Story highlights
Obama said big nations shouldn't bully smaller ones
The president's remarks on human rights were aired on Vietnamese TV
President Barack Obama made a forceful case for human rights in Vietnam Tuesday during a speech in Hanoi and he called for the “peaceful resolution” of disputes in the South China Sea.
Obama stressed the need to uphold human rights in his remarks to the Vietnamese people and were broadcast on television in a nation that has a dismal record on the issue.
Human rights “is not a threat to stability” but reinforces it, Obama said.
Why is the U.S. arming Vietnam?
Freedom of speech and expression “fuels” the economy, the President continued. “That is how some of our greatest companies began.”
Highlighting freedom of the press, assembly, and religion, Obama said that while the U.S. is not trying to “impose the American form of government on Vietnam,” the countr