by Vu Kim Chung
20-11-2000
President Bill Clinton was the first
United States head of state to visit Vietnam since the end of the war between
Vietnam and the United States in April 1975 and the first American president
to visit Hanoi. His historic four-day visit, which started on November 16,
2000, was also his last scheduled foreign trip as US president. He was warmly
welcomed by one and all Vietnamese with huge throngs waiting for hours to
catch a glimpse of the leader of Vietnam's former enemy. Mr Clinton's visit
was the culmination of his policy of normalising relations with Vietnam.
Because of historical and local Vietnamese political implications, the visit was low-key affair focusing on trade and initiatives aimed at promoting a new era of friendship between the two former enemies, yet despite the little publicity the crowds turned out to see the President.
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Mr Clinton was the first serving US president to travel to Vietnam since Richard Nixon visited Saigon in 1969, and in an unprecedented act of good faith, his visit's keynote address was broadcast live on national television. The President - a strong advocate of the full normalisation of relations with Vietnam - reciprocated the gesture by choosing his words carefully and emphasising that the majority of Vietnamese, and a significant minority of Americans, were born after the war ended in 1975. Mr Clinton said he hoped his trip would open "a new page in our relationship with Vietnam". |
"And, hopefully, one that will put an end to the divisions between the Vietnamese people and the American people", and within the US and Vietnam. He said: "I don't see this so much as coming to terms with the past, as moving forward into the future."
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Bill Clinton said the United States and Vietnam had opened a new chapter with his historic visit to Hanoi, showing a "painful, painful past can be redeemed in a peaceful and prosperous future". Clinton had left Brunei for Hanoi at the close of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Noevmber 16, saying he was making the trip to open "a new page in our relations with Vietnam." Clinton was greeted at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport by Vietnamese foreign minister Nguyen Dy Nien and trade minister Vu Khoan. |
No official ceremonies were scheduled for the president's arrival. He traveled immediately to his hotel for the night, where dozens of Vietnamese waited to catch a glimpse of him.
Clinton pays tribute to Vietnam dead
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US President Bill Clinton gave an unprecedented live address as part of his historic visit to Vietnam. He paid tribute to the dead on both sides of the Vietnam War, which cost millions of lives and ended in 1975 in the first military defeat for the United States in modern times. Mr Clinton said the two countries could open a "new chapter" in their relationship and suggested the Communist leadership should allow its people greater freedom. He told students at Hanoi National University that the war, in which 58,000 Americans and an estimated three million Vietnamese were killed, had imposed a "staggering sacrifice" on Vietnam. "We cannot do anything about the past but what we can do is change the future," he said. The president said that no two countries have done as much as America and Vietnam in co-operating over those still missing after 25 years. He thanked Hanoi for its help in recovering the remains of US soldiers. The fate of the 2,000 American servicemen and civilians who went missing during the war (MIAs) remains a live political issue in the US. "The histories of our two nations are deeply intertwined in ways that are both a source of pain for generations that came before and a source of promise for generations yet to come," he said. |
"Today, the United States and Vietnam open a new chapter in our relationship," he added, sharing the stage with a bust of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam's revolutionary leader and America's wartime nemesis.
Human rights
The president highlighted the importance of political and religious freedom.
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"In our experience, guaranteeing the right to religious worship and the right to political dissent does not threaten the stability of a society," said Mr Clinton. "Instead it builds people's confidence in the fairness of our institutions." Mr Clinton had come under intense pressure at home and from human rights activists before his visit to raise the plight of dissidents during his historic visit to Vietnam. Speaking live on Vietnamese television, an unprecedented privilege granted to the first US president to visit since the Vietnam War ended, Mr Clinton also gently urged Hanoi's communist leadership to strengthen human rights and open up its political system. |
However, Vietnamese watching said the translation of his speech as broadcast on state-run Vietnam Television became virtually unintelligible when he mentioned sensitive rights issues. Mr Clinton tried to make his case to the Vietnamese people, in part by pointing to the US history of civil liberties and political freedoms, while acknowledging the stain of slavery and the long denial of political rights to blacks and women.
