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| As Obama Presses Vietnam on Rights, Activists Are Barred From Meeting | As Obama Presses Vietnam on Rights, Activists Are Barred From Meeting |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| HANOI, Vietnam — President Obama won enthusiastic applause here on Tuesday with a supportive reference to Vietnam’s disputes with China, saying in a speech that “big nations should not bully smaller ones.” But several activists who had been scheduled to meet with him before the speech were prevented from doing so, underscoring the gulf with Hanoi on human rights. | HANOI, Vietnam — President Obama won enthusiastic applause here on Tuesday with a supportive reference to Vietnam’s disputes with China, saying in a speech that “big nations should not bully smaller ones.” But several activists who had been scheduled to meet with him before the speech were prevented from doing so, underscoring the gulf with Hanoi on human rights. |
| The White House had requested the meeting as a signal to Vietnam’s Communist government that the United States cares about human rights here. Mr. Obama spent more than his allotted time with the six Vietnamese civil society leaders who did attend the meeting at a JW Marriott hotel, but he said that several others had been prevented from coming. | The White House had requested the meeting as a signal to Vietnam’s Communist government that the United States cares about human rights here. Mr. Obama spent more than his allotted time with the six Vietnamese civil society leaders who did attend the meeting at a JW Marriott hotel, but he said that several others had been prevented from coming. |
| “Vietnam has made remarkable strides, the economy is growing quickly, the Internet is booming, and there’s a growing confidence here,” Mr. Obama said when a group of reporters were briefly allowed into the meeting. “But as I indicated yesterday, there’s still areas of significant concerns in terms of areas of free speech, freedom of assembly, accountability with respect to government.” | “Vietnam has made remarkable strides, the economy is growing quickly, the Internet is booming, and there’s a growing confidence here,” Mr. Obama said when a group of reporters were briefly allowed into the meeting. “But as I indicated yesterday, there’s still areas of significant concerns in terms of areas of free speech, freedom of assembly, accountability with respect to government.” |
| Human rights activists, who criticized Mr. Obama on Monday for lifting a decades-old arms embargo against Vietnam without obtaining concessions on human rights, said that Vietnam’s actions on Tuesday proved their point. | |
| “Vietnam has demonstrated itself that it doesn’t deserve the closer ties the U.S. is offering,” said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. “Detaining or preventing civil society from meeting President Obama is not just an insult to the president, it’s also a human rights abuse in itself, a deprivation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of movement.” | |
| The activists kept from the meeting included a prominent blogger and journalist, Pham Doan Trang, who had flown to the Vietnamese capital from Ho Chi Minh City on Monday but had not been heard from since landing in Hanoi, according to Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. | The activists kept from the meeting included a prominent blogger and journalist, Pham Doan Trang, who had flown to the Vietnamese capital from Ho Chi Minh City on Monday but had not been heard from since landing in Hanoi, according to Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. |
| Another activist, Nguyen Quang A, 69, a businessman, wrote on Facebook on Monday night that the police had surrounded his house in Hanoi and that he could not leave. Efforts to reach Mr. Quang A by telephone on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful. Mr. Quang A said in an interview last week that an official at the American Embassy had invited him to meet Mr. Obama. | Another activist, Nguyen Quang A, 69, a businessman, wrote on Facebook on Monday night that the police had surrounded his house in Hanoi and that he could not leave. Efforts to reach Mr. Quang A by telephone on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful. Mr. Quang A said in an interview last week that an official at the American Embassy had invited him to meet Mr. Obama. |
| Ha Huy Son, a lawyer who specializes in defending dissidents in court, was also prevented from attending. “Security people have been guarding me at my home for the last two days,” the lawyer told Agence France-Presse, saying he had been told he could go anywhere but to the embassy. | Ha Huy Son, a lawyer who specializes in defending dissidents in court, was also prevented from attending. “Security people have been guarding me at my home for the last two days,” the lawyer told Agence France-Presse, saying he had been told he could go anywhere but to the embassy. |
| The use of security forces to keep the activists from an event that the Vietnamese government had agreed to suggested that the government may have been divided over the meeting. It is unusual for a government, even one with a poor record on human rights, to allow such a gathering with an American president to proceed and then prevent some from attending. | |
| Soon after meeting with the activists, Mr. Obama spoke in a cavernous hall at the National Convention Center here, among the only large venues in Hanoi for such a speech. Seated in the hall’s red velvet seats were about 2,300 well-dressed Vietnamese, who cheered loudly when Mr. Obama appeared, about 15 minutes later than scheduled. | Soon after meeting with the activists, Mr. Obama spoke in a cavernous hall at the National Convention Center here, among the only large venues in Hanoi for such a speech. Seated in the hall’s red velvet seats were about 2,300 well-dressed Vietnamese, who cheered loudly when Mr. Obama appeared, about 15 minutes later than scheduled. |
