The White House announced last week that President Obama will be hosting the president of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang, on his first visit to Washington on July 25. The meeting appears to fall under the U.S. administration’s Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy, or Asia Pivot, which is aimed in large part at addressing the rising regional tensions associated with China’s political and economic pressure on its smaller neighbors. While stepping up its dialogue with Beijing, the United States is strengthening ties with allies and other countries in East and Southeast Asia. But unlike most of these partners, Vietnam remains a repressive one-party state and has done little, by way of democratic reform, to earn a presidential invitation.
An important focus of the July 25 talks will be the maritime territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea. The smaller countries in the area are looking to the United States for support in the face of bullying from Beijing, but Vietnam receives the worst ratings of any of these states in Freedom in the World 2013, the most recent edition of Freedom House’s annual global assessment of political rights and civil liberties. It performs only slightly better than China itself.
It is true that the president of Burma—for decades one of the world’s most repressive countries—was invited for a landmark visit to the White House in May, but this came only after key steps toward democracy that included a new constitution, the election of a multiparty parliament, the release of many political prisoners, and a dramatic opening in the media landscape. None of these milestones have been achieved in Vietnam, and it is unclear that the regime has made any decision to pursue them.
An important focus of the July 25 talks will be the maritime territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea. The smaller countries in the area are looking to the United States for support in the face of bullying from Beijing, but Vietnam receives the worst ratings of any of these states in Freedom in the World 2013, the most recent edition of Freedom House’s annual global assessment of political rights and civil liberties. It performs only slightly better than China itself.
It is true that the president of Burma—for decades one of the world’s most repressive countries—was invited for a landmark visit to the White House in May, but this came only after key steps toward democracy that included a new constitution, the election of a multiparty parliament, the release of many political prisoners, and a dramatic opening in the media landscape. None of these milestones have been achieved in Vietnam, and it is unclear that the regime has made any decision to pursue them.
