Ahead of Biden visit, US watchdog says Vietnam backsliding on religious freedoms

Days before a visit by President Joe Biden to Vietnam in which he aims to upgrade diplomatic ties, a U.S. government commission accused the country of backsliding on commitments to ensure religious freedoms. In a report on Tuesday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that since Washington dropped Vietnam from a list of "countries of particular concern" (CPC) over religious freedom in 2006, the Hanoi government had created "more space in some areas" for expressions of belief. However, a "recent crackdown on civil society, increased pressure on independent religious communities, alarming reports of forced renunciations of faith, and other growing religious freedom violations add up to a clear reversal in that once-positive trajectory," it said.