Missed chance to push Vietnam on reforms
War is now three decades behind the United States and Vietnam and the one-time enemies are now acting like allies. The handshakes and smiles when President George W. Bush met Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Washington on Tuesday spoke volumes for how far the nations have come.
Mr Khai was the highest-ranking Vietnamese official to set foot in the US since the end of the war. In effect, he was approving the relationship, which Mr Bush will finally seal when he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Vietnam next year.
The growing ties have been driven by economics. The US is Vietnam's biggest trading partner and two-way trade last year was valued at US$6.4 billion. But the surest sign that the sides are moving closer is expanding military co-operation. At present it centres mainly on the periodic docking of American warships in Vietnam, but there are plans to extend it to US training of Vietnamese officers, intelligence sharing and co-operation on counter-terrorism activities.
That is remarkable given that the Vietnam war was the US' most embarrassing military defeat, prompting much soul-searching. The conflict took a massive human toll, killing nearly 60,000 American and 224,000 South Vietnamese soldiers, 1.1 million communist fighters and about 2 million civilians.
Mr Bush praised Mr Khai for his country's efforts to find the remains of US soldiers and affirmed he would help Vietnam's efforts to join the World Trade Organisation. It is a tribute to both nations' diplomatic skills that relations have progressed so smoothly and moved so far.
There is a cost, though, being paid by ordinary Vietnamese and all but ignored by the US for the sake of economic and strategic advantage. The US government has persistently rejected Vietnamese calls for compensation for the effects of the chemical defoliant that is known as Agent Orange, used extensively during the war and responsible for thousands of people suffering debilitating birth defects and illnesses.
But Vietnam's 80 million people are also at the mercy of their own government, which refuses to allow them basic human rights. Mr Bush spoke in noticeably muted terms on that issue on Tuesday, despite often portraying himself as a fighter for democratic reforms.
Human rights groups point to the Vietnamese government's lack of democratic reforms, refusal to loosen its grip on the media, arrests of political opponents and critics, intolerance of religions not officially sanctioned and continuing oppression of ethnic minorities.
Improving economics alone will not create reforms - that will only come about if influential governments voice disapproval and withhold incentives. For now, the US is not doing that vigorously enough with Vietnam, a situation belying its supposed dedication to freedom.
