VN news (May 9-10)

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

May 10: Vietnam assembly ends session: sparks of dissent seen
May 10: Vietnam, Thailand agree to joint sea patrol 
May 10: Firing squad looms for eight in Hanoi drugs case 
May 10: Ho Chi Minh City police arrest 17 young drugs users 
May 10: Hunt for MIAs top priority: US envoy 
May 10: Vietnam sets up body to oversee five-billion-dollar highway plan
May 10: Grizzled veteran ensures history lives on 
May 09: Vietnam's ambassador arrives in Washington 
May 09: Vietnam a transit country for drugs 
May 09: US ambassador Pete Peterson is ideal bridge between former enemies 


Vietnam assembly ends session: sparks of dissent seen 

HANOI (dpa) - Vietnam's national assembly ended Saturday its last,
40-day session which saw the passage of nearly all draft laws as well
as growing taste for criticism among deputies.

The assembly's 400 members met for the last time during its current
term. After elections due in July, about 30 to 40 percent of the
members will be changed and the assembly strength will go up to 450.

In a televised closing ceremony, assembly president Nong Duc Manh
thanked deputies for their "assiduous work" during a busy term.

Deputies amended the penal code, tightening laws to combat drugs,
corruption and sexual abuse of children, providing for the death
penalty in some cases.

The death sentence would henceforth apply to those found in possession
of 100 grams (.35 ounces) of heroin -- as against one kilogram (2.2
pounds) previously, those convicted of embezzling more than 45,000
dollars and those guilty of sexually abusing children under seven.

Deputies also voted an electoral law, a trade law -- first step
towards gaining admission to the World Trade Organisation -- a law on
value added tax and one on the finances of enterprises.

However, they failed to pass a much awaited banking law. Although the
postponement was attributed to lack of time observers say the draft
law was sensitive as Vietnam's banking sector has been hit by a large
number of scandals that could embarass the government and the central
bank.

While passing the laws as envisaged, the deputies displayed a capacity
for independence which was unthinkable only a few years ago.

Some members sharply criticised a major project, backed by the
communist party politburo, for a north-south highway. They questioned
its economic viability, asking where the government would find the 5.5
billion dollars needed.

Others voiced doubts over a project dear to the government's heart:
the construction of the first petroleum refinery at Dung Quat, in
central Vietnam, an underdeveloped region far from production and
consumption centres.

Deputies also protested against the language used in the draft trade
law, terming it "too technical and too vague."

An official with an international organisation in Hanoi commented that
the "national assembly is developing as a very sensitive institution
of civil opinion." It has so far been dismissed as a rubber-stamp
body.

It should acquire a new profile following the July 20 elections. It
will have fewer party members: their share of assembly seats would go
down from 92 percent to 80 percent.

The assembly will have more technocrats, economists, intellectuals and
women. The proportion of "workers," farmers and soldiers -- the
backbone of the Vietnamese revolution -- should fall proportionately.

An important item on the new assembly's agenda will be the election of
successors to President Le Duc Anh and Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet,
whose terms end along with that of the assembly.
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Vietnam, Thailand agree to joint sea patrol 

Hanoi (Reuter) - Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to set up a joint
patrol force to avoid clashes between fishermen in their disputed
overlapping maritime territories, Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Pitak
Intrawityanunt said on Saturday.

Pitak told a news conference after meetings with officials in Hanoi
that the two countries had also decided to set up a joint committee
and hotline to prevent a repetition of incidents which have marred
otherwise good bilateral relations in recent years.

However, he said no side had made concessions in their claims to an
area in the Gulf of Thailand where their continental shelves overlap
for about 6,000 sq km (2,300 sq miles).

Fishermen from both sides have, in the past, clashed or been detained
by local authorities in the overlapping areas.

No fishermen are currently being held on either side, and Pitak cited
Vietnam's decision to restrict arresting powers to government
authorities as a sign of progress.

Details of how the joint patrol would operate were not given, though
Thai diplomats said it would be modelled on a force set up between
Thailand and Malaysia.
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Firing squad looms for eight in Hanoi drugs case 

Hanoi (Reuter) - The prosecution in Vietnam's dramatic drugs trial has
called for eight of the 22 accused to be sentenced to death, an
official media report said on Saturday.

The Evening News daily said prosecutors had recommended that eight
others be jailed for life and that the rest get various prison
sentences of up to 20 years.

Among those called to face the firing squad were Vu Xuan Truong, a
former captain in the Interior Ministry's anti-crime unit, and a
transport company driver, Dao Xuan Xe.

