VN News (May 11-12, 1997)

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

May 12: Hong Kong lawmakers condemn UK over stranded Vietnamese 
May 12: Hanoi Aims To Save Buildings Conservation Drive May Be Too Little,
Too Late For The City 
May 12: Minister Seeks Expanded Ties With Japan 
May 12: Judge gags testimony in Vietnam drug trial 
May 12: Prime minister says drug trial underlines police corruption 
May 12: Biggest Heroin smuggling trial verdict delayed 
May 12: Vietnam says U.S. ties still plagued by problems
May 12: Key defendant keeps secrets at Vietnam drugs trial
May 12: Why We Are in Vietnam 
May 12: Veteran and Former POW Returns to Vietnam as Envoy
May 11: The Americanization of Vietnam; Commercial, Cultural Links Grow With
Return of U.S. Investors, Emigres


Hong Kong lawmakers condemn UK over stranded Vietnamese 

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong legislators on Monday passed a motion
urging the government to condemn Britain unless it accepts all
Vietnamese boatpeople stranded here after its colonial rule ends in
July.

The security panel of the Legislative Council passed the motion,
calling on the government to openly reprimand London over around 2,000
Vietnamese asylum-seekers expected to be stranded here at the handover
to China on July 1.

However the British government has received legal advice that it has
no obligation to take the boat people in. Hong Kong government refugee
coordinator Sally Wong was quoted by government-run radio here as
saying.

Britain has not extended the United Nations convention and protocol
relating to refugees to Hong Kong, she said, adding that the call by
the panel would be handed on to London.

The legslators' decision follows the panel's agreement Friday to urge
Britain to take the lead and admit the 2,000-odd Vietnamese asylum.

James To, chairman of the security panel, made the call after being
briefed by assistant UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sergio Vieira
de Mello on the situation of Vietnamese refugees and non-refugees in
Hong Kong.

Vieira de Mello, on a recent two-day visit to the territory, told the
Legislative Council, Hong Kong's mini-parliament, that some Vietnamese
refugees and non-refugees, deemed economic migrants, would still be
languishing in Hong Kong after the handover of the British colony.

"Britain must accept all the refugees and boatpeople at the time of
the changeover," said To.

According to the UNHCR, there are currently 4,000 Vietnamese in Hong
Kong camps, with 1,300 bona fide refugees to be resettled in third
countries.

Some 300 of those in th camps are ethnic Chinese, regarded as
non-nationals by Hanoi and not accepted anywhere.

Vieira de Mello said he had urged Hanoi to reconsider these cases,
without avail.

The legislators, led by To, are expected to discuss the issue with
representatives of the British Trade Commission here Tuesday. The
commission will become Britain's consulate after the handover.

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.
                 ___________________________________


Hanoi Aims To Save Buildings Conservation Drive May Be Too
Little, Too Late For The City 

Source: The Dallas Morning News

Hanoi, Vietnam - Scaffolding covers the century-old Opera House as
hundreds of workers rush to complete the most extensive - and
expensive - renovation undertaken in Vietnam.

Down the street, bulldozers demolished brick walls that once enclosed
the "Hanoi Hilton," and two granite-and-glass high-rises have been
built where the French Colonial prison once stood.

The fate of those landmarks - one salvaged for posterity, the other
surrendered to progress - brings into sharp relief an emotional debate
over the future of a city whose crumbling elegance remains unique in
Asia.

After 50 years of war, isolation and poverty, Hanoi wants to catch up
with its neighbors. But while pell-mell development improves living
standards, it also is replacing refined architecture with charmless
concrete boxes. Indeed, for this nearly 1,000-year-old city, a
conservation campaign may have come too late.

"This is a city that was frozen in the 1930s by war and depression,"
said William Logan, an Australian urban planner who studied the city
for the United Nations. "Now Vietnam is trying to join the global
economy. It is attracting development from people whose sole interest
is profit and who have no real concern about Hanoi's heritage."

Said Ngo Xuan Loc, Vietnam's minister of construction: "We've made a
lot of mistakes. . . . The mistakes should be remedied now. Sometimes,
in our hurry, we don't preserve. We destroy."

Yet that destruction brings opportunities even as it threatens the
city's wide, tree-lined boulevards, downtown lakes and faded villas.
Hanoi is as decayed as its 987 years suggests, with inadequate
sanitation and infrastructure and overtaxed water and electrical
supplies. A city designed to hold 250,000 people now has more than 3
million.

"Conservation is a luxury," said Lawrie Wilson, an urban planner from
Australia who is advising the government. "My neighbors live in abject
poverty."

