US envoy says ties with Vietnam strong, getting stronger
HANOI - US ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine said the US-Vietnam relationship was "strong and getting stronger" but that there remained concerns on human rights. Talking to reporters a little more than a fortnight before the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, Marine said the ties had been "growing steadily if not dramatically over the past 10 years on a whole wide range of fronts."
He did not directly confirm reports that Vietnam's prime minister could visit the United States before summer, in what would be the first such official tour since the end of the Vietnam War. However, he said "there are discussions about a senior level visit by the Vietnamese side to the United States this year. Both sides are working hard to make that possible." A trip by Premier Phan Van Khai would be historic and mark 10 years since the former foes resumed diplomatic ties.
As the relations grow broader and deeper, there are still areas of disagreement and concern, Marine said, mentioning human rights and religious freedoms as core issues of interest to the United States. The US State Department last year classified Vietnam as a "country of particular concern" for violating religious freedoms. There are differences in defining the issues, Marine said, adding "we're going to have to spend time talking about these issues. We need to do that in a constructive way and we are doing it. "But my overall assessment of the relationship is one that is strong and getting stronger," he said.
Marine said 2005 would be a "very good year for US exports to Vietnam" and that the "numbers will be pretty dramatic" particularly as some expected aircraft deals go through. Leaving aside aircraft sales, there was a 28 percent rise in US exports to Vietnam in 2004, he said, calling it "very, very significant." US exports were becoming broader and entering many new sectors, he noted.
On the Vietnamese side too, although sales to the United States are not growing by 80 percent as they did in 2002-2003, they still grew by 16 percent and were becoming broader based, he said. "Having Vietnam succeed in joining the WTO will open up greater potential for both sides," Marine said. On the issue of Agent Orange, he complained there was a "lot of misinformation in the Vietnamese press" and that "false science" was being touted in the country.
Lawyers representing millions of Vietnamese who say they were harmed by the herbicide Agent Orange, filed a formal appeal last Friday against the dismissal of their case last month by a US federal judge in New York. The appeal challenges a March 10 ruling of a district judge that the lawsuit was without basis. The lawsuit accused US chemical companies -- including Monsanto, Dow Chemical and Hercules Inc. -- of committing crimes against humanity for supplying the highly toxic defoliant. Agent Orange was used by the US Army during the Vietnam War to clear the jungle and prevent enemy forces from being able to use the dense foliage for cover.
Agence France Presse - April 13, 2005
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