ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh city on Saturday (December 14, 2013) on a visit to push forward ties with the communist country.<br/> <br />Kerry's visit to Vietnam and later the Philippines aims to emphasize U.S. presence in South East Asia.<br/> <br />It comes as Washington steps up efforts to court its former war rival to establish a trade pact and security ties with a country on the doorstep of regional superpower China.
