US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday urged Vietnam to improve its human rights record and pledged greater cooperation in dealing with the lingering impact of Agent Orange from the Vietnam War.
In Hanoi for events marking the 15th anniversary of normalized US-Vietnam relations, Clinton said: “Vietnam, with its extraordinary, dynamic population, is on the path to becoming a great nation with an unlimited potential.”
However, she said: “That is among the reasons we expressed concern about arrest and conviction of people for peaceful dissent, attacks on religious groups and curbs on Internet freedom.”
Clinton also promised to continue working with Vietnam on the consequences of Agent Orange.
Between 1962 and 1971, the US military sprayed roughly 41.6 million liters of Agent Orange across large swaths of southern Vietnam. Dioxin, a toxic chemical used in the herbicide, has been linked to cancers, birth defects and other ailments.
Vietnam says as many as 4 million of its citizens were exposed to the herbicide and as many as 3 million have suffered illnesses caused by it.
“We have been working with Vietnam for about nine years to try to remedy the effects of Agent Orange,” Clinton said during a joint press conference with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.
She promised to “increase our cooperation and make even greater progress together.”
Later, at a lunch hosted by the local American Chamber of Commerce, Clinton raised human rights again.
“It is true that profound differences exist, particularly over the question of political freedoms,” she said. “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.”
At the same time, however, Clinton said the US did not see its relationship with Vietnam as rooted in differences or in memories of the past.
“We have learned to see each other not as former enemies, but as actual and potential partners, colleagues and friends,” she said. “We will continue to choose engagement and cooperation over escalation and division.”
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