News / China

China ‘has no objection’ to US warship visit to Vietnam

Friday, 26 January 2018 9:57 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 January 2018 9:57 AM ]

This file image shows US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) transiting the Pacific Ocean on January 20, 2018.

China says it has no objection to a planned visit in March by a US aircraft career to Vietnam if the visit benefits regional peace and stability.

The US and Vietnam have agreed for the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) to make a visit to the central port of Danang in March. Danang is the port to which the first US combat unit was deployed in the Vietnam War. The visit in March could bring the most US forces to Vietnam for the first time since the war ended in 1975.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that Beijing had no objection to the visit.

“As long as this kind of military exchange between Vietnam and the United States is beneficial to regional peace and stability, then, of course, we have no objection,” said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

She said Beijing was always happy to see countries developing friendly, cooperative relations.

China is involved in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where several countries, including Vietnam, have overlapping claims. The US, which is an extra-regional country, has been taking the side of China’s rival claimants in the regional disputes.

Washington has so far sent several of its warships to the South China Sea to protect what it calls “freedom of navigation” there, but Beijing often accuses Washington of interfering in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions.

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