Thayer Consultancy Background Brief

ABN # 65 648 097 123

USS Carl Vinson to Visit Da
Nang: Scene Setter
February 22, 2018

We request your assessment of the following issues:

Q1. Some Vietnamese media reported that the ‘USS Carl Vinson upcoming port visit
to Da Nang will be the largest US military presence in Vietnam since the end of the
war in 1975’, Other media reports describe it as “a dramatic sign of deepening military
ties’’ between US and Vietnam. What is your assessment of these statements?
ANSWER: The USS Carl Vinson has a crew of over 6,000 personnel. It should be
accompanied by a guided missile destroyer which has a crew of around 370. Not all of
these personnel will be given shore leave in Da Nang, but the sheer number of sailors
and airmen involved does make it the largest U.S. military presence in Vietnam since
the end of the American or Vietnam war.
The visit of the USS Carl Vinson represents an evolution in military engagement
between Vietnam and the United States. In 2009 and 2010 Vietnamese officials were
flown out to the USS John C. Stennis and the USS George Washington, respectively, to
observe operations while they were transiting the South China Sea.
The USS Carl Vinson will dock at Tien Sa port in Da Nang. It is the largest and most
powerful U.S. military ship to visit a port in Vietnam. This contrasts to the USS Carl
Vinson’s current visit to the Philippines where it is anchored 10 km offshore.
Q2. How significant is this event, with respect to relationship between the Vietnam
and the US, and, more importantly, will this have any impact on regional security and
defence relations? In other words, how do you think China will react to this, if at all?
ANSWER: The framework for U.S.-Vietnam defence engagement is the 2011
Memorandum of Understanding that outlines five areas of cooperation. This has been
supplemented by the 2015 Joint Vision Statement on Defense Cooperation and the
current three-year work plan, 2018-20. Basically, incremental progress has been made
in five areas of cooperation at a pace Vietnam is comfortable with.
The significance of this visit to two-fold. First, the U.S. is demonstrating naval presence
to reassure Southeast Asian states that the U.S. under President Trump is not
disengaging from the region. Second, Vietnam supports a U.S. naval presence in the
East or South China Sea as long as this presence contributes to regional peace and
stability. In other words, there is a congruence of strategic interests in ensuring
freedom of navigation and overflight for military ships and aircraft.
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Although China will respond in knee jerk fashion calling out the U.S. for threatening its
sovereignty and security, the transit of the USS Carl Vincent strike group will
contribute to stabilizing the military balance in the South China Sea.
Q3. In your opinion, what is the US’s intended purpose in sending USS Carl Vison to
Vietnam? Is there a possibility of antagonizing China, the US’ number one trading
partner?
ANSWER: The United States is a global military power. It uses sea power to
demonstrate its interests in maintaining secure sea lines of communication (SLOC) for
both commercial and military vessels. Friendly ship visits are part and parcel of naval
diplomacy. The crew of the USS Carl Vinson will conduct a number of social and
sporting activities while visiting Da Nang. This is to generate good will on both sides.
The USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is a powerful symbol of U.S. military
might. Vietnamese naval officers will be able to learn something about its capabilities.
China hosts visits by U.S. naval ships in Hong Kong. China also engages in defense
cooperation with the United States. Both the U.S. and China have a vital interest in
ensuring that the SLOCs remain safe and secure. Any conflict would disrupt trade and
seriously harm both countries. In order to understand China’s reaction, we must
separate its propaganda bluster from the reality that both the U.S. and China cannot
afford to let tension increase.
Q4. Any other comments or things to watch for as the visit draws near?
ANSWER: In June 2017, the USS John McCain, a guided missile destroyer, visited Da
Nang and then proceeded for the first visit of a U.S. naval ship to Cam Ranh
International Port. Two weeks later People’s Liberation Army Navy’s ships also visited
Cam Ranh International Port. This year Vietnam received back to back visits by the
Russian Defense Minister and the U.S. Defense Secretary.
Cam Ranh International Port is open to all countries, naval vessels from Singapore,
France, Japan to name a few, have visited. I would expect Vietnam at some time in the
future to receive a visit by Chinese naval ships.
The bottom line is that Vietnam pursues a multipolar balance among the major
powers. It gives each power equity in Vietnam’s independence and strategic
autonomy. In other words, if major powers maintain a balance, Vietnam will not be
forced into anyone’s orbit. Vietnam can continue to play an independent role and
contribute constructively to regional security. All major powers benefit from that. The
visit of the USS Carl Vinson does not signal that Vietnam is moving into the U.S. orbit
to oppose China. It signals that as trust has developed between Vietnam and the
United States, the leaders in Hanoi are comfortable with a step up in naval
engagement with the United States. China is sanguine about the USS Carl Vinson’s
friendly port call to Vietnam.
Q5. What do you make of the United Kingdom’s decision to sail HMS Sutherland, an
anti-submarine frigate, through the South China Sea, on its way home from Australia,
and to assert freedom of navigation rights? Will Beijing protest?
ANSWER: The UK is a maritime power with security commitments in Southeast Asia
under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) with Australia, New Zealand,
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Singapore and Malaysia. The UK is a NATO ally with the US that under the Trump
Administration has elevated the importance of freedom of navigation. The UK is also
looking for a new relations after BREXIT, such as a free trade agreement with Australia.
And the UK also upholds international law. The deployment of the HMS Sutherland
“touches all the bases.” It demonstrates UK naval power, reassures FPDA partners,
demonstrates solidarity with the US on freedom of navigation, adds an extra
dimension to UK-Australia relations and upholds a rules-based order within the
framework of international law.
Q6. What does the UK action mean to Vietnam and the ASEAN countries, especially
when Singapore just announced that they will reach some agreement with China on
the Code of Conducts in the South China Sea?
ANSWER: The actions by the UK, along with France and the United States, serve to
uphold international law including the Arbitral Tribunal’s Award in favour of the
Philippines in the case against China. The Tribunal ruled that there are no islands in
the legal sense in the South China Sea and that two of the features occupied by China
are low tide elevations and therefore not entitled to a 12 nautical mile (nm) territorial
sea.
China, as a matter of policy, requires countries to seek permission to enter its 200 nm
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Since there are no legal islands in the South China Sea
no feature is entitled to a 200 nm EEZ. The UK’s actions, along with those of other
maritime powers, reassures Vietnam and other Southeast Asian states, that China
cannot impose “international law with Chinese characteristics” over the sea lanes in
the South China Sea. If no country protested China’s claims it could be argued in
international law that the international community had acquiesced to China. The UK,
by asserting freedom of navigation, puts on record that the international community
is not acquiescing. This reinforces the Award by the Arbitral Tribunal.
Singapore is ASEAN Chair for this year, as well as ASEAN country-coordinator for China.
It is Singapore’s responsibility to oversee ASEAN-China consultations on a Code of
Conduct (COC) that are now entering a new phase of filling in the blanks in their
Framework for a COC. The UK’s actions strengthen Singapore’s hand in dealing with
China.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, USS Carl Vinson to Visit Da Nang: Scene Setter,”
Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, February 22, 2018. All background briefs are
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.