US SECRETARY of State John Kerry returned to Vietnam yesterday on a goodwill visit five decades after he fought in the imperialist war there.

His visit marked the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

At the end of a five-nation tour of south-east Asia, Mr Kerry said the Vietnam war was the result of a “most profound failure of diplomatic insight and political vision.”

Washington is seeking to again base military forces in the country it once occupied as part of its aggressive policy towards China, with which Vietnam has had strained relations since the late 1970s.

Mr Kerry told a gathering in Hanoi: “The United States and Vietnam have again proven that former adversaries really can become partners, even in the complex world we face today.”

But with no apparent irony in light of the millions of Vietnamese civilians killed by US forces, he criticised the government’s human rights record.

“No-one should be punished for speaking their mind so long as they are peaceful and if trading goods flow freely between us, so should information and ideas,” he said.

Former US navy officer Mr Kerry volunteered to fight in the Vietnam war in the late ’60s, where he commanded a coastal patrol boat.

He won the Silver Star medal for running ashore and killing a fleeing People’s Army of Vietnam guerilla who had already been injured by another sailor.

He later joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War and testified at the campaign’s Winter Soldier war crimes hearings.