Monday, January 23, 2012

Vietnam needs 'rights progress' for US weapons

Il semble clairement que Hanoi profite activement des tensions croissantes en mer de Chine du Sud pour accéder aux ressources technologiques militaires étrangères, notamment d’origine américaine.

Est-ce que c’est pour faire à son géant voisin chinois ou bien c’est pour préparer en douce un autre saut expansionniste en Asie du Sud Est en manoeuvrant entre les rivalités géopolitiques entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis ?
----
It seems clearly that Hanoi actively wants to take advantages from the growing tensions in South China sea in order to access advanced foreign military technological resources, especially from US.

Is it to face with its powerful Chinese neighbor or to secretly prepare for another expansionist leap in Southeast Asia by maneuvering between China-US geopolitical rivalries ?

Regards

Kith Chamroeun
22 January 2012
AFP

BANGKOK — The United States will not sell lethal weapons to Vietnam until it reverses the "backward movement" in its human rights situation, US Senators including John McCain said Saturday.

Following a visit to the communist Southeast Asian nation, McCain told reporters in Bangkok that Hanoi had a "long long list" of arms it would like to buy.

But the US delegation "specifically stated to the Vietnamese that our security relationship will be directly impacted by the human rights issues", said McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"There has not been progress on human rights issues, in fact there has been some backward movement on it."


Senator Joe Lieberman added that approval from US Congress was necessary for ally Vietnam to get "lethal" weapons specifically.

"There's certain weapons systems that the Vietnamese would like to buy from us or receive from us and we'd like to be able to transfer these systems to them, but it's not going to happen unless they improve their human rights record," he said.

Rights groups say dozens of peaceful political critics and campaigners have been sentenced to long prison terms since Vietnam launched a crackdown in late 2009, despite Hanoi's stance that its rights record is improving.

Vietnam has been seeking greater exchanges with the United States amid high tensions with China, particularly over disputes in the South China Sea.

The senators spoke ahead of a trip to Myanmar, where they will be looking into dramatic reforms by the nominally civilian government in recent months.

These include the release this month of hundreds of political prisoners, leading US President Barack Obama to call for the resumption of full diplomatic ties.

McCain said US would likely begin to lift sanctions on the country if by-elections held in April were free and fair, but he expressed caution over the pace of change in the country that saw military rule for nearly 50 years.

"It seems to me that we ought to put a pause on things, see what happens and evaluate the situation and then act accordingly. Let's not rush into judgments that we may regret later on," he said.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

USA SHOULD NOT TEACH OR TRAIN THE CROCODILE TO SWIM,OR THE STATES WILL BE EMBARRASS and loosing times$$$$$$$$once again

Anonymous said...

To 1:42am

The USA shouldn't be embarrassed by Vietnam no more...Even if the USA was able to sell those lethal weapons to Vietnam and the Vietnamese army can't do shit to China like Taiwan! In fact Taiwan is far more advance and prosper in buying power for USA lethal weapons to deter China but even Taiwan still can't do shit to China!

I wouldn't be surprised if Vietnamese army are trying to use those USA lethal weapon on Cambodia!

By the way at the end of the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese army were using those Russian, Chinese, American surplus weapons to invade Cambodia in 1979!

Anonymous said...

for those of us who observe and study and have open mind about what's going in the world all around us, it is so true that human rights in vietnam is and was the worst kind compare to cambodia, etc... it seemed like vietnam gov't ignored this human rights issues more than they ignore their economic growth. that's why it is important for the US gov't to put depress on vietnam to do something about their human rights record. vietnam abuses their minorities such khmer krom people, hilltribe people, the chinese minority there, etc, etc... it is good that the US pointed this out to vietnam if vietnam wanted to buy stuff from america, really! the US must put pressure on vietnam's human rights record. cambodia's human rights record is way better compare to vietnam's human rights, you know!

Anonymous said...

if vietnam can improve their human rights record, i think cambodia will follow suite, although cambodia recent record is way better compare to vietnam.

Anonymous said...

You don't need to buy the weapon directly from the US. Ther are plenty of weapon dealers in the world and all you need is money !

The US itself is still having issue with the war in Afghanistan.

Who did design those IED ???

Winner and losser of the war is depend on two front : Battle front and Political front you need to win both front !