Bush praises Vietnamese PM for progress on religious freedom

Trade and religious freedom were both high on the agenda Tuesday as President Bush met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the White House, The Washington Post reported the next day.

In recent years, Washington’s efforts to push Hanoi on human rights have been tempered by a desire to open the communist country to U.S. trade.

While human rights groups have been critical of the Vietnamese government for its tight grip on religious expression, Bush took a different tone Tuesday. “I told the prime minister that I thought the strides the government is making towards religious freedom is noteworthy,” he said.

The article adds that the two leaders “agreed to launch negotiations for a bilateral investment agreement, to increase high-level talks on other issues, and to establish a task force to increase educational ties between the two countries.”

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