But China’s Global Times tabloid, run by the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said that was a lie and made a point of what it said was a US willingness to relax standards on human rights for the sake of containing China. Obama said the US was ready to help Vietnam meet its commitments under the agreement.
Advertisement
“But these are basic principles that we all have to try to work on and improve”, he added, referring in particular to the importance of a free media.
Ahead of Obama’s trip, human rights advocates in the United States had called on the administration to maintain the weapons ban until more progress has been made by the ruling Communist Party.
Bill Wise, senior associate director of the Southeast Asian studies program at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said the arms embargo was “an anachronism” and the lifting will demonstrate to Communist Party skeptics that engagement with the U.S.is paying off.
From Hanoi, Obama was to fly Tuesday to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.
Beijing lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea, despite conflicting partial claims from Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
On Monday, Obama lifted an arms embargo imposed on Vietnam during the Cold War, a move derided by some in Congress and activists who say the country hasn’t made enough progress with human rights.
The U.S. has pushed China and other countries to solve their disputes peacefully, part of a long-standing effort by Washington to have Beijing abide by established worldwide rules.
“Vietnam will have greater access to the equipment you need to improve your security”, Obama said.
Critics said that by removing the ban, a vestige of the Vietnam War, Washington had put concerns about Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea first and given up a critical lever to push Hanoi for an improvement in human rights.
“With President Obama’s visit this week with crowds that we saw along the street today, the remarkably warm and generous welcome, the unbelievable excitement of people that we are here with a President of the United States at this moment is absolutely palpable and I think it is a demarcation point”, Kerry told reporters Tuesday in Hanoi.
Compare that to the President’s far bolder, more direct words in Africa – his rousing speeches to Kenyans and Ethiopians last summer, that left people open-mouth stunned, turning to one another and delightedly asking, “Can you believe he’s saying this?” in the presence of their leaders.
Already, trade between the USA and Vietnam has surged almost a hundredfold in the past two decades.
“At this stage, both sides have established a level of trust and cooperation, including between our militaries, that is reflective of common interests and mutual respect”, Obama said at a news conference.
“It has taken many years and required great effort”, Obama said.
The American president’s visit marked another “crucial milestone” in the U.S.
Obama said the U.S. would help Hanoi with military equipment to help boost the capacity of its coastguard and “enhance maritime capabilities”.
“Congress will work with the administration to ensure today’s more expansive shift in policy aligns with U.S. interests”, said Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee. “When the last US forces left Vietnam, I was just 13 years old”.
Quang added, though, that “the wounds of the war have not been fully healed in both countries”.
He acknowledged that reform won’t happen overnight, but pledged the USA will continue to be a partner to Vietnam.
Anh Chi, an activist and freelance journalist in Hanoi, tells TIME that Nguyen Quang A was picked up by security officers early in the morning and driven some 40 miles outside of town – without explanation – before being returned to the city at about 1 p.m., after the meeting had finished.
Advertisement
Obama’s visit has formally reset the relationship between the former foes with the lifting of a U.S. arms embargo.
