HILLARY IN ASIA: PLEASE SEE MY PREDICTION
MADAME CLINTON IS ENCOURAGING AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF PRESS COVERAGE FOR HER ASIA TOUR…..SHE SEES OBAMA’S SWOONING NUMBERS, IS BURNISHING HER “GRAVITAS” AND EXPERIENCE AND POSSIBLY PREPARING TO ENTER THE RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2010….IN A CHALLENGE TO THE PREZ AND THE GOP…..WHEN CONDI RICE OR MADELEINE ALBRIGHT DID THEIR “TOURS D’HORIZON” THEY DID NOT GET THIS MUCH INTEREST FROM THE MEDIA…..RSK
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575382374165373024.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_world
By JAY SOLOMON
HANOI—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the advancement of U.S.-Vietnam relations as a model for reconciliation among former wartime foes during her first visit to Hanoi as Washington’s chief diplomat.
But the former First Lady was blunt Thursday in pressing the Southeast Asian country to improve its respect for human rights amid signs its communist leaders are intensifying a crackdown on democracy advocates, Internet bloggers and religious leaders.
“It is true that profound differences exist, particularly over the question of political freedoms,” Mrs. Clinton told a luncheon on Thursday honoring the restoration of U.S.-Vietnam relations 15 years ago. “The United States will continue to urge Vietnam to strengthen its commitment to human rights and give its people an even greater say over the direction of their own lives.”
Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, appearing alongside Mrs. Clinton at a press event earlier Thursday, praised U.S.-Vietnam cooperation on a growing range of bilateral issues. But the politburo member and deputy prime minister pushed back on Washington’s criticism of Hanoi’s s respect for civil liberties, saying countries develop on different paths.
“Human rights have common values but … it depends a lot on the cultural and historical background,” Mr. Khiem told reporters gathered at Hanoi’s Foreign Ministry. “Human rights can not be imposed from the outside.”
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers pressed Mrs. Clinton in a letter this month to publicly raise Hanoi’s human-rights record during her two-day visit. Democracy advocates charge the Vietnamese leadership is cracking down on the Internet, jailing prominent dissidents and suppressing religious freedoms.
Clinton Tours Asia
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Reuters
Mrs. Clinton is visiting Hanoi both to meet Vietnamese leaders and to take part in a regional security conference involving Southeast Asian counties, China and Japan. It’s her first visit to Hanoi since she accompanied her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, on a tour of Vietnam in 2000.
Mr. Clinton restored diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1995 in one of his administration’s signature foreign-policy achievements. More than 50,000 Americans, and an estimated one million Vietnamese, died during the decade-long Vietnam war that ended in 1975.
Mrs. Clinton, despite her remarks on Hanoi’s human-right record, lauded Vietnam’s economic growth and its commitment to cooperating with Washington on key financial, strategic and environmental issues. She visited an AIDS clinic funded by the U.S. government in Hanoi and was scheduled to take part in a regional development forum later in the day.
“We have learned to see each other not as former enemies but as actual and potential partners, colleagues and friends,” she said in referring to the improving U.S-Vietnam relationship. “We will continue to choose engagement and cooperation over escalation and division.”
Bilateral trade between the U.S. and Vietnam has blossomed in recent years and stood at over $15 billion in 2009. The Southeast Asian country is the U.S.’s second-largest supplier of clothing.
Issues related to the Vietnam War, however, continue to impact the relationship. A Vietnamese journalist Thursday pushed Mrs. Clinton to do more to address the continuing health effects on the Vietnamese people from the 11 million gallons of Agent Orange and other toxins dropped on South Vietnam from 1962-1971.
“We have been working with Vietnam for about nine years to try to remedy the effects of Agent Orange,” Mrs. Clinton said. “[We plan to} increase our cooperation and make even greater progress together.”
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