CNN news 2016-05-25 加文本

CNN news 2016-05-25

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived there over the weekend. His goal, to improve relations with a government that was a U.S. enemy during the Vietnam War.

The conflict extended from 1954 to 1975. The communist government of North Vietnam and its allies eventually defeated South Vietnam, which was supported by the U.S. More than 58,000 U.S. troops were among the millions overall who died in the Vietnam War.

Former President Bill Clinton reestablished U.S. diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1995 and President Obama is hoping to increase economic and security cooperation between the two countries.

Reactions to this trip are mixed. Some veterans groups say it will help remind Americans of the war and those who served. Others say the president needs to ask about more than 1,600 U.S. troops who are still listed as missing from the war.

But there`s another factor in this visit. The U.S. sees Vietnam as a partner in slowing down the influence of China. That country has become increasingly territorial in the South China Sea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Like his father before, Le Tan makes his living from the sea. He`s fished these waters for 31 years. But lately, his job has become a lot more dangerous.

LE TAN, VIETNAMESE FISHERMAN (through translator): First, they took our fish and then the essential equipment. If they lacked it, they took it.

If they didn`t, they throw it away.

REPORTER: Tan describes a day when Chinese men boarded his boat, stole his equipment and threaten him and his sons. This happened last year, but he says his boat has been targeted four or five times over the past decade.

Tan says he`s being targeted because he fishes in the Paracels, the chain of islands claimed by Vietnam, China and Taiwan. Vietnamese authorities say hundreds of fishermen from Ly Son, a small island of the east coast of Vietnam, report being intimidated, beaten or robbed by men on Chinese flagged boats within the Paracels.

Yet, despite the danger, the local government says it`s encouraging men to keep fishing these waters, calling them "defenders of Vietnamese territory".

The Chinese foreign ministry says it has no knowledge about Vietnamese fishermen being beaten or chased away, and the Paracel Islands are its sovereign territory, along with most of the South China Sea.

China is building manmade islands, laying down airstrips, deploying surface to air missiles in defiance of competing claims by other regional players.

And the U.S. has weighed into the fight, challenging China by running freedom of navigation operations in the region and calling for an end to the militarization of the area.

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