Vietnam flag: US government asked to intervene
Vietnam has officially asked the United States government to get two towns in California to drop their plans to adopt the flag of the former South Vietnamese regime.
Reuters news agency says the town of Garden Grove has joined Westminster in deciding to shun Vietnam's official gold- starred red flag and to use the old yellow and red striped South Vietnamese flag at civic functions.
A spokeswoman for Vietnam's Foreign ministry says the moves insult the dignity of the Vietnamese people and contravene the norms of diplomacy.
She says Vietnam has asked the United States government to have the decisions rescinded and prevent similar incidents from happening in any place inside US territory.
Reuters news agency says the campaign to revive the defunct South Vietnamese flag started in the eastern state of Virginia, where the State Department intervened last month.
It persuaded Virginia's lawmakers to kill legislation that would have required the state to fly the former South Vietnamese flag at state functions.
ABC Radio Australia News - March 15, 2003.
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