Paper says China unhappy over US carrier visit to Vietnam

Beijing, March 7

Beijing is unhappy with the first visit by a US aircraft carrier to a Vietnamese port since the Vietnam War and is monitoring developments, a Communist Party newspaper said on Wednesday.

However, the Global Times said the USS Carl Vinson's visit was unlikely to alter the balance of power in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety and has been fortifying with military structures on man-made islands.

"China's vigilance and unhappiness are inevitable, but we don't think that the USS Carl Vinson's Vietnam trip can stir up troubles in the South China Sea," the paper known for its hard-line nationalist views said in an editorial.

The visit "will not generate any special tools to pressure China," while the US sending warships to the South China Sea will "only waste money," the paper said.

Vietnam and China have extensive overlapping claims to islands and resources in the sea, and US officials say the port call is a sign of the US commitment to the region and US-Vietnam ties.

"Carl Vinson being here, me being here, this is about Vietnam. This is about our relationship with Vietnam, both from a military relationship and from a comprehensive partnership relationship," Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer, commander of the US 7th Fleet, told reporters in a conference call Tuesday from the Vietnamese port of Da Nang, where the ship docked Monday. — AP