[Viet-Khsv: 5887] VN News (May 8, 1997)

[Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>]

May 08: Key suspect confesses all in Vietnam drugs trial 
May 08: Swedish environment minister to visit Vietnam 
May 08: Vietnam Study Finds 60% Of Government Staff Incompetent 
May 08: Vietnamese PM calls for support for Vietnamese overseas: report 
May 08: US ex-PoW to arrive as Washington's new ambassador to Vietnam
May 08: Defendant in Vietnam's biggest drugs trial tries suicide: reports 
May 08: Vietnam-US-Ambassador Ambassador's arrival in Vietnam heralds new era 
May 08: China, Vietnam in land border negotiations 
May 08: US Ambassador to Hanoi puts Vietnam on global map 


Key suspect confesses all in Vietnam drugs trial

Hanoi (Reuter) - A key defendant at a high-profile drugs trial in
Vietnam pleaded guilty on Thursday and blamed a state official for his
earlier not-guilty plea, Voice of Vietnam radio said.

Dao Xuan Xe, a driver accused with 21 police officers, border guards
and others, retracted a denial that he had received 60 cakes of heroin
from a Laotian national, state radio said on the sixth day of the
trial.

Xe named an official in the Interior Ministry's Economic Police
Department who, he alleged, told him to deny all charges levelled
against him in the Hanoi People's Court.

He also said that fellow defendant Vu Xuan Truong, a former captain in
the ministry's anti-crime unit, brought a batch of heroin back to
Hanoi after a ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1954 rout
of French forces near the border with Laos.

Truong is accused of playing a key role in the syndicate, which is
believed to have flooded the country with more than 300 kg (660
pounds) of heroin from Thailand, Laos and Burma over several years.

Truong has admitted his involvement in the ring and said he expects to
face the firing squad.

He has offered to name some ``very important people'' during the
hearing in return for the lives of his wife and brother -- who are
also on trial -- being spared.

Newspaper reports about the closed-door trial said Truong had twice
tried to commit suicide by dashing his head, first against the wall of
a prison cell and then against the corner of a water tank as he was
being led from the court back to jail.

He was reported to have become very weak, unable to stand during
Wednesday's proceedings and whispered his testimony to the court.

Newspapers said Xe had also tried to kill himself by ramming the
handle of a toothbrush into his ear.

Two police captains and a lieutenant-colonel, all of them from the
border province of Lai Chau, have been arrested in connection with the
drugs ring in the past week.

At least 18 other people, against whom evidence is still being
compiled, are expected to stand trial at a later date.

The court's presiding judge has said that more than 10 of the 22
currently on trial may be sentenced to death when the trial ends early
next week.
                 ___________________________________


Swedish environment minister to visit Vietnam 

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Sweden's Environment Minister Anna Lindh will visit
Vietnam from May 12 to 16 in order to develop relations between the
two countries, the foreign ministry said here.

She would have talks with Vice-premier Nguyen Khanh and the Vietnamese
ministers of the environment, planning and industry, the statement
said.

Representatives of leading Swedish firms such as Volvo, bankers S-E
Banken, distributors KF and telecommunications company Ericsson would
accompany Lindh, the statement added.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam Study Finds 60% Of Government Staff Incompetent 

Hanoi (AP)--About 60% of Vietnam's government employees are not
qualified for their jobs, an official report published Thursday said.

About one-third of the 60% should be replaced immediately, said the
Communist Party newspaper, The People, citing a government study.

The central government currently employs about 1.2 million people, but
only 40% of them are able to handle their duties, the study showed.

Of the 60% who were listed as unqualified, 480,000 can't complete
their work or struggle to cope with the job demands, it said.

The report was released at the end of an internal government meeting
held this week to discuss a plan for intensive training for current
government employees.

Premier Vo Van Kiet recently called for urgent training for government
staff working at both the central and local branches of government.

Vietnam's market-oriented economic reforms have left many government
employees with obsolete training from the old central planned economy,
the report said.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnamese PM calls for support for Vietnamese overseas:
report 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has called on
state bodies to give more support to the two million Vietnamese living
abroad, a report here said Thursday.

He said state offices should send traditional cultural delegations
abroad and ensure a regular supply of publications and information on
air fares and hotel tariffs, the official Nhan Dan daily said.

The foreign ministry is coordinating a study on support for the
overseas Vietnamese community which must be submitted to the prime
minister for approval this month.

More than 300,000 Viet Kieu, as Vietnamese expatriates are known,
visited Vietnam last year.