But Mr. Wilson, like other foreign and Vietnamese residents,
appreciates the intricate Chinese, French Colonial and stark Soviet
designs that make Hanoi "the only major Asian city with character."

Romantic Vietnamese also try to overlook the grime and bask in the
city's faded grandeur. Families occupying overcrowded downtown villas
refuse to move, even when offered hundreds of dollars in compensation.

"I feel proud when I see foreigners stop and take photographs of our
house," said Le Vinh, 33, whose family shares a dilapidated villa with
five other families. "Everyone loves Hanoi!"

Retaining its heritage means preserving two areas, the ancient quarter
that sits above Hoam Kiem Lake (The Lake of the Restored Sword) and
the French Colonial section south of the lake.

The quarter is the historic heart of Hanoi - a warren of 60 streets,
shops and narrow houses so densely populated that each resident has
about 1.5 square yards of space. The original 36 streets were named
after artisans and crafts people who worked and lived there - names
like Basketweavers' Street and Silversmiths' Street that still
survive.

Those residents lived in one-story "tube" houses, so called because
they measured as little as six feet across and up to 180 feet long.

Today, the city government's failure to control a remodeling boom has
turned the ancient quarter into a jumble of concrete "mini hotels" and
three- or four-story houses.

Fewer than a dozen authentic tube houses remain intact, although the
quarter continues as a trading hub. Houses are jammed side by side,
separated only by narrow passageways. Half contain individual water
taps, the rest communal spigots. The sewage system dates back to the
French occupation before 1954, and fewer than one-third of the Old
Quarter's households have flush toilets.

A report funded by the Japanese government called the ancient quarter
"the equivalent of an inner-city slum."

Because of those conditions, Mr. Wilson favors preserving a few
original houses and limiting new construction to three or four
stories.

"People must be allowed to improve their standard of living," he said.

Other studies have suggested saving entire blocks, turning some
sections into pedestrian-only areas or relocating thousands of
residents.

"For the past five years we have been researching what to do," said
Nguyen Truc Luyen, president of the 1,500 member Vietnam Architects'
Association in Hanoi. "Maybe we will have to spend five more answering
questions about the plans, and in that time, the quarter will
disappear."

Today, a year's worth of construction in Hanoi equals what used to be
built over a decade, said Mr. Loc, the construction minister. Instead
of spending three months building one floor of a building, workers
complete the task in eight days, he said.

In this rush to build, bulldozers turn blocks of the French Colonial
section into rubble. For instance, the Hanoi Hilton prison stood as a
landmark not only for American prisoners of war but for Vietnamese
Communists imprisoned by the French.

Despite protests by elderly Communists once jailed there, it was torn
down to make way for a 25-story apartment building and 13-story office
tower built with foreign investment.

But Vietnamese and foreigners have restored dozens of villas in the
French section. One being overhauled will serve as the residence of
former U.S. Rep. Pete Peterson, the new U.S. ambassador.

To ease congestion, the city also plans to move thousands of residents
to satellite towns. "Our duty is to keep Hanoi as it is in the
memories of the people," said Mr. Loc. "This means we must relocate
people."

For his part, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet is enforcing height
restrictions of seven to 10 stories in the French sector and
threatening to fire local officials if they approve projects that
clearly violate regulations, said sources familiar with the issue.
That is a bold step in a city where building officials and developers
routinely circumvent the licensing process or willingly pay fines as
low as $50.

"The rules are pretty fluid; nothing is solid," said Anh Thu Liza
Lockard, an American architect helping train students in Hanoi.

For instance, the height and design of two buildings on Hoam Kiem Lake
financed by overseas funds "clearly breached all sight and height
limitations," said a Westerner familiar with licensing operations in
Vietnam. "Obviously, money was paid."

The chief architect's office operates with almost no oversight. "They
say all the right things," said one preservation-minded developer who
did not want to be named. "But almost any license can be bought. If
they get blamed, they just blame people further down the line."

The chief architect, Ngo Lan, declined repeated requests for an
interview.

Mr. Logan, the Australian planner, believes some senior officials want
to preserve Hanoi. But progress may prove too tempting to resist.

"I am not very optimistic," said Mr. Logan, who predicts that
high-rises will one day dot the French quarter. "Apart from one or two
buildings like the Opera House, there probably won't be much history
left."
                 ___________________________________


Minister Seeks Expanded Ties With Japan 

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam said
his country wants to further expand ties with Japan and other nations
in the Asian and Pacific region.

Cam made the remarks Monday during a 30-minute meeting with Souichiro
Ito, the lower house speaker of Japan's Parliament, said Yuzo Kiyono,
a parliamentary spokesman.

Kiyono quoted Cam as telling Ito that Vietnam will strengthen ties
with Japan in trade, political dialogue and exchange of lawmakers and
other personnel.

