Powell arrives in Hanoi for ASEAN forum

Colin Powell

By Andrea Koppel
CNN State Department Correspondent

HANOI, Vietnam (CNN) -- On the second stop of his whirlwind Asian tour, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell landed in Vietnam on Tuesday, ahead of the annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

The ARF or ASEAN Regional Forum is a forum in which members can discuss regional political as well as security issues to avoid conflict.

A senior administration official traveling with Powell said the United States had no agenda per se beyond introducing Powell, and the Bush administration's policy in the region, to Asian countries "in their own living rooms."

Expectations that Powell might meet his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, in Hanoi were dashed when the North announced last week that Paek would be staying home.

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Last month, U.S. President George W. Bush said the United States would be interested in resuming talks to discuss curbing North Korea's missile, nuclear weapons development and conventional forces. Thus far Pyongyang's response has been a chilly one.

Hours before Powell's arrival in Hanoi, Powell's delegation was still unsure who from North Korea might show up.

However, a senior administration official volunteered that the United States was "not planning any particular dialogue" with the North on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings.

Over the next two days, outside ASEAN meetings, Powell will hold a series of bilateral talks with several senior Vietnamese officials, including Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Communist Party Secretary General Manh and President H.E. Tran Duc Luong.

On July 13, 2000, the United States and Vietnam signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement, which, once it receives the green light from the U.S. Congress, should help liberalize Vietnam's economy. On that front, a senior U.S. State Department official said, "the Senate seems to be moving along quite well."

This is Powell's first visit to Vietnam since he served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War more than 30 years ago.

Powell also has a meeting scheduled with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, during which U.S. officials say the bigger issue of human rights will be discussed. On Tuesday, a Chinese court convicted U.S.-based scholar Gao Zhan of spying for Taiwan and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. But unlike the trial of U.S. citizen Li Shaomin earlier this month, China did not say Gao Zhan -- a Chinese citizen -- would be expelled rather than imprisoned.

Officials traveling with Powell said the United States was "dismayed by the news" and criticized the "lack of transparency" and the speed with which the trial proceeded.

A senior State Department official said the Gao Zhan case "most certainly would" be raised in Powell's meeting with Foreign Minister Tang. But he added that "we were concerned about the individual cases as well as the overall trends in the situation" regarding the detentions of "American permanent residents." The Bush administration had asked to have a U.S. Embassy official present during Gao's trial, but the request was denied. Powell is due to arrive in Beijing on Saturday for more high-level talks.

U.S. officials declined to speculate as to why, if China really wanted to improve its relationship with Washington, Gao Zhan's trial date was pushed up to begin ahead of Powell's arrival and China appears ready to imprison her rather than expel her.

ASEAN was founded in 1976 by five countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- to promote political and economic cooperation and foster regional stability.

Brunei joined in 1984, and Vietnam joined ASEAN as its seventh member in 1995. Laos and Burma became full members in July 1997. Cambodia became the 10th member in 1999.

In recent years, U.S. officials say, ASEAN has become a different organization identified by a "lack of cohesion."

The ARF or ASEAN Regional Forum is comprised of the 10 members of ASEAN plus Russia, Mongolia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, India, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the European Union.