"In our experience young people are much more likely to have confidence in their future if they have a say in shaping it, in choosing their governmental leaders and having a government that is accountable to those it serves," he said.
The Vietnamese viewers said that yet there were no problems with translation of Mr Clinton's comments on the war, given in a speech to students at Hanoi National University, only when he touched upon the issue of huamn rights.
In demand
Despite little advance publicity for the visit, thousands of people on mopeds, bicycles and on foot lined the route from the airport when the president arrived on November 16 evening. Thousands more stood in front of the hotel where President Clinton was staying.
![]() The president goes walkabout in Hanoi |
The president had made it clear he did not intend to apologise for the war, which left more than 1.5m Vietnamese dead. Vietnamese officials appear to accept this, and will be looking for actions rather than words. Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nyuyen Dy Nien said he would be calling for more aid to deal with the consequences of the war - a reference to unexploded landmines and health problems associated with the defoliant Agent Orange. Mr Clinton, who as a young man opposed the conflict, wanted his visit to further the process of reconciliation and cement a new era of trade-led relations. |
Since entering office in 1993, he lifted the economic embargo on Vietnam and restored diplomatic relations. Earlier in 2000, the two countries signed a bilateral trade agreement. Mr Clinton is accompanied on his trip by scores of American executives keen to do business in the country.
He received a remarkably friendly welcome from ordinary Vietnamese who smiled, waved, cheered and reached out to shake his hands as he walked the streets of the capital. Newspaper editorials in Vietnam's state press said Mr Clinton and his wife Senator-elect Hillary were "warmly welcome". The Communist Party daily Nhan Dan (People) praised Mr Clinton for lifting the punitive trade embargo in 1994, normalising diplomatic relations a year later and for the landmark bilateral trade pact signed in July.
People like company director 52-year-old Nguyen Thinh found parts of the speech they could understand inspiring and empathetic.
"It's encouraging for the young generation, especially Vietnam's younger generation," she said, while 28-year-old office worker Tran Thu Huong said it was in tune with Vietnamese feelings.
"His speech expressed sentiments that are close to the Vietnamese people," she said.
Shopkeeper Tran Dinh Tung, 57, said it carried a strong message.
"I think the speech was very significant. I was a bit surprised that President Clinton understands Vietnam's history so well," he said. "This was a very intelligent speech. I think it's vital that we scrap all the animosity because we have scrapped a lot."
Mr Clinton said the two countries needed to continue to help each other heal the wounds of war, not by forgetting the heroism and tragedy suffered by all sides, but by embracing the spirit of reconciliation.
"May our children learn ... that a painful, painful past can be redeemed in a peaceful and prosperous future," he said. Speaking with great care, Mr Clinton gently urged Hanoi to consider strengthening its respect for human rights, opening up its political system and further liberalising its economy.
"Let me say emphatically, we do not seek to impose these ideals, nor could we," Mr Clinton stressed. "Only you can decide if you will continue to open your markets, open your society and strengthen the rule of law. Only you can decide how to weave individual liberties and human rights into the rich and strong fabric of Vietnamese national identity."
Mr Clinton, who opposed and avoided the Vietnam War, began his day with a welcoming ceremony with full state honours at Hanoi's Presidential Palace hosted by counterpart Tran Duc Luong. Asked how he felt about being the first serving US president to visit since the war, Mr Clinton told reporters: "I am glad to be here and I'm looking forward to building a new future. This is very moving ... this welcoming ceremony."
After talks with Mr Luong and a stop at Hanoi's 11th century Temple of Literature, Mr Clinton emerged on to a commercial street and shook hands with dozens of smiling and cheering bystanders. People stood four and five deep on the pavement in front of French colonial-style shopfronts, leaning forward toward the president to shake his hand. Mr Clinton also visited a craft shop to do some Christmas shopping and then stopped for lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant.
