MFA Spokeswoman on remarks of US Trade Representative Barshefsky
On September 21, 2000, MOFA's Spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh answered to question of Reuters on remarks made by US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Republican Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida at the testimony before the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and House Subcommittee on International economic policy and trade
Answer:
To the best of our knowledge, remarks on the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement made by Mrs. Charlene Barshefsky during her testimony before the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and House Subcommittee on International economic policy and trade did not mention those issues as reported by the press.
I would like to reiterate that the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement was concluded on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty, equality, mutual respect, non-interference into each other's internal affairs and this BTA reflects equitable interests of both sides, in keeping with WTO principles.
We highly appreciate objective and goodwill assessments supporting the conclusion of the Agreement in the testimony. It is our view that remarks by Representative Illeana Ros-Lehtinen are only an irrelevant voice and do not reflect current positive trends and are not beneficial to promoting relations between the two countries.
