The United States has announced it will be partially lifting a decades-old embargo placed on the sale of military hardware to Vietnam, in order to improve the country's maritime capability.
The move was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry who met Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Min for talks on Thursday.
Mr Kerry stated that the United States would change policy "in order to allow the transfer of defence equipment, including lethal defence equipment, for maritime security purposes only".
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the move was not directed at China, who is currently involved in several maritime boundary disputes, including with Vietnam.
The easing of the embargo though was criticised by some human rights organisations, including John Sifton, Asia advocate at Human Rights Watch. "It’s too soon; they haven’t earned it," said Sifton. “They are still arresting people. The number of arrests and convictions has gone down from its peak in 2013, but ... the raw number of people going into the system is still larger than the number of people being released,” he added.
The United States originally had an embargo placed on Vietnam in 1984. Diplomatic ties were however restored in 1995, and bilateral trade has now grown to $20 billion per year between the two countries.
The move was announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry who met Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Min for talks on Thursday.
Mr Kerry stated that the United States would change policy "in order to allow the transfer of defence equipment, including lethal defence equipment, for maritime security purposes only".
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said the move was not directed at China, who is currently involved in several maritime boundary disputes, including with Vietnam.
The easing of the embargo though was criticised by some human rights organisations, including John Sifton, Asia advocate at Human Rights Watch. "It’s too soon; they haven’t earned it," said Sifton. “They are still arresting people. The number of arrests and convictions has gone down from its peak in 2013, but ... the raw number of people going into the system is still larger than the number of people being released,” he added.
The United States originally had an embargo placed on Vietnam in 1984. Diplomatic ties were however restored in 1995, and bilateral trade has now grown to $20 billion per year between the two countries.