President Clinton's visit marks new stage of Vietnam-US ties: President Luong
Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong said he considered US President William Jefferson Clinton's visit to Vietnam as a new development in the process of improvement of relations between the two countries. He hoped the visit would mark a new stage of long-lasting co-operative and friendly relations on the principles of mutual respect of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; no interference into each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefits, no damage done to the relations of each country's relations with any third country, thus making a contribution to consolidating peace, security and stability in South-east Asia, Asia-Pacific and in the world.
During the talks held between the Vietnamese president and his US counterpart, President Luong reaffirmed Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, sovereignty, multilateralisation and diversification, to befriend all countries in the world and to become their reliable partners. He also stressed that Vietnam has paid attention to boosting ties with neighbouring countries, traditional friends and major powers.
On the relations between Vietnam and the US, President Luong expressed his satisfaction at the improvement in bilateral relations between the two countries since 1992, particularly the establishment of diplomatic relations in July 1995 and the signing of bilateral Trade Agreement in July 2000. He also said he highly valued President W J Clinton's role and contribution to the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
The Vietnamese leader emphasised that to look forwards to the future, the two countries could not but look back at the past. The American war caused great losses to the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese people held that the US government should be responsible for losses Vietnamese people have suffered. The US should pay due attention and respond in an appropriate manner to Vietnam's humanitarian issue, including co-operating in seeking for information on Vietnamese servicemen missing in action in the war, clearing unexploded bombs and mines, detoxifying former military bases and providing necessary assistance to Agent Orange victims. President Luong reiterated Vietnam's consistent stance to continue to co-operate with the US in seeking information on American servicemen missing in action in the war, taking it as a humanitarian issue.
For his part, President W J Clinton thanked the State and the people of Vietnam for their warm reception and the Vietnamese government and people for their assistance to the US in seeking for information on the American servicemen missing in action during the war. He held that what has been achieved in relations between the two countries created a basis for a continued expansion in co-operation between Vietnam and the US, particularly in economic and trade fields. The US leader said that the two countries should quickly ratify the Trade Agreement signed in July this year and announced that the US would grant Vietnam with US $2 million each year over the next three years as technical assistance to help implement this pact. He also reaffirmed the US's support for Vietnam's bid to join the World Trade Organisation.
The US president promised to strengthen efforts to help Vietnam clear unexploded bombs and mines left behind the war and stressed the importance of the co-operation in researching the harm of Agent Orange to Vietnam's nature and people as well as to the American war veterans who participated in the American war in Vietnam. President Clinton handed to President Luong 360,000 pages of documents that would help search for Vietnamese soldiers killed in the war and promised to provide other documents containing information on where the US forces stored toxic chemicals during the war.
Prime Minister Khai meets President Clinton
Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met visiting US President William Jefferson Clinton on November 17. The prime minister welcomed the visit of the first US president to a united and independent Vietnam. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai informed President Clinton about the latest socio-economic development in Vietnam, reaffirming that after years of destructive wars, the people of Vietnam wished to live in peace to rebuild their country and improve their living standards.
The prime minister said a lot of progress had been made in the bilateral relations between Vietnam and the United States and asked the US to ratify the signed bilateral trade agreement soon, provide Vietnam with technical assistance in the implementation of the agreement, abrogate the application of the Jackson-Vanick Amendment against Vietnam and give Vietnam permanent normal trade relation (PNTR). The prime minister also asked the US to give Vietnam common effective tariff preferences and increased co-operation with Vietnam in agriculture, fisheries, human resource training, science and technology and assisted Vietnam in projects to eliminate hunger and poverty, to control and prevent natural disasters and HIV/AIDS.
The prime minister also said that despite the fact that the war had ended 25 before, the Vietnamese people were still suffering from the consequences of the war, including the finding of information relating to the full accounting of 300,000 missing Vietnamese people, the clearing of landmines and bounds left unexploded after the war, that still continue to cause deaths and injuries to ordinary people. Especially, millions of people are facing the terrible consequences of the toxic chemical Agent Orange. The prime minister said he hoped that the US government would recognise its responsibility and act to resolve the consequences.
