U.S. President Barack Obama and his Vietnamese Counterpart, Truong Tan Sang conversed candidly over human rights talks, Thursday during a meeting at the White House.
The meeting comes after several U.S. lawmakers and labor groups urged the Obama administration to suspend the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks with Vietnam until the human rights violation allegations are addressed.
President Obama didn't give any details other than saying that he had pressed his Vietnamese counterpart to address the accusations that it suppresses basic freedom.
"We emphasized how the United States continues to believe that all of us have to respect issues like freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and we had a very candid conversation about both the progress that Vietnam is making and the challenges that remain," Obama told reporters after the meeting.
Though the two country mastheads discussed trade and touched on the human rights topic, Sang said that no agreement was reached on the issue.
"We also touched upon the war legacy issue, including human rights, which we still remain, which we still have differences on the issue," said Tan Sang.
Sang's visit to Washington comes at a time when Vietnam is re-evaluating its relationships with the Beijing government and considering allowing greater democracy.
A day before the meeting at White House, the Republican Chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, called upon the U.S. president to confront Truong Tan Sang on human rights issues in Vietnam.
"Will the President of the United States lean across the table and say to President Sang, 'Mr. President, will you release these political dissidents? You want a closer relationship with the United States. Will you release these young bloggers?'" said the republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
The Vietnamese leader has invited the U.S. president to visit the Asian nation. Obama said he would try his best to visit before his presidential term ends.
