ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON – Cold War enemies the United States and Vietnam demonstrated their blossoming military relations Sunday as a U.S. nuclear supercarrier floated in waters off the Southeast Asian nation's
coast — sending a message that China is not the region's only big
player.

The visit comes 35 years after the Vietnam War as the U.S. and Vietnam are cozying up in a number of areas, from negotiating a controversial deal to share civilian nuclear fuel and technology to
agreeing that China needs to work with its neighbors to resolve
territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The USS George Washington's stop is officially billed as a commemoration of last month's 15th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations between the former foes. But the timing also
reflects Washington's heightened interest in maintaining security and
stability in the Asia-Pacific amid tensions following the sinking of a
South Korean warship in March, which killed 46 sailors. North Korea has
been blamed for the attack, but has vehemently denied any involvement.

Last month during an Asian security meeting in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also angered China by unexpectedly calling on the Communist powerhouse
to resolve territorial claims with neighboring Southeast Asian countries
over islands in the South China Sea.

China claims the entire sea and the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands over which it exercises complete sovereignty. But Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also have staked claims on all or
some of the territory, which straddles vital shipping lanes, important
fishing grounds and is believed rich in oil and natural gas reserves.
Clinton announced that the U.S. has a national interest in seeing the
claims resolved.

"The problem is that China has now committed herself, publicly, to sovereignty of the South China Sea and to push that back, if only to the status of a claim that is not enforced, is going to be very difficult," said Arthur Waldron, an
international relations specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.
"So we are playing catch up, reminding the Chinese that we have not
collapsed into post-great powerdom, and that we have other friends in
the region."

Vietnam has long been vocal about the issue, protesting China's plans to bring tourists to the islands and most recently seismic studies conducted near the Paracels. Last month China
also held naval drills in the South China Sea.

"Vietnam does not support containing China, but like most other ASEAN members would like to see each major power offset the other," Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defense Force
Academy in Canberra, said, referring to the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations. "Quite simply, these are not too subtle signals that
Vietnam wants the United States to stay engaged in the region to balance
China."

The USS George Washington is a formidable beast rippling with muscle, and a permanent resident of the Pacific, based in Japan. It is a floating city that can carry up to 70 aircraft, more than
5,000 sailors and aviators and about 4 million pounds (1.8 million
kilograms) of bombs. It lurked Sunday in waters off the central coast of
Danang, Vietnam's jumping off point for the disputed islands.

The supercarrier came to Vietnam following four days of high-profile military exercises last month with South Korea aimed at showing solidarity following the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan navy
ship. The drills enraged Pyongyang and drew repeated criticism from its
Chinese ally.

A Chinese newspaper ran a front-page story last week strongly hinting that China also is not happy about reports that Vietnam and the U.S. are negotiating a civilian nuclear fuel and technology
deal that could allow Vietnam to enrich uranium on its own soil.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said China had not been consulted about the talks, but he would not discuss the specifics of the enrichment provision. Congressional aides have said
the agreement will likely not contain a no-enrichment pledge, which the
U.S. promotes as the "gold standard" for civilian nuclear cooperation
accords to ensure materials are not being used to build a nuclear
weapon.

Vietnam has denied having any plans to enrich uranium on its own soil.

The aircraft carrier's visit is particularly symbolic as it floats off the coast of central Danang, once the site of a bustling U.S. military base during the Vietnam War, which ended April
30, 1975, when northern communist forces seized control of the
U.S.-backed capital of South Vietnam, reuniting the country.

Some 58,000 Americans and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese were killed during the war.

Relations have thrived since the former foes shook hands in 1995. The U.S. is Vietnam's top export market and Americans are the country's No. 1 foreign investor. Two-way trade reached $15.4
billion in 2009.

Military ties have also grown since the first U.S. warship ship visited Ho Chi Minh City in 2003, including high-level defense talks and training.