Vietnam’s defense minister says his country wants good and friendly relations with both the United States and China, and will not favor one over the other. Relations between Vietnam and China plunged to their lowest point in years following the parking of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea last year.

Vietnam and China both claim the Paracels islands, which are under Chinese occupation after ousting the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese Navy in 1974, one year before the end of the Vietnam War. The two countries, along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim all or parts of the Spratly islands, which lie on a busy international sea lane and is rich in oil and gas and fish resources. Chinese construction of seven artificial islands atop reefs and atolls in the Spratlys over the past 18 months has raised serious concerns in the region and the United States.

The US has been deepening ties with Vietnam and others in a bid to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

Did You Know?

• Independent for almost a thousand years, Vietnam fell prey to French colonialism in the mid-19th century.
• During Japanese occupation in World War II, communist leader Ho Chi Minh formed the Vietminh, an alliance of communist and non-communist nationalist groups.
• Armed struggle won independence in 1954 and led to the partition of Vietnam.
• For two decades non-communist South Vietnam, aided by the U.S. fought North Vietnam, backed by China and the Soviet Union.
• American troops withdrew in 1973, and two years later South Vietnam fell. In 1976 the country was reunified under a communist regime.

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