Last week I was down in the coastal city of Da Nang in central Vietnam, braving the blistering summer heat to celebrate a “first” in UK defence engagement in the Asia Pacific, and with Vietnam.
Pacific Partnership (PP) is an annual US-led multinational defence engagement, focusing on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief with allies and partners across the Asia-Pacific. For the first time in the history of PP, this year saw a UK contingent taking part, in the form of a Royal Navy dental team.
The British team spent a packed two weeks in Da Nang sharing knowledge and skills with their Vietnamese hosts and with medical colleagues from the US Navy hospital ship Mercy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force ship Shimokita; treating local people; and taking part in sports tournaments and school visits. Seeing the team at work in a local community health centre was a great experience. Their enthusiasm and professionalism were no surprise to anyone familiar with the British armed forces – but very much needed, as dozens of patients lined up to be seen. (Vietnamese people don’t usually “do” queuing, so the relatively orderly nature of the process was a tribute to the organisational skills of the USNS Mercy team manning the front desk!)
Why does this matter? A few reasons:
- First, it shows that good things can come in small packages, especially when it comes to defence diplomacy. Although the Royal Navy contingent was only five strong, Surgeon Commander Karl Drummond and his colleagues treated an incredible 700 patients during their time in Vietnam, as well as playing a leading role in a two-day dental summit. That’s a lot of bang for one’s buck (or pound).
- Second, it highlights the UK’s continued commitment to building our defence relationships in the Asia-Pacific region. Touring the USNS Mercy and meeting the US commander of PP16, I was left in no doubt about how much our US and Japanese friends appreciated the first ever UK participation in the event.
- Third, it marks another step forward in our – still developing – defence engagement with Vietnam, which only really kicked into gear when we opened a Defence Section in the Embassy in 2013. The Royal Navy team treated some of their patients aboard the Vietnamese navy hospital ship Khanh Hoa 01, another first, and a valuable exercise in building joint understanding in the field of military medicine – which is an important area in Vietnam’s plans to start contributing to UN peace-keeping operations.
More generally, it was great to be down in Da Nang again. A fairly sleepy port town when I worked in Vietnam 20 years ago, Da Nang has since transformed itself into one of the most vibrant and outward-looking cities in Vietnam. My visits there are never dull – in the last year, I’ve been there to help welcome the Clipper round-the-world yacht race (featuring both GREAT Britain and Da Nang-sponsored boats); to judge an international fireworks competition (a task for which I admit to being underqualified); and to join a long-distance cycle ride in support of a fantastic local British charity.
But it’s not just about soft power. We’ve been steadily building our cooperation with Da Nang in a range of areas: pilot projects on reduction of industrial CO2 emissions, trade visits by the British business group, and the development of the Vietnam-UK Research Institute under the auspices of Da Nang University. UK participation in PP16 marks another milestone in our engagement with this fascinating city – and I look forward to celebrating many more in the years ahead.
