US official holds talks on religious freedom in Vietnam

 

Fri Aug 18, 2006

HANOI (AFP) - An American diplomat has met with Vietnamese leaders to discuss religious freedom in the communist nation, one of the few remaining clouds over bilateral ties, officials said.

The US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom John Hanford spoke with several government leaders including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem, state media said.

A spokesman at the American embassy confirmed Hanford would be in Vietnam until Friday evening. "He had meetings with senior officials and these meetings are going well," he said without elaborating.

Vietnam is on the US State Department's blacklist of countries of "particular concern" for violating religious freedoms, a status which could ultimately lead to economic sanctions.

The list is renewed annually and the State Department is expected to publish an update in coming weeks.

"Vietnam and the US emphasized the need for further negotiations to solve differences in religious viewpoints and other issues in the interest of the two countries," the official Vietnam News Agency said.

It quoted Khiem as saying that "negotiations should continue in an effort to avoid any adverse effects to diminish relations between the two countries".

The US said last year that Vietnam had begun easing religious restrictions as part of a bilateral accord.

Vietnam remained on the blacklist, however, despite Hanoi's claims that freedom of religion was constitutionally guaranteed.

Bilateral ties have vastly improved between the former wartime enemies. Vietnam is currently lobbying Congress hard for permanent normal trading relations (PNTR) status, which would ease its accession to the World Trade Organization.

Some US politicians have said they want to link PNTR to the human rights and religious situation in Vietnam.

 

 

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