President Clinton spoke highly of the achievements of doi moi (renovation) in Vietnam, its open door and regional and international integration policies and praised the socio-economic achievements of Vietnam in the last few years. Mr Clinton said the US is committed to helping Vietnam develop its economy, to providing technical assistance to Vietnam in the implementation of the bilateral trade agreement and to supporting Vietnam in its bid to join the World Trade Organisation. The president said that the bilateral trade agreement should be ratified as early as possibly by the parliaments of the two countries and the next step is the US giving Vietnam PNTR. The president thanked Vietnam for co-operation in the search for full accounting of US servicemen missing in action and expressed his deep sympathy to Vietnamese families having their loved ones missing in the war. He said the war had left terrible consequences to both sides and that the US would continue to provide Vietnam with information leading to the full accounting for Vietnamese missing in the war and help Vietnam in clearing un exploded mines and bombs as well as co-operate with Vietnam in research on the consequences of chemicals used in the war. The president said the two countries should boost co-operation and reach agreements on drug control, natural disaster management and co-operation on hydro-meteorology.
Party leader receives US president
Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu received US President Clinton on November 18.
Speaking to the Vietnamese Party leader, President Clinton expressed his happiness at officially visiting Vietnam and his thanks to the Vietnamese people for their hospitality and to the general secretary for his reception. The US president held that the bilateral relations between the two countries had seen positive development since 1992 and that the process of normalisation of relations between the two countries has come near to completion.
![]() Party leader Le Kha Phieu receives US President Clinton |
He also thanked the government and people of Vietnam for their efforts in searching for US servicemen missing in action during the war, saying the US government and people were always concerned and grateful to Vietnam for its assistance on the issue. The US president said the US had provided, and would continue providing, information to help in the search for Vietnamese soldiers who died in the war. President Clinton informed the Vietnamese Party leader about the contents of his talks with President Tran Duc Luong and his meeting with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. |
He also expressed the desire to further strengthen mutual understanding and co-operation in a bid to boost the relations between the US and Vietnam and hoped for early ratification of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement in order to facilitate the development of the two countries' economic and commercial ties.
President Clinton expressed his pleasure at the fact that the two governments have agreed to conduct high-level dialogues on economic co-operation, and said he hoped the dialogues would be conducted regularly to promote bilateral co-operation. He also said he was glad at the USs contributions of relief aid to the flood victims in central and southern Vietnam and announced that the US would, together with the United Nations, set up a forecasting centre in central Vietnam to help the country mitigate natural disasters.
President Clinton reaffirmed that the US would continue taking its responsibility to heal the wounds of war. He also said that, during his talks with President Tran Duc Luong and his meeting with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, both parties had discussed in detail the US plan to clear and defuse unexploded landmines and shells and settle the Agent Orange issue. He shared the view with General Secretary Phieu that the US should take responsibility for narrowing the worldwide gap between rich and poor. Recently the US has made an initiative to eradicate and reduce debts for poor countries and provide financial support to the fight against malaria, child tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Regarding the war in Vietnam, the US president said that many American people were not of unanimity about the US governments policy and the nature of the war. Many people, including Ambassador Pete Peterson, thought that they had to come to fight to help the Vietnamese gain freedom and self-determination. And now he was pleased to see a unified and progressive Vietnam.
Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu welcomed the visit by President Clinton, his wife and delegation. He said he had been informed of the US president's talks with President Tran Duc Luong, his meeting with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and his talk at the Hanoi National University. Mr Phieu said that each country, each nation had its own history, traditions and cultural identity, adding that Vietnam had thousands of years of culture.
The Party leader said he agreed with the US president that the past could not be forgotten, nor changed. But the question was to properly understand the nature of the past and, particularly, the anti-aggression resistance war which the Vietnamese people had to fight. What is the origin of the resistance war against invasion Vietnam had to wage? It stemmed from the time when imperialism launched its occupation of colonies. Why did the US forces invade Vietnam while Vietnam did not invade the US ? The resistance wars had resulted in the Vietnamese peoples having gained national independence and in taking the country toward socialism. So, the Party leader said, for the Vietnamese people the past was not a historical page of darkness, sorrow and unhappiness.
