U.S. ambassador's arrival symbol of stronger Vietnam ties
U.S. ambassador's arrival symbol of stronger Vietnam ties
By Frederik Balfour
HANOI (AFP): The arrival today of U.S. Ambassador Douglas "Pete" Peterson in Hanoi is seen by analysts as an important step by the two former enemies to forge stronger economic as well as strategic ties.
"The two countries have laid the basis for solid relations across the board. They want dialogues in education, science, technology, and the military," said one Western diplomat.
"But they can do better than that and have a strategic partnership. Both countries want that," he added.
As one of the last communist regimes, Hanoi shed its isolationist skin and pursued an ambitious diplomatic initiative following the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Normalizing diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995 was a key success within a broader policy of global integration, analysts say, noting its successful policy of diversification including membership into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and preparations to join the World Trade Organization.
One former state department official now doing business in Hanoi warned that the United States should take care in how it approaches its relations with Vietnam.
"The core of Vietnamese foreign policy, not just vis-a-vis China but in general, is a diversification of relationships," he added.
If the United States is seen as a bridge between Vietnam and the international community, there is no better person than Peterson to symbolize the new relationship between the two former enemies.
As a former prisoner of war who spent more than six years imprisoned in Hanoi, including time in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", Peterson brings to the job stirling credentials.
"With his background, he will have a forum whenever he chooses to speak either to Americans or Vietnamese," said Sesto Vecchi, an American lawyer who returned to work in Saigon after leaving at the end of the war.
"Every message will carry the certain knowledge that here is a former prisoner who has returned to the belly of the beast," he added.
Peterson's desire "not to live in the past" was a strong factor in resuming ties two decades after the end of a bitter conflict in which three million Vietnamese and nearly 60,000 Americans died.
Peterson has said full accounting of the 1,589 American GIs still listed as missing in action (MIA) from the war will be his top priority. Indeed the legacy of the war still affects every debate in Washington about Vietnam.
Also high on his agenda is pushing ahead with a bilateral trade agreement that would pave the way for most favored nation status, giving Vietnam access to the huge U.S. market.
"He understands better than anybody the MIA issue, but his main concern will be moving ahead economically," said the Hanoi businessman.
The Vietnamese hope Peterson's arrival in Hanoi, will help speed progress on the economic front. Ratification of the sweeping accord which the two sides will meet to discuss in Washington in a few weeks, could be as much as two years off. Said one lawyer familiar with the draft, "they are miles apart."
But trade negotiators as well as State Department officials in Washington have made clear that progress on the trade agreement will depend on Vietnam's human rights record, a potential source of friction with the United States.
A human rights report issued in Washington earlier this year said Vietnam's record on human rights remained poor and its government imposed strict limits on political and religious freedoms, provoking a stinging attack from the official communist Nhan Dan newspaper.
Last month during Peterson's inauguration, the State Department also put Hanoi on notice Peterson will press Washington's view that human rights should be upheld by the Vietnamese government.
"We encourage U.S. investment in Vietnam but it is still a communist country," a spokesman said.
In March Admiral Joseph Prueher, U.S. Commander in Chief of the Pacific Command said during a visit to Hanoi the two sides were working towards "a nascent military-to-military relationship."