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Hanoi – US President Barack Obama arrived in Vietnam late yesterday ahead of a three-day trip aimed at sealing the transformation of an old enemy into a new partner to help counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

Four decades after a war with Vietnam that deeply divided opinion in America, Obama aims to boost defence and economic ties with the country’s communist rulers while also prodding them on human rights, aides say.

His visit has been preceded by a debate in Washington over whether Obama should use the three-day visit starting today to roll back an arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity.

That would anger China, which resents US efforts to forge stronger military bonds with Beijing’s neighbours amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

But in the hours ahead of his arrival in Hanoi, where he was greeted on a red carpet by foreign ministry officials, there was no immediate word of a final US decision on the ban.

Vietnam’s government earlier this month said lifting the embargo would show mutual trust and that buying arms from its partners was “normal”.

There has been much excitement about Obama’s arrival in a country with a young population enthusiastic about closer US ties.

“Obama visit to Vietnam is closure of the past,” said Hanoi cyclo driver Vu Van Manh. “What’s important is the present. The two countries can bond more to develop both economies.”

As a sign of the capitalism that now thrives in Vietnam, some opportunistic businesses are using pictures of a smiling Obama to sell suits and instant photo services.

Bilateral trade has swelled 10 times over since ties were normalized in 1995 to around $45 billion now. Vietnam is Southeast Asia’s biggest exporter to the United States, with textiles and electronics the largest volumes. – AP