Barack Obama speaks during a bilateral meeting with Tran Dai Quang (not pictured), accompanied by Susan Rice and John Kerryat the presidential palace in Hanoi, Vietnam May 23, 2016.
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Ahead of his speech, the United States president also met a dozen activists – the meeting lacked the attendance of some dissidents arrested on Monday by the Vietnamese regime, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The President also stressed the post-war progress has led to improved relations between the US and Vietnam, saying, “As Vietnam has transformed so has the relationship between our two countries”. John McCain (R-Ariz.), at one time a prisoner of war here.
He said doing so reinforces stability and does not threaten it. Obama added that nations are more successful when these rights are respected.
In the meantime, Chinese analysts say the USA intends to check China by taking advantage of Hanoi’s maritime disputes with Beijing.
Ned Foote, head of the New York State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America, welcomed the decision, noting that the Vietnamese had helped account for American soldiers missing in action in Vietnam.
It’s a level of collaboration once thought “unimaginable”, Obama said. “That’s how a Facebook starts. That’s how some of our greatest companies began”, he said.
Journalists and bloggers can “shine a light on injustice or abuse” when they are allowed to operate free of government interference or intimidation, he added. Obama said that each deal would be reviewed case by case, and evaluated based on the equipment’s potential use.
The way Terry Neilen sees it, lifting the ban on US arms sales to Vietnam makes sense in the face of China’s growing influence in the region.
He acknowledged that reform won’t happen overnight, but pledged the USA will continue to be a partner to Vietnam. He said the governments are working more closely together than ever before on a range of issues.
Obama earlier spoke with six activists, including advocates for the disabled, sexual minorities, a pastor and advocates for freedom of speech, press and the Internet, but he said that several others were prevented from coming.
Obama said during the meeting that “Vietnam has made remarkable strides in many ways…”
Obama said that while the United States is not a claimant in the disputes it “will stand with partners in upholding core principles, like freedom of navigation and overflight, and lawful commerce that is not impeded, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, through legal means, in accordance with global law”.
Immediately after his speech, Obama flew to Vietnam’s boisterous southern commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City where thousands lined the streets to greet him. It’s also a repository for religious documents and includes more than 300 statues and other relics. A strong smell of incense hung in the air – visitors frequently burn incense outside the main temple to announce to the heavens their arrival.
“I like daughters”, quipped Obama, who is the father of teenagers Malia and Sasha.
“So my first exposure to Vietnam and the Vietnamese people came when I was growing up in Hawaii, with its proud Vietnamese American community there”.
The images showed a casual dine-in, with Obama and Bourdain seated on blue plastic chairs, and the local delicacy served on a small table.
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Obama said that his daughters, like the predominantly young Vietnamese generation, have lived their lives knowing only “peace and normalized relations between Vietnam and the U.S”.
