George Bush to make first visit to Vietnam

Singapore, Nov 17: President George W Bush becomes the second US president to visit post-war Vietnam tomorrow, but without a trade deal Hanoi had hoped would mark a further step forward in relations 30 years after the war.

Preaching a free-trade message, Bush will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi, the centerpiece of a week-long Asia tour that began in Singapore and ends in Indonesia on Monday.

''By opening up to trade, countries build wealth and empower their citizens,'' Bush told a crowd at the National Singapore University today.

Instead of dwelling on the scars of the past, Bush was focusing on Vietnam as an emerging economic success story.

But Bush, who lost some of his clout in Washington when Democrats ousted his Republicans from control of the US Congress on November 7, came without a deal aimed at normalising trade between the United States and Vietnam.

The legislation failed to win enough votes to pass the US House of Representatives this week. Although White House officials predict the legislation will eventually be approved, the fact that Bush had to come to Vietnam without it was evidence of the changed political landscape in Washington.

Bush, trying to assure Asian allies that the United States will remain engaged in the region despite the Democrats' victory, said it is vital to keep trade lines open and work together on security challenges like Pyongyang's nuclear arms.

''We hear voices calling for us to retreat from the world and close our doors to its opportunities. These are the old temptations of isolationism and protectionism, and America must reject them,'' he said.

Forbidden Territory

While US-Vietnam relations were normalized in 1995, post-war Vietnam was forbidden territory for US presidents until Bill Clinton came in 2000.

Both Bush's campaigns for president featured the Vietnam war, as his opponents accused him of avoiding combat duty. He served as a pilot for the Texas Air National Guard.

Now he is presiding over his own unpopular war in Iraq, and at home, the newly powerful Democrats are pressing for a way out, prompting Bush to take a fresh look at how US strategy might be changed to bring stability to Iraq more quickly.

Besides attending the APEC summit, Bush will meet Vietnamese leaders separately -- including the Communist Party general secretary, a clear sign that times have changed in the US-Vietnamese relationship.

Bush will use the margins of the APEC summit to work on the North Korean issue, meeting the leaders of other countries involved in talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons -- China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

North Korea agreed to long-stalled talks on its weapons programmes after its October. 9 nuclear test, but no date has been set. US officials say North Korea needs to demonstrate that it is committed to denuclearisation.

On Sunday Bush travels to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, to tour a museum, the stock exchange and a medical research facility.

Reuters