Clinton Welcome in Vietnam
H A N O I, Nov. 16, 2000 -- U.S. President Bill Clinton willfinally make it to Vietnam today, a quarter century aftera war he opposed that devastated the country and dividedAmerica.
The present-day U.S. commander-in-chief, who avoided theconflict that killed 58,000 Americans and three millionVietnamese, will be hoping to lay to rest some of the ghosts ofthe past.
As the first serving U.S. president to visit since the lateRichard Nixon went to the former U.S.-backed South Vietnam inJuly 1969, Clinton will look forward to a future built on tradeand business.
Clinton Welcome in Hanoi
Due to arrive at 11:10 p.m. local time for a three-day visitthat could be the last big foreign trip of his presidency,Clinton will be the first leader of the United States to visitHanoi, a city America bombed during the Vietnam War.
U.S. first lady and Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clintonarrived in Vietnam this afternoon, several hours beforeher husband. She had flown from Israel where she attended thefuneral of Leah Rabin, widow of Israel’s assassinated PrimeMinister Yitzhak Rabin.
President Clinton can expect a warm welcome in a countrywhere 60 percent of people were born after the war and manyothers have put the suffering behind them.
A typical reaction came from Nguyen Khanh Cuong, a55-year-old Hanoi shopkeeper whose staff were sewing U.S. flagsbeneath a portrait of late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
“Before the two countries were at war, but now that’s allin the past and now we have diplomatic relations,” he said.
“But in terms of the economy, the U.S. should bear partialresponsibility to help Vietnam’s economy recover.”
The official press has made scant mention of the visitbeyond announcing brief details of Clinton’s schedule —today’s English-language Vietnam News made no mention of itat all, but found space for a regional conference on digestion.
However, Hanoi has made clear Clinton is welcome as afriend who opposed the war, ended a punishing trade embargo in1994 and established diplomatic relations a year later.
Hillary and Chelsea Arrive Earlier
The communist authorities are expected to accord him theunprecedented honour on Friday of televising live his keynotespeech at Hanoi National University.
In Hanoi, there have been few signs of specialpreparations, but workers have strung up red banners welcoming“William Jefferson Clinton President of USA and spouse” over anavenue leading to the presidential palace.
In addition to Hillary and daughter Chelsea, Clinton willbe joined by Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, CommerceSecretary Norman Mineta and Massachusetts Democrat Senator JohnKerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran.
A joint focus will be developing trade and business after amarket opening trade pact signed in July.
But there are also more contentious issues, includingClinton’s plan to raise Hanoi’s treatment of political andreligious dissidents and Vietnam’s counter with calls forWashington to do more to ease suffering caused by the war.
In recent weeks, rhetoric in Vietnam’s official press hasranged from straightforward calls for more war-related aid, toone blistering attack from a serving general againstimperialist aggressors, rapists and child killers.
Hanoi says Washington has an obligation to do more to helpreduce injuries caused by leftover ordnance and for the hugenumbers of people it says suffer from the effects of AgentOrange, a toxic defoliant sprayed over wide areas to denycommunist guerrillas cover.
A Visit to Ho Chi Minh City
Clinton is expected to announce a modest increase in U.S.aid but U.S. officials say his ability to do more is hamstrungby the fact he is a lame-duck president.
Clinton said last week he wanted to improve cooperationwith Vietnam but his top priority would be to get fullaccounting of U.S. servicemen listed as missing in action (MIA)from the war.
On Saturday, he will visit a crash site where teams areworking to find the remains of some of the 1,498 servicemenstill listed as MIA in Vietnam and will later attend a ceremonyfor the repatriation of remains.
Diplomats say while Clinton stresses the MIA issue at home,Vietnam has been cooperating in the search and the focus intalks with communist leaders will be more on trade and rights.
Clinton will end his visit on Sunday in the southerncommercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, from where in1975 the last U.S. troops and officials were evacuated byhelicopter as victorious communist forces closed in.