WASHINGTON - THE nominee to be the next US ambassador to Vietnam on Wednesday saluted warming relations between the former enemies but said the communist nation needed to improve human rights for fuller ties.
Mr David Shear, a veteran diplomat in Asia, pledged in a Senate confirmation hearing to make sure 'our relationship with Vietnam is among the most successful in the East Asian region'.
Quoting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mr Shear said that the United States and Vietnam 'have reached a level of cooperation that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.'
But Mr Shear said there 'remains a deep concern about the imprisonment of dissidents, restrictions on the media and the Internet and the harassment of religious groups'.
'Vietnam will not realise its full potential without greater respect for human rights, and its troubling record in this area could limit the growth of our relationship,' he said. He pledged that he would 'make human rights and religious freedom a central part of my conversations with Vietnam's leaders and with the Vietnamese people.'
Most recently, the United States raised concerns over the sentencing of prominent Vietnamese dissident Cu Huy Ha Vu, the son of a revolutionary leader, who got into trouble over his writings and interviews with foreign media. -- AFP
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