However, the hoped for flow of investment from the ex-pat community
has failed to materialise.

Official remittances from Viet Kieu, which dropped dramatically at the
end of last year when the government imposed a 15 percent remittance
tax, have not recovered despite the abolition of the tax in March.

Most Vietnamese living abroad left the country after the Vietnam war
in 1975.
                 ___________________________________


US ex-PoW to arrive as Washington's new ambassador to Vietnam

By Frederik Balfour

HANOI (AFP) - Former prisoner-of-war Douglas "Pete" Peterson will
arrive Friday as the first US ambassador to Hanoi symbolizing the
desire by both countries to bury their past conflicts.

Peterson, whose plane was shot down during a bombing mission about 50
kilometres (30 miles) outside of Hanoi nearly 31 years ago and held
prisoner for more than six years, is seen as the ideal man to help
Washington and Hanoi overcome their differences over the Vietnam War.

"With his background, he will have a forum whenever he chooses to
speak either to the Americans or Vietnamese," said Sesto Vecchi, a US
lawyer who practised in Saigon during the war and returned to the
city, renamed Ho Chi Minh City, in 1994.

Peterson played a key role in reestablishing diplomatic ties with
Hanoi in

1995, after Washington lifted an ecnomic embargo on Vietnam the
previous year, and it is expected he will convey a desire "not to live
in the past", observers said.

"Obviously it's a symbolic event of reconciliation. Both countries
have agreed to look forward," commented one European diplomat.

But in some Washington circles Vietnam is still a dirty word, and
certain factions refuse to forget the bitter war in which three
million Vietnamese and nearly 58,000 Americans were killed.

Peterson has said a full accounting of the 1,589 US military personnel
still listed as missing in action (MIA) from the war will be his top
priority. The issue still affects debate in Washington over its ties
with Hanoi.

Also high on Peterson's agenda will be full economic liberalisation.
Both trade and investment between the two countries have been
hamstrung by the absence of mutual most-favoured-nation (MFN) status,
and lack of access to US government export financing schemes for US
companies hoping to carve out markets in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese hope that Peterson's arrival will help hasten the
process of hammering out a trade agreement, but observers say
economics, not symbolic gestures, will determine the outcome.

"An ambassador is a political event, businesses are here because of
commercial issues," said one US lawyer, who asked not to be named.

Peterson, who has visited Vietnam twice since he was released as a
prisoner-of-war (POW) in 1973, is expected to arrive in the Vietnamese
capital Friday with little fanfare.

He is flying here aboard a commercial Royal Thai Airways flight from
Bangkok, and will be greeted in the VIP lounge at Hanoi's Noi Bai
airport by the deputy director of the protocol department of Vietnam's
foreign ministry.

He is expected to issue a brief arrival statement at the airport.

On Saturday he will hold meetings with staff at the US embassy, which
opened two years ago and now has the largest staff of any foreign
diplomatic mission here.

He is expected to reside temporarily in the former home of charge
d'affaires Desaix Anderson, who left Hanoi this week and would move
into a restored French colonial villa in the heart of the city when
renovation work is completed.
                 ___________________________________


Defendant in Vietnam's biggest drugs trial tries suicide:
reports

HANOI (AFP) - The man suspected of being the ring leader in Vietnam's
biggest ever drug smuggling trial has tried to commit suicide, reports
said Thursday.

Vu Xuan Truong, a former police captain in the Interior Ministry, on
trial for his alleged role in a drugs smuggling ring which allegedly
brought 414 kilograms (910 pounds) of heroin into Vietnam since 1992,
tried to take his own life on Tuesday, the Saigon Giaphong newspaper
said.

Truong, who could face the death penalty if convicted and is being
tried along with 21 others, tried to kill himself by hitting his head
against a cement water cistern while being transported back to his
prison cell, the paper said.

The following day in court he appeared dazed and failed to answer
questions put to him by prosecutors, it added. Truong had fainted
while in the dock at the trial's opening on May 2.

Truong had tried suicide on at least one occasion before the trial,
reports said.

The trial, in which 10 of the defendants could face the death penalty
if convicted, entered its sixth day on Thursday and is expected to end
Monday.

Foreign news media have been barred from directly covering the trial.

Reports meanwhile said that three more people were arrested in
connection with case since the trial began, after one of the
defendants tried to smuggle a message to a friend.

