Obama to host head of Vietnam communist party

[khongquan2]

Obama to host head of Vietnam communist party

AFP By Andrew Beatty with Jerome Cartillier
Source: "http://news.yahoo.com"

Vietnam Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong

Washington (AFP) - The head of Vietnam's Communist Party will make a first-ever visit to the White House next week, meeting President Barack Obama on the 40th anniversary of the end of the war between the two nations.

The landmark trip underscores strengthening ties between the former wartime enemies amid regional maritime tensions involving China.

Nguyen Phu Trong will become the first General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party to visit the United States and the White House, diplomats and officials said.

Obama and Trong will hold talks Tuesday and discuss ways to improve ties that were normalized 20 years ago, the White House said Friday.

Trong -- who heads the ruling party but has no formal government position -- will be hosted in the Oval Office, an administration official said.

That is an uncommon honor for someone who is not the head of state or government.

"The president also welcomes the opportunity to discuss other issues, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, human rights, and bilateral defense cooperation," the White House said in a statement.

Trong's visit will address economic integration and send a pointed message to Beijing, Vietnamese economist Bui Kien Thanh told AFP in Hanoi.

Vietnam is eager to attract investment and is part of ongoing negotiations over the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, an American-led trade deal among a dozen Pacific nations.

The visit "is essential for Vietnam to project the image of closer ties with the US," Thanh said, but warned Hanoi should be careful of China's reaction.

"To live next door to a tiger is a very delicate situation," he added.

The TPP is a major Pacific regional trade accord being negotiated among 12 countries that do not include China. It is, in fact, meant to offset the growing economic might of China.

It has been 40 years since Viet Cong fighters and the North Vietnamese army won control of South Vietnam, humiliating the world's pre-eminent superpower and ending a war that defined both nations.

Trong is getting VIP treatment even though he has no government role. He is the authoritarian country's most senior politician, although not the most powerful.

"He is the senior person in the Vietnamese leadership, and there was broad agreement that it made sense to treat the visit as a visit from the top leader of the country," a senior State Department official said.

"It's not a typical meeting for the president, certainly."

Josh Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations called the visit "significant," telling AFP: "It adds to the growing closeness between the US and Vietnam."

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic ties after a 19-year war that left a still unknown number of dead.

-- Deeper ties --

The reconciling Cold War foes are now building deeper trade, military and political ties, spurred on by a desire to limit China's regional clout.

Beijing's more assertive stance on territorial claims in the South China Sea -- including deploying military equipment to the disputed Spratly Islands, claimed in part by Vietnam -- has only deepened the belief that Washington and Hanoi must work together.

The State Department official said the visit would seek to "add momentum in the relationship."

Trade, as well as the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, will be on the agenda, along with the thorny issue of human rights, the official said.

Vietnam is looking for a full lifting of the US ban on weapons sales, and is hoping to purchase surveillance equipment and patrol boats to help defend its waters.

Vietnamese military spending has increased dramatically in the last decade, by 130 percent since 2005, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

But current US laws bar the sale of lethal weapons to Hanoi, and there are concerns in Congress that arms.

[khongquan2]

Obama talks trade, security issues with Vietnam's general secretary

Obama talks trade, security issues with Vietnam's general secretary

By Athena Jones, CNN
Updated 2:06 PM ET, Tue July 7, 2015

US President Barack Obama and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong shake hands

Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed the progress made in American-Vietnamese relations after a meeting with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of Vietnam's communist party.

The White House called the meeting "historic," taking place as the two countries celebrate the 20th anniversary of normalized relations. The pair discussed trade, climate change and plans to cooperate on defense issues. Trong invited Obama to visit Vietnam and the President said he would make the trip at some point.

Obama spoke about the "remarkable progress" that has taken place between the two countries over the past two decades, while also acknowledging the "difficult history" between the two countries.

"There continue to be significant differences in political philosophy and political systems between our two countries," the President said. "But because, I think, of the efforts of leaders in both parties here in the United States as well as the leadership in Vietnam over successive years, what we've seen is the emergence of a constructive relationship that is based on mutual respect and that has benefited the peoples of both countries."

Trong said through a translator that such a meeting would have seemed unimaginable 20 years ago.

"What is important is former enemies transformed to partners," he said, adding that the "relationship will continue to grow."

Obama cited the work the two countries have done in issues ranging from education to public health to security issues, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, also known as TPP, trade agreement.

Vietnam is one of a dozen countries in the TPP, a trade agreement the White House sees as a key legacy issue for the President because it will open more markets to U.S. products and help increase the administration's influence in the region as a counterweight to a rising China. China and Vietnam have been at odds over maritime claims in the South China Sea, with China building islands in waters also claimed by Vietnam.

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran, said in a statement that Congress is working to authorize $425 million for the Department of Defense to help train and equip armed forces in southeast Asian countries to build their maritime capacity to counter China's rise.

"Additionally, I believe the United States must further ease the prohibition on the sale of lethal military equipment to Vietnam at this time, including all platforms that facilitate the Vietnamese armed forces' ability to operate more effectively on, above, and within its territorial waters," McCain said.

Criticism over human rights

The meeting also came amid complaints by human rights activists and members of Congress who say Vietnam has not made enough progress in releasing political prisoners and improving labor rights, an issue the two leaders also discussed.

Obama said he and Trong "discussed candidly some of our differences around issues of human rights," adding that he was confident that the tensions could be resolved diplomatically.

In his statement, McCain said that efforts to lift the prohibition on the sale of lethal military equipment to Vietnam would have to coincide with an improved human rights record in the country and the release of political prisoners. And on Monday, nine members of Congress sent the President a letter saying that while they "welcome warmer ties with the people of Vietnam and recognize the economic and security potential of that country," they believe human rights should be at the forefront of the relationship between the two countries.

The bipartisan group pointed to a finding by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Vietnam continues to systematically arrest and detain social and political activists in violation of international law.

"As the list of detained Vietnamese bloggers and prisoners of conscience gets longer and longer, it is more important than ever that the United States sends a clear message to the Hanoi authorities that respect for human rights is essential for a closer economic and security relationship," the letter said.

The letter called on Obama to bring attention to the mistreatment of political and religious prisoners and to urge Trong to immediately release several prominent activists.

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."

Congressional leaders plan to hold a ceremony Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, in which nearly 60,000 Americans were killed. House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will take part in the event.


CNN's Angie Yack and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.
Source: "http://www.cnn.com"