“That’s how a Facebook starts”.
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Why not demand these communist countries, with whom we are “normalizing” relations, improve their human rights record. “But there are these basic principles that I think we all have to try to work on and improve”, he added.
President Barack Obama is traveling to Vietnam and Japan this week on his 10th trip to Asia. “One might even assume it’s some sort of a test”.
After landing in Ho Chi Minh City – formerly Saigon – the president’s entourage was whisked to the Jade Pagoda, one of the city’s oldest shrines, before a meeting with technology start-up entrepreneurs.
The fact that Mr. Obama is the third consecutive American president to visit Vietnam is proof that old enemies can become new partners. He said the governments are working more closely together than ever before on a range of issues.
He said that the United States was not trying to impose its form of government on Vietnam, but that some values were universal.
China has looked on warily as the U.S. and Vietnam have steadily strengthened their relationship in recent years, in line with growing Vietnamese concern over Chinese moves to assert its maritime claims.
“The US believes that allowing Vietnam now to buy weapons will perhaps embolden Vietnam in pressing its claims”. Nothing that we did here or (are) arguing here is focused on China.
“If you want to point to the possibility of tinderbox and possibly igniting something, I would caution China, as President Obama and others have, to not unilaterally move to reclamation activities and the militarisation of the islands and areas that are part of the claims being contested today”, Kerry told reporters in the former South Vietnamese capital.
Earlier Tuesday, Obama met with a number of civil society activists, including advocates for freedom of speech, press and the internet. He planned a visit to the Jade Pagoda, considered one of the most lovely pagodas in southern Vietnam and a repository of religious documents that includes more than 300 statues and other relics.
The response from the foreign ministry to the lifting of the ban was initially positive, saying it was a “product of the Cold War and should no longer exist”, and that China was pleased to see Vietnam and the U.S. normalising relations. Given that in politics perception is often reality, if the U.S. were seen to be actively trying to contain China that can not be good for trust between the two superpowers, or for the region.
The signing, which comes amid ahistoric three-day visit by President Barack Obama, follows more than a decade of negotiations between the two countries to establish a Peace Corps operation in Vietnam.
The conflict killed 57,000 American military personnel and as many as 2 million Vietnamese military and civilians.
A large crowd gathered outside the restaurant, letting out a cheer as Obama exited. He also noted the meal cost a grand total of US$6 (133,950 Vietnamese dong), and that he “picked up the check”. Moreover, American officials remain concerned over Hanoi’s human rights policies, which are oppressive.
“It was a compulsory tour”, joked Quang A, 69, a well-known critic of the Communist Party who is famous for creative stunts of his own to make Vietnam’s leaders pay more than lip-service to political inclusiveness.
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For the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch the president’s remarks and the joint statement in Hanoi do not go far enough.