Since becoming foreign minister in 1991, Cam has promoted a reform
policy which introduces market elements to a socialist system.

Included under that policy was the normalizing of diplomatic relations
with the U.S. in 1995, and gaining official membership in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Last year, Japan's investment in Vietnam totaled $687 million. Japan
imported $1.86 billion worth of products from Vietnam last year, the
ministry said. Japan's exports to Vietnam amounted to $1.05 billion.
                 ___________________________________


Judge gags testimony in Vietnam drug trial 

HANOI (AP) -- A senior court justice on Monday stopped a defendant in
Vietnam's largest-ever drug trial from testifying that he sold raw
heroin to a ranking Vietnamese police officer, the state-run radio
reported.

The judge did not explain her actions, and told the defendant he could
confess his dealings to police investigators in private. The move
raised eyebrows even among Vietnam's state-controlled media.

``This is the first questionable action by the judge that the audience
has seen so far,'' the official Voice of Vietnam said in its
commentary-style newscast. ``They wonder why the defendants were not
allowed to speak in public.''

The government is censoring news flowing from the courtroom to curb
testimony further linking the Interior Ministry with the case.

Twenty-two people including 11 police officers, border guards and
customs agents are on trial on charges of smuggling hundreds of
kilograms (pounds) of heroin and opium into Vietnam from neighboring
Laos. Police agencies in Vietnam fall under the auspices of the
Interior Ministry.

In testimony Monday, Laotian defendant Sieng Kham Chan began to
describe how he sold 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of heroin to the top
defendant, Vu Xuan Truong.

Justice Hoang Tan Thanh curbed the testimony, to the surprise of the
courtroom, Voice of Vietnam said. A panel of judges is expected to
hand down verdicts and sentences this week.

Over the weekend, the chief prosecutor called for the death sentence
for six of the 11 police officers and border guards. Prosecutor Nguyen
Van Tu also said two other defendants should face the firing squad.

Just days before the trial began, former police inspector Truong
threatened to expose ``extremely important'' officials during his
defense.

The government responded by closing the proceedings to all foreign
press. Only a carefully selected group of local reporters from
state-controlled media has been given access to the courtroom.

Outside the courthouse, several hundred people waited for word on the
closed-door proceedings. Some people complained that the government
should not limit access to the trial.

``With the public or ordinary people, if you smuggle a few grams of
heroin they make it a big deal,'' said retired government employee
Nguyen Thi Nhan. ``I think with these government officials, punishment
is going to be too light.''

Premier Vo Van Kiet said the magnitude of the case revealed flaws in
the country's law enforcement system.

``This court case has highlighted how we must strengthen our police
and border officials by better management and better selection of
people to take up these positions,'' Kiet was quoted as saying in the
Vietnam Investment Review.

Truong was arrested after police found heroin and dlrs 80,000 in cash
at one of his homes. Presumption of guilt is the norm in Vietnam,
where most trials are reduced to a process of plea bargaining to
determine sentencing.

``It is impossible to negate the acts of the defendant, which have
proven him guilty,'' said Truong's defense lawyer Ho Dac Quang. ``But
the crimes which are short of evidence cannot be used against him.''

Truong has admitted he hid heroin in his house and allowed police
vehicles to be used to transport the narcotics across the border but
denies he was actively involved in the smuggling.

His wife is among the defendants in the case.
                 ___________________________________


Prime minister says drug trial underlines police corruption 

Hanoi (AP) -- The trial of an alleged heroin smuggling ring has shown
weaknesses in the country's law enforcement agencies, Prime Minister
Vo Van Kiet told a state-run weekly newspaper published Monday.

Twenty-two people including 11 police officers, border guards and
customs agents are on trial on charges of smuggling hundreds of
kilograms (pounds) of heroin and opium into Vietnam from neighboring
Laos.

``This court case has highlighted how we must strengthen our police
and border officials by better management and better selection of
people to take up these positions,'' Kiet was quoted as saying in the
Vietnam Investment Review.

A panel of judges is expected to hand down verdicts and sentences this
week.

The chief prosecutor over the weekend called for the death sentence
for six of the 11 police officers and border guards. Prosecutor Nguyen
Van Tu also said two other defendants should face the firing squad.

The central government has been careful to censor the content of the
trial to avoid possibly damaging testimony against the Interior
Ministry from leaking out.

Just days before the trial began, the top defendant, former Police
Inspector Vu Xuan Truong, threatened to expose ``extremely important''
officials in his testimony.

The government responded by closing the proceedings to all foreign
press. Only a carefully selected group of local reporters from
state-controlled media has been given access to the courtroom.

