HAIPHONG - US defence secretary Ash Carter pledged $18 million (606 million baht) yesterday to help Vietnam buy US patrol boats.
Mr Carter, who has been focusing on maritime security during an 11-day trip to the Asia-Pacific, visited the Vietnamese navy headquarters and coastguard headquarters.
Mr Carter is on his second visit to Asia since becoming defence secretary earlier this year. He said he planned to sign a "vision statement" today with his Vietnamese counterpart to guide the expansion of bilateral military ties.
"We need to modernise our partnership," Mr Carter said during a visit to the northern city of Haiphong. "After 20 years, there is more we could do together."
As part of that effort, he said Washington would provide $18 million to help Vietnam buy US-made Metal Shark patrol boats to help Hanoi improve its maritime defence capabilities.
Mr Carter opened his trip to the Asia-Pacific by calling for all countries to stop island-building efforts in disputed, resource-rich regions of the South China Sea. He reiterated that call at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference on Saturday.
He recognised that several countries, including Vietnam, had conducted land reclamation projects in the region but said Chinese activity had outstripped the others and raised questions about Beijing's long-term intentions.
Vietnam's deputy defence minister said over the weekend that the support of the international community is vital to help resolve the South China Sea territorial dispute peacefully.
"I think the international community needs to have a voice. The voice is very important to being able to peacefully resolve the situation," Senator Lt Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh said on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Alluding to China's increasingly assertive activities on disputed territory in the area, he said the "escalation of such activities is worsening the situation and creating concern for all parties".
But on a positive note, he said: "Almost all countries with an interest in the Asia-Pacific region have shown their rightful concern in resolving the situation in the South China Sea in a transparent manner ... according to international law."
He said he aired Vietnam's concerns related to the situation in the South China Sea in his bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the forum with the leader of China's delegation, Adm Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the General Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army.
"It was an opportunity for the two sides to discuss the things that remain unresolved in the relations between our two countries in a frank and constructive manner including on the South China Sea issue."