By Huang Haimin, Thai Thanhvan
HANOI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Monday met with Vietnamese leaders, seeking ways to
beef up the two countries' military relations.
During the talks between Rumsfeld and his Vietnamese
counterpart Pham Van Tra here on Monday, the two sides agreed to expand the
military ties from focusing mainly on dealing with the war's aftermath to new
domain of exchanging military delegations and cooperating in personnel training
in the coming time.
The two sides will strengthen the exchanges of
military delegations at different levels, and the cooperation on personnel
training under the United States' International Military Education and Training
program. According the program, Vietnamese pilot will go to the foreign country
for English language training, Rumsfeld said before arriving in Hanoi.
In addition, they will enhance cooperation in army
medical field, bomb and mine clearance, detoxification of chemical poisons left
from the Vietnam War in some localities and provision about U.S soldiers missing
in action (MIA).
While meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van
Khai on the same day, Rumsfeld appreciated Vietnam's cooperation with the United
States on MIA issues. There are over 1,800 U.S. servicemen still unaccounted
throughout Southeast Asia from the war ended in 1975, according to statistics of
the U.S. Defense Department.
Rumsfeld, the second U.S. defense secretary visiting
Vietnam since the war end, said Vietnam is an important country in the region
and the United States highly appreciates the relations with it. He also said
that one more U.S. navy ship will visit the country this summer, becoming the
fourth since late 2003. This indicates gradual improvement in military
cooperation between the two countries.
The United States wants to enhance its military
relations with Vietnam, but has no plans to rent Vietnam's military facilities,
the U.S defense secretary said.
Following the visit to the United States by Tra in
2003, Rumfeld's three-day trip to Vietnam starting on Sunday is considered a
broader effort to beef up the two countries' military cooperation, which Khai
hoped to contribute to the peace and stability in the region and the world.
Together with the military ties, the cooperation in
economy, trade, investment, technology, science, education and culture between
Vietnam and the United States has been stronger since 1995 when the two
countries normalized diplomatic relations.
Following the trips to the United States by Khai in
2005, U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to visit Vietnam when he attends
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit slated for November in
Hanoi. The visit, the second one to the Southeast Asian nation by a U.S.
president, following the trip by Bill Clinton in 2000, is believed to open a new
page for the bilateral relations.
Last week, Vietnam and the United States officially
inked a bilateral deal on the former's accession to the World Trade Organization
(WTO) in Ho Chi Minh City, paving the way for the country to join the global
trading club late this year.
More and more U.S. enterprises are interested in
making investment in Vietnam. Late April, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates visited
Hanoi, putting hope for the country's information technology industry on
enhancing cooperation with the world's biggest software maker. Two months
earlier, Intel, the world's chip biggest producer, announced it will invest 300
million U.S. dollars to construct a semiconductor assembly and test facility in
Ho Chi Minh City, the first of its kind in Vietnam.
Vietnam is the second leg of Donald Rumsfeld's
several-Asian-nation tour, which includes Singapore and Indonesia.
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