Vietnam: less progress than desirable

I was all for normalizing relations with Vietnam, and I still think that the most constructive approach is to engage the country economically in the hope -- I think it will happen eventually but no one can predict the time frame -- that encouraging a more commercial society and a freer economy will create pressure for political reform. However, the evidence is that it Vietnam has a long way to go. It just convicted a journalist of harming the state for publishing a story of corruption in the Ministry of Transport. Two years in prison. Too bad.

US-Vietnam relations almost normal

President Bush met last week with Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung (no, I didn't make that name up). A bunch of protesters beggd to differ with the Bushlet's assessment that the Vietnamese are making progress on human rights, especially when it comes to religious freedom. The protesters were right, but it's still the wisest policy to have as open a relationship with Vietnam as possible -- tariffs and other trade barriers down to zero, etc. Here's the Register's editorial to that effect. After a long period of trying to abide by communist orthodoxy, Vietnam has grudgingly moved toward a market-type economy and is starting to see economic improvement and some foreign investment. Can't give you a timetable, but free trade is the best way to create pressure in a politically rigid society toward more effective freedom.