The general secretary said, while dealing with the responsibility for the past and for the past war, it would be impossible to put each country on the same par, because the war had left heavy consequences on the people and land of Vietnam. It was important, therefore, that people in responsibility should not repeat what had been done in the past. As far as Vietnam is concerned, the past is the root, the foundation and the strength of the present and the future. The war that the United States called the 'Vietnam war' was known to Vietnam as the anti-US resistance war for national salvation.
After the Peace Agreement in 1954, Vietnam was temporarily divided into two parts with the 17th parallel as the temporary demarcation line. Under the agreement, there would be a general election two years later, but the Ngo Dinh Diem regime did not observe the agreement. On the contrary, they used their machine to kill the Vietnamese people. It was also said by some others that a certain country from the western hemisphere wanted to take Vietnam's 17th parallel as its borderline which was clearly unreasonable.
Vietnam could not reunify its land by peaceful means, and therefore it had to wage a liberation war to reunify the country. That was the origin of the recent war. Vietnam has always been one; the Vietnamese nation has always been one. People in the US and the whole mankind had supported the Vietnamese people's just resistance war. From this past, both sides should draw experience and should be held responsible for it. Mr McNamara, in a seminar, also said it was necessary to draw experience.
In regard to the doi moi (renovation) process, Party General Secretary Phieu said that doi moi originated from the goal of national independence and socialism and for the goal of national independence and socialism. In this process, Vietnam thanks the international community for their co-operation and assistance. The doi moi goal is to achieve an independent, sovereign, socialist-oriented economy. Vietnam's economy has many sectors in which the State sector plays the key role. Vietnam has private economy, but Vietnam is not privatising the economy. Vietnam re-organised but not dissolved the co-operatives.
In Vietnam's currently building economy, the State and co-operative economic sectors played a significant role. More than 30 years of war and 19 years under embargo had posed numerous difficulties and challenges for Vietnam. However, socialism in Vietnam has existed and developed and would certainly further develop, stressed the Party leader, adding that he made the same statement during his visits to France, Italy and the European Union.
"The US Secretary of State the other day asked me whether socialism would continue to exist; I replied that socialism would not only exist but continue to develop successfully," Mr Phieu said.
In regard to external policies, the Party general secretary reaffirmed that Vietnam wants to befriend all nations, all countries in the world for peace, independence, friendship and development, equal co-operation and mutual interest. He stressed that Vietnam pursued an external policy of independence, self-determination, and diversified and multilateral ties. Vietnam does not close its door. The signing of the Vietnam-US Trade Agreement is evidence of the policy. Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with nearly 170 nations and trade ties with more than 150 countries. The Communist Party of Vietnam had set up relations with more than 180 communist, left wing and ruling parties. In the current international relations, every government and every nation all need to co-operate for mutual development.
"We respect the choices, lifestyles and political systems taken by other nations. We, in return, ask other nations to respect our political system and our people's choices. The fact that nations have different political systems does not prevent co-operation for mutual development, if they know how to respect each other's national independence and sovereignty, and not to intervene into the other's internal affairs," said the Party leader.
It is certain that in the 21st century, technology and science would develop strongly. But the paradox was that the gap between rich and poor nations was widening. The total property possessed by more than 300 billionaires in the world was equal to the incomes of more than two billion people in the poor countries, said Mr Phieu.
"The future of the Vietnamese nation is independence and socialism. I hope that relations between the two countries will further develop without any repeat of what had been done in the past. We respect the American people and thank them for their assistance and support to the Vietnamese people's just resistance," said Mr Phieu.
"Your daughter Chelsea made me remember of Emily, the daughter of Morrison who burned himself to death in protest against US aggression in Vietnam. She accompanied her mother in a visit to Vietnam. They could be cited as a fine symbol of the friendship between the two peoples," said the Party chief.
"Even after this, when you will hand over your responsibilities to the new president, I wish to invite you and your family to pay another visit to Vietnam," stressed Mr Phieu.
Finally, Mr Phieu wished Mr W J Clinton, his mother-in-law, his wife and daughter good health and happiness.
