Sensational sights: Macron (centre) with Lam and their respective wives Brigitte Macron and Ngo Phuong Ly visiting the Temple of Literature in Hanoi. — AFP
France’s Emmanuel Macron called in Vietnam for the preservation of a world order “based on law”, as he started a tour of South-East Asia, a region caught up in the confrontation between the United States and China.
During a press statement alongside his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong in Hanoi, Macron said a rules-based order was necessary at “a time of both great imbalance and a return to power-driven rhetoric and intimidation”.
The president presented France as a reliable alternative for Vietnam, caught between Washington, which is threatening to impose enormous levies on its exports to the United States, and Beijing, an important trade partner with which it is also embroiled in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
After his arrival in Hanoi late Sunday, the first stop of a six-day trip that will take in Indonesia and Singapore, Macron emphasised a shared vision with Vietnam, a country of 100 million people experiencing stellar growth.
Yesterday, around a dozen agreements were signed between the two countries, including in the field of nuclear power, which Hanoi is keen to develop as it seeks to meet soaring energy demands.
Budget airline Vietjet also announced an order for 20 widebody Airbus A330-900 planes, doubling its purchases of the model from the aviation giant in a deal worth an estimated US$8bil (RM33.8bil).
“It is truly a new page being written between our two countries ... a desire to write an even more ambitious page of the relationship between Vietnam and France, between Asean and the European Union,” Macron said.
After paying tribute at a Hanoi war memorial to those who fought against French colonial occupation, Macron met his counterpart Cuong.
Macron later had lunch with Communist Party general secretary To Lam at the capital’s star attraction, the Temple of Literature. Lam is considered the most powerful leader in Vietnam, a one-party state which tolerates no dissent and moves quickly to suppress any criticism.
Ahead of Macron’s first official visit to the country, Human Rights Watch pressed him to voice concerns about “the Vietnamese government’s worsening rights record”.
Vietnam has more than 170 political prisoners who have been charged and convicted under “draconian laws” that criminalise free expression and peaceful activism for human rights and democracy, HRW said.
A public appeal would be out of character for the French president, who regularly says he prefers to raise sensitive issues behind closed doors.
Macron hopes to sell Hanoi his offer of a “third way” between Washington and Beijing.
Macron’s “Indo-Pacific strategy” – which proposes a third way to the countries of the region – has gained new relevance due to Trump’s trade war, according to the aide.
He said the president was “defending the idea of international trade rules, we don’t want a jungle where the law of the strongest prevails”. — AFP
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