The prosecution has argued in the Hanoi People's Court, where the
trial entered its eighth day on Saturday, that the defendants operated
a huge heroin-trafficking ring.

Truong and Xe stand accused of playing key roles in flooding the
country with more than 300 kg (600 pounds) of heroin from remote
corners of Thailand, Laos and Burma over several years.

Half of the accused are either police officers and border guards, and
several other state security officials are likely to stand trial at a
later date for their alleged involvement in the drugs syndicate.

Informed sources said a verdict in the trial, which has been closed to
foreign reporters, would be given on Monday or Tuesday.

Hundreds of people lined the streets outside the court on Saturday
afternoon to catch a glimpse of the defendants as they were driven
away in a siren-blaring cavalcade of police vehicles.

Some onlookers were munching snacks being sold by enterprising street
traders and many were clutching photocopied newspaper reports, which
have been packed with details of the drug ring's shady dealings.

Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet told two leading newspapers on Friday that
it was high time to sound the alarm on drug trafficking in Vietnam.

``The current situation on drugs is serious,'' he told the official
Saigon Giai Phong daily. ``Vietnam is not just a market for drug
consumption, it is also a significant transit route for trafficking
drugs in the region.''

A champion of the communist country's decade-old reform process, Kiet
said Hanoi had failed to anticipate the drugs problem which would come
from opening borders long closed to the outside world.

Kiet said he believed that senior officials of the interior ministry,
of which the police is a central arm, were controlling their staff --
but not strictly enough.

Truong vowed before the trial got under way to implicate some
``extremely important people'' in the scandal in return for the lives
of his co-defendant wife and brother being spared.

Official reports of Truong's testimony would appear to indicate that
he has not made good on his promise, though the prosecution has
recommended prison terms rather than the death sentence for the wife
and brother.

The National Assembly, which ended its spring session on Saturday,
last week approved amendments to the criminal code which will bring
stiffer penalties for corruption and drug-trafficking.

The new law will make possession of just 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of
heroin -- instead of one kilogram (2.2 pounds) previously --
punishable by life in jail or the death sentence.
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Ho Chi Minh City police arrest 17 young drugs users 

HANOI (AFP) - Seventeen young heroin addicts have been held as police
in Ho Chi Minh City uncovered a downtown shooting gallery, a report
said Saturday.

All of the addicts aged between 17 and 27 were arrested as they were
caught smoking heroin in a shooting gallery in Binh Thanh district,
the Lao Dong newspaper said.

The use of drugs and especially heroin is growing rapidly in Vietnam,
mostly among the youth in the former Saigon.

In March, 96 people -- most aged between 15 and 23 --were arrested in
a karaoke bar where they were caught smoking heroin.
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Hunt for MIAs top priority: US envoy 

By GREG TORODE

Hanoi (SCMP) -- Washington's first ambassador to modern Vietnam
arrived in Hanoi yesterday hailing a "new era" in friendship, but
insisting the hunt for the remains of US servicemen takes priority.

Former prisoner of war Douglas "Pete" Peterson's opening statements
did little to ease the minds of Vietnamese officials and foreign
businessmen now desperate for urgent improvements to economic ties and
aid flows.

"My mission is to advance United States' interests in Vietnam and our
highest national priority is to advance the fullest possible
accounting for persons missing from the war," Mr Peterson said on
arrival at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport.

"America and Vietnam have put the conflict behind them, but finding
out what happened to the missing is an urgent task for their families
and for the nation they honoured.

"I will tell Vietnamese leaders that President Clinton and the
American people are grateful for their excellent co-operation in the
humanitarian effort."

However, speaking privately, US diplomats were surprised by his
remarks and predicted work on a new economic relationship would be the
priority.

About 100 American residents cheered as Mr Peterson left for the
embassy in a white Chevrolet, with the US flag on the bonnet.

On-lookers had been asked to fold up flags and banners to obey strict
Vietnamese protocol governing the arrival of a foreign envoy.

Mr Peterson added that US policy was to help Vietnam prosper and said
he had hoped to wrap up a comprehensive trade treaty soon.

The deal is crucial to Most Favoured Nation trading status and other
federal business advantages but still lacks a formal timetable.

Vietnamese officials are confident of agreement by August but US
officials have warned there is still much work to be done on the Hanoi
side.

The exchange of ambassadors completes a thaw in diplomatic ties frozen
by the US when communist forces took the former South Vietnam in April
1975.

Mr Peterson said he was confident that eventually the two countries
would think of each other as good friends rather than former
adversaries.

