The United States President Barack Obama announced Monday that it is lifting the arms embargo on Vietnam.
In a joint news conference with the Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, Obama said that the removal of the ban on lethal weapons was part of a deeper defense co-operationwith the country and dismissed suggestions it was aimed at countering China’s growing strength in the region, CNN reported Monday.
"(The) arms sales ban was a product of the Cold War and should no longer exist," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a press briefing said that it was appropriate for the ban to be lifted.
"We hope the lifting of all such bans will benefit regional peace and development. And we are happy to see the United States and Vietnam develop normal cooperative relations," she told reporters.