Hillarysworld

Members Login

Post Info

TOPIC: Hillary's Vietnam Offensive (Global Post 10/29/10)

Jen the Michigander

SuperModerator

Status: Offline

Posts: 1788

Date: Oct 30, 2010

Hillary's Vietnam Offensive (Global Post 10/29/10)	Permalink

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/vietnam/101029/hillary-clinton-vietnam Hillary Clinton is back in Vietnam, again. This is the secretary of state's second visit in four months, itself following a high-level visit two weeks ago by Robert Gates, U.S. secretary of defense. This time Clinton is in town for the East Asia Summit. Clinton’s visit, which is her sixth to the region as America's chief diplomat, underscores the “forward deployed nature of U.S. re-engagement,” said Professor Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia. He said the interactions were at an “unparalleled level.” But that's not to say that the two countries don't still harbor some disagreements, especially over human rights, a potentially awkward topic for diplomacy. Just prior to the current summit, Vietnam arrested two bloggers and continued to hold a third after he had completed his two-and-a-half-year sentence. Three labor activists were also sentenced, one to nine years in jail. This is something Clinton will have to mention at the summit. Four months ago she brought up human rights issues and internet freedom. The U.S. embassy expressed its “concern” about the recent arrests in a note posted on its website on Oct. 27. “These actions … contradict Vietnam’ s own commitment to internationally accepted standards of human rights. We urge the government of Vietnam to release these individuals.” Condemning the actions of the host country will likely not go over well, and both sides know it. But especially in Vietnam, human rights issues are an integral part of U.S. diplomacy. For Clinton not to address these events would be an oversight. Clinton has previously mentioned that defense cooperation between the nations, still in an early phase, would likely not proceed without human rights improvements. Driving these concerns is a large Vietnamese-American population, which is especially outspoken about human rights abuses. The Vietnam Reform Party Viet Tan, which is banned in Vietnam, has its headquarters in the United States and pushes strongly for improvements on human rights and democracy. Forcing Clinton into a position where she must comment on human rights issues and thus threaten stronger ties would, some argue, help the pro-China faction. In terms of human rights, democracy and internet freedoms, the Vietnamese government has long watched China closely. Yet despite their similarities in dealing with dissent, the Vietnamese also harbor deep distrust of their large neighbor to the north. China occupied Vietnam for over a thousand years, and the nations last fought a war in 1979 on the border they share. Indeed, analysts regard warmer U.S.-Vietnam ties as the result, in part, of a mutual interest in containing China. In recent months, the U.S. has come to Vietnam's defense diplomatically, standing up to China's increased assertiveness in the long-standing dispute over possession of the oil-rich Spratly and Paracel archipelagos. Vietnam and China (as well as the Philippines and Indonesia) claim overlapping territories among these South China Sea islands. __________________ Nobody puts THIS baby in the corner!

Page 1 of 1 sorted by

Tweet this page

Post to Digg

Post to Del.icio.us

Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse