WEBINAR: From Trump to Biden – Human Rights, Citizen Participation, and US-Vietnam Relations

WEBINAR

From Trump to Biden: Human Rights, Citizen Participation, and US-Vietnam Relations

Hosted by the US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon

Friday, January 29th, 2021, at 9 am – 10:30 am (Vietnam)

Thursday, January 28th, 2021, at 9 pm – 10:30 pm EST

Speakers:

Mr. Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch Asia

Dr. Pham Quang Tu, Deputy Director, Oxfam Representative Office in Hanoi

Dr. Bui Hai Thiem, Institute for Legislative Studies, Vietnam’s National Assembly

Chair: Dr. Tuong Vu, Professor & Department Head, Political Science, University of Oregon

Moderator: Dr. Nhu Truong, Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University

Summary: As 2021 begins, both Vietnam and the US are welcoming new leaders. In the US, Democratic President Joe Biden has succeeded Republican President Donald Trump as the 46^th President. In Vietnam, leadership changes are expected at the end of January following the 13^th Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party. The changes in both countries present a great opportunity to reflect on US human rights policy toward Vietnam as well as salient changes in citizen participation and civil society development within Vietnam. Toward facilitating greater dialogues on human rights as a major component of US engagement in Vietnam, our speakers will offer their thoughts on the progress as well as opportunities and challenges ahead for both countries. Following their remarks, speakers will be invited to join a lively discussion on a number of important questions pertinent to the topic.

Some of the questions that will be discussed in the webinar include:

 What was US policy toward Vietnam under President Donald Trump on the issue of human rights? More broadly, what are President Trump’s legacies on US human rights policies in Asia?

• How have the perspectives, attitudes, and policies of the Vietnamese government toward human rights changed in the last four years? How will these change in the next five years under the new party leadership? To what extent can Vietnamese citizens participate in governance? What opportunities and obstacles for policy advocacy in Vietnam?
• How does Vietnam compare with other countries in Southeast Asia in its record on human rights? What are the challenges, opportunities, and priorities for the Biden Administration when engaging Vietnam specifically and ASEAN countries on human rights issues?

 The Webinar will be live-streamed on Facebook. We hope you will join us, and strongly invite you to submit your own questions to the speakers prior to the webinar in the comment section.