The US Department of State on November 13 removed Vietnam from the list of “Countries of Particular Concern “(CPC) in recognition of the country’s constant efforts to improve its religious affairs.

John Hanford, ambassador-at-large for religious freedom of the US Department of State said, “Vietnam has made significant improvements toward advancing religious freedom.”  This is a recognition of the stark reality in Vietnam which has deliberately been denied for a long time by some hostile forces in the US. Re-visiting Vietnam recently, former US Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson affirmed that all religions are recognised in Vietnam and that religious people are free to go to churches and pagodas to do religious activities.

During a recent visit to the Central Highlands provinces, Prof. Bobby Gene Jv, member of the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE)  said religious activities in the Central Highlands region in general and in Gia Lai in particular are conducted in a democratic manner. All local people are equally treated and are entitled to decide whether or not to follow a certain religion. They really enjoy living a free and happy life in great unity and seeing churches re-built or refurbished beautifully.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W.Marine noted that the US Government has highly praised religious freedom in Vietnam.

There is no denying that apart from making great strides in socio-economic development, the Vietnamese Party and State has spared no effort to create favourable conditions for people to exercise freedom of belief and religion.

Regrettably, in recent times, some hostile forces and organisations which bear old grudges against Vietnam have tried to undermine the country by distorting the religious situation. Right before the US Department of State considered removing Vietnam from the list of “Countries of Particular Concern “on religious freedom, the International Committee on Religious Freedom asked the US administration to continue keeping Vietnam on the list.

However, the US Department of State still decided to remove the country from the list of CPC. This was a right decision showing its objective assessment of the religious situation in Vietnam.

Furthermore, the decision is in keeping with the positive trend of development in Vietnam-US relations which have experienced more than 10 difficult years since the two countries normalized their bilateral relations. During this process, the two countries have made great efforts to reach a mutual understanding of their different views. The most prominent result is that cooperation relations between the two countries have been developing finely.

In a recent interview granted to a residential correspondent of the Vietnam News Agency in Washington D.C before US President George.W Bush’s forthcoming visit to Vietnam,  US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “The Vietnam-US relationship is becoming a very broad relationship. Vietnam can be a very important partner for the US and a very important partner in Asia for the US”.