VN News (May 9, 1997)

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

May 09: Vietnam-Disputed Waters Report: thousands of foreign ships encroach
on Vietnam's waters 
May 09: Text of first U.S. ambassador's statement in Hanoi 
May 09: First US ambassador to unified Vietnam arrives in Hanoi 
May 09: Hong Kong forces home 81 Vietnamese boat people 
May 09: Vietnam appoints officials to Internet controlling board 
May 09: US ambassador arrives in Hanoi 


Vietnam-Disputed Waters Report: thousands of foreign ships
encroach on Vietnam's waters 

HANOI (AP) -- Vietnam's navy has intercepted thousands of foreign
fishing vessels some escorted by warships inside its territorial
waters since early 1996, an official report said Friday.

At least 5,371 foreign trawlers have been ordered to leave the Tonkin
Gulf region and other parts of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam,
the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

``Many foreign trawlers, mostly from China, penetrated into Vietnam's
fishing grounds to catch our aquatic products illegally,'' Vu Huy Thu,
deputy chief of Vietnam's department for protection of aquatic
products, was quoted as saying.

Disputes over border and territorial water rights are often the source
of tension between Vietnam and China. They fought a brief border war
in 1979.

Vietnam and China are currently embroiled in a dispute over
territorial waters between the coastal Vietnamese city of Hue and
China's Hainan island, where a Chinese drilling rig had been exploring
for oil reserves.

Other fishing ships in South China Sea waters claimed by Vietnam were
from Thailand.

Thu said the many trawlers remained in international waters during the
day, but strayed into Vietnam's fishing grounds at night.

Some foreign trawlers flew the Vietnamese flag in an attempt to avoid
detection, he said.

Thu cited a figures from a fact-finding mission in January, during
which his delegation saw 18 Chinese vessels fishing in Vietnam's
waters in the Tonkin Gulf.

Some fishing vessels were escorted for foreign warships for
protection, Thu alleged. It was unclear if the warships were in the
northern Tonkin Gulf or further south.

There have been several incidents of Thai ships opening fire on
Vietnamese trawlers, the news report said.
                 ___________________________________


Text of first U.S. ambassador's statement in Hanoi 

Hanoi (Reuter) - The United States' first ambassador to Vietnam,
Douglas ``Pete'' Peterson, arrived in Hanoi on Friday to take up his
post. Following is the text of his statement on arrival:

``Thank you very much for this very, very warm welcome. I am very,
very pleased to be back in Hanoi once again. This is a very special
day for America and for Vietnam. Today we exchange ambassadors,
marking the full normalisation of diplomatic relations between our two
countries. It is an historical event and the beginning of a new era of
constructive relations between Vietnam and the United States.

``In the next few weeks I look forward to present my credentials and
meeting...many Vietnamese leaders and the Vietnamese people. I am also
eager to get acquainted with my embassy colleagues, including the
Joint Task Force, as well as business people, NGOs and the press of
which, I think, I am meeting you all right now.

``I will be involved in a very steep learning curve over the next few
weeks. While I'm finding my way around...I presume not to make any
formal press statements.

``But I want to make one point at the outset. My mission here is to
advance U.S. interests in Vietnam and our highest national priority is
to advance the fullest possible accounting for persons missing from
the war. America and Vietnam have put that conflict behind them, but
finding out what happended to the missing is an urgent task for their
families and for the nation that they honoured. I will tell the
Vietnamese leaders that President Clinton and the American people are
grateful for their excellent cooperation on this humanitarian effort
on this point.

``While the fullest possible accounting remains at the top of our
agenda, U.S. and Vietnam relations are moving forward in many other
ways. We hope to conclude a comprehensive trade agreement soon. The
debt agreement signed here last month was an important step towards
achieving a trade treaty and full economic normalisation.

``Simply put, the United States' policy is to help Vietnam become a
prosperous country, at peace with its neighbours and fully intergrated
into this dynamic region of the world.

``I think this policy is an accurate reflection of our national
feelings. Whenever I examine the way Vietnamese and Americans think
about each other, I encounter a wellspring of goodwill on both side. I
want us to tap into that goodwill through official and economic ties
and through a wide range of exchanges. In time, I am confident that we
will not think of ourselves as former adversaries, but as very good
friends.

``Thank you and I appreciate you being with us today. I look forward
to seeing you all in the months ahead. Thank you very much.''
                 ___________________________________


First US ambassador to unified Vietnam arrives in Hanoi

Hanoi (dpa) - The first U.S. ambassador to be posted to unified
Vietnam arrived in Hanoi Friday declaring a ``new era of constructive
relations''.

``This is a very special day for America and for Vietnam,'' said
Douglas ``Pete'' Peterson, a former air force bomber pilot, who was
shot down and spent six-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war in
Hanoi.

