Free Republic

The Far East: Some may cry "sellout," but President Bush and the leader of Vietnam had good reasons to celebrate 10 years of normal relations in the aftermath of a bitter war. And one of those reasons is China. The U.S. and Vietnam are drawing closer for the same reasons that Victor Davis Hanson, in a column that ran on this page Thursday, cited for warmer ties between the U.S. and Japan. China's Wal-Mart earnings may be a generally good thing in helping build its private sector, but they're also strengthening that regime beyond its borders. Year after year of...

San Diego Union-Tribune Message to Hanoi: Human rights matter By Robert J. Caldwell June 12, 2005 President Bush, meet Li Thi Hong Lien. You may not recall her name but pressure from your administration helped get her released from prison in Vietnam on April 28. Ms. Lien's "crime" was being a Mennonite, a devout Christian denomination harshly suppressed by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Compass Direct Li Thi Hong Lien, a resident of the former Saigon, after being rearrested and interrogated because of her Christian faith. During almost a year of imprisonment, this 21-year old Sunday school teacher was so...