China Hails US-Vietnam Trade TiesChina Tuesday welcomed a bilateral trade agreement between Vietnam and the United States but criticized a US act that links aid to human rights in Vietnam, according to today's China Daily.Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said at a regular briefing that the trade agreement will help begin normal trade development between the two countries. He hailed the accord as a result of joint efforts based on respect to each other's sovereignty, equality and mutual benefits. The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved the trade pact signed in Hanoi in July 2000. The accord, the result of four years of negotiations, extends normal trade relations status to Vietnam on an annual basis and also grants the same tariff treatment the United States awards to nearly all its global trading partners. In exchange, the Vietnamese market will be open to American businesses and farmers. But the US House also passed an act linking future increases in non-humanitarian aid in Vietnam to progress on rights. A Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman later reacted angrily towards that move, saying that it has distorted reality and interfered in Vietnam's internal affairs. Echoing his Vietnamese counterpart's remarks, Zhu said China opposes the interference of outside forces in Vietnam's internal affairs by the excuse of human rights protection. In other matters, the spokesman announced that State Councillor Wu Yi will lead a delegation of the Chinese Government to attend the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children in New York from September 19 to 21. |
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