He was greeted by about 100 U.S. residents of Hanoi, including former
U.S. military veterans who loudly applauded his arrival at a brief
reception at the capital's Noi Bai Aiport.

Peterson, a three-term Congressmean from Florida, reiterated that the
``highest national priority'' was still to get the ``fullest possible
accounting'' for U.S. servicemen missing from the war, many of whom
were his friends.

But he added that the relationship was at the same time moving ahead
on a number of fronts, including the recent settlement of old debt
incurred by the former Sagion government and negotiations towards a
bilateral trade agreement.

``Simply put, U.S. policy is to help Vietnam become a prosperous
country, at peace with its neighbours and integrated into this dynamic
region,'' said Peterson, who was speaking from a prepared address.

``I think this policy is an accurate reflection of our national
feelings,'' said the 26-year air force veteran who was shot down on
his 67th mission over North Vietnam in September 1967.

By tapping into the ``wellspring of goodwill'' that exists in both
countries ``in time, I am confident that we will not think of
ourselves as former adversaries, but as good friends,'' he said.

Peterson declined to answer press questions but greeted assembled
well-wishers including Mai Van On, 80, a Vietnamese army veteran who
rescued U.S. Senator John McCain, when he parachuted into a Hanoi lake
and nearly drowned. He also spent several years in Hanoi prisons.

In recent interviews Peterson, 61, has insisted he has put the
bitterness of the war behind him and his appointment has been nearly
universally welcomed here both officially and by ordinary Vietnamese.

``That's because of the unique political culture of the Vietnemse who
have spent centuries repelling foreign agressors, mostly the Chinese,
then the French, the Japanese and then the Americans, and then putting
it past them to look to the future,'' explained one former U.S.
official now in private business in Vietnam.

Hanoi's ambassador to Washington, Le Van Bang, a career foreign
service officer, left for the United States earlier this week.

Peterson, who was released during 'Operation Homecoming' in 1973 as
part of the Paris Peace Agreement, visited Vietnam again in 1991 and
1993 to re-engerise Washington's effort to account for the U.S. MIAs.
                 ___________________________________


Hong Kong forces home 81 Vietnamese boat people 

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong authorities forced home Friday a group of
81 Vietnamese asylum-seekers as the territory rushed to clear the
territory of boat people before the hanbdover to China in July.

A government spokesman said the 81 Vietnamese -- 54 men, 16 women and
11 children -- returned by air to Hanoi. Most of them had arrived in
Hong Kong since 1989.

The group brought to 10,283 the total number forced home under the
so-called orderly repatriation programme initiated since November
1991.

Around 2,700 others are awaiting return home by the end of June,
according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Hong Kong has stepped up forced repatriation of Vietnamese boatpeople
in a move to clear the asylum-seekers from the territory before it
returns to Chinese rule.

At the height of the boatpeople crisis in the early 1990s, there were
more than 60,000 people in Hong Kong camps.

China has told Hong Kong to clear the detention camps before the
handover.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam appoints officials to Internet controlling board 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam has appointed some senior government officials
to a committee charged with controlling Internet in Vietnam, press
reports said Friday.

The National Internet coordinating committee set up under a decree
issued by the government earlier this year will be headed by Pham Gia
Khiem, Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, the army Quan
Doi Nhan Dan daily reported.

Other members of the board will include the head of the Directorate
General of Post and Telecommunications, minister of education and
representatives from ministry of culture and information and interior
ministry which is responsible for internal security.

The Vietnamese government announced its intention to set up a direct
internet link last year but concern with the security risk of allowing
users unfettered access to the net has delayed progress.

All Internet users must apply for permission to open an internet
account and all information on the net must conform to press and
publication laws. Vietnam currently offers limited domestic on-line
services and electronic mail service to the rest of the world.

It is still not clear when full internet access will be made available
or who will operate the service.
                 ___________________________________


US ambassador arrives in Hanoi 

HANOI (AFP) - Douglas "Pete" Peterson, the first US ambassador to
Vietnam since the war ended in 1975, arrived on Friday at Hanoi's Noi
Bai Airport.

Peterson's arrival, coming more than 22 years after the end of the
Vietnam War, is a symbolic return to the country where he was jailed,
interrogated and tortured as a (POW) for more than six and a half
years.

Sixty-one-year old Peterson, who has visited Vietnam twice since he
was released in 1973, was to be greeted by the deputy director of the
protocol department and the deputy director of America's Department of
Vietnam's foreign ministry in the VIP lounge of the airport.

About 100 people from the American community in Hanoi were present at
Noi Bai airport to welcome the ambassador.

Peterson's arrival comes 21 months after the opening of the US embassy
in Hanoi. His counterpart, Vietnam's ambassador to Washington Le Van
Bang, took his post on Tuesday.