Vietnam still digesting Clinton visit
HANOI - More than a week later, Vietnam is still
digesting the far-reaching implications of US President
Bill Clinton's visit, which appears to have given the
country's Communist leadership a bad case of heartburn.
In particular, questions linger about the huge crowds that
greeted Clinton, wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea: How
much of the appeal was a brush with one of the biggest
events to hit Vietnam, how much was Clinton's personal
draw, and how much was love of nearly all things
American and - by implication in the minds of Vietnam's
leadership - rejection of traditional values?
The public response to the leader of a nation still viewed
here with suspicion for its fervent anti-Communist stance
has upset officials who are preparing for a Communist
Party Congress in March that will set policy and goals for
the next five years.
Some analysts have suggested the reaction could fuel
conservatives who resist opening the country further to
the outside world. The decision to sign a trade agreement
with the United States that will force painful reforms
already has been divisive.
The party has been struggling to keep itself relevant.
Once empowered by a moral mandate from military
victories over French colonialists and Americans, the
party has been trying to appeal to the more than half of
the population born since the Vietnam War ended 25
years ago.
Those youths accounted for the overwhelming majority of
the crowds that flocked to see the Clintons. The visit's
sensitivity was underscored by government media using
only reports from the Vietnam News Agency, which
government censors checked thoroughly, instead of their
own staffers, whose articles still would have had to be
vetted by the government.
The scant information that did emerge was clearly aimed
at the domestic audience, particularly a detailed report on
Clinton's meeting with Communist Party chief Le Kha
Phieu, who gave a history lesson on the war from Hanoi's
perspective and vowed to continue Vietnam's socialist
path.
It took five days before the government made any official
comment on the Clinton visit. Questions faxed to the
Foreign Ministry about the Clintons' urging of greater
freedom in Vietnam remained unanswered well over a
week after the American president and his family left on
November 19.
The three-day visit demonstrated the power of
word-of-mouth in Vietnam, given that details of Clinton's
schedule were not published in advance and the party
reportedly issued a circular to members urging a cool
reception. Despite Clinton's midnight arrivals in both
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, people lined the streets
from the airports to his hotels.
The same people must wonder why there was only one
brief mention in one government-run newspaper of the
turnouts - with no mention of the unbridled enthusiasm.
Ironically, the lone occasion that the average Vietnamese
had to hear directly from Clinton went bad. After long
and detailed discussions, Vietnam agreed to air the
president's keynote speech on live national television, an
unprecedented opportunity for a foreign leader.
Washington insisted on using its own translator, who left
the former US-backed South Vietnam three decades
ago.
In addition to a heavy, outdated southern accent that
made the translation difficult to follow, the translator was
hampered by not getting the final revision of the speech
until just before Clinton began addressing students at
Hanoi National University.
The result? He had trouble keeping up and omitted or
scrambled key portions on human rights and religion. The
few Vietnamese with Internet access quickly downloaded
the text of the speech. But most, like their leadership,
were left trying to figure out what it all meant.
Associated Press - December 2, 2000.
|