US, Vietnam eye closer bonds 10 years after normalising relations
HANOI - Vietnam and the United States mark 10 years of normalised ties on a high after months of progress which has fuelled expectations that relations between the former foes will only grow closer in the decades to come.
On July 11, 1995, president
Bill Clinton declared in Washington that his administration was opening diplomatic ties with Vietnam. The next day, the then Vietnamese prime minister Vo Van Kiet made a similar announcement in Hanoi.
The two sides were already cooperating closely on the issue of American soldiers from the Vietnam War missing in action (MIA).
Despite lingering bitter memories of the war which ended in 1975 and left three million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans dead and vocal hardliners weighing in on both sides, pragmatism had prevailed.
"Clinton decided to renew relations with Vietnam at no political advantage to himself," said his first ambassador in Hanoi, Douglas "Pete" Peterson.
"He saw that as the right thing to do," Peterson said.
Since then, the diplomatic scene has been transformed. Commerce grew multi-fold, especially after the 2000 signing of a bilateral trade agreement and the two sides are negotiating Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
They also signed in May an agreement on the highly sensitive issue of religious freedoms in Vietnam. Today, the war is history.
Last month, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai made a landmark US visit, the first by a Vietnamese head of government since the war.
The two sides notably signed an agreement on cooperation in the military domain. More importantly, Khai had a significant tete-a-tete with
President George W. Bush.
Hanoi revised its view of Bush as a warmonger after the meeting.
"Vietnamese leaders were surprised by the quite friendly and open attitude of Bush, even when he was broaching issues considered sensitive," said a Vietnamese diplomat.
"This attitude is different from the image of a president who is often perceived in Hanoi as a hardliner on issues such as
Iraq,
Afghanistan and ties with communist countries," the diplomat said.
Washington too learned to look on Hanoi with a kindlier eye. Prime Minister Khai, often visibly ill at ease according to witnesses, had the benefit of the company of many bilingual officials well versed with the West, who knew how to woo the Bush team.
Now, the two sides are looking to the future.
Next year, the US president is expected in Hanoi for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (
APEC) summit and a bilateral visit.
Everything seems possible henceforth.
"There are still some issues. But I don't think there is anything that cannot be put on the table," said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi.
"It's more of a normal relations now."
In the next decade, experts say, relations will be influenced by regional compulsions, especially China, which is both Vietnam's ideological mentor and its historical enemy.
"Anytime you see the emergence of a powerful country in a region, it changes the geopolitical balance and I think China's emergence is an economic power which will spread in other areas," a US observer said, requesting anonymity.
"The stronger China gets, the closer Vietnam and the US will grow together."
That comment was echoed by a high-ranking Vietnamese defence ministry official, who said the scope of the military accord signed in Washington last month could only expand by leaps and bounds.
"For the Vietnamese leadership, China remains a real threat, a predator always ready to devour Vietnam," the official said.
"In such a situation, Vietnam would depend more and more on the world's leading power."
Agence France Presse - July 10, 2005.
Vietnam's cultural festival opens in US
Vietnam's Cultural Days officially opened in Washington, DC, in the US on July 9, to mark the 10th anniversary of the normalization of Vietnam-US relations.
The event was launched with a premier performance on July 8 evening by Vietnamese artists at the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington DC. They also performed on July 9-10 at the Freer and Sackler Art Museum.
As scheduled, the artists will go on a performance tour in New York and San Francisco after "Vietnam's Cultural Days" in DC.
Also on July 9, a showroom with many paintings and photos reviewing the normalization of Vietnam-US relations and Vietnam's social and economic development opened at the Freer and Sackler Art Museum.
On show were Vietnamese fine art and handicraft products, including porcelain, rattan, and bamboo products and national costumes made by the New York-based Vietnam Trade Centre and Ho Chi Minh City's Trade Promotion Center.
Vietnam's landscapes, tourism programs and services offered by Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City's tourism companies were also introduced.
Thanh Nien - July 11, 2005.
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