security, cooperation and development in the region".
caption: Vietnamese military officers watch as USS Curtis Wilbur prepares to dock at the port of Da Nang in July 2004.
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