Activities of President Clinton and his wife in Hanoi, Vinh Phuc
US president Clinton, his wife, Hillary and his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, visited an exhumation site to find the remains of Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence G Evert, who was shot down in 1967 in Dai Loi commune, Tien Chau village, Me Linh district, Vinh Phuc province on November 18. He was accompanied by Senator John Kerry and two sons of Lieutenant Colonel Evert.
![]() Mr Clinton with excavated remains of a US serviceman's plane. |
The president and his wife had talks with the local people and US personnel working at the site in the joint search for those missing in action. Speaking to the local people, President Clinton thanked the government and people of Vietnam for their help and efforts and co-operation with the US government in accounting for US servicemen missing in action during the war. He said he hoped that this humanitarian work would be continued in the future and stressed that for its part, the US government would try its best to provide information leading to the accounting for the Vietnamese missing in action during the war, contributing to the increasing understanding for a better future for the young people of the US and Vietnam and the people of the two countries.
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Before leaving Hanoi for Ho Chi Minh City, President Clinton, his wife and his entourage visited an exhibition displaying equipment for searching and clearing of unexploded landmines and bombs. He and his wife met and talked with children who were victims of exploded landmines in Quang Tri at their painting exhibition Through Childrens Eyes to warn other people of the danger of landmines.
At Noi Bai airport, President Clinton, his wife and his entourage attended a ceremony to hand over the remains of US servicemen who died in the war in Vietnam.
In the afternoon of November 18, Mrs Hillary Clinton and Ms Chelsea Clinton visited the Vietnam History Museum and attended a seminar organised by the Vietnam Womens Union (VWU) and the National Committee for the Advancement of Women (NCAW). Ms Ha Thi Khiet, chairwoman of VWU and NCAW congratulated Mrs Hillary Clinton for her being elected to the Senate and hoped that in her new position, she would continue promoting the relationship of the two countries, especially the relationship and mutual understanding of women in both countries for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and in the world. Mrs Hillary Clinton expressed her pleasure at visiting Vietnam and meeting Vietnamese patriotic and hardworking women. She said she hoped that, in her new position, she would try harder to promote the relationship between Vietnamese and American women.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam received a delegation of US Congressmen on the morning of November 18, also members of the US Presidents delegation, on an official visit to Vietnam. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam received Ms Charlene Barshefsky, US trade representative, member of the US President's delegation on the morning of November 18.
Ms Charlene Barshefsky, US trade representative and Mr Norman Mineta, US Trade Secretary met and worked with Vietnamese Trade Minister Vu Khoan on the same morning. The two sides agreed to solutions and measures leading to the setting up of a join committee to help implement the bilateral trade agreement signed between Vietnam and the United States and the providing of technical assistance to Vietnam in the implementation of the agreement and joining WTO. The two sides also informed each other of measures taken by each side to implement commitments by leaders of the two countries in their meetings and establishment of a bilateral economic forum at the earliest possible date.
Senior Lieutenant General Tran Van Quang, chairman of Vietnam Veterans Association received the US delegation headed by Mr Hershel Gober, Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the same afternoon. At the meeting, the two sons of Lieutenant Colonel G Evert thanked the people and the government of Vietnam for their help in recovering the remains of their father.
US president visits Ho Chi Minh City
President Clinton, his wife and his entourage left Hanoi for Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of November 18. A farewell ceremony was held at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi in the presence of President Tran Duc Luong, his wife and other senior officials of the State, government, the National Assembly and Hanoi city. President Clinton once again expressed his sincere thanks to President Tran Duc Luong and his wife, the State, government and people of Vietnam for their warm welcome and reception. The US President said he had a fine impression of Vietnam while visiting Hanoi.
Both President Tran Duc Luong and President Clinton described the visit as a new development in the improvement of Vietnam-US relations. They said they believed the visit would mark the opening of a new relationship between the two countries: a long-lasting friendship and co-operative relationship, based on the principle of mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other's internal affairs and each other's relations with other countries, equality and mutual benefit and contributions to peace, security and stability in south-east Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and in the world.
President Clinton, his wife and his entourage arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on the evening of November 18. They were received at Tan Son Nhat Airport by Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Vo Viet Thanh, his wife and Ambassador Vu Hac Bong, director of the citys Foreign Service.
