Defense News: Vietnamese Leader Predicts Closer USA Military Ties

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is blasting President Barack Obama for hosting the leader of Vietnam’s Communist Party at the White House on Tuesday despite that nation’s continuing human rights violations. As the Washington Post noted, it is rare for the president to welcome at the White House a foreign leader who is not the head of state or head of government. “That will create more potential for their bilateral relationship”. Trade is their biggest success, with Vietnam in the past two years becoming the US’ largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. It is not impossible to imagine, in a decade or so, that Hanoi and Washington would become treaty allies.

Trong said he hoped that with the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which both countries are part of, US investment in Vietnam, which he characterized as “modest” at present, would increase.

The State Department official said that Washington wanted to see more progress on human rights before going any further.

Ex- adversaries the United States and Vietnam are moving beyond their wartime history and forging ahead on security and trade cooperation in a region where some nations are wary of China’s rise. But a shared strategic concern over China is drawing them closer.

Trong said Vietnam wants to promote and protect the human rights of all people, including the poor and those in mountainous areas, but added that the rights of each individual must be put in the context of the wider community.

“The challenge for the Obama administration is figuring out how to deepen the current diplomatic relationship – with an unelected regime – while pursuing an agenda that’s in the long-term interests of both the American and Vietnamese people”, the statement said.

In addition, USA arms sales to Vietnam, allowed previous year, are likely to be expanded.

“We recommend that you bring attention to the mistreatment of political and religious prisoners in Vietnam – especially those serving long prison sentences for their peaceful expression and political advocacy”, they wrote, adding a list of bloggers and other prisoners that ought to be released. But the lobbying appeared to have only a limited effect.

Obama’s meeting with Trọng – during which the president promised to visit Vietnam “some time in the future” – was laden with symbolism for the two countries, which were embroiled in a bitter war a generation ago.

The United States and Vietnam should look to boost their defense and economic ties, the leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party said today in a policy speech delivered in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has indicated a desire to ease the sale of weapons to Vietnam.

Technology sharing would benefit his country in the oil and gas exploration fields, Trong said, but also in the realm of military and security. President Xi Jinping’s trip to the U.S. in September is key to determining the direction. Opinions expressed on CFR blogs are exclusively those of the author or commenter, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.