U.S. urged to soon remove Viet Nam from special watch list for religious freedom

Pham made the above statement while responding to a reporter's query on Viet Nam's reaction to the U.S. Department of State's 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom, in which the U.S. puts Viet Nam on its special watch list.

Although the report recognizes some of the progress Viet Nam has made in protecting and promoting freedom of religion and belief, it still gives unobjective comments based on unverified and inaccurate information about the reality in the country, the spokeswoman said.

As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with a rich belief and religious life, Viet Nam consistently pursues the policy of respecting and ensuring the right to freedom of belief and religion, with no one discriminated on the grounds of religion and belief, and the operation of religious organizations ensured in line with legal regulations, she shared.

Such rights are enshrined in Viet Nam's Constitution 2013, the Law on Belief and Religion 2016, and other relevant legal documents, and are respected in reality, noted Pham.

Viet Nam stands ready to work together with the U.S. over matters of shared concern in the spirit of frankness, openness and mutual respect in contentious issues, thereby contributing to the enhancement of the Viet Nam-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, she affirmed.

On the spirit, Viet Nam requests the U.S. to give objective assessments of the real religion and belief situation in the nation based on accurate and comprehensive information sources./.