Bui Trong Kiem, chief of a police security team in Lai Chau province,
was arrested immediately after defendant Vu Phong Ma allegedly tried
to throw him a piece of paper rolled up in a small nylon bag while he
was being transported back to jail from the courthouse, reports said.

Questioning of Kiem over the note led to his own arrest and the
arrests of two other officers from the same unit.

During questioning this week Truong denied having any part in
smuggling heroin into the country from Laos but reportedly admitted to
possessing 5.1 kilograms (11 pounds) of the drug which were found in
his home when he was arrested in July.

He also reportedly admitted having taken possession of 16.4 kilograms
(36 pounds) of heroin which was seized when two Laotians allegedly
connected to the case were arrested, the Thanh Nien daily said.

Possession or trafficking of 100 grams (3.5 ounces) or more of heroin
is punishable by death.

Truong's mistress and fellow defendant, Ta Thi Hien, admitted in court
that she had done "everything out of love for him," the Nguoi Lao Dong
said without elaborating.

The proceedings of the trial have remained behind closed doors and
have not been broadcast using loudspeakers outside the courthouse as
is usual for cases of high public interest.

Young entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the paucity of information
concerning the trial to produce a penny press of photocopied articles,
selling for about eight cents a copy, in front of the courthouse.

On the first day of the trial some 1,000 people gathered outside the
court, under police watch, in hopes of hearing news of the country's
highest level drugs trial to date.

The case dates back to 1995 when Laotian Sieng Pheng and another
Laotian were arrested with 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of heroin. Sieng
Pheng earned a last-minute reprieve from the firing squad in exchange
for names of those involved in a massive drugs smuggling ring.

His revelations lead to the arrest of Truong and the exposure of a
drug network, in which more than 40 people allegedly took part.

Pheng is not one of the 22 people on trial but has appeared in court
to give evidence.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam-US-Ambassador Ambassador's arrival in Vietnam heralds
new era 

HANOI (AP) -- The first U.S. ambassador to communist Vietnam is
scheduled to arrive on Friday, heralding formal recognition of postwar
business and government links between the one-time enemies.

The arrival is seen in Vietnam as a step closer to a trade pact and a
cure for a wartime hangover that still haunts both countries.

Former Congressman Pete Peterson, who spent 6-1/2 years as a prisoner
of war in Vietnam, will take the relationship one step further toward
normalization, Vietnam's prime minister said.

``The fact that the U.S. government appointed a new ambassador to
Vietnam indicates that it is concerned with improving bilateral
relations,'' Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet told reporters just days
before Peterson's scheduled arrival.

Kiet in the past has criticized Washington for failing to move forward
on trade and economic ties.

President Clinton in 1994 lifted a decades-old trade embargo on
Vietnam and established diplomatic ties the following year. A trade
pact and most-favored-nation trade status remain elusive.

``The important thing now is to build trust in order to expand our
cooperation in trade and economics,'' Kiet said.

Although the United States has had an embassy in Hanoi for two years,
the absence of an ambassador has irritated the Vietnamese government.

For the 62-year-old Peterson, coming back to Vietnam is part of an
ongoing healing process that began with the end of hostilities so long
ago.

He hopes to serve as an example of someone that survived the worst the
Vietnam War had to offer, but who is now ready to forgive and move on.

Peterson's introduction to Vietnam came on a almost moonless night
back in 1966, when his Air Force bomber was shot down by an
antiaircraft missile near Hanoi.

That was the first of many long nights in a Hanoi prison, where he was
tortured and kept in solitary confinement in a dank cell in the
notorious ``Hanoi Hilton.''

``I hated everything for six-and-one-half years,'' Peterson recently
told The Associated Press in an interview from his home in Florida.
``It was a part of my resistance.''

Since then, Peterson returned to Vietnam in 1991 and 1993 to purge
some past nightmares.

The hatred gone, former POW Peterson is ready to take on the title
Ambassador Peterson. But the legacy of war is still high on his and
Washington's agenda.

The search for U.S. servicemen missing in Vietnam is a top priority
for Peterson. Almost 1,600 servicemen are still listed as missing in
Vietnam.

The new ambassador will also promote U.S. efforts to curb the flow of
heroin and opium out of Vietnam. Drug smugglers have discovered
Vietnam as a new route through which to ferry narcotics from Laos,
Cambodia and Thailand.

Peterson will also push for the trade pact and hopes to boost
humanitarian aid from Washington to Vietnam.
                 ___________________________________


China, Vietnam in land border negotiations 

BEIJING (AFP) - China and Vietnam have started land border demarcation
talks here, and the negotiations are expected to run until mid-May,
the foreign ministry said Thursday.

