Obama lifts U.S. arms ban on Vietnam

[cali]

President Obama has announced that the United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam, which has been in place for decades.

In a joint news conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Obama said that the removal of the ban on lethal weapons was part of a deeper defense co-operation with the country and dismissed suggestions it was aimed at countering China's growing strength in the region.


<snip>

At a press briefing by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that it was appropriate for the ban to be lifted.

&quot The) arms sales ban was a product of the Cold War and should no longer exist," she told reporters.

"We hope the lifting of all such bans will benefit regional peace and development. And we are happy to see the United States and Vietnam develop normal cooperative relations."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/obama-vietnam-trip/

[Bad Dog]

1. And lifting of the ban is all about the current, if not cold, decidedly chilly war.

China's expansion which, all the SE Asian countries are opposed to.

[merrily]

2. If ever there was a lesson about how stupid the Vietnam War was....

Then again, I think that about most wars, especially wars of choice.

[DustyJoe]

3. shouldn't be a problem

If we can send arms to Al Queda rebels in Syria and stamp 'ok' to Irans nuclear ambitions, why not arms to Vietnam ? Russia always provided them with great AA missiles that knocked down scores of US sophisticated jets, now we can send outdated systems of ours to them. That'll teach em.