Three Chinese warships will dock Saturday at Vietnam’s strategic naval base at Cam Ranh Bay, three weeks after two U.S. naval vessels docked there for the first time since former wartime foes Hanoi and Washington normalized relations 21 years ago.
Vietnam has recently made the Cam Ranh Bay base available to visiting foreign naval vessels in an attempt to maintain a strong international presence in the South China Sea amid maritime disputes with China. Beijing has claimed nearly all the strategic waterway, conflicting with claims by Vietnam and other nations including Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.
The Chinese warships with 750 sailors on board will visit the base for four days, during which time they will hold exchange activities with Vietnamese navy sailors, Vietnamese state media reported Wednesday, citing the Department of Foreign Affairs of Khanh Hoa province, where the base is located.
