US Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony prior to the opening of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Defense Ministers meeting with their main counterparts in Hanoi on October 12, 2010. (Getty Images)
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony prior to the opening of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Defense Ministers meeting with their main counterparts in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. (Getty Images)
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews the guard of honor during the welcoming ceremony at the National Convention Center before the first Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers Meeting Plus in Hanoi October 12, 2010. (Getty Images)
Vietnam's Minister of Defense General Phung Quang Thanh (L) introduces U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates (2nd L) to (from right) Admiral Hien, Lt. Gen. Khue , and Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh on October 11, 2010 at the Vietnam Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam. Gates is in the region to attend a meeting of defense ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region. (Getty Images)
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates,(L) and Vietnam's Minister of Defense General Phung Quang Thanh during a press conference at the Vietnam Ministry of Defense on October 11, 2010 at the Vietnam Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam. Gates is in the region to attend a meeting of defense ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region. (Getty Images)
China's Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (R) and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates pose for a photo before their meeting in Hanoi October 11, 2010. Liang and Gates are in Hanoi for the first ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus this week. (Getty Images)