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German President in Vietnam

DW StaffMay 21, 2007

The German President Horst Köhler met Vietnamese leaders in the capital Hanoi. During talks on the first day of his two-day state visit, Köhler discussed human rights and bilateral trade. Germany is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner in the European Union.

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Horst Köhler has been Germany's president since 2004
Horst Köhler has been Germany's president since 2004Image: AP

Nations with good bilateral relations should be able to speak honestly about their differences is what the German president Horst Köhler said on Monday in Vietnam's capital Hanoi.

And this is why he felt free to openly express his concerns about the country's recent crackdown on political dissidents, whilst also hailing the country's economic achievements. Thomas Heberer, a German expert on East-Asia, said that there were strong signs of policy change in Germany's foreign policy.

"It’s a policy which is more outspoken towards human rights violations, not only in China and Vietnam, but also in Russia and the US," he explained.

Only law-breakers are jailed, not dissidents

The German president's Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet responded to Köhler's comments by stressing that his country did not jail dissidents, only law-breakers. The president also said Vietnam valued stability in its political development, echoing the recent words of the vice prime minister Wu Quan.

"We’ve been watching how other countries develop; and we're following our own path towards democracy. To change all the structures would only destabilise things."

The two presidents also oversaw the signing of two memoranda of understanding to boost co-operation in education. This came as no surprise. Vietnam had very close ties with the former German Democratic Republic. About 150,000 Vietnamese studied or worked in the communist country before German Reunification in 1990.

Strong partnership

And today, about forty senior Vietnamese officials still speak German, having attended East German universities. "This is one of the reasons why German classes are established in Vietnamese schools," explained Heberer. "And why Vietnam-German universities are established. Because Vietnam is interested in a very strong partnership with Germany."

On Wednesday, Köhler will be moving on to China. Recent relations between the People's Republic and Germany have been rather tense. Partly because of Berlin’s open criticism of the Chinese Laogai labour camp system.

Observers, such as Heberer, hope that Köhler will approach the contentious human rights issue in Beijing with the right amount of diplomacy, so as not to widen the gap between the two economic partners even further.