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Vietnam Gets a US Confidence Boost in China Sea Dispute

Ha Nguyen

   HO CHI MINH CITY - There is not often good news coming out of the
   territorial disputes of the South China Sea, but Vietnam, in its
   tensions with China, could take solace in recent remarks from some of
   Washington's high level emissaries, who have given a boost to the
   Southeast Asian nation.

   At the highest level is Michael Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, who on
   Thursday expressed remorse at the many ways his nation looked the other
   way during what he called China's "hostile" ascendance and
   "intransigence," including as it affected Vietnam. His remarks were
   consistent with the view of observers who believe in hindsight the U.S.
   made a fatal miscalculation, tolerating China's human rights abuses
   because it thought that with a more open economy, China would open up
   to democratic reforms, too.

   "We hesitated and did far less than we should have when China
   threatened its neighbors like Vietnam, and like the Philippines, and
   when they claimed the entire South China Sea," Pompeo said in a speech
   in New York City.

   These are among the Asian nations that have overlapping claims to the
   South China Sea, where observers fear physical battles could break out
   over valuable shipping lanes and oil.

   Beijing claims about 80 percent of the sea. It is only one of the many
   instances Pompeo gave of China's poor conduct that went unopposed. He
   said the U.S. did not speak up enough after Tiananmen Square, after
   Taiwan struggled to maintain sovereignty against China, and after China
   became a World Trade Organization member without playing by fair trade
   rules.

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