Asia Times: Former war enemies see a friendlier future


	March 17, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Former war enemies see a friendlier future
By Nguyen Nam Phuong

HANOI - William Cohen's visit to Vietnam, the first by a US Defense Secretary since the end of the Vietnam War 25 years ago, has been hailed by both sides as a positive step in their still fragile relations.

Cohen, prior to his landmark visit which ended on Wednesday, made clear that he would not apologize for American involvement in the Vietnam War - or 'American War' as it is referred to here. He no doubt felt relieved that he was put under no pressure to do so.

''Not one individual that I have met with during this entire time said anything about looking back into the past . . . Everyone that I met with seemed to be receptive to taking this step-by-step approach [in military ties], said Cohen on the last day of his three-day visit. ''I thought overall it was extremely positive and there was a good, genuine, warm feeling throughout.''

While the Vietnamese leadership was more reserved in its response to the visit, President Tran Duc Luong told his guest: ''I think that your visit to Vietnam will be a further contribution to the development of the relationship between the two countries.''

Cohen stressed that development should initially be made in humanitarian cooperation such as joint projects removing old landmines, improving Vietnam's flood control and environmental studies. He stated that the highest of his priorities was continued cooperation in the recovery of bodies of US servicemen missing in action. ''For Americans, our most sacred duty is to account for the remains of our missing countrymen.''

His first port of call on arrival in Hanoi was the site at which an F4 Phantom plane was shot down in 1967 and where the body of its pilot, Navy Commander Richard Rich, is believed to be buried. A highly sophisticated recovery effort, the dig is estimated to be costing American taxpayers millions of dollars.

The subject of Vietnamese MIAs - of whom there are believed to be around 300,000 compared to the US total of around 2,000 - was touched upon during meetings with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President Tran Duc Luong. While Vietnamese Confucianist culture dictates that great care should be taken with burial of the dead, Vietnam is too poor to conduct a proper search. Luong said he hoped the US would cooperate with Vietnam in searching for the remains of Vietnamese MIAs.

Hopes were also expressed that Washington would do more to combat other humanitarian problems caused by the war. Millions of people had been affected by Agent Orange sprayed by US aircraft during the war, Khai said, and as a result many families had three to four children born with deformities. After his meeting with the prime minister, Cohen said: ''I indicated we were certainly fully prepared to conduct joint research into the impact or effects of dioxins.''

A Vietnamese government census is currently underway to determine the number of victims of the toxin. Khai had earlier said a ''contribution'' from Washington would be sought when the census is completed later this year. It is not known if this was brought up during his talks with Cohen.

The US Air Force is known to have sprayed around 44 million liters of the chemical defoliant across Vietnam between 1961 and 1971. The US Congress, however, has repeatedly demanded independent analysis before releasing funds for research and eventual compensation.

Washington's promise of help with scientific research, critics of the US position claim, has been a long-standing policy which is ''tantamount to hypocrisy''.

Chuck Searcy, a veteran of the war who manages a humanitarian program in Vietnam, said the United States is guilty of double standards over Agent Orange. ''It is interesting that the health problems . . . associated with dioxin are elevated to matters of national and international concern when the issue arises in Europe or in the US,'' Searcy told an interviewer from a Hong Kong newspaper. ''For nearly 30 years the situation in Vietnam has been much worse than anywhere in the world, but we, the United States, have refused to acknowledge the problem.''

Analysts believe that Cohen's visit was largely intended to ease tensions between the former foes prior to a major milestone in their relations - the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the Vietnam War, on April 30.

Indeed, last month, a series of exchanges - focusing on the topic of human rights - were anything but warm. The annual US State Department report on human rights, released on February 25, criticized reported violations in Vietnam over the past year, and received a predictably angry reaction from Hanoi.

The report, while recognizing some improvements such as a loosening of certain restrictions on freedom of expression and religion, stated that: ''The [Vietnamese] government continued to repress basic political and some religious freedom and to commit numerous abuses.'' Included on the list were the detention and surveillance of dissidents, numerous political prisoners, and a judiciary which remains a tool of the Communist Party and which ''denied citizens the right to fair and expeditious trials''.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh, at a news conference on February 28, denied the charges and blasted the report as ''inaccurate'', ''biased'' and an interference in Vietnam's internal affairs. ''The first thing they [the United States] should do is to review the human rights situation taking place in [the] US itself,'' Thanh said, adding that the allegations were ''not beneficial to promoting multi-sectoral relations between Vietnam and the United States''.

It is not easy to ascertain how much of the lingering animosity between the two enemies, who restored diplomatic relations in 1995, was diminished by Cohen's visit. But what is clear is that beyond a deep ideological chasm between the two countries lies a degree of mutual reliance.

On one hand, Hanoi has come to recognize that a yet-to-be-finalized trade deal with the US is essential to lifting the country out of its economic doldrums. On the other, Washington relies on Vietnamese cooperation to pacify a powerful prisoner-of-war/missing-in-action protest lobby.

Meanwhile, the long-awaited trade deal between the two countries, on which a draft agreement was reached last July, appears little closer to being signed. Analysts estimate the agreement could boost Vietnam's export earnings by around 10 percent - some $800 million - and would ultimately allow US firms access to now-protected Vietnamese industries.

While the framework of the deal has been agreed, some specifics remain in contention particularly after Hanoi claimed a detailed proposal was sent by Washington late last year with a number of key differences from the draft.

Dao Duy Quat, deputy head of the Communist Party Central Committee's Commission on Culture and Ideology, announced in January that the Vietnamese government was unhappy with a US demand that Normal Trade Relations be approved annually rather than permanently. He indicated that Vietnam should get special consideration due to its economic difficulties. Some requirements in the last US proposal were, he complained, ''even higher than the standards'' of the World Trade Organization.

''Vietnam is still a poor, developing country,'' Quat said. ''We are still suffering from the heavy consequences left over from 30 years of war.''

(Inter Press Service)

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