Cohen optimistic historic visit opens door to new Vietnam ties HO CHI MINH CITY - US Defence Secretary William Cohen flew into the former Saigon Tuesday predicting that, 25 years after the Vietnam war, his historic visit here had opened the door to much closer ties between the two countries. In comments likely to prompt concern in China, Cohen foresaw the day when US warships would visit Vietnamese ports and suggested that the US military relationship with Vietnam would one day be on a par with Washington's ties to other east Asian allies. Hours earlier in Hanoi, Cohen had attempted to allay Beijing's suspicions of US intentions in Vietnam, telling senior military figures that Washington was committed to engagement with China. Cohen, the first American defence chief to visit Vietnam since the US finally succumbed to a humiliating defeat in 1975, was upbeat about his talks with Vietnamese leaders. "I am very optimistic that this trip will prove beneficial in laying the foundation for much better and greater contacts than we have had in the past," he told reporters travelling with him. "They are not looking back at the past. They are looking at how they can develop in the future," he said. Cohen said he was hopeful visits by US forces to Vietnam would be possible in the future, although he acknowledged it was not on the immediate agenda. "As far as ship visits, we will take that up in the future. It is something that I discussed with them. I think that over time that is likely to occur but not in the immediate future." Cohen said he had had a "very positive exchange," with Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong, who had indicated his support for a stalled bilateral trade agreement. Cohen has called for step by step deepening of the US Vietnamese security relationship but has warned that this must be accompanied by progress in other areas, notably trade. US Ambassador to Vietnam, Douglas "Pete" Peterson, cautioned against expectations of rapid progress in US-Vietnam ties after Cohen's visit. "It is not going to be a monstrous change," he said. "What I see here is a confidence builder and a building of trust between two nations dealing with mil-to-mil issues." Cohen earlier told his military audience that the US hopes to have the kind of relationship with Vietnam that it has with other countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). "We do not want to rush in, trying to force that result. But by building confidence over a period of time ... hopefully one day we will have the same kind of relationship with them," he said. Underlining the importance of an open relationship with China, he said: "We cannot fully address the great challenges in Asia -- strengthening the region's economic recovery, maintaining a peaceful, stable nuclear-free Korean peninsula, or reducing the recent tension across the Taiwan Strait -- without the largest Asian nation. "By engaging China and avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies of inevitable confrontation we hope to encourage China to step foward as a cooperative great nation." China has been engaged in a war of words with Taiwan ahead of presidential elections in the nationalist-ruled island on March 18. In a question and answer session, Cohen was asked by the academy's superintendent Major Nguyen The Tri about China's future role in the region. "China by virtue of its sheer size is going to emerge as a much more influential power than it is today," Cohen said. "I think one of the important and very beneficial aspects of ASEAN is that you have collective interests, and those collective interests can in fact, if you act in concert, give considerable leverage in dealing with China on a peaceful and cooperative basis," he said. Cohen called for China and other countries in the region to work together to ensure disputes such as rival claims to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea did not lead to armed conflict. After his speech, Cohen visited the headquarters of a crack air force regiment credited with downing more US aircraft than any other North Vietnamese unit, the 921st regiment. Military officials waved him through a base museum pointing out photographs of Vietnamese aces who shot down B-52 bombers and other US attack aircraft during the war. AFP - March 14, 2000.

US Cohen says Vietnam,neighbors can use leverage on China HANOI - U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen Tuesday urged Vietnam and its neighbors to use their collective "leverage" with the region's future powerhouse, China. In remarks at the National Defense Academy, the military's senior officer institute, Cohen noted the potential of Vietnam and its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. "One of the very important and beneficial aspects of ASEAN is that you have collective interests, and those collective interests can...give considerable leverage in dealing with China in the future on a peaceful and cooperative basis," Cohen said. China's view of U.S. relations with Vietnam is one of the backdrops to Cohen's visit to Hanoi. China and Vietnam have been repairing relations since diplomatic ties were renewed in 1994. China attacked Vietnam in 1979 for invading Cambodia. The U.S. and Vietnam restored diplomatic relations in 1995. Cohen came to Hanoi to advocate a gradual approach to building a military-to-military relationship. He suggested starting with such joint projects as removing old land mines, improving Vietnam's flood control and environmental studies. At the defense academy Tuesday, Cohen sat across from 14 senior Vietnamese officers, including the academy's superintendent, to deliver a speech on U.S. Asia policy. Cohen says China to emerge at great power Later Cohen was to meet President Tran Duc Luong at the presidential palace and visit the 921st Fighter Regiment of the People's Air Force - whose pilots shot down more American planes during the war than any other unit - before flying to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. In his prepared remarks at the National Defense Academy, Cohen stressed the importance of dealing with China. "By engaging China and avoiding self-fulfilling prophesies of inevitable confrontation, we hope to encourage China to step forward as a cooperative great nation," Cohen said. Cohen told the officers that by virtue of its size alone, China "is going to emerge as a much more influential power than it is today He said he recognized there was "genuine concern" in Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia about China's interests in the South China Sea, where several nations have competing claims to islands there. Cohen said that one of the principles upon which the U.S.-Vietnam relationship must be built is "transparency." He said openness about the direction of this slowly evolving relationship would ensure that "no nation misunderstands our intentions." Cohen Seeks Accounting Of 2,000 Missing US Servicemen Cohen said the most important aspect of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship is the continuing effort to account for approximately 2,000 U.S. servicemen who are unaccounted for from the war. About 1,500 of them are believed to have died on Vietnamese soil. "By helping the families of the missing, we have helped to establish our working ties, and we can step cautiously forward in those areas where we have mutual interests," Cohen said. Monday, the defense secretary visited a site about 20 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of Hanoi, among vast expanses of rice paddies, where U.S. and Vietnamese workers are digging for the remains of a missing U.S. flier. Associated Press - March 14, 2000.