President and his daughter, Ms Chelsea Clinton, met Ho Chi Minh Citys young representatives at Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum on November 19. Six young people, representing enterpreneurs, intellectuals, artists and Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union members welcomed the Presidents Vietnam visit, wishing that after the visit, Vietnam-US co-operative relations and exchange between the young people of the two countries would be further promoted so as to match with the potentials, aspirations and interests of the two countries. The young representatives briefed the US president about activities attracting the city's youth and the youth's role in and contributions to the city's social, economic, political and cultural lives.
The US president expressed his interest in the young representatives ideas and plans in preparations for the 21st century. He shared the view with them on the importance of boosting educational co-operation between the two countries, creating favourable conditions for young Vietnamese people to bring into play their abilities, intelligence, creativeness to be able to access to important fields for development in the next century such as information technology, environment, global trade and investment. He said that young people in the two countries now had more opportunities to better understand each other, to share similarity and common interests, and therefore to have more chances in the near future to boost effective co-operation. He affirmed the important role to be taken by the Vietnamese and US youth in healing the wounds of the past and building up the future.
Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee Vo Viet Thanh received President Clinton at the Peoples Committee Office on the same afternoon.
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Mr Thanh expressed his gladness at the positive development in the relations between the two countries in many fields. He briefed the US president about the citys socio-economic achievements, including poverty reduction and improvement of intellectual standards of the people. Mr Thanh said he wished that bilateral relations would be further developed and the US government would pay appropriate attention and contributions to overcoming the consequences of the war in Vietnam. President Clinton expressed his honour to visit to Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. |
The US president affirmed that the visit has given him a good impression on the land and people of Vietnam. The US president also spoke highly of the efforts of Ho Chi Minh City in economic development and in solving social equality issues. After the reception, President Clinton and Chairman Thanh met and addressed representatives of departments, sectors, organisations, personalities, intellectuals and business communities of the two countries.
Mr Thanh welcomed the US President, his wife and entourage on their visit to the city. He expressed his gladness at the development in the bilateral relations and praised the efforts of the President and US political, social and economic organisations, including US businesses to Vietnam this time. He said that Ho Chi Minh City wished that bilateral relations would be steadily developed, including economic and trade ties, thus helping promote bilateral relations in other fields in the direction of mutual benefit.
President Clinton expressed his thanks for the warm welcome given by the Ho Chi Minh City authorities and people and said he hoped that the US delegations visit would help promote understanding between the Vietnamese and US people as well as the potential for both countries businesses. The US president thanked Vietnam for their great and effective contribution to the signing of the Vietnam-US Trade Agreement and stressed the wish of US businesses and Overseas Vietnamese in the US in seeking investment opportunities in Vietnam, thus expanding co-operation in different fields. President Clinton said he believed that Vietnams economy would further develop and, especially Vietnam and the US would have closer ties in the coming time.
The same day, US President William Jefferson Clinton visited the VICT International Container Port and attended a ceremony held to present helmets to Ho Chi Minh City children within the programme 'Helmets for Children' launched by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Asian Injury Prevention Fund (AIPF), US companies and Vietnamese and US government officials. Speaking at the event, US President Clinton said "Vietnam has made a number of positive steps to implement socio-economic renovation and to grab the new opportunities in the 21st century, among which VICT port serves as a vivid example."
![]() President Clinton was given an enthusiastic welcome |
Earlier representatives from over 80 US businesses and 80 Vietnamese businesses participated in a business forum jointly organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the US Department of Commerce, the Vietnam-US Council of Commerce and the US-ASEAN Council of Commerce. Participants exchanged views about the role of information technology to economic and commercial development and opportunities, potential and challenges of the Vietnam-US Trade Agreement. Minister of Trade Vu Khoan, permanent deputy minister of foreign affairs Nguyen Dinh Bin, Vietnamese ambassador to the US Le Van Bang and the US ambassador to Vietnam Douglas Pete Peterson were present at the above events. |
The same day, Mrs Clinton joined a meeting with Ho Chi Minh City women and children working in HIV/AIDS control. Mrs Clinton praised the role of Vietnamese women from the outstanding examples of the Trung Sisters and Lady Trieu in the fight against foreign invaders to their current contributions to the national socio-economic development. She said she hoped that women of the two countries would work harder and co-operate closer to overcome the present and future challenges.
