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Tom Malinowski,
assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and
labor, is expected to press Vietnam to release unconditionally
political prisoners and reform its laws to comply with its
international commitments.
Relations between the United States and Vietnam have moved to a
new level in the past two years as Washington seeks to make a
new ally in Asia, but the communist nation's zero-tolerance
approach to its detractors remains a sticking point.
Vietnam has jailed dissidents, bloggers and religious figures in
recent years, holding them for long periods without access to
family or legal counsel and often subject to torture or other
mistreatment, according to the New York-based Human Rights
Watch.
The United States has been intensifying efforts in building
stronger ties - in health, education, environment, energy and
recently military - to boost its influence, and offset that of
China.
The United States and Vietnam, along with 10 others, this year
signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), one of the world's
biggest multinational trade deals.
Though the TPP has no requirements for members to reach certain
standards in human rights, analysts say Vietnam's record of
arrests, intimidation and oppression of those who speak out
against the ruling Communist Party could add to anticipated
resistance to the pact among U.S. legislators.
The TPP must be ratified by each member country's parliament.
Malinowski said during his visit to Vietnam last year that he
had seen signs of progress on human rights but the country
needed to make a stronger commitment.
Rights groups, however, say those improvements might be
short-lived and designed to ensure its smooth accession to
multilateral trade agreements, including a pact with the
European Union.
(Reporting by My Pham; Editing by Martin Petty, Robert Birsel)
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