Soccer, Election Could Upstage Clinton's Vietnam Trip
HANOI - Bill Clinton will next week make a landmark visit to Vietnam, but an Asian soccer tournament and
uncertainty over the outcome of a U.S. presidential election could overshadow his trip, country watchers say.
Clinton will become the first U.S. president ever to set foot in Hanoi and the first in 30 years to visit Vietnam.
In soccer-crazy Vietnam, public attention is more likely to be focused on the country's chance of winning the Tiger Cup 2000
tournament than on "yet another" foreign visit, according to a teacher and soccer fan in Hanoi.
In the U.S., the outcome of the most tightly contested presidential election since 1960 remains unclear, and analysts say voters
won't pay much heed to their outgoing president's travels until they know how his replacement will or won't change events
closer to home.
According to a still-provisional schedule, President Clinton will arrive in Hanoi on the evening of Thursday Nov. 16. He will
remain in the Vietnamese capital for two days before traveling to Ho Chi Minh City - formerly Saigon - on the evening of Nov.
18. He will leave Vietnam from the southern business center on Sunday, Nov. 19.
Because the U.S. has yet to conclusively firm up Clinton's itinerary his visit has received only scant attention in the Vietnamese
press.
"We have not run much news about the trip because, so far, no official statement has been made," said a senior editor on the
international desk at Vietnam's flagship Nhan Dan, or People, newspaper.
Scant Coverage In Local Papers
Many state-run newspapers that rely heavily on official announcements to guide their news coverage have so far announced that
President Tran Duc Luong in September invited Clinton to visit Vietnam, but have provided little follow-up coverage.
"Once an official statement about the visit is made, we will start running coverage," said the Nhan Dan editor.
Without press coverage, many Vietnamese have little or no knowledge of the U.S. president's upcoming trip.
"I didn't know he was coming. Anyway, what's it got to do with me?" asked one rice farmer living on the outskirts of Hanoi.
Like millions of others next Saturday, she will be glued to the TV watching the Tiger Cup's final match as Clinton trudges across
fields where researchers are digging for the remains of U.S. servicemen missing in action since 1975.
"If the (soccer) final and news about Clinton are on TV at the same time, I'll watch the football," said a mid-20s professional in
Hanoi.
Vietnam earlier this week defeated Cambodia 6-0 in a preliminary Tiger Cup match and has drawn with Malaysia. The national
team is expected to thrash Laos and beat Singapore in its remaining primaries before moving on to the semi finals next week.
"If Vietnam wins the Cup, we will do whatever's needed to cover the event," said a senior Vietnam News Agency executive,
adding however that "we will give each event (both Clinton's visit and the soccer match) sufficient coverage."
An Asia-wide internet poll puts Vietnam as favorite to win the regional title, according to a special Tiger Cup pullout section of
Thursday's Sport newspaper.
As Vietnamese ignore the U.S. president's historic trip in favor of soccer, Clinton could find himself pushed from the front page
of U.S. papers by the ongoing dramas surrounding his successor.
U.S. Home Crowd Focused On Election Results
The most tightly contended election since John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in 1960 now hinges on a recount in the
state of Florida. If that recount fails to conclusively pass the presidency to either Vice President Al Gore or Texas Governor
George Bush, punters wanting to know who will guide the world's largest economy through the next four years will have to wait
until overseas votes are counted.
That process could take up to 10 days, observers say, meaning the U.S. may not know the outcome of Tuesday's election until
well into Clinton's Vietnam visit.
While some analysts insist the upcoming trip is merely a photo opportunity for an outgoing president trying to notch up legacies
before leaving office, others say Clinton's tour of Vietnam will have wide ranging consequences for bilateral ties between the
two countries and must not be ignored.
His visit is expected to concentrate international attention on Vietnam, which has suffered since the mid-1990s from a poor
overseas image.
Vietnam was hailed as Asia's new tiger economy in the early 1990s, but soon lost its luster as promised reforms failed to
materialize.
"It would be a shame if Vietnam misses this opportunity for free publicity," said a foreign business executive in Ho Chi Minh
City.
Both trade and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam were renewed during Clinton's years in the White House.
By Catherine McKinley - Dow Jones Newswires - November 9, 2000.
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