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Bush promises aid for the Philippines, praises Vietnam

US President George W. Bush unveiled new aid for the typhoon-battered Philippines and praised Vietnam’s “noteworthy” progress on religious freedom in talks on Tuesday with their visiting leaders.

Bush offered “deep condolences” to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo over devastating Typhoon Fengshen and said he was sending a US aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, and other US Navy resources to help with relief efforts.

“This is a time where America needs to step up, and we will,” he told her as they met in the Oval Office. “We are happy to do it, we want to help our friends in a time of need.”

Arroyo, whose popularity is the lowest in three years as soaring prices slow growth and slash incomes, spoke in Filipino, which was not translated.

Afterwards, Bush joked: “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Later, he met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, praising Vietnam’s “noteworthy” progress on religious freedoms amid a flurry of US-Vietnam trade deals and vows of closer cooperation on issues like climate change.

“We talked about freedom, religious and political freedom,” Bush said. “And I told the prime minister that I thought the strides the government is making towards religious freedom is noteworthy and I appreciated the efforts that he and his government are making.”

Dung, speaking through an interpreter, made no mention of rights among the issues they had discussed and said Bush had “reiterated his support for Vietnam’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”

Bush’s upbeat tone seemed to clash with the US State Department’s assessment on the human rights picture in Vietnam last year, which cited reports of limits on religious meetings and celebrations and the publication of religious texts.

“Overall respect for religious freedom improved during the year, but the government persisted in placing restrictions on the political activities of religious groups,” said the report, which was published in March.

Dung said he and Bush had agreed to bolster cooperation on economic, education, environment, science, defense and security issues.
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