Biden was accused of sidelining Vietnam and India’s rights over strategic interests. The White House information sheet on President Joe Biden’s Vietnam visit included nearly 2,600 words. The human rights section has 112 words, including a subheading.
Business and strategic, Biden’s journey to Vietnam on Sunday and Monday and India late last week will likely strengthen relations with nations that might assist Washington in opposing China’s rise.
Given his administration’s 2021 promise to promote human rights, Biden’s visits disappointed rights campaigners.
Biden claimed in Hanoi that the U.S. was establishing a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” and expanding cloud computing, semiconductors, and AI collaboration. The White House announced Vietnam Airlines’ $7.8 billion acquisition of 50 Boeing 737 Max planes.
Rights groups worry that ignoring human rights would exacerbate situations in Vietnam, India, and abroad.
“The Biden administration is clearly sidelining human rights to advance partnerships with strategically important governments, sending a message that the U.S. is willing to tolerate blatant failures to protect and uphold human rights,” said Amnesty International Asia advocacy director Carolyn Nash.
Rights organizations accuse Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party of persistent discrimination against minorities, notably Muslims, and violent assaults on selected communities.
HRW believes the government’s Hindu majoritarian ideology is evident in judicial system bias, and authorities have increased politically motivated charges to muzzle activists and journalists. HRW said on Saturday that Vietnam held at least 159 political detainees and 22 others in jail awaiting trial before a Communist Party-controlled court.
HRW claimed courts sentenced at least 15 individuals to severe jail sentences in the first eight months of 2023, violating their fair trial rights.
When questioned whether he prioritized U.S. strategic objectives above rights in Vietnam, Biden said, “I’ve raised it (human rights) with every person I met.”
HRW’s Nash and John Sifton argued private conversations weren’t adequate.
“It is very difficult to improve relationships with rights-abusing governments while effectively championing human rights,” Sifton added.
He said governments needed to know there would be consequences for abuses “if not of sticks, then of squandered carrots.”
“This is especially true with Vietnam, where the government does not particularly care about its reputation internationally with respect to rights,” Sifton said, adding that openly criticizing Modi’s rights record was the best way to alter him.
In a June news conference with Biden, Modi denied minority persecution under his government. The Vietnamese government denies rights violations.
RIGHTS “PRIVATELY”
Despite telling a Hanoi news conference that he discussed human rights and a free press with Modi, Biden did not publicly address human rights problems in India.
In India, the White House did not oppose the Indian government’s ban on media covering Modi and Biden’s meeting, which was held in a vehicle.
U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell told reporters that Biden wanted to discuss press access individually.
Campbell said India “continues to be a work in progress” on rights, but “The key here is for us to maintain a respectful dialogue and to approach some of the challenges with a degree of humility given some of the challenges that we face in our own country.”
The U.S.-Vietnam Human Rights conversation saw an “enhanced commitment to meaningful dialogue,” according to the White House Hanoi information brief.
Murray Hiebert of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies said some U.S. officials see this yearly interaction as a mere discussion. He also stated that To Lam, the strong state security minister responsible for dissident crackdowns was Nguyen Phu Trong’s closest left side during his critical meeting with Biden.
Derek Grossman, a regional analyst at RAND Corp., said Biden wanted India and Vietnam to join America’s Indo-Pacific strategy to confront China.
“The Biden administration has downplayed or avoided human rights discussions,” he claimed. It encourages these states and others, like Saudi Arabia, to continue business as usual.”
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