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Exclusive: U.S. asks Vietnam to stop helping Russian bomber flights
BY DAVID BRUNNSTROM
WASHINGTON Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:55pm EDT

(Reuters) - The United States has asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use a former U.S. base to refuel nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region, exposing strains in Washington's steadily warming relations with Hanoi.

The request, described to Reuters by a State Department official, comes as U.S. officials say Russian bombers have stepped up flights in a region already rife with tensions between China, U.S.-ally Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

General Vincent Brooks, commander of the U.S. Army in the Pacific, told Reuters the planes had conducted "provocative" flights, including around the U.S. Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, home to a major American air base.

It is the first time that U.S. officials have confirmed the role of Cam Ranh Bay, a natural deep-water harbor, in Russian bomber plane activity that has increased globally.

Brooks said the planes that circled Guam were refueled by Russian tankers flying from the strategic bay, which was transformed by the Americans during the Vietnam War into a massive air and naval base.

Vietnam's willingness to allow Russia to use Cam Ranh Bay reflects Hanoi's complex position in a geopolitical tug-of-war that frequently pits China and Russia on one side and the United States, Japan and much of Southeast Asia on the other.

Washington is keen to secure greater access itself to Cam Ranh Bay as part of its strategic "pivot" to Asia to counter China's growing strength in the region. U.S. ships have visited for repairs in recent years.

Vietnam, in turn, has sought closer U.S. ties as a hedge against what it sees as China's aggression, but remains close to Russia in both defense and energy cooperation.

Cam Ranh Bay is now host to three submarines bought by Vietnam's navy from Russia to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea, with two more expected by early next year.

Brooks said in an interview the flights indicated that Vietnam's Cold War-era ally Russia was acting as "a spoiler to our interests and the interests of others."

RAISING TENSIONS

Asked about the Russian flights in the region, the State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Washington respected Hanoi's right to enter agreements with other countries.

But the official added: "We have urged Vietnamese officials to ensure that Russia is not able to use its access to Cam Ranh Bay to conduct activities that could raise tensions in the region."

The Vietnamese government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. request.

Brooks declined to say when the flights he referred to took place. He did not say how many had been conducted and how many aircraft were involved. But he confirmed they had occurred since Russia's annexation of Crimea last March, which sparked a broader conflict with Ukraine and a surge in tensions between Russia and the United States.

The head of U.S. air forces in the Pacific said last May that Russia's intervention in Ukraine had been accompanied by a significant increase in Russian air activity in the Asia-Pacific region in a show of strength and to gather intelligence.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Jan. 4 that Russian Il-78 tanker aircraft had used Cam Ranh Bay in 2014, enabling the refueling of nuclear-capable TU-95 "Bear" strategic bombers, a statement also reported in Vietnam's state-controlled media.

In that time, Russia has conducted increasingly aggressive air and sea patrols close to the borders of the U.S.-led NATO alliance, including by Bear bombers over the English Channel.

Last year, NATO conducted more than 100 intercepts of Russian aircraft, about three times as many as in 2013.

RUSSIAN BOMBER FLIGHTS

Russian bomber patrol flights, a Cold War-era practice, were cut back after the fall of the Soviet Union but President Vladimir Putin revived them in 2007.

Russia said in November it planned to send long-range bombers on patrols over North American waters but the Pentagon played this down at the time as routine training in international airspace.

In its effort to boost ties with Vietnam, the United States has been pouring in aid and assistance in health, education, landmines clearance, scholarships and nuclear energy.

Defense cooperation had been limited by an embargo on lethal arms. But Washington started to ease this in October, enabling humanitarian exercises between both militaries late last year and more are taking place this month.

Last year saw a flurry of high-level U.S. visits to Vietnam that coincided with a maritime territorial row between Hanoi and Beijing. On Friday, the U.S ambassador in Vietnam announced that the Vietnamese Communist Party chief would later this year become the first party leader to visit Washington.

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius said on Friday it was understandable Hanoi would look to "historic partners" when it came to security, but the United States had "much to offer... to enhance Vietnam's security in the short, medium and long term."

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Martin Petty and Ho Binh Minh in Hanoi and Jason Szep in Washington; Editing by David Storey and Stuart Grudgings)

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PanAsian said:

Interesting, I wonder if this is a test to see how far Vietnam is willing to go to befriend the US

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© Sputnik/ Alexander Vilf

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20:01 12.03.2015(updated 21:18 12.03.2015)
3320341
A senior Vietnamese military official told Sputnik that the US is interfering in Vietnam's internal affairs by demanding that the country puts a stop to Russian refueling plane landings at Cam Ranh airbase.

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Colonel Le The Mau, a senior military official from the country's Military Strategy Institute, told

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that the United States' demand that Vietnam stop allowing Russian refueling planes to land at Cam Ranh airbase amounts to interference in the country's affairs:


"Washington's demand that Vietnam [stops allowing refueling planes to land] can be seen as nothing else but interference in the internal affairs of Vietnam, a sovereign state which determines its own policies for cooperating with its friends and partners."

Colonel Le added that the Russian refueling planes are not military planes, and that their landing at the Cam Ranh airbase is part of the base's international functions. In addition, Colonel Le said that it is Vietnam's decision to allow the refueling planes to land:

"Russia is Vietnam's strategic partner, we are developing our cooperation in the military and technical sphere, one of the elements of which is providing the Cam Ranh airbase for the landing of Russian refueling planes."

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On Wednesday, it was revealed that the US is pushing Vietnam to stop letting Russia use Cam Ranh Bay military base. The Russian air force recently used the facility to refuel nuclear-capable bombers. US officials say Russian bomber planes have increased their number of flights in the region and even conducted what the Pentagon called “provocative flights” around Guam, a US territory in the Pacific that is home to a large military base.


Cam Ranh was the main US Air Force base during the Vietnam War. From 1979 until 2002, the Soviet Union and later Russia leased the base, turning it into its largest naval base abroad. In 2004, part of the base was reconstructed and opened as a civilian airport.

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PanAsian said:

Interesting, I wonder if this is a test to see how far Vietnam is willing to go to befriend the US.

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The vessels, RSS Centurion and RSS Challenger , were originally in service with the Royal Swedish Navy (RSwN) as HMS Sjöormen and HMS Sjöbjörnen and re-launched in May 1999 and September 1997 respectively. Singapore acquired four Type A 12 Sjöormen-class submarines in the mid-1990s to give the RSN its first experience of submarine operations.
The 51 m vessels, which can reach a top speed of 20 kt while submerged, are equipped with four 533 mm and two 400 mm torpedo tubes, according to IHS Jane's Fighting Ships .

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Testing Beijing, Japan eyes growing role in South China Sea security

TOKYO — Seventy years after its imperial forces were kicked out of the South China Sea, Japan is quietly moving back into the region, forging security ties with the Philippines and Vietnam as both Southeast Asian nations try to cope with China’s territorial ambitions.


Tokyo’s security cooperation is broad-based: It is supplying maritime patrol boats to the two countries while Japan will hold its first naval exercises with the Philippines in the coming months. Japanese military doctors are even advising Vietnamese submariners on how to deal with decompression sickness.


Japan is providing this help, and more, in a calibrated escalation of involvement to avoid a backlash from Beijing, said Japanese sources with knowledge of the assistance.


Manila and Hanoi are the two capitals most at odds with Beijing over the South China Sea. Japan itself is embroiled in a bitter row with China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, further to the north......to read more

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SamuraiBlue said:

Looks as if Japan is considering to extend their security role in the region.

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