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The Straits Times (Singapore)

December 18, 2007 Tuesday

Vietnam's secretive military opens up;
Defence academy to hold training for outsiders on Viet operations,
strategy

BYLINE: Roger Mitton, Vietnam Correspondent.

HANOI - IN A landmark change, Vietnam's secretive Defence Ministry is
opening up and inviting foreigners to come and study the country's
military operations and strategy.

Senior military officers from around the world have been urged to go to
Hanoi to be tutored by their Vietnamese counterparts at the prestigious
National Defence Academy.

With 455,000 men under arms, Vietnam has the largest standing army in
South-east Asia.

It is battle-tested and in the past half-century has fought and
prevailed against the military might of Japan, France, the United States
and China.

However, military experts concede that their knowledge of Vietnam's
vaunted fighting machine remains patchy due to the obsessive secrecy
imposed by the Defence Ministry's top brass.

So, the proposed change to open up is both surprising and portentous. It
has pleased other countries in the region and the West, especially the
US,which has long encouraged Vietnam to take this kind of action.

And it indicates that the normally conservative and insular Vietnamese
military is embracing the government's credo of seeking to integrate
more with the global community.

Said Professor Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian
Defence Force Academy: 'It shows that Vietnam is embarked on opening up
its military to the outside world and assuming more proactive roles.

'The initiative is unprecedented and highly significant because it
signals not only a more outward-looking military, but a more confident
one.'

At a top-level briefing last month, defence attaches were told that the
decision to open up is linked to Vietnam's accession to the World Trade
Organisation and its coming membership of the United Nations Security
Council. Vietnam will take up a two-year seat as a non-permanent member
of
the council on Jan 1.

Lieutenant-General Pham Xuan Hung, the national defence academy's
commandant, said: 'Vietnam now attaches special importance to enhancing
international cooperation, exchange visits and mutual understanding in
the
military field.'

Said Mr Marvin Ott, professor of national security policy at the
National
Defence University in Washington: 'Vietnam's strategically savvy Defence

Ministry is now adopting a security strategy to maximise linkages with
other nations, particularly those with capable militaries in Asia.'

Several countries, including some from Asean, have already confirmed
they
will attend the course.

Vietnam's new military initiative will likely be replicated by more
outreach moves, including offers to take part in UN peacekeeping
operations and greater involvement in the multinational Proliferation
Security Initiative designed to thwart the maritime transportation of
terrorist devices.

mitton@sph.com.sg

92-day course

FOREIGN military officers will be invited to Hanoi for a 92-day course
at
the defence academy, which trains Vietnam's high-ranking commanders and
strategists, starting on March 4.

It will include three weeks of tutoring in key military topics such as
Vietnam's national defence policy, its security and anti-terrorism
strategy, and the protection of territorial sovereignty, including
'practical experiences in solving situations at sea'.

There will also be lectures on Vietnam's past military triumphs,
including
the liberation struggle against France and the reunification campaign
against US-led forces during the Vietnam War.