| Mr. Obama has received a warm reception in Vietnam, largely because of the hunger that Vietnamese have for a powerful ally against China, which has claimed much of the seas just off Vietnam’s 2,000-mile coastline. And despite a history in which the United States tried violently to impose its will on this nation, Mr. Obama said that no other country should try such a strategy. | Mr. Obama has received a warm reception in Vietnam, largely because of the hunger that Vietnamese have for a powerful ally against China, which has claimed much of the seas just off Vietnam’s 2,000-mile coastline. And despite a history in which the United States tried violently to impose its will on this nation, Mr. Obama said that no other country should try such a strategy. |
| “Vietnam is an independent and sovereign nation, and no other nation can impose its will on you,” Mr. Obama said, drawing loud applause. | “Vietnam is an independent and sovereign nation, and no other nation can impose its will on you,” Mr. Obama said, drawing loud applause. |
| But the auditorium, filled with an audience almost certainly vetted by the government, was notably silent when he urged the country to improve its human rights practices. He said that the United States was far from perfect, citing problems like “too much money in our politics,” racial bias in the criminal justice system and gender inequality. | But the auditorium, filled with an audience almost certainly vetted by the government, was notably silent when he urged the country to improve its human rights practices. He said that the United States was far from perfect, citing problems like “too much money in our politics,” racial bias in the criminal justice system and gender inequality. |
| He said that the United States was not trying to impose its form of government on Vietnam but that some values were universal. And he noted that the rights to free speech, assembly and a free press were enshrined in Vietnam’s Constitution. | He said that the United States was not trying to impose its form of government on Vietnam but that some values were universal. And he noted that the rights to free speech, assembly and a free press were enshrined in Vietnam’s Constitution. |
| “So really it’s about all of us, each country, trying to consistently apply these principles,” Mr. Obama said. “Making sure those of us in government are being true to those ideals.” | “So really it’s about all of us, each country, trying to consistently apply these principles,” Mr. Obama said. “Making sure those of us in government are being true to those ideals.” |
| Human Rights Watch estimates that about 110 political dissidents are serving prison sentences in Vietnam. In March, Nguyen Huu Vinh, 60, a blogger, was sentenced to five years in jail for writing posts that were deemed to be against the government. In the weeks before Mr. Obama’s arrival, the security police detained demonstrators protesting immense fish kills on the central coast, where tons of fish have washed up on shores close to a steel plant owned by a company in Taiwan. Some of the protesters have been beaten. | Human Rights Watch estimates that about 110 political dissidents are serving prison sentences in Vietnam. In March, Nguyen Huu Vinh, 60, a blogger, was sentenced to five years in jail for writing posts that were deemed to be against the government. In the weeks before Mr. Obama’s arrival, the security police detained demonstrators protesting immense fish kills on the central coast, where tons of fish have washed up on shores close to a steel plant owned by a company in Taiwan. Some of the protesters have been beaten. |
| While some analysts said that the administration appears to have decided that the strategic benefits of joining with Vietnam militarily outweigh such concerns, Mr. Obama has argued that more intensive engagement, as he is pursuing in Vietnam, tends to lead to improvements on human rights. | |
| In his speech, Mr. Obama lamented that war had driven the United States and Vietnam apart despite a common history of fighting colonialism. He pointed out that Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s independence leader, had evoked the American Declaration of Independence when he established Vietnam’s own independence from French colonial rule. | In his speech, Mr. Obama lamented that war had driven the United States and Vietnam apart despite a common history of fighting colonialism. He pointed out that Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam’s independence leader, had evoked the American Declaration of Independence when he established Vietnam’s own independence from French colonial rule. |
| “In another time, the profession of these shared ideals and our common story of throwing off colonialism might have brought us together sooner,” Mr. Obama said. Instead, he said, Cold War rivalries drove the two nations to war. | |
| But he said their reconciliation in the years since had been largely driven by veterans of that war, pointing to Secretary of State John Kerry, seated in the audience, as one example. | But he said their reconciliation in the years since had been largely driven by veterans of that war, pointing to Secretary of State John Kerry, seated in the audience, as one example. |
| He said the United States had learned that scorning veterans of the war was inappropriate even if one disagreed with its prosecution. He said that lesson could inspire the improved relations between the two countries, in which the pain and sacrifice of the war could be acknowledged while also moving into a new and better phase. | He said the United States had learned that scorning veterans of the war was inappropriate even if one disagreed with its prosecution. He said that lesson could inspire the improved relations between the two countries, in which the pain and sacrifice of the war could be acknowledged while also moving into a new and better phase. |
| After his speech, Mr. Obama met for a second time in two days with the celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. In the middle of a downpour, Mr. Obama and Mr. Bourdain, who had eaten together at a Hanoi restaurant on Monday, spoke for around 20 minutes at a rustic streetside cafe in the Me Tri neighborhood of the capital, surrounded by scores of onlookers cheerfully getting soaked for a glimpse. Mr. Obama briefly waded into the crowd, shaking hands and saying “thank you.” |