President Barack Obama on Tuesday exchanged concerns about China’s activities in the South China Sea with the Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
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Trong, one of the most powerful figures in Vietnam, invited Obama to visit his country and said he was grateful that the president had graciously accepted. “Obviously there has been a hard history”, he said. “This would enhance mutual understanding, narrow the differences and gradually build up trust between us to add more substance and efficiency to long-term relations between our two countries”.
The letter from Cassidy and six other GOP senators said that human rights should be a priority as the United States moves forward with negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with Vietnam and other Pacific nations.
The president said he and Trong had candid discussions on issues of human rights and religious freedom.
“What is of utmost importance is we have transformed from ex- enemies to friends”, he told reporters.
“I don’t think he was very happy with our advocacy, but we didn’t go there to make him happy”, Lofgren said in an interview on Monday.
The U.S. State Department said it was “not a typical meeting for the president”.
A small group of protesters gathered outside the White House during the meeting, some wearing T-shirts that read “Human Rights for Vietnam” and holding signs that included “Coalition of Vietnamese Americans against Communism”.
In an open letter to the president, nine Democratic and Republican members of Congress have complained that the invitation and warm welcome for Trong send the wrong message. “In theory, he is first among equals in the one-party communist state, but the country is ruled by the party’s collective leadership, and most important decisions must be decided by a 16-member politburo”.
Beyond the rights question, another major issue on the table is trade.
Also on the agenda were talks on trade.
Ex- President Bill Clinton normalised relations with Vietnam and made a historic visit to the country in 2000. “After Vietnam was given admission to the World Trade Organisation in 2007, it ratcheted up repression; expecting a different result now is just plain unrealistic”.
Beyond the strategic politics, there remains “a kind of residual American public curiosity about Vietnam”, Ott said.
In a nod to Vietnam’s concern about China, Obama said the South China Sea dispute needed to be resolved using worldwide rules.
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The July 6-10 trip follows a year-long charm offensive by the United States launched as a fierce row over sovereignty erupted in May 2014 between communist neighbors Vietnam and China, which saw relations sink to their worst in three decades. And the US still bans weapons sales to the Southeast Asian nation. Trong also spoke in positive terms, and said he was “convinced that our relationship will continue to grow in the future”.
