Viet Nam pledges to improve human rights

Viet Nam has pledged to strengthen ties with the United States and to improve its human rights record, Agence France -Presse reported on Saturday.

“We have differences, but for the sake of future development of relations, we have to tackle the differences, try to find a good solution with wisdom,” said the new Vietnamese envoy to Washington, Le Cong Phung, speaking at a press conference following his meeting with President Bush.

As the article notes, the U.S. House of Representatives was “angered by what it sees as a breach of promise by Hanoi to embrace reforms when it joined the World Trade Organization more than a year ago,” and has passed binding legislation that will tie U.S. foreign aid to Viet Nam to its human rights record.

Vietnamese Americans and human rights groups, including LCHR, continue to campaign for lawmakers to exert greater pressure on Viet Nam to improve its human rights situation.

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