Bush to press Vietnam on arrests of dissidents By Caren Bohan

Thu Jun 7,

President George W. Bush will warn Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet later this month that Hanoi's recent crackdown on political dissidents could hurt its trade ties with the United States.

Triet is to visit Washington on June 22, marking the first such visit by a Vietnamese head of state since the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam in 1975.

"The United States and Vietnam have seen enormous progress in their relationship over the past several years," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino in a statement issued from Germany where Bush is attending the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

The leaders will discuss their "robust trade and economic relationship" as well as cultural and other ties, Perino said.

But she added: "President Bush will also express his deep concern over the recent increase of arrests and detentions of peaceful democracy activists in Vietnam, and note that such actions will inevitably limit the growth of bilateral ties."

After a Vietnam court on May 11 sentenced two activist lawyers to up five years in jail, the White House criticized an increasing number of arrests of dissidents and said they were out of character with Vietnam's recent modernization.

Triet is making his U.S. trip to reciprocate a state visit by Bush to the communist-run country last November around the time of an Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi. He is expected to face protests in support of Vietnam's tiny dissident community.

Vietnam and the United States established diplomatic relations in 1995 and friendly ties are largely founded on trade and business.

Hanoi rejects accusations by Western human rights groups that it has cracked down on activists after it successfully hosted the APEC summit, won World Trade Organization membership and was removed from a U.S. religious rights blacklist in 2006.

In a speech to a democracy forum in Prague on Tuesday, Bush mentioned Vietnam, among a list of many other countries, including Cuba, Egypt and Venezuela, where he was concerned about the treatment of political dissidents.