Obama, Bound For Vietnam, Seeks To Turn Old Foe Into New Partner

U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday headed for his first visit to Vietnam, a 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 the Vietnam War, Obama – the first U.S. leader to come of age after a conflict that bitterly divided America - will seek to deepen defense and economic ties with the country’s communist government while also prodding them on human rights, aides say.