Cohen's Vietnam visit largely symbolic<\/p>\n
By Michael Mathes<\/p>\n
HANOI (DPA): U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen's visit to
\nVietnam marks a historic notch in relations between the former
\nbattlefield enemies but will not produce much tangible result
\nother than developing friendly ties, officials and experts said
\nlast Saturday.<\/p>\n
When Cohen lands in Hanoi Monday morning he will be the first
\nU.S. defense secretary ever to visit the Socialist Republic of
\nVietnam, whose communist forces captured the U.S.-backed South
\nVietnam on April 30, 1975 and unified a nation.<\/p>\n
Officials and observers will be watching Cohen's moves
\nclosely, with most conceding that symbolism and the notion of
\nhealing old wounds will play larger than substance during the
\nthree-day trip.<\/p>\n
"There is no big agenda out of this other than furthering
\nrelations," a U.S. source noted privately.<\/p>\n
Cohen is expected to meet with the country's top leaders,
\nincluding Communist Party chief Le Kha Phieu, President Tran Duc
\nLuong, and possibly Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in Hanoi before
\nhe travels to Ho Chi Minh City -- the former Saigon -- on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Cohen is also scheduled to visit a missing-in-action (MIA)
\nsearch site in rice paddies outside Hanoi where a U.S. F-4
\nPhantom jet is believed to have crashed with U.S. servicemen
\naboard.<\/p>\n
Washington voiced its approval recently of Hanoi's cooperation
\nin locating 2,000 or so Americans still listed as MIA's in
\nIndochina.<\/p>\n
Such genuine commitments may be a sign Hanoi and Washington
\nare ready to warm once-frosty ties and build a sound bilateral
\nmilitary relationship similar to those the United States has with
\nother countries in the region, such as Thailand.<\/p>\n
"It is a good step in building relations," says Andrew J.
\nPierre, an expert on U.S. security policy and a visiting
\nprofessor at Hanoi's state-run Institute of International
\nRelations.<\/p>\n
"But both sides are going to be cautious and I don't see any
\nserious or substantial issues under discussion," Pierre told
\nDeutsche Presse-Agentur.<\/p>\n
Key issues such as arms sales, or visits by U.S. warships are
\nunlikely to be discussed, sources have said.<\/p>\n
Next month Hanoi will mark the 25th anniversary of the
\n"liberation of Saigon" and the end of the war, which took place
\nwhen communist tanks smashed through the gates of the
\nIndependence Palace and Duong Van Minh surrendered on the palace
\nsteps.<\/p>\n
The event closed a bitter chapter in American and Vietnamese
\nhistory -- a decade-long war that saw some two million Vietnamese
\nsoldiers and civilians killed along with 58,153 U.S. military
\npersonnel.<\/p>\n
Now, a quarter century later, the Vietnamese are showing
\nWashington that Hanoi cannot ignore the world's lone superpower.<\/p>\n
Yet Vietnam's primary preoccupation has consistently been its
\nage-old adversary and looming neighbor to the north, China.<\/p>\n
"Vietnam is now operating an omni-directional foreign policy,
\nbut China is certainly at the top of the list," said Vietnam
\nexpert Frederick Z. Brown, a professor at the Johns Hopkins
\nUniversity School of Advanced International Studies, in
\nWashington.<\/p>\n
Sitting down with the U.S. defense secretary could help Hanoi
\nfit Washington into its jigsaw puzzle of foreign relations.<\/p>\n
"Cohen's trip makes good sense for Vietnam, to get a better
\nunderstanding of the U.S. relationship is going to fit in with
\nVietnam's principle relationship, which is with China," Brown
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Cohen will have come to Vietnam from Hong Kong and his trip
\nhere is unlikely to ruffle feathers in Beijing, sources said.<\/p>\n
"I don't think Hanoi would have invited (Cohen) here if
\nBeijing objected," said one observer who declined to be named.<\/p>\n
In Ho Chi Minh City, Cohen will meet with U.S. businesspeople,
\nmany of whom have grown frustrated over Hanoi's sabotage of a
\nlandmark bilateral trade agreement that has to a degree soured
\nthe relationship between the two nations.<\/p>\n
As communist Vietnam looks beyond its own borders to regional
\nand global integration, economic pursuits will need to take
\npriority if the country is to pull itself out of poverty and
\ncompete on a world stage.<\/p>\n
The pact remains the most important issue between Washington
\nand Hanoi, says the security expert Pierre, but he doesn't see
\nany progress being made on the issue during the secretary's
\nvisit.<\/p>\n
"Cohen is not the conduit for anything involved with trade
\nrelations," Pierre said.<\/p>",
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