ahlam1399
05-12-2016, 10:23 AM
Vietnam hosts a defence symposium this week attended by top American arms manufacturers, ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama and as Washington weighs whether to lift an arms embargo on its former enemy.
Secrecy has surrounded the event staged by the communist country and attended by firms including Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It coincides with the biggest arms buildup in the country since the Vietnam War.
There has been ** mention in state-controlled media and defence reporters are **t covering the forum.
Efforts by Reuters to gain permission to attend have been unsuccessful and Vietnam’s defence ministry could **t be reached for comment.
Vietnam has accelerated efforts to build a military deterrent and is the world’s eighth largest ******* importer, as neighbour China intensifies its push to fortify South China Sea islands it has either occupied or built from scratch.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think-tank, which tracks defence trade over five-year periods, Vietnam’s total arms imports during 2011-2015 represented a 699 percent jump from 2006-2010.
The Ha**i symposium comes amid debate within the US administration over whether to respond to Vietnam’s longstanding request to remove an arms embargo that is one of the last major vestiges of the Vietnam War era.
Washington eased the embargo in late 2014, but has said any decision to lift it completely would hinge on the extent to which Vietnam has demonstrated progress in improving its human rights record. Its top envoy in that field, Tom Mali**wski, was in Ha**i earlier this week.
Vietnam has been in talks with Western and US arms manufacturers for several years **w to boost its fleets of fighter jets, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft, although Russia, its traditional supplier, maintains a dominant position.
Industry sources say Ha**i is keen on US ******* yet wary of the threat of a future embargo even if the current one ends. The countries do have a common concern in China, however, whose assertiveness in the South China Sea has alarmed Washington.
Obama is due to start his Vietnam visit on May 22, the first by a US president in a decade, underlining the rapidly warming relationship between the countries at a time of testy ties and growing mistrust between Ha**i and Beijing, which have competing claims to the Paracel and Spratly islands.
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin confirmed the company was attending the Ha**i event.
Boeing is also attending, although the firm made it clear it was **t in contravention of the embargo.
“I would like to point out that any defence-related sales to Vietnam will follow development of US government policy on Vietnam,” a spokesman said.
“We believe Boeing has capabilities in mobility and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance platforms that may meet Vietnam’s modernisation needs. “Those needs have included the purchase of six modern Kilo-class submarines from Russia equipped with Klub cruise missiles, Russian-built S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries, and from Israel, Galil assault rifles and AD-STAR 2888 radars.
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Secrecy has surrounded the event staged by the communist country and attended by firms including Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It coincides with the biggest arms buildup in the country since the Vietnam War.
There has been ** mention in state-controlled media and defence reporters are **t covering the forum.
Efforts by Reuters to gain permission to attend have been unsuccessful and Vietnam’s defence ministry could **t be reached for comment.
Vietnam has accelerated efforts to build a military deterrent and is the world’s eighth largest ******* importer, as neighbour China intensifies its push to fortify South China Sea islands it has either occupied or built from scratch.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think-tank, which tracks defence trade over five-year periods, Vietnam’s total arms imports during 2011-2015 represented a 699 percent jump from 2006-2010.
The Ha**i symposium comes amid debate within the US administration over whether to respond to Vietnam’s longstanding request to remove an arms embargo that is one of the last major vestiges of the Vietnam War era.
Washington eased the embargo in late 2014, but has said any decision to lift it completely would hinge on the extent to which Vietnam has demonstrated progress in improving its human rights record. Its top envoy in that field, Tom Mali**wski, was in Ha**i earlier this week.
Vietnam has been in talks with Western and US arms manufacturers for several years **w to boost its fleets of fighter jets, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft, although Russia, its traditional supplier, maintains a dominant position.
Industry sources say Ha**i is keen on US ******* yet wary of the threat of a future embargo even if the current one ends. The countries do have a common concern in China, however, whose assertiveness in the South China Sea has alarmed Washington.
Obama is due to start his Vietnam visit on May 22, the first by a US president in a decade, underlining the rapidly warming relationship between the countries at a time of testy ties and growing mistrust between Ha**i and Beijing, which have competing claims to the Paracel and Spratly islands.
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin confirmed the company was attending the Ha**i event.
Boeing is also attending, although the firm made it clear it was **t in contravention of the embargo.
“I would like to point out that any defence-related sales to Vietnam will follow development of US government policy on Vietnam,” a spokesman said.
“We believe Boeing has capabilities in mobility and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance platforms that may meet Vietnam’s modernisation needs. “Those needs have included the purchase of six modern Kilo-class submarines from Russia equipped with Klub cruise missiles, Russian-built S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries, and from Israel, Galil assault rifles and AD-STAR 2888 radars.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/MPL1sNXZcOQ
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/MPL1sNXZcOQ/119346-Vietnam-hosts-arms-gathering-attended-by-American-companies)