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Why US Arms Control Envoy Made a Beeline for Vietnam on Brief Asia Trip

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Washington's point person on arms control visited
   Vietnam, a Communist war rival five decades ago, for meetings about
   perceived threats from China because Vietnamese officials hold
   positions in key international bodies and align ever more closely with
   the West, experts say.

   U.S. presidential arms control envoy Marshall Billingslea met
   Vietnamese officials Thursday to discuss Chinese offshore
   expansion,including fears of a growing nuclear arsenal, he told
   reporters. The envoy had visited traditional U.S. allies Japan and
   South Korea on the same trip.

   "We know that the United States has recognized Vietnam's strategic
   potential in Asia and that the strategic potential of Vietnam is
   increasing with the competition between the United States and China, so
   I should think a lot of discussion would be revolved around the larger
   balance of power in the region, including the South China Sea," said
   AlexanderVuving, professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center
   for Security Studies in Hawaii.

   Vietnam this year became a non-permanentmemberof theUnited Nations
   Security Council and chair of the Association of Southeast Asian
   Nations (ASEAN) negotiating bloc, attractions for the U.S. delegation,
   analysts say. Vietnamese leaders have opened already to other
   high-level U.S. visits, arms sales from Western ally India and
   ports-of-call by the Australian navy.

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