WTO tops Vietnam's U.S. agenda
WASHINGTON - At a meeting Tuesday that marks a decade of normalized relations between once-bitter enemies, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai of Vietnam was expected to ask President George W. Bush to help his country join the World Trade Organization, while Bush was likely to raise concerns about human rights abuses.
The Vietnamese leader was scheduled to meet with Bush in the Oval Office on Tuesday during a weeklong visit to the United States, where he was meeting with business leaders on both coasts. He was even scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange - evidence of Vietnam's economic evolution over the years.
"The United States strongly supports Vietnam's integration into the world economic community and its bid to join the World Trade Organization," Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, said Monday. Referring to the Oval Office meeting, he added, "They will also use this as an opportunity to work to address religious freedom and human rights concerns."
After his discussions with Bush, Khai planned to meet with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Military ties between the two countries have included periodic docking of U.S. warships in Vietnam and plans for U.S. military training of Vietnamese officers. Intelligence sharing and cooperation on counterterrorism activities were also to be discussed.
In the 10 years since diplomatic ties, severed after the Vietnam War, were restored, the United States has become Vietnam's top trading partner. Last year, bilateral trade was worth $6.4 billion.
After he arrived in the United States on Sunday for the first visit by a Vietnamese leader since the end of the war in 1975, Khai stopped at Boeing's plant near Seattle to oversee the purchase of four 787 airliners by Vietnam Airlines.
On Monday, Khai met with Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. They announced that they had signed memoranda of understanding to train and develop more Vietnamese information technology companies and to offer computer and software training to more than 50,000 teachers.
Human rights groups and some members of Congress are pressuring Bush to link trade concessions with improvements in Vietnam's rights record.
The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch says it has documented cases of abuses by the Vietnamese government, including the arrests of dissidents for promoting democracy or human rights. In Seattle, Khai was greeted by demonstrators who shouted, "Down with Communists!" and called for an end to political and religious persecution.
Bush and Khai are also expected to deepen joint efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting of Americans who remain missing 30 years after the end of the war.
On Wednesday, Khai is scheduled to visit Senator John McCain, a former U.S. Navy pilot who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down over Vietnam.
The Associated Press - June 22, 2005.
Gates, Vietnamese prime minister talk piracy
Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai pledged to combat software piracy during talks with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Monday as he became the most senior official of the communist state to visit the United States since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago.
Khai signed two agreements committing Vietnam to work with Microsoft in curbing theft of intellectual-property rights and removing licensing barriers for used computers donated to schools, said Microsoft spokeswoman Tami Begasse.
The Business Software Alliance, a Washington-based lobby group, estimates that 92 percent of the software used in Vietnam in 2004 was pirated, the highest rate in the world.
Gates said users in Vietnam had downloaded a Vietnamese language package to work on Windows XP and Office 2003 more than 18,000 times since its introduction in March--something he said made Microsoft rededicate its commitment to Vietnam.
Khai's stop in Seattle was the first in a four-city tour that includes a meeting on Tuesday with President Bush in Washington.
In Washington, the White House said the United States was eager to advance Vietnam's bid to join the World Trade Organization. Hanoi's goal is to join the WTO at the group's next ministerial meeting in December in Hong Kong.
"The United States strongly supports Vietnam's integration into the world economic community and its bid to join the World Trade Organization," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Since Washington and Hanoi restored diplomatic links in 1995, two-way trade has rocketed from just $451 million to $6.4 billion in 2004. The United States became Vietnam's most important commercial partner after the signing of a bilateral trade pact in 2001.
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Seattle against Khai's visit Sunday to protest against Vietnam's human rights record. Vietnamese exiles, religious activists and ethnic minority opponents of Hanoi also plan rallies in Washington.
Microsoft spokeswoman Begasse said there were no protests at the software maker's campus.
Khai will also travel to Boston and New York on a trip that coincides with the 10th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties frozen after the end of "The American War," as it is known to Vietnamese.
Vietnam is also expected to sign a contract to buy four Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" planes, worth about $500 million, during Khai's visit.
Despite growing commercial ties, differences remain between the two nations, in particular over U.S. criticism of Vietnam's record on human rights and religious freedom, and Washington's refusal to compensate thousands of Vietnamese victims of wartime chemical weapons such as Agent Orange.
Reuters - June 21, 2005.
Bush to press Vietnamese PM on human rights
WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush will press Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai to improve his country's human rights record, the White House said on the eve of their landmark talks.
'This will be an opportunity to talk about religious freedom and human rights concerns as well. There are some steps that have been taken by Vietnam, but there are concerns that remain,' said spokesman Scott McClellan, according to Agence France-Presse.
When Bush welcomes Khai here today, Vietnamese-American groups will hold demonstrations in front of the White House to protest alleged political and religious persecution in communist-ruled Vietnam, organizers said.
In Seattle, the first stop of Khai's week-long US trip, hundreds of Vietnamese-Americans demonstrated in front of his hotel Sunday.
He is the first Vietnamese government leader to visit the United States since the end of the Vietnam war and Khai's visit culminates a series of reconciliation moves since the end of the bloody Vietnam War 30 years ago.
As Khai arrived in Washington Monday from Seattle, Congress held a hearing on alleged human rights violations in Vietnam.
Bush has been besieged by letters from lawmakers, and human rights and media organizations, highlighting the need for democratic reforms and respect for human rights in Vietnam.
AFX News Limited - June 21, 2005.
|