"This is an historical event and the beginning of a new era of
constructive relations between our two countries."

Some 1,558 servicemen are still classed as missing in action as a
result of the 11-year Vietnam conflict.

The $18 million annual hunt for remains involves hundreds of
scientists and soldiers in often dangerous conditions.

A name can only be removed from the list once identifiable body parts
are found.

Circumstantial evidence, though considerable in many cases, is not yet
acceptable.

Mr Peterson spent more than six years inside a string of institutions
around northern Vietnam after his jet fighter was shot down near
Haiphong in 1966.
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Vietnam sets up body to oversee five-billion-dollar highway
plan

HANOI (AFP) - A committee has been set up to set guidelines for the
construction of Vietnam's second north-south superhighway, expected to
cost five billion dollars, a report said Saturday.

The new committee will be under direct control of the Ministry of
Defence and be headed by vice defence minister Nguyen Trong Xuyen, the
army Quan Doi Nhan Dan daily reported.

The three biggest military construction corporations -- the Truong Son
construction corporation, Thanh An corporation and Lung Lo
construction company -- were chosen to get ready for construction of
the Truong Son highway.

Communist Party Secretary General Do Muoi on Friday stressed at the
National Assembly session the importance of the highway for the
economy and national defence.

The report also quoted the party chief as saying that construction of
the superhighway must be done step by step.

Total cost for the 1,800-kilometer (1,116 mile) highway is estimated
at around five billion dollars and some 1.2 billion dollars will be
spent for the first phase beginning in 1998 to 2000. The government so
far has given very little indicaion on how it plans to finance the
mega project.

Construction of the Truong Son highway, which will incorporate parts
of the old legendary wartime Ho Chi Minh trail, is expected to take
some 15 years to complete.
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Grizzled veteran ensures history lives on 

Enmity overcome: Vietnamese war veteran Mai Van On greets US
Ambassador Douglas "Pete" Peterson at Hanoi's airport. Mr Peterson is
one-time Vietnam prisoner of war.
                                   
Hanoi (SCMP) -- Amid the sharp-suited diplomats and gleaming white
Chevrolet limousines at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport for the arrival of Mr
Peterson, war veteran Mai Van On ensured history was not swept aside.

In revolutionary tunic and cap, 80-year-old Mr On flung his arms
around Mr Peterson to welcome him to Vietnam - a bright spot in a day
subdued by diplomatic protocol.

"Welcome . . . It's good to see you . . . You still look so strong,"
Mr On said before Mr Peterson was whisked away by aides.

"You're looking strong too. I'll say hello to Mr McCain for you," Mr
Peterson replied.

Mr On is well known by American war veterans resident in Vietnam as
the ageing revolutionary who dived into Hanoi's Truc Bac lake to
rescue John McCain, now a leading Republican senator, after his plane
was shot down during the Christmas bombing at the height of the war.

Senator McCain and Mr Peterson both spent time as prisoners of war in
Hanoi's vast network of jails for captured American pilots. Both men
have worked in recent years to forge new ties with their former enemy,
providing crucial support to controversial calls for normalisation
with Hanoi.

"It's good that a veteran like Mr Peterson can return as a friend . .
. We must not forget what happened, but we must let bygones be
bygones," Mr On said as he waited for Mr Peterson to arrive.

"The war is over," he said. "We should look closely at America now,
they are so talented, they have knowledge. We need their help."

Mr On joined Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary Viet Minh brigade in 1945 as
it stepped up its battle against France's continued colonial rule.

He returned to Hanoi from the jungles of the south in the early 1960s,
moving into a house on the strategic Truc Bac lake to guard crucial
stores.

He remains in the same house today, frequently entertaining visitors
and showing the statue immortalising his efforts to rescue the badly
injured Senator McCain, who has returned to Hanoi several times. -- By
GREG TORODE

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Vietnam's ambassador arrives in Washington 

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Vietnam's first ambassador to the United States Le
Van Bang arrived here Friday, completing an exchange of envoys that
launched a new diplomatic era between the two countries.

Bang, 50, and his wife Buy Thi An were greeted by a US diplomat at
their arrival aboard an Air France plane at an airport near
Washington, said Maria Sotiropoulous, a protocol officer at the State
Department.

"He said he was very happy to be here and looked forward to working
with the United States," Sotiropouluos said.

Diplomats from other Asian countries were on hand for his arrival that
took place after US Ambassador Douglas "Pete" Peterson arrived in
Hanoi.

Peterson spend six and a half years as a prisoner of war in the
infamous "Hanoi Hilton" Hoa Lo prison.