Clinton rounds off Vietnam 'success'
President Clinton completed his four-day visit to Vietnam with a walkabout in Ho Chi Minh City. He was surrounded by an enthusiastic and noisy crowd of well wishers.
"It was like a festival," one eyewitness said. "Everyone was applauding him and trying to get his autograph."
US officials hailed Mr Clinton's visit as the culmination of his policy of normalising relations with Vietnam. Pete Peterson, America's ambassador in Vietnam and a prisoner of war during the conflict, described the trip as a "huge success".
US President Clinton, his wife, Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton and entourage left Ho Chi Minh City for home, successfully concluding their official visit to Vietnam on the evening of November 19.
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Viet Thanh and his wife, Minister of Trade Vu Khoan, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dinh Bin, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Le Van Bang, US Ambassador to Vietnam Douglas Pete Peterson and Ambassador Vu Hac Bong, director of the city's Foreign Service were at the Tan Son Nhat airport to see off the US delegation.
Clinton Pleases Vietnam General, Prime Minister
Vietnam's most famous general and its prime minister said they were pleased with the historic visit by U.S. president Bill Clinton. But the powerful Communist Party chief was more reserved. General Vo Nguyen Giap, victor over the French colonialists at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1953 and over U.S.-backed South Vietnam in 1975, said he was pleased by Clinton's trip.
"I think it's good," the now frail 88-year-old told the Penguin Star, "because it strengthens relations between the two countries."
It was his first public reaction to Clinton's visit. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, also speaking to the Penguin Star at a conference in Hanoi celebrating the achievements of socialism, said Clinton's visit had helped improve understanding between the United States and Vietnam.
"I think the trip was successful," he said. Asked if he was concerned by Clinton's repeated urging that Vietnam show greater political openness and respect for human rights, Khai replied: "We have nothing to worry about."
Constructuve disagreements
Communist Party General-Secretary Le Kha Phieu, considered Vietnam's most powerful figure and who like Khai rarely talks to the foreign press, was more reserved about the visit when asked about what Clinton described as "constructive disagreements."
"Of course the two sides have made clear their own points of view," Phieu said of his meeting with Clinton on November 18, which did not appear to go well.
"I made clear the nature of the war in Vietnam," Phieu added, "I also made clear Vietnam's economic policy, and I also made clear the nature of human right issues in Vietnam."
Phieu responded to Clinton's rights calls by reminding him Vietnam had fought a long war against "imperialist occupation." Clinton said he "stoutly disputed" the suggestion that his country was imperialist. Asked about U.S. calls for faster economic reforms in Vietnam, Phieu replied:
"Vietnam has carried out reforms and will continue to reform. As to the speed, we will continue to carry out reforms. Of course, the pace of the reforms should be appropriate to each step. People recognise we are fast in carrying out reforms -- it's fast, not slow."
Asked about his stress on a socialist economy when he met Clinton, Phieu said: "I made clear that Vietnam definitely has to reinforce the state economic sector; at the same time, we never obstruct the development of private business.
"Mr Clinton and Mrs Clinton did not have a chance to have a close look at how Vietnamese private business is operating," he added.
On the big crowds that rushed out to see Clinton and his family in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City -- a highly unusual phenomenon in Vietnam -- Phieu said: "Vietnamese people are well educated and highly charitable. They can distinguish clearly between the past and the present."
Clinton, the first U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the war that ended in
1975, said as a parting shot on November 19 his warm welcome showed "the trend towards freedom is virtually irreversible" in Vietnam.
The remark did not please the communist leadership and some analysts expressed fears the visit could provide an excuse for a backlash by old guard hardliners like Phieu. An early indication came the following day, when a top Hanoi general warned in a front-page article in an official newspaper of plots to undermine socialism.