Yellen friend-shoring push in authoritarian Vietnam draws flack
Janet Yellen’s push to elevate economic ties with Vietnam, on display with a high-profile trip this week, is drawing fire for seeking to strengthen US supply chains by replacing one repressive country with another. Yellen, who in December wrote, “We must shift away from supply chains that violate core human rights” — a reference to documented abuses in China — is meeting Vietnam’s prime minister, finance minister, central bank governor and chair of its national assembly on a three-day visit to Hanoi.
The Treasury said the trip highlights Vietnam’s “trusted partner” status in building “secure and reliable supply chains.” Critics find it hard to square Yellen’s rhetoric with an authoritarian Vietnamese regime that jails political opponents and maintains single-party rule. It’s also unclear the extent to which raising Vietnam’s role is truly diversifying US supply lines, with Chinese companies setting up operations and providing key inputs to non-Chinese production facilities there.
“It’s absolutely shocking that the Biden administration thinks it can encourage investment and business in Vietnam without supporting Hanoi’s horrible human rights record,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch. Robertson’s group, an international watchdog, listed a litany of offences in its 2022 annual report on Vietnam, including details on its imprisonment of rights and climate-change activists.
Yellen says she won’t shy away from bringing up Vietnam’s record.Yellen’s Plans In an interview as she prepared to fly to Hanoi Tuesday, Yellen said, “I don’t think we can just look the other way.” “It’s important to raise this issue,” she said. “There is a State Department regular dialogue on human rights,
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