"The 10th round of talks of the joint working group on the
Sino-Vietnamese land border are being held in Beijing from May 7," a
spokeswoman said.

"The two sides will exchange views on the issues concerning the land
border until mid-May and the Chinese side hopes the talks will achieve
success."

The talks are being conducted between China's foreign ministry and
Vietnam's border commission.

The communist neighbours have a series of disputes along their 1,130
kilometre (706 mile) land border which winds through jungle-clad
mountains.

Hanoi's grievances stem mainly from allegations that China held onto
small tracts of Vietnamese territory after its brief invasion of
Vietnam in 1979, violating agreements that go back to the French
colonial period.

The two nations also have maritime border disputes and held
inconclusive talks in April to discuss competing claims to a gas-rich
area outside the Golf of Tonkin, where China began exploratory
drilling in March.
                 ___________________________________


US Ambassador to Hanoi puts Vietnam on global map 

By Pascale Trouillaud

HANOI (AFP) - The arrival of the first US ambassador to Hanoi 22 years
after the end of the Vietnam War symbolizes the reconciliation of the
two former enemies and the full integration of Vietnam into the
international scene.

With the arrival Friday of Douglas "Pete" Peterson, Vietnam will
resume the status of a "normal" country after an ardent courting of
the international community since the early 1990s in an effort to
establish respectability and contacts with the outside world.

"The process of expanding and diversifying relations between Vietnam
and the international community has now been achieved," an editor of
the army daily newspaper, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, told AFP.

Indeed the years following the end of the war in 1975 were marked by
international withdrawal and the burdensome 10 year occupation of
Cambodia from the end of 1978 which earned Vietnam a pariah status.

Its political, economic and military relations were almost exclusively
with the members of the Soviet Bloc which provided Hanoi with massive
amounts of aid based on shared ideologies.

Domestically, devastated after more than 20 years of war, Vietnam was
plagued with economic crises and famine.

The collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 sent a shock wave to
Hanoi, which responded rapidly by opening itself up to the west.

But as early as 1986 it was clear the experiment of a socialist
centrally planned economy was a disaster and the communist party of
Vietnam launched its economic reforms. Called "doi moi," or
renovation, the widereaching reforms were modelled on the Chinese
plan.

These reforms recognised the need for outside help, and the party
began to acknowledge the need to welcome certain "capitalist"
foreigners, while following increasingly aggressive diplomatic
initiatives to launch itself onto the international scene.

Its withdrawal from Cambodia in 1989 paved the way for Vietnam's
global reintegration, with Hanoi reestablishing diplomatic relations
with the European Community one year later. Following final resolution
of the Cambodian crisis in 1991, Hanoi resumed ties with its giant
neighbour China.

In 1993 French President Francois Mitterrand, the first western head
of state to visit Vietnam, called for Washington to lift its
"anachronistic" economic embargo against Vietnam.

In the same year Washington lifted the block against international
lending by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, ending an
18-year period without access to international aid.

In 1994 President Clinton lifted the economic embargo.

The following year was marked by a series of diplomatic coups. In the
space of a few weeks in July and August, Hanoi and Washington
announced their intention to normalise relations, Vietnam reached a
framework agreement with the European Union and it became the seventh
member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the
only communist country to join the group originally established as an
anti-communist bulwark in the 1960s.

Spearheading this initiative has been foreign minister Nguyen Manh
Cam. With a diplomatic strategy which is today more than ever based on
diversifying its contacts, Hanoi is determined it will not be
dominated by any single power or tied to any one region.

Vietnam's diplomacy is buttressed by a desire, regularly expressed, of
constructive dialogue and peaceful cooperation with its neighbours.
This does not mean however the country is willing to let anyone
interfere with its internal affairs, not least criticise its human
rights record.

But with the United States, "the basis for a solid relation with
Vietnam has been laid across the board. Vietnam wants to establish a
full dialogue with the US in every domain, economic, political,
military and strategic," said one western diplomat.

Vietnam has also pursued several goals that will ensconce it in the
global scene, notably membership of the World Trade Organisation and
the Asia Pacific Economic Forum, two groupings where the United States
holds tremendous sway. Meanwhile Vietnam continues to assert itself on
the world scene.

Before the end of the year, Hanoi will host the international
Francophone Summit attended by nearly 50 government leaders, and next
year will organise its first ASEAN summit.