VIETNAM-US-DEFENCE-DIPLOMACY-MARITIME

Vice Admiral Phillip G. Sawyer (R), Commander of the US Navy's 7th Fleet, greets Vietnamese officials after the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson pulled into port in Danang on March 5, 2018. The USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) arrived in Vietnam March 5 for the first time since the end of the war, as the former foes bolster military ties in the face of Beijing's build-up in the disputed South China Sea. The carrier will make a four-day port call for a highly symbolic trip that will include a visit to a centre for victims of Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant sprayed over large swathes of land by the US during the Vietnam war. / AFP PHOTO / Linh Pham (Photo credit should read LINH PHAM/AFP via Getty Images)