English Transcript

Cập nhật 03/07/2008 16:44:00

A senior Australian government minister has paid a private visit to the notorious prison in Hanoi where the US presidential hopeful John McCain was detained during the Vietnam war.

Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, is in Vitenam to boost bilateral ties and mark 35 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Hoa Lo prison is now a museum, but in 1967 one of its most famous inmates was interned there. John McCain spent 5 and a half years in what American soldiers dubbed the Hanoi Hilton. Stephen Smith says the site is historically significant.

The foreign minister says he wants to add to the experience of his bilateral visit, where he's meet senior ministers including the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Mr Smith told a meeting of Australian business leaders that he was proud that Australia established ties with Vietnam so long ago even when it wasn't popular at the time.