Bush to meet Vietnam PM next month
HANOI - Thirty years after the Vietnam War ended, a senior US diplomat visited Hanoi on Friday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the normalisation of ties between the former enemies and announce a historic visit set for next month.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert B Zoellick confirmed Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai would meet with US President George W Bush on June 21 -- the highest-ranking Vietnamese leader to visit the United States since the war ended in 1975.
"I hope the relationship will continue to progress on a fast pace," Zoellick said. "While there are historical issues of significance and sensitivity, you also sense the strong bond of friendship between the Vietnamese and American people."
Zoellick's visit follows a State Department announcement on Thursday that Vietnam has agreed to release prisoners detained for their religious beliefs and to halt the practice of coercing citizens to renounce their religions.
Vietnam also has begun to register and permit the reopening of previously closed churches, said John Hanford, US ambassador at large for international religious freedom.
"These efforts cover all faiths, so some of the efforts involve Roman Catholics, they involve evangelical Protestants, they involve Buddhists," Zoellick said. "For the first time in 20 years, the National Congress of Evangelicals in Vietnam has been able to meet."
The Associated Press - May 07, 2005.
Vietnam PM announces visit to US
The Vietnamese prime minister, Phan Van Khai, yesterday announced plans to visit the US next month, making him the first leader of the communist country to do so since the end of the Vietnam war 30 years ago.
Mr Khai said arrangements were being made for him to visit Washington, while diplomatic sources told the Guardian he would probably also visit New York and California, where there is a large Vietnamese population.
"Thirty years have passed since the end of the war; this is the first ever visit by a leader of a unified Vietnam to the United States," the prime minister said during a visit to Australia.
Mr Khai is expected to seek to accelerate negotiations for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organisation. Washington is looking to solidify relations with another south-east Asian country to help counter China's rapidly growing regional influence, although Mr Khai denied this was motivating the trip.
"The purpose of my visit to the United States is to elevate our relationship to a higher plane in a new situation," he said.
By John Aglionby - The Guardian - May 06, 2005.
Vietnamese Prime Minister to Visit U.S.
HANOI - Vietnam's prime minister announced on Thursday that he plans to become the communist country's highest-ranking leader to visit the United States since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago.
Phan Van Khai told reporters during an official visit to Australia that he will travel to Washington at the end of next month, but it was not immediately clear who he would meet with there.
"Thirty years has passed since the end of the war; this is the first-ever visit by a leader of a unified Vietnam to the United States," said Khai, who typically does not take questions from foreign media.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said they could not confirm the trip, and Vietnam's Foreign Ministry declined to provide additional details.
Khai's comments came a day before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick was expected to visit Vietnam to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the former foes.
The two countries have grown closer in the past decade in a number of areas, and rumblings of a prime ministerial visit to the U.S. have been circulating in Hanoi for months.
"The purpose of my visit to the United States is to elevate our relationship to a higher plane," Khai said during a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
In 2000, Bill Clinton became the first American president to visit Vietnam since the war ended in 1975. A year later, the countries signed a landmark trade deal that has grown far beyond both sides' expectations netting $6.44 billion in two-way trade last year.
Other high-level visits have also taken place, including Vietnam Defense Minister Pham Van Tra's historic meeting in November 2003 with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington. Tra became the first senior military official of Hanoi's government to visit the United States.
That same month, a U.S. Navy ship paid a port call to what is now called Ho Chi Minh City another first since the former U.S.-backed South Vietnam surrendered to communist forces on April 30, 1975. The 30th anniversary of that date was celebrated with red silk banners, a colorful parade and speeches over the weekend in the former Saigon.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said they could not confirm the trip, and Vietnam's Foreign Ministry declined to provide additional details.
Khai's comments came a day before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick was expected to visit Vietnam to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the former foes.
The two countries have grown closer in the past decade in a number of areas, and rumblings of a prime ministerial visit to the U.S. have been circulating in Hanoi for months.
"The purpose of my visit to the United States is to elevate our relationship to a higher plane," Khai said during a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
In 2000, Bill Clinton became the first American president to visit Vietnam since the war ended in 1975. A year later, the countries signed a landmark trade deal that has grown far beyond both sides' expectations netting $6.44 billion in two-way trade last year.
Other high-level visits have also taken place, including Vietnam Defense Minister Pham Van Tra's historic meeting in November 2003 with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington. Tra became the first senior military official of Hanoi's government to visit the United States.
That same month, a U.S. Navy ship paid a port call to what is now called Ho Chi Minh City another first since the former U.S.-backed South Vietnam surrendered to communist forces on April 30, 1975. The 30th anniversary of that date was celebrated with red silk banners, a colorful parade and speeches over the weekend in the former Saigon.
Last year, the State Department named Vietnam as one of the world's worst violators of religious freedom. Vietnam has recently released a handful of dissidents from jail but continues to detain and harass those who refuse to worship in Communist-approved churches.
The Agent Orange issue also continues to loom. A U.S. court recently dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by Vietnamese accusing American companies of war crimes for making the defoliant, used to destroy jungle cover for Vietnamese troops.
Washington insists there is not enough scientific evidence to link Agent Orange to health problems. The dispute scuttled a joint research project on the defoliant earlier this year after the two sides couldn't agree on parameters for the study.
By Margie Mason - The Associated Press - May 05, 2005.
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