Reuters, The Associated Press
Posted by the International Herald Tribune
MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2006
HANOI Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his Vietnamese counterpart agreed Monday to bolster military exchanges between the former battlefield enemies, Pentagon officials said.
Vietnamese military leaders also said they would try to do more to help the United States recover the remains of Americans missing in action in the Vietnam War.
According to a senior defense official, the United States is asking for greater access to Vietnamese archives as well as information about the missing Americans in Laos and Cambodia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
The official said that Rumsfeld had raised the issue and had said that MIA recovery was a national priority.
"He said that we appreciated what they have done but we have some things we'd like them to do more of," the official said.
There are 1,805 U.S. troops unaccounted for from the war, including 1,376 in Vietnam, according to Major Jay Rutter, a marine and deputy commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which heads the recovery efforts here.
Vietnam is one of several Asian states with which the Pentagon has built close ties to conduct its war on terrorism and to hedge against a rising China, which Washington says is too secretive about its military spending and intentions.
"It was cordial and both sides agreed we want to expand these contacts," a senior Pentagon official said after Rumsfeld's hourlong meeting with Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.
The two sides agreed to share medical training under a Pentagon-funded program and have "more visits at all levels," the official told reporters traveling with Rumsfeld on the second leg of a Southeast Asian visit.
U.S. military ties with Hanoi, 31 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 11 years after the normalization of diplomatic ties, have warmed gradually with ship visits.
Rumsfeld, the second Pentagon chief to visit Communist-run Vietnam since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, was to meet with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai later Monday.
Rumsfeld, who also headed the Defense Department in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, last visited Hanoi in 1995 as a businessman.
"I hasten to congratulate you and the people of Vietnam for the amazing economic achievements that have occurred just in the last 11 years," he told Tra.
The military talks were held less than a week after the two countries signed a new trade pact that paves the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.
A U.S. Navy ship would visit Vietnam this summer, the fourth in four years, Rumsfeld said.
But in Singapore on Sunday he said that "we have no plans for access to military facilities in Vietnam" and his aides stressed that ties would evolve gradually. For Hanoi, this means avoiding provoking China.
U.S. officials have said that Vietnam, which fought a brief war with China in 1979, shares with Washington a desire to have good ties with Beijing and a wariness about rapid Chinese military growth.
Exchanges under the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program would begin with English-language training for Vietnamese officers in San Antonio, Texas, the official said.
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HANOI Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his Vietnamese counterpart agreed Monday to bolster military exchanges between the former battlefield enemies, Pentagon officials said.
Vietnamese military leaders also said they would try to do more to help the United States recover the remains of Americans missing in action in the Vietnam War.
According to a senior defense official, the United States is asking for greater access to Vietnamese archives as well as information about the missing Americans in Laos and Cambodia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
The official said that Rumsfeld had raised the issue and had said that MIA recovery was a national priority.
"He said that we appreciated what they have done but we have some things we'd like them to do more of," the official said.
There are 1,805 U.S. troops unaccounted for from the war, including 1,376 in Vietnam, according to Major Jay Rutter, a marine and deputy commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which heads the recovery efforts here.
Vietnam is one of several Asian states with which the Pentagon has built close ties to conduct its war on terrorism and to hedge against a rising China, which Washington says is too secretive about its military spending and intentions.
"It was cordial and both sides agreed we want to expand these contacts," a senior Pentagon official said after Rumsfeld's hourlong meeting with Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.
The two sides agreed to share medical training under a Pentagon-funded program and have "more visits at all levels," the official told reporters traveling with Rumsfeld on the second leg of a Southeast Asian visit.
U.S. military ties with Hanoi, 31 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 11 years after the normalization of diplomatic ties, have warmed gradually with ship visits.
Rumsfeld, the second Pentagon chief to visit Communist-run Vietnam since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, was to meet with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai later Monday.
Rumsfeld, who also headed the Defense Department in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, last visited Hanoi in 1995 as a businessman.
"I hasten to congratulate you and the people of Vietnam for the amazing economic achievements that have occurred just in the last 11 years," he told Tra.
The military talks were held less than a week after the two countries signed a new trade pact that paves the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.
A U.S. Navy ship would visit Vietnam this summer, the fourth in four years, Rumsfeld said.
But in Singapore on Sunday he said that "we have no plans for access to military facilities in Vietnam" and his aides stressed that ties would evolve gradually. For Hanoi, this means avoiding provoking China.
U.S. officials have said that Vietnam, which fought a brief war with China in 1979, shares with Washington a desire to have good ties with Beijing and a wariness about rapid Chinese military growth.
