Vietnam FM downplays link between US trade deal and human rights bill
HANOI - Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien Friday played down the prospect of Vietnam delaying ratification of a key
trade agreement with the United States out of anger over a human rights bill passed alongside it by the House
of Representatives.
"I think they are two separate issues," Nien told reporters.
"We are strongly against the bill on human rights. We have expressed our strong feelings against that."
But he said he expected Vietnam's National Assembly to consider ratification of the trade deal during its next
session in November regardless of whether the US Senate approved the rights bill already passed by the
House.
"I don't think there is any connection on that," Nien said, although he added he did not know the exact details
of the assembly's agenda.
Trade Minister Vu Khoan acknowledged that US plans for ratification of the deal had been thrown up in the air
by the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
"The picture's not so clear now. It is not top of the agenda."
But both ministers added that they hoped the Senate would pass the trade deal before its planned recess at the
end of next week.
Vietnam's communist authorities have orchestrated a massive campaign against the human rights bill since its
overwhelming approval by the House on September 6.
The official media has carried almost daily attacks on the bill, citing US businessmen and aid workers as well as
Vietnamese organizations.
The bill, which was put forward by Congressional opponents of Hanoi, would tie future US aid to Vietnam to
improvements in its human rights record.
It also demands that Vietnam halt jamming of broadcasts by congressionally funded Radio Free Asia, protect
refugees and mandates US assistance to groups promoting freedom and democracy in the country.
But the trade deal remains a cornerstone of Vietnam's plans for a massive boost in exports to double its Gross
Domestic Product over the next decade.
Khoan acknowledged that export growth of just 10.5 percent over the first nine months, well below the 2001
target of 16 percent, meant that Vietnam's growth target of 7.5 percent for the year was now completely
unattainable.
He declined to predict exactly how far below target exports and growth would fall, but said the trade deal
would be an important factor.
"It very, very seriously depends on the process of ratification in the US," he said.
Agence France Presse - September 28, 2001.
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