Christopher R. Hill: Press Conference in Hanoi

Press Conference in Hanoi

Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and PacificAffairs

Hanoi, Vietnam
May 24, 2007

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Thank you very much. I’m here with Ambassador Marine. I’ve been in Vietnam for about 24 hours. I’m going from here to the Philippines to take part in the ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting.

I had, for me, very useful, very informative meetings with Vietnamese officials, and I was very honored to be received by President Triet as well. We discussed the length and breadth of U.S.-Vietnamese relations and the fact that this was a relationship that rests on a very broad foundation. There are many aspects of this relationship, and we look forward to developing it still further.

We discussed a number of issues including the economic relationship, our political relations, and we also discussed the human rights situation here.

Again, it was I think a very useful exchange. I’ll be reporting to Washington, to Secretary Rice, on my return.

I’ll be happy to take your questions. Oh, and I did not meet with any North Korean officials here.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have only one question for you. Given your meetings yesterday, did you talk about the coming visit of the President to the United States? And if yes, what topics and what issues were raised? Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: First of all, we discussed the visit of President Bush here in Vietnam, and we also discussed the proposed visit of President Triet to the U.S. I did not discuss specific timing. That’s something that will be worked out in consultation with the Vietnamese Government by Washington.

QUESTION: I would like to ask about President Triet’s visit to the U.S. How will that visit influence the economic and trade relations between the two countries?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I think the U.S. and Vietnam have a growing and successful trade and economic relationship, a relationship that I think is going to grow even further by Vietnam’s inclusion in the WTO earlier this year. I think any visit by senior Vietnamese officials, for example the visit of the Prime Minister in June of 2005, is a real opportunity to highlight for the American people the success of the Vietnamese economy. I think all Vietnamese can be very proud of the development of this economy, these continued strong growth rates, and this is something for the rest of the world to get an opportunity to become acquainted with.

QUESTION: You said yesterday that you were working very hard to resolve the issue involving the North Korean bank accounts. I’m wondering if you& rsquo;ve made any progress on that, and if you can tell us what options you may be looking at to try to find a solution.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Unfortunately, I can’t really give you much of an update. Not much has happened in the last 24 hours since I’ve been here.

I’d rather not go into the specifics of how we’re trying to resolve this, except to say that we’re actively trying to resolve this. When it is resolved I’d be happy to describe it to you until you’re completely bored by it.

QUESTION: My question is also about North Korea. It would be interesting to hear whether, in your discussions with Vietnamese officials, there were further talks about the North Korean bank accounts that were in Vietnam at the (inaudible) last year. And then, also, do you see any diplomatic role for Vietnam, given its relationship with North Korea?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: At the Foreign Ministry we did have some discussions about the situation. I briefed the Vietnamese officials on the situation. We did not discuss any specifics with respect to Vietnamese facts. We did not discuss any role, either, for Vietnam, although I certainly used the occasion to ask for the opinion of the Vietnamese officials about what we can do to get North Korea to take a more pragmatic view to the world.

QUESTION: Would you please tell us in more details about your discussion with Mr. Bang, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and with the Chairman of the Government Office about President Triet’s visit to the U.S.? I was told there were some discussions about certain agreements or deals that will be signed during President Triet’s visit to the U.S. What will those agreements be?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, we had a lengthy discussion about some of the things that could be accomplished in the context of such a visit, and some of those things would include bilateral arrangements to include commercial, economic, political, cultural, and other things. So we discussed what could be the full range of bilateral approaches to the visit.

I think what people need to understand is the U.S. relationship with Vietnam is growing in many respects, and we have a lot of issues to discuss now. The relationship that we’ve developed in just the past 12 years since reestablishing diplomatic relations is really quite impressive. So it’s not surprising that we have so many issues.

QUESTION: Will you please tell us the position of the U.S. regarding Vietnamese role in international organizations and in regional organizations? Because recently Vietnam is nominated by regional countries to be a member of the Security Council.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: We really have very strongly supported Vietnam& rsquo;s growing role in international organizations. It is a country that has a growing self-confidence, growing success in the world. So we welcome these developments. I think a measurement of this is that when we meet with Vietnamese officials from the Foreign Ministry we don’t just talk about our bilateral issues, we talk about other issues. Because I think the U.S. and Vietnam have a common interest in making sure that the problems of the world are addressed and they are done in a peaceful way.

I must say to come to Vietnam and to see all the international visitors who have been here just in the last few days, it’s really quite noticeable and quite to the credit of Vietnam’s growing role in the world. Vietnam is a country with a growing sense of confidence, and we expect to see that confidence displayed in many different ways.

I’ll just keep answering questions until someone tells me the time’ s up. [Laughter].

QUESTION: I’m from Fuji TV; can I ask a question about North Korea?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: I thought so. You would have disappointed me if you& rsquo;d not gotten back to the North Korean issues.

QUESTION: Is there any possibility that you will meet with Mr. Kim Gye-gwan?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: First of all, I don’t have any immediate plans to meet with Mr. Kim Gye-gwan either here in Vietnam nor in the Philippines nor in Indonesia, where I’m going after the Philippines.

I know for the past eight weeks or more we have been discussing this banking issues in Macau, which has turned into quite a complex matter, one of the most complex I’ve seen in my career. I am confident that we will get to the end of it, that we will resolve it. I really am confident. We have specific notions of how that can be resolved, and I’d be happy to share all those with you once it’s resolved.

I think it is really time for North Korea to get on with its tasks. Clearly we have been working very hard on this banking matter. It will be resolved, and I think it’s time for North Korea to pick up the phone and call IAEA. and begin this process of shutting down its facility in Yongbyon.

As a final comment on North Korea, I wish they would look to some of the pragmatism that’s displayed in Vietnam and learn to move on the way Vietnam has done so well.

Last question.

QUESTION: I would like to ask about President Triet’s visit to the U.S. There is some information saying the visit may take place in late June, but there is other information saying that the U.S. wants to delay the visit because of some human rights issue. Would you please answer to confirm this, yes or no? I would like to also ask you to confirm whether or not the visit will take place this summer.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: First of all, visits to the White House are not announced by State Department assistant secretaries, so you’ll have to forgive me for not answering your question. Obviously this issue has come up here in Vietnam, and I will be reporting back to Washington. I’m sure this will be announced at an appropriate time.

To be sure, with respect to human rights there have been some concerns expressed about human rights, and I know that those concerns are well known.

Thank you very much. I have to go catch an airplane. Released on May 29, 2007

ENDS

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