State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns hailed the exchange of
ambassadors as a "historic day" for the United States and Vietnam, 22
years after the end of the Vietnam war.

Bang was scheduled to formally present his credentials to President
Bill Clinton on Thursday, in a further sign of the importance
Washington attributes to the diplomatic beginning.

Bang, the former Vietnamese charge d'affaires in Washington, was named
in April as Vietnam's first ambassador to Washington, 20 months after
the normalisation in relations between the two former enemies.

"My first aim is to ease the development of economic and commercial
relations between the two countries, especially the export of
Vietnamese products to the United States," Bang said in a recent
interview with the Lao Dong newspaper.
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Vietnam a transit country for drugs 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet said Vietnam had
become an important transit country for the regional drug trade and
regretted his government has not down more to fight the problem, a
report said Friday.

"Vietnam is not only a consuming place for drugs but also an important
transit point for drug trade in the region" Kiet said in an interview
with the Sai Gon Giai Phong daily.

"The most regrettable thing is that we have not given timely warnings
to the people of the problem and not introduced firm methods to stem
the scourge which has been booming in line with the country's open
door (economic) policy," the head of the government added.

According to UN Drug Control Program estimates, more than 200,00O
Vietnamese are addicted to narcotics, and the habit has become
widespread among city youth.

Since 1995 the United States has included Vietnam in a list of 29 of
the largest countries for drug production and transhipment because of
its opium cultivation and its use as a transhipment point for drugs to
North America and Europe.

Huge quantities of opium are currently being planted in the northwest
of the country and Vietnam is becoming a favourable transhipment point
of drugs from the Golden Triangle including Thailand, Laos and Burma.

"I'm not satisfied with the results of the anti-drug fight in recent
years" he said expressing concerns over rising drug consumption among
Vietnamese school children.

Asked about Vietnam's biggest heroin smuggling trial now underway in
Hanoi in which 12 police officers are among the 22 accused, Kiet
stressed "all drugs traffickers must be punished, no matter what their
rank".

"If I was the magistrate of the court, I would fulfill my obligation
in accordance with the law. For us this is a big lesson for management
of our cadres" the prime minister said.
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US ambassador Pete Peterson is ideal bridge between former
enemies 

By Frederik Balfour

HANOI (AFP) - Former prisoner of war (POW) Douglas "Pete" Peterson,
who was shot down nearly 31 years ago landed safely in Hanoi on Friday
to take up the historic post as the United States' first ambassador
here.

Peterson's arrival, coming more than 22 years after the end of the
Vietnam War, was a symbolic return for the man who was jailed,
interrogated and tortured as a prisoner-of-war (POW) for more than
six-and-a-half years, including time he spent in the infamous "Hanoi
Hilton" Hoa Lo prison.

It was Peterson's experience that made him an inspired choice as the
first US ambassador to Hanoi, observers here say.

"With his background, every message will carry the certain knowledge
that here is a former prisoner who has returned to the belly of the
beast," said Sesto Vecchi, a US lawyer who practiced in the former
Saigon during the war and returned to that city, renamed Ho Chi Minh
City, in 1994.

Peterson said on Friday after arriving at the airport that he would
make accounting for the 1,589 US military personnel still listed as
missing in action "the highest national priority."

Peterson, 61, who has visited Vietnam twice since he was released as a
POW in 1973, has never returned to the site where his plane crashed,
50 kilometres (30 miles) outside of Hanoi, on September 9, 1966 while
on a bombing mission.

He returned to the United States and served in the air force until
1981. He later opened a computer business and served three terms as a
Democratic congressman in the state of Florida.

Peterson, played a pivotal role in normalising relations with Vietnam
in 1995.

"Hopefully Peterson will be able to heal the wounds of war and help us
overcome the whole Vietnam syndrome and that will help our
policymakers be more relaxed in forming our policy," said Greg Craft,
an American who has lived in Hanoi for seven years.

Americans and Vietnamese hope Peterson's presence will help spur
negotiations of a bilateral trade agreement, though people familiar
with the accord say signing is still a long way off.

Peterson's arrival comes nearly 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.

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

But the new envoy said he intends to keep a low profile during his
first weeks here. No official receptions are planned by either the US
community or the Vietnamese until after he presents his credentials to
the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry within the next ten days.

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.

Both houses are within a few blocks of the Hanoi Hilton site which
Peterson will hardly recognise. Only one wall remains of the former
prison which has been replaced by a spanking new Singaporean built
office and residential block.
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