Vietnam faults U.S. in plane standoff

Hanoi was on good terms with former U.S. President Clinton, who visited Vietnam last year

HANOI, Vietnam -- An official Vietnam newspaper is throwing its weight behind the country's traditional ally China, as the stand-off between Beijing and Washington continues.

The Communist Party's official newspaper Nhan Dan lashed out at Washington for portraying the U.S. spy plane incident in China as a human rights issue, even if the plane "trespassed and landed illegally at a Chinese airport."

"This is U.S. human rights!" the commentary said.

"Human rights from the point of view of the United States (or more precisely, the U.S. government) should be understood as having a full right to do what it wants-it's their right to enter and to spy. No one can touch them," the paper said.

But the paper also criticized other aspects of the new Bush administration's foreign policy including the Middle East peace process and its stance on the Kyoto climate convention.

"Only the American government, especially the new government under Mr. George W. Bush's leadership in the past 100 days could act so violently," it said.

Interfering in internal affairs

The paper accused the U.S. of encouraging riots in its Central Highlands, and it denounced a U.S. offer of asylum to 24 ethnic minority people who fled to Cambodia after the protests.

"They brutally interfere into our internal affairs, rudely agitate and encourage riots and illegal immigration and then say they are ready to accept those they have labeled 'asylum seekers,'" it said.

The commentary was the first time official media has accused the U.S. government of fomenting unrest in the highlands. The riots involved hill people that fought alongside the U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.

Hanoi had enjoyed warming relations with the Washington under the previous administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton, who championed the cause of normalization with a country once perceived as a U.S. enemy.

Reuters contributed to this report.

U.S.-China plane crash IN-DEPTH

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