Vietnam's President Luong Cuong (2R) with wife Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet (R) poses alongside his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Macron during a state dinner on Monday — AFP HANOI, May 26 (AFP): France's Emmanuel Macron will hold talks Monday in Vietnam at the start of his Southeast Asia tour, an opportunity to test his "Indo-Pacific strategy" in a region caught in the middle of the confrontation between the United States and China.
The French president arrived in Hanoi late Sunday, the first stop of a six-day trip that will also take in Indonesia and Singapore.
After paying tribute at a Hanoi war memorial to those who fought against French colonial occupation, Macron has a day of talks ahead.
The president will meet his counterpart Luong Cuong before lunch with Communist Party General Secretary To Lam at the capital's star attraction, the Temple of Literature.
Lam is considered the most powerful leader in Vietnam, a one-party state which tolerates no dissent and moves quickly to suppress any criticism.
Ahead of Macron's first official visit to the country, Human Rights Watch pressed him to voice concerns about "the Vietnamese government's worsening rights record".
Vietnam has more than 170 political prisoners who have been charged and convicted under "draconian laws" that criminalise free expression and peaceful activism for human rights and democracy, HRW said.
A public appeal would be out of character for the French president, who regularly says he prefers to raise sensitive issues behind closed doors.
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