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		</div><p>The powerful head of Vietnam’s Communist Party will travel to the United States for the first time next week – and said he expected Barack Obama to visit his country later this year.<br />
Party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said he hoped to build trust and create more opportunities to improve relations between one-time enemies as they mark the 20th anniversary of normalised diplomatic ties.</p>
<p>They are also being brought closer together by shared concerns over China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.<br />
The White House said Mr Trong would arrive on Tuesday and the leaders would discuss trade, human rights and defence co-operation. It did not confirm a visit by President Obama to Vietnam, which would be his first.<br />
Mr Obama is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in the neighbouring Philippines in November.<br />
Mr Trong, 71, hosted a small group of Western journalists and his staff provided his written answers to questions posed in advance.</p>
<p>“Like in any relations between two countries in the world, Vietnam and the US have differences on a number of issues such as perception on democracy, human rights and trade,” Mr Trong said.<br />
“To resolve differences, I believe the most effective way would be open and constructive dialogues to better understand each other so that differences won’t become hurdles to the overall bilateral relations.”</p>
<p>Mr Trong is one of the four most powerful figures in Vietnam, along with President Truong Tan Sang, prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung and National Assembly chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.<br />
In theory, he is first among equals in the one-party state, but the country is ruled by the party’s collective leadership and most important decisions must be decided by a 16-member politburo.</p>
<p>Mr Trong is considered to be in the leadership’s conservative camp, tilting more towards strong ties with China.<br />
Both Vietnam and the United States are seeking to strengthen their relationship as a way of dealing with strategic and economic challenges.</p>
<p>Beijing’s assertive claims in the South China Sea have put Vietnam on edge and it is interested in having the US as a counterbalance. Washington also wants closer ties with Vietnam to help offset China’s growing strength in the region.<br />
Both countries also seek stronger economic ties, already healthy enough that Vietnam has become south-east Asia’s biggest exporter to the US. They seek to benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a controversial yet-to-be-finalised trade agreement. But there are hiccups in the relationship.<br />
Critics point to Vietnam’s arrests of dissidents and say that until human rights are improved, Washington should not grant too many favours, such as Vietnam’s request to buy a range of weapons that are now currently restricted.</p>
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