Bush, Vietnam leader sign religious accord

Military ties improve
After his discussions with Bush, Khai planned to meet with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Military ties between the two countries have included periodic docking of U.S. warships in Vietnam and plans for U.S. military training of Vietnamese officers. Intelligence sharing and cooperation on counterterrorism activities also are part of the mix.

Khai told the Washington Post in an interview before leaving Hanoi that the two countries will announce Vietnam’s modest new participation in the Pentagon’s International Military Education and Training program.

IMET provides funds for foreign military officers to attend senior defense colleges in America and to send U.S. training teams to other countries to provide guidance in military resources management and civilian-military affairs.

“Exchanges of officers, more high-level visits from senior defense officials on both sides, and development of practical areas for (security) cooperation are areas in which we expect to see growth in the near term,” Navy Lt. Cmdr. Greg Hicks, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

Congress must approve funding for the program and human rights are likely to be an issue.

Boeing, Microsoft visits
After he arrived in the United States on Sunday, the Vietnamese leader stopped at Boeing Co.’s plant south of Seattle to oversee the purchase of four 787 airliners by Vietnam Airlines.

Elaine Thompson / AP Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates Monday at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

On Monday, Khai met with Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)

The two announced that they had signed two memoranda of understanding, to train and develop more Vietnamese information technology companies and to offer computer and software training to more than 50,000 teachers.

In the 10 years since diplomatic ties were restored after the Vietnam War, the United States has become Vietnam’s top trading partner. Last year, two-way trade was worth $6.4 billion.

Human rights concerns
While Khai will want to talk about business, Bush is being pressured by human rights groups and some members of Congress to link any trade concessions with improvements in Vietnam’s human rights record. “There are some steps that have been taken by Vietnam, but there are concerns that remain,” McClellan said Monday.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says it has documented cases of abuses by the communist government, including the arrests of dissidents for promoting democracy or human rights. In Seattle, Khai was greeted by demonstrators who shouted “Down with communists!” and called for an end to political and religious persecution.

During Sunday’s demonstration, Nhien Le, a former officer in the South Vietnamese Air Force, said his fellow demonstrators hoped their presence would let Khai know that Vietnamese Americans want him to address human-rights abuses in Vietnam.

MIAs still an issue
Bush and Khai also are expected to deepen joint efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting for Americans who remain missing from the Vietnam War. Veterans groups and families of servicemen still missing in Indochina criticized the Republican-controlled Congress back in 1995 when President Clinton took steps to restoring relations between the once bitter enemies.

Khai’s visit this week has not prompted any of that opposition, in part because Vietnam is cooperating in the search for U.S. service members.

“I want to thank the prime minister for his government’s willingness to continue to work on finding the remains of those who lost their lives in Vietnam,” Bush said after the meeting Tuesday. “It’s very comforting to many families here in America to understand that the government is providing information to help close a sad chapter in their lives.”

Also Tuesday, officials from the two countries will sign an agreement at the State Department to cooperate on adoptions.

After Washington, Khai is to travel to Massachusetts, where he will visit the presidents of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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