VOA慢速英語: 奧巴馬會見越南領導人

The head of Vietnam’s Communist Party visited with President BarackObama at the White House Tuesday. Nguyen Phu Trong met with thepresident and spoke to reporters after the meeting. Mr. Nguyen also invitedPresident Obama to visit Vietnam.

President Barack Obama, right, meets with Vietnamese Communist party secretary general Nguyen Phu Trong in the Oval Office of the White House, on Tuesday, July 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Mr. Obama said the two countries had made notable progress in the last 20years. He said there were strong difference between the political philosophiesof the two countries and “there remain differences in the bilateralrelationship.”

Among those difference, he said, were human rights and freedom of religion.

Vietnamese-American activists protested the visit by Mr. Nguyen calling for the U.S. to press for more human rights and democracy in Vietnam.

Recognizing the difficult history

After the meeting, both men noted the difficult history the U.S. and Vietnamshare.

The visit comes not long after the 40th anniversary of the end of the VietnamWar. The two countries normalized relations 20 years ago. And the U.S. stillbans weapons sales to the Southeast Asian nation.

However, the president said diplomatic discussions and steps taken by bothcountries and within organizations such as ASEAN could lead to betterrelations.

The president added that efforts by leaders of both parties in the United Statesand leadership in Vietnam have led to a relationship of mutual respect thathelps both countries.

Earlier, Nguyen Phu Trong called his meeting at the White House “historic” and said he hoped to build trust with the U.S.

After the meeting, he said his discussion with Mr. Obama had been “frank.” But he said what was important was that the countries had gone from beingenemies to friends and partners.

Former enemies are now partners

The U.S. and Vietnam have been moving closer together because of tensionsin the South China Sea. Vietnam has conflicting territorial claims with China in the western Pacific Ocean area. And China’s efforts to build bases on coralislands in the sea have raised international concerns over navigation in thearea.

Mr. Obama said after the meeting that he had discussed the importance ofsolving maritime disputes in a way that observes international law.

The two men also spoke about the Trans-Pacific Partnership free tradeagreement. Mr. Obama said the agreement would raise labor andenvironmental standards and would create significant job growth for people inboth countries.

Carl Thayer is a Southeast Asia expert. He says the U.S. is increasing itsengagement with the Asia-Pacific area. He says the two countries are slowly reaching agreement on some strategic interests including trade.

Mr. Thayer says the importance of the meeting is to help clarify the 2013Comprehensive Partnership reached when Vietnamese President Truong TanSang visited the White House two years ago.

He notes that the common issues of interest to the two sides are connected.Two such issues are the Trans Pacific Partnership and human rights.

“If Vietnam signs on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership it has to agree to moreindependent labor unions, which Vietnam doesn’t have, and greatertransparency. So, Vietnam does what they always do -- release a couple ofhigh-profile dissidents in advance of this meeting to earn some goodwill. Nonetheless, they will continue to arrest people, particularly in the politicalseason as they move up to their party congress (in 2016).”

Human rights activists believe it is too soon to reward Vietnam with improvedrelations.

John Sifton of the group Human Rights Watch says the Vietnamesegovernment uses repression, torture and religious persecution against itspeople. He urged the U.S. to pay closer attention to human rights in Vietnam.

Huu Dinh Vo is a member of the Federation of Vietnamese AmericanCommunities of the USA. He says, “Any trade relations should be based on animprovement of human rights in Vietnam, otherwise the trade relationship onlybenefits the Communists’ top leaders and not the people in Vietnam.”

So far, Mr. Thayer says, Vietnam has preferred a multilateral approach in itsrelations with big powers like the U.S., China, Russia and India. It has notsided closely with a single major power.

However, Mr. Thayer says this trip appears to show that tensions with Chinaover maritime claims remain and Vietnam is ready to move close to the U.S.

On Tuesday, Vietnam Airlines accepted its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner atWashington National Airport. The event marked the 20th anniversary ofnormalized relations between Vietnam and the U.S.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Reports from Victor Beattie, William Gallo and Aru Pande were used in thisstory. Mario Ritter wrote the story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was theeditor.

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Words in This Story

Bilateral–adj. relating to two parties or sides

Mutual–adj. shared by two or more people or groups

Engagement –n. to be involved with; to be actively taking part in

Strategic–adj. related to strategy, a broad plan that governs many differentactivities to reach a larger goal