Vietnam plays down Russian warnings over naval base
HANOI - Vietnam Thursday played down warnings from a Russian government minister that Moscow might abandon its
sole southeast Asian military base if Hanoi was not more realistic about the price.
The foreign ministry insisted the three years still remaining on the lease on the Cam Ranh Bay naval base in
south-central Vietnam left ample time for further negotiations on the terms of any renewal.
"The agreement is still valid until 2004 and, up until then, we still have time for further discussions," ministry
spokesman Le Sy Vuong Ha told a briefing.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov hinted for the first time Wednesday that Moscow might
be willing to let the lease lapse as Hanoi was demanding a higher price.
Russia was "seriously considering" whether to give up the base after the lease expires, Losyukov said.
"The question is: how much we really need the base, and how much will we be able to use it for our own
interests.
"If we are going to pay large sums for the use of this base, then we have to decide whether such expenses are
justified."
His comments were particularly startling as they came at the end of a two-day bridge-building visit to Moscow
by Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien.
Russia has leased the base since the days of the Soviet Union in the late 70s when Hanoi tilted heavily towards
Moscow as its relations with Beijing deteriorated sharply, leading to a brief but bloody border war in 1979.
The base served as a Soviet listening post covering most of the Far East, including Japan, and a runway for the
Soviet nuclear bomber fleet, according to intelligence sources.
But in recent years it has received ever fewer port calls from Russian ships and its use for intelligence purposes
has greatly diminished, analysts say.
Washington, which first developed the Cam Ranh Bay base before it was evicted from it after the Vietnam
War, has maintained a studied neutrality over whether or not the Russian lease is renewed.
"I've always been genuinely agnostic about it," a senior US official told reporters here before Russian President
Vladmir Putin's landmark visit in March.
The official said his personal view was that Vietnam would be better off exploiting the base's natural anchorage
and facilities for commercial purposes, but stressed the decision was entirely up to the Vietnamese.
Agence France Presse - June 7, 2001.
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