US President George W. Bush traveled to Vietnam on Friday to attend the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, his first visit to the country since the two nations normalized diplomatic ties. The trip was intended to spotlight free trade and regional cooperation, but came amid an unexpected setback after the US House of Representatives failed to pass legislation granting Vietnam permanent normal trade relations by the required two-thirds margin.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab expressed confidence the bill would clear Congress by a simple majority when lawmakers return in December. Separately, Bush was expected to sign a bilateral trade agreement Sunday clearing a path for Russia's eventual membership in the World Trade Organization, though Moscow still faces additional multilateral requirements.
Bush met with Vietnam's communist leadership and marked the country's approval to join the WTO. The visit inevitably drew parallels to the Iraq war, as Vietnam remains the most recent example of a prolonged and unpopular US military conflict, one that cost more than 58,000 American lives before troops withdrew in 1973.
On the sidelines, US officials worked with allies to revive six-party negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program, following Pyongyang's recent claimed nuclear test. Bush warned that North Korea represents "the most imminent threat of nuclear proliferation," urging unified enforcement of UN sanctions.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.