Exchanges under the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program would begin with English-language training for Vietnamese officers in San Antonio, Texas, the official said.
Vietnamese military leaders also said they would try to do more to help the United States recover the remains of Americans missing in action in the Vietnam War.
According to a senior defense official, the United States is asking for greater access to Vietnamese archives as well as information about the missing Americans in Laos and Cambodia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
The official said that Rumsfeld had raised the issue and had said that MIA recovery was a national priority.
"He said that we appreciated what they have done but we have some things we'd like them to do more of," the official said.
There are 1,805 U.S. troops unaccounted for from the war, including 1,376 in Vietnam, according to Major Jay Rutter, a marine and deputy commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which heads the recovery efforts here.
Vietnam is one of several Asian states with which the Pentagon has built close ties to conduct its war on terrorism and to hedge against a rising China, which Washington says is too secretive about its military spending and intentions.
"It was cordial and both sides agreed we want to expand these contacts," a senior Pentagon official said after Rumsfeld's hourlong meeting with Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.
The two sides agreed to share medical training under a Pentagon-funded program and have "more visits at all levels," the official told reporters traveling with Rumsfeld on the second leg of a Southeast Asian visit.
U.S. military ties with Hanoi, 31 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 11 years after the normalization of diplomatic ties, have warmed gradually with ship visits.
Rumsfeld, the second Pentagon chief to visit Communist-run Vietnam since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, was to meet with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai later Monday.
Rumsfeld, who also headed the Defense Department in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, last visited Hanoi in 1995 as a businessman.
"I hasten to congratulate you and the people of Vietnam for the amazing economic achievements that have occurred just in the last 11 years," he told Tra.
The military talks were held less than a week after the two countries signed a new trade pact that paves the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.
A U.S. Navy ship would visit Vietnam this summer, the fourth in four years, Rumsfeld said.
But in Singapore on Sunday he said that "we have no plans for access to military facilities in Vietnam" and his aides stressed that ties would evolve gradually. For Hanoi, this means avoiding provoking China.
U.S. officials have said that Vietnam, which fought a brief war with China in 1979, shares with Washington a desire to have good ties with Beijing and a wariness about rapid Chinese military growth.
Exchanges under the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program would begin with English-language training for Vietnamese officers in San Antonio, Texas, the official said.
-------------
HANOI Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his Vietnamese counterpart agreed Monday to bolster military exchanges between the former battlefield enemies, Pentagon officials said.
Vietnamese military leaders also said they would try to do more to help the United States recover the remains of Americans missing in action in the Vietnam War.
According to a senior defense official, the United States is asking for greater access to Vietnamese archives as well as information about the missing Americans in Laos and Cambodia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
The official said that Rumsfeld had raised the issue and had said that MIA recovery was a national priority.
"He said that we appreciated what they have done but we have some things we'd like them to do more of," the official said.
There are 1,805 U.S. troops unaccounted for from the war, including 1,376 in Vietnam, according to Major Jay Rutter, a marine and deputy commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which heads the recovery efforts here.
Vietnam is one of several Asian states with which the Pentagon has built close ties to conduct its war on terrorism and to hedge against a rising China, which Washington says is too secretive about its military spending and intentions.
"It was cordial and both sides agreed we want to expand these contacts," a senior Pentagon official said after Rumsfeld's hourlong meeting with Defense Minister Pham Van Tra.
The two sides agreed to share medical training under a Pentagon-funded program and have "more visits at all levels," the official told reporters traveling with Rumsfeld on the second leg of a Southeast Asian visit.
U.S. military ties with Hanoi, 31 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 11 years after the normalization of diplomatic ties, have warmed gradually with ship visits.
Rumsfeld, the second Pentagon chief to visit Communist-run Vietnam since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, was to meet with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai later Monday.
Rumsfeld, who also headed the Defense Department in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, last visited Hanoi in 1995 as a businessman.
"I hasten to congratulate you and the people of Vietnam for the amazing economic achievements that have occurred just in the last 11 years," he told Tra.
The military talks were held less than a week after the two countries signed a new trade pact that paves the way for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.
A U.S. Navy ship would visit Vietnam this summer, the fourth in four years, Rumsfeld said.
But in Singapore on Sunday he said that "we have no plans for access to military facilities in Vietnam" and his aides stressed that ties would evolve gradually. For Hanoi, this means avoiding provoking China.
U.S. officials have said that Vietnam, which fought a brief war with China in 1979, shares with Washington a desire to have good ties with Beijing and a wariness about rapid Chinese military growth.
Exchanges under the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program would begin with English-language training for Vietnamese officers in San Antonio, Texas, the official said.
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