New U.S. ambassador to Vietnam highlights trade
HANOI - The second post-war U.S. ambassador to
Vietnam arrived in Hanoi on Saturday and said he would work
hard to implement a historic bilateral trade agreement put into effect by the former enemies
this month.
Raymond Burghardt, a veteran foreign service officer who worked in the U.S. embassy in
South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, was formerly director of the American Institute in
Taipei, which made him the unofficial U.S. ambassador in Taiwan.
Burghardt is the second U.S. ambassador appointed to Hanoi since Vietnam and the
United States normalised diplomatic ties in 1995, 20 years after the end of the Vietnam
War.
He said he was "very happy" to be back in Hanoi for the first time since 1982.
"We've just put into effect the bilateral trade agreement," he told reporters. "We'll be
working hard to make that benefit both countries."
During his confirmation hearings, Burghardt said human rights would "continue to be a
fundamental issue" in the U.S. relationship with Vietnam.
He said he would continue to press the government on rights and urge the release of
detained religious leaders.
During his time with the embassy in the former South Vietnam, Burghardt worked as a
liaison officer with religious groups, including the Catholics and the Hoa Hao, elements of
which are at odds with the communist government today.
Burghardt succeeds Vietnam War veteran Pete Peterson, who came to Hanoi as
ambassador in 1997 and ended his term in July.
Reuters - December 15, 2001.
New US ambassador takes up post in Vietnam
HANOI - The new US ambassador to Vietnam, Raymond
F Burghardt, arrived in Hanoi on Saturday, heading a
mission to focus on implementing the new bilateral
trade agreement.
Arriving at Noi Bai International Airport with his wife, Burghardt
said he would work to ensure both nations benefit from that
landmark pact.
"I'm looking forward to also making my own contribution to
improving the relations between our two great countries," he
said.
Burghardt, 56, a veteran diplomat, most recently served as the
head of the American Institute in Taiwan, an embassy in all but
name, for two years.
The period was marked by tension between China and Taiwan,
including repeated threats by Beijing against the island it
considers a renegade province.
Burghardt is replacing Douglas "Pete" Peterson, a former
prisoner of war who served as America's first postwar
ambassador from 1997-2001. Burghardt is not expected to
present his credentials as ambassador until early 2002.
Peterson, who won high praise as a diplomat and peacemaker,
helped guide reconciliation efforts between the two nations,
which culminated in the signing of a landmark bilateral trade
agreement and a historic visit by then-President Bill Clinton in
2000.
Burghardt's tenure is expected to primarily focus on overseeing
implementation of that trade pact, which was ratified by the US
Congress in October and Vietnam's National Assembly in
November.
Under the trade deal, effective from December 10, Vietnamese
goods and services will gain access to the world's largest
market with the same low tariffs enjoyed by most nations. In
return, Vietnam must open its state-controlled markets to
foreign competition and international standards.
A graduate of Columbia College, he was the US consul-general
in Shanghai from 1997 to 1999, and served before that in the
Philippines and South Korea. He is fluent in Mandarin and
Vietnamese.
During the 1980s, he specialized in Latin America, working as
a US diplomat in Honduras and Guatemala and as a National
Security Council assistant on Latin America in the Reagan
administration. Working under Lt. Col. Oliver North, he was
involved with the US policy of arming Contra rebels who were
fighting Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government. That policy
was highlighted during the hearings on the Iran-Contra
arms-for-hostages deal.
The Associated Press - December 15, 2001.
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