CaliToday (03/11/2025): Secretary Pete Hegseth’s agenda, focused on C-130 and Chinook sales, saw him meet Vietnam's Party Chief and President, but bypass the head of government, signaling a direct appeal to the Communist Party's core leadership.
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| US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (right) and Deputy Minister Hung Cao (left) lead the US delegation during high-level meetings in Hanoi. |
United States Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, held a series of high-stakes meetings with Vietnam’s most powerful leaders in Hanoi on Sunday, in a visit aimed at finalizing a landmark sale of American military hardware.
The visit, which began on November 2, is the culmination of extended negotiations and signals a potential major shift in Southeast Asian security dynamics.
However, the meetings were as notable for who was present as for who was not.
According to a report by Fox News, the U.S. delegation was led by Secretary Hegseth the first to visit Vietnam under the recently restored "Secretary of War" title who was accompanied by his Deputy Secretary of War, Hùng Cao. The Secretary met with the absolute highest echelons of Vietnam's one-party state. This included:
Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP)
Lương Cường, the President of Vietnam
Phan Văn Giang, Hegseth's direct counterpart, the Minister of National Defence
The discussions, which reportedly dominated the agenda, centered on Vietnam's potential acquisition of Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. Also on the table were advanced helicopters, specifically the Lockheed Martin S-92 and the heavy-lift Boeing Chinook, as well as light weapons packages.
A Conspicuous Absence
Conspicuously absent from the roster of high-level meetings was Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính.
In Vietnam’s political system, the Prime Minister is the head of government, typically responsible for overseeing day-to-day governance, economic management, and the execution of major procurement contracts like a multi-billion dollar arms deal.
Hegseth’s decision to bypass the Prime Minister and engage directly with the Party General Secretary (the undisputed top leader), the President (head of state), and the Defense Minister suggests a calculated diplomatic strategy. Analysts note this approach goes straight to the core political decision-makers, effectively bypassing a layer of government bureaucracy in a push to secure a deal.
A New Era of "Strategic" Arms Sales
This potential sale would be a historic milestone, moving the U.C.-Vietnam relationship far beyond its post-war normalization. For decades, Vietnam's military has been almost exclusively reliant on Russian-made equipment.
Hanoi's aggressive push to acquire American hardware, particularly advanced air-lift capabilities like the C-130 and Chinook, is seen as a direct response to two key factors:
China's Aggression: A desire to modernize and diversify its defense capabilities to create a more credible deterrent against China in the South China Sea.
Russia's Reliability: Growing concerns over the reliability of Russia as an arms supplier, due to its protracted war in Ukraine and the impact of international sanctions on its defense industry.
For Washington, the sale would cement Vietnam's role as a key pillar in its Indo-Pacific strategy, solidifying a security partnership with a nation that shares its concerns about regional stability.
The visit by Secretary Hegseth, a prominent voice for a muscular U.S. foreign policy, underscores the administration's commitment to arming allies and challenging the strategic status quo in the region. The negotiations in Hanoi are seen as the final step in turning a new strategic partnership into a tangible defense alliance.