John McCain And Jack Reed will lead a delegation of American senators to Vietnam later this week to meet with government officials.

During their stay in Vietnam, the delegation will travel to Hanoi and Saigon where they will meet their Vietnamese counterparts to discuss economic and security issues, according to The Washington Times.

The visit comes against the backdrop of geopolitical contention in the East Sea where China is undertaking an island building spree.

The Pentagon announced earlier this month that it was mulling the deployment of military assets to the area and last week, an American spy plane was told to leave the airspace above a disputed island eight times.

The deligation will also attend the 2015 Asia Security Summit in Singapore where they will meet with defense ministers and officials from other countries.

For John McCain, this is the latest of many visits to the country where he was held as a prisoner of war after his A-4E Skyhawk was brought down by a missile over Hanoi. He currently holds chairmanship of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.