State tells Vietnam it opposes bill on flag
RICHMOND — The State Department is assuring
Vietnamese officials that it opposes a Virginia bill calling for
the display of the flag of long-defeated South Vietnam, but
the bill's sponsor says his state doesn't kowtow to that federal
department.
"It's disconcerting to say the
least," said Delegate Robert D.
Hull, Falls Church Democrat.
"You think the State Department is
working for you, and now you find
out they are working for someone
else."
Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell this week sent a letter to
Vietnamese Foreign Minister
Nguyen Dy Nien and the U.S.
Embassy in Hanoi saying his
agency had communicated publicly
and privately with key members of
the Virginia legislature its displeasure with the measure.
However, the State Department did not tell Vietnamese
officials that Virginia lawmakers would not debate the
measure, said Brenda Greenberg, a spokeswoman for the
State Department.
The Washington Times reported Tuesday that Mr. Hull's
bill would require all state functions — including those at
schools — where flags of foreign nations are displayed to fly
the flag of defeated South Vietnam instead of the flag of
communist Vietnam.
"I am not stopping. I just now signed a letter to [the
Senate Rules Committee chairman] asking that I at least be
given the chance to explain my bill, as legislative courtesy,
even if the outcome is known in advance," Mr. Hull said.
The United States recognizes only one Vietnamese flag,
that of communist Vietnam.
Mr. Hull said he has not been contacted by Mr. Powell.
"Certainly, I would remember that call," he said, noting
that Mr. Powell, a highly decorated combat veteran of the
Vietnam War, lives in Virginia.
The only communication he has received from the State
Department was a Feb. 5 letter from Deputy Secretary of
State Richard L. Armitage. The letter expresses the
department's "deep concerns" about the legislation and asks
the legislature to "not act favorably" on the bill.
The House passed the bill last month 68-27. The day it
passed — Jan. 31 — marked the 35th anniversary of the Tet
Offensive, begun by communist guerrillas against U.S. and
South Vietnamese troops in 1968. The attack shocked
Washington in its ferocity and was one of the turning points of
the war.
The bill is now before the Senate Rules Committee, which
is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon. The committee's
chairman, state Sen. Malfourd W. Trumbo, Fincastle
Republican, could decide to not give the bill a hearing. Mr.
Hull, however, hopes he will get a chance to defend his
legislation as a matter of "legislative courtesy."
"I have many constituents who support this bill, and I feel
that I have an obligation to follow through on this bill for
them," Mr. Hull said in a letter to Mr. Trumbo yesterday.
Mr. Trumbo was not available for comment yesterday.
The latest census figures show that about 34,000 people
of Vietnamese descent live in Virginia. Most live in Northern
Virginia, and most of them come from what was once South
Vietnam, Mr. Hull said.
The flag of South Vietnam had a gold background with
three red stripes through the middle, representing the
country's three regions.
Mr. Hull said "99.999 percent of those people came from
communities that were in South Vietnam, [and] 1,309
Virginians died defending that flag. ... Now it causes them a
great deal of pain to see the communist flag at events when it
is not their heritage."
By Mary Shaffrey - The Washington Times - February 15, 2003.
Powell contacts Vietnam over Virginia flag flap
RICHMOND - Secretary of State Colin Powell sent a letter
to the Vietnamese government seeking to defuse tensions over a bill in
the Virginia legislature that promotes the flag of former South Vietnam,
the State Department said Friday.
The bill's sponsor, however, said he had no plans to pull the legislation and said
Powell had no right to interfere.
"I didn't realize the State Department worked for the Vietnamese government. I
thought they worked for us," said Delegate Robert D. Hull, a Democrat.
The bill, which passed the state House two weeks ago and faces a vote in the
Senate, requires that the flag of the former South Vietnam -- America's ally in the
conflict three decades ago -- replace the flag of the current communist government
at public schools and universities, whenever such flags are displayed.
The State Department said Powell explained in his letter that the bill remains under
review in the Virginia legislature and that the department had contacted legislators
about potential problems with it.
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said earlier in the day
Powell promised that the bill would be killed, a claim the State Department denied.
Department officials said they would not seek their own outcome to the situation and
that they expect the bill would be handled by the Virginia legislature in accordance
with its own procedure.
The State Department has recently contacted Richmond, saying the bill could
damage diplomatic relations the United States now has with its former adversary.
Virginia's bill is the only one like it in the country, officials say.
Hull said he introduced the legislation at the behest of the sizable
Vietnamese-American community in his suburban Washington district, many of
whom fled South Vietnam when it fell to Communist forces in 1975.
Gov. Mark R. Warner said he had not been personally contacted by the State
Department about the bill, but said Virginia should not intervene in international
affairs.
"I know a number of Vietnamese-Americans feel strongly about this issue, but
wading into which flag should be officially sanctioned isn't the proper role for
Virginia," he said.
The Associated Press - February 15, 2003.
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