25-6-2023 (HANOI) The USS Ronald Reagan, a US aircraft carrier, arrived in the central Vietnamese city of Danang on Sunday, June 25, as reported by AFP journalists. This visit comes just weeks after Hanoi protested against Chinese vessels sailing in its waters. The aircraft carrier arrived with two escort ships, the guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Robert Smalls, and is part of the US 7th Fleet, which aims to support a free and open Indo-Pacific region, according to the American Embassy in Hanoi.
US Navy officials disembarked and shook hands with their Vietnamese military counterparts in a brief ceremony on Sunday afternoon. The visit celebrates the 10th anniversary of the “comprehensive partnership” between the US and Vietnam. USS Ronald Reagan’s commanding officer Captain Daryle Cardone said in a statement that “More than 5,000 sailors aboard USS Ronald Reagan are eager to visit Danang and experience Vietnamese culture.”
The US and Vietnam share increasingly close trade links, as well as concerns over China’s growing strength in the region. Vietnam demanded that Chinese vessels leave its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea after a Chinese survey vessel, multiple coast guard ships, and fishing boats operated for several weeks. The boats eventually departed in early June. China claims most of the resource-rich waterway despite competing claims from other Southeast Asian nations including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
Nguyen The Phuong, a PhD candidate in maritime security at the University of New South Wales Canberra, told AFP that “The visit gives that message that Vietnam is continuing to balance against China by improving its security relationship with the US, and with other outside powers.” The US aircraft carrier’s visit follows the arrival of Indian naval ships in Danang last month, as well as a port call by Japan’s largest warship in Cam Ranh, a city on the southeastern coast, earlier this week.
Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for Vietnam’s foreign ministry, said earlier in the week that port calls were an “ordinary friendship exchange for peace, stability, and cooperation and development in the region and the world”. Strong bilateral ties between the US and Vietnam are key for Washington if it wants to remain the dominant power in the region, according to Phuong. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a quick visit to Hanoi in April and made it clear he wanted to upgrade diplomatic ties.
This is the third visit by a US aircraft carrier to Vietnam after a historic port call by the USS Carl Vinson in 2018, the first time such a ship had arrived in the country since the end of the war. The visit includes several cultural and community events, such as a US Navy band concert, a visit to an orphanage, and sports matches. The USS Ronald Reagan has been based in Japan since 2015.
