US Defense Secretary Mattis Trip to Vietnam Aimed at Countering China’s Influence

US Defense Secretary Mattis Trip to Vietnam Aimed at Countering China’s Influence
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis (L) meets with Vietnam Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong at the VCP's headquarters in Hanoi on Jan. 25, 2018. Hoang Dinh Nam//AFP/Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

WASHINGTON—By making a rare second trip this year to Vietnam, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is signaling how intensively the Trump administration is trying to counter China’s military assertiveness by cozying up to smaller nations in the region that share American wariness about Chinese intentions.

The visit beginning on Oct. 16 also shows how far U.S.-Vietnamese relations have advanced since the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War.