HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. Sen. John McCain said Friday in Vietnam that it’s time for the United States to ease the ban on selling lethal arms to the communist country, saying it has progressed on human rights.
McCain said in Hanoi that the easing should happen gradually but he hoped it could begin as early as next month.
“It should be limited at first to those defensive capabilities such as coast guard and maritime systems that are purely for external security,” he said.
The Bush administration began allowing nonlethal arms sales to Vietnam in 2007.