Truong was a top official along Vietnam's border with Laos, and
prosecutors say police found heroin and dlrs 80,000 in cash when they
raided one of his three houses.

The court will likely sentence Truong to death in the case.
Presumption of guilt is the norm in Vietnam, where most trials are
reduced to a process of plea bargaining to determine sentencing.

``It is impossible to negate the acts of the defendant which have
proven him guilty,'' said Truong's defense lawyer Ho Dac Quang. ``But
the crimes which are short of evidence cannot be used against him.''

Truong has admitted he hid heroin in his house and allowed police
vehicles to be used to transport the narcotics across the border but
denies he was actively involved in the smuggling.

His wife is among the other defendants in the case.

Lawmakers last week approved a new law lowering the requirement for
the death penalty for drug smuggling.

Anyone found to be in possession of 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of heroin
may be punished with death. Previously, it was one kilogram (35
ounces) of heroin.
                 ___________________________________


Biggest Heroin smuggling trial verdict delayed

Hanoi (AFP) - Judges have delayed until Wednesday the sentencing of 22
people in Vietnam's largest heroin smuggling trial, with up to eight
defendants facing possible death sentences, a court official said
Monday.

The trial, concerning a sophisticated drug ring which allegedly
smuggled nearly 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds) of heroin into Vietnam
from 1992, was originally scheduled to finish Monday.

Defence lawyers were to give their defence statement Monday, while
Tuesday would be devoted to deliberation by the five presiding judges,
the court official said.

"The judges need time to deliberate the sentences very carefully," he
said.

The trial began on May 2.

In all 22 people, including eight senior police officers and three
women are on trial, two of whom may receive the death sentence.

According to the Cong An Nhan Dan People's Police Newspaper, the
prosecution office on Saturday recommended the death penalty for eight
defendants, including the suspected ringleader and former Interior
Ministry Police Captain Vu Xuan Truong.

Truong's wife Nguyen Thi Lua and his younger brother Vu Thuong Kiet
are likely to receive life prison sentences.

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

The case dates back to 1995 when two Laotians were arrested with 15
kilograms (33 pounds) of heroin. One of them, Sieng Pheng, earned a
last-minute reprieve from the firing squad in exchange for the names
of those involved in a massive drug-smuggling ring last June.

In all, 43 people have been arrested in connection with the case.

Police with megaphones were out on the street in front of the Hanoi
People's Court Monday to keep traffic moving and people off the
sidewalks in front of the French-built courthouse, which has been
cordoned off since the second day of the trial.

The security clampdown was prompted by the large numbers of curious
onlookers expected on what was officially scheduled to be the last day
of the trial.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam says U.S. ties still plagued by problems

Hanoi (Reuter) - Vietnam's prime minister has welcomed the arrival of
Washington's first ambassador to Hanoi, but warned that many problems
remain to be solved in relations between the two former foes, an
official journal said on Monday.

The Dau Tu newspaper quoted premier Vo Van Kiet as saying the
appointment of former prisoner of war Douglas ``Pete'' Peterson, who
arrived in Hanoi on Friday, was a sign of good will.

But he also said that more time would be needed to solve the ``many
complicated problems'' that remain, especially in the economic field.

Peterson said in an arrival statement on Friday that a new era in
relations between the two countries had dawned, but stressed that
accounting for servicemen missing in action (MIA) from the war that
ended 22 years ago remained Washington's priority task.

Vietnam cooperates in the search for the remains of servicemen, but
has in the past expressed irritation over Washington's insistence on
putting the MIA issue ahead of a bilateral trade agreement.

Original hopes that a comprehensive trade agreement would be signed
this year have faded because the United States is insisting on
rigorous steps by Vietnam to liberalise its trade and investment
regimes.

Hanoi, which is keen to win the most-favoured nation (MFN) trading
status that an accord would bring, argues that its economy is still
too underdeveloped to meet those demands.

Dau Tu quoted Kiet as saying that Vietnam needed access to markets
such as the United States, but cautioned against pinning too much hope
on the benefits that MFN status would bring.

Vietnam and the United States normalised ties in mid-1995, but their
relationship is still troubled by mutual distrust.
                 ___________________________________


Key defendant keeps secrets at Vietnam drugs trial

Hanoi (Reuter) - The key defendant in Vietnam's dramatic drugs trial
has denied that he was the kingpin in a cross-border trafficking ring,
but has failed to make good on his promise to expose some ``very
important people.''

The Lao Dong newspaper said on Monday that Vu Xuan Truong, a former
captain in the Interior Ministry's anti-crime unit, accused a fellow
defendant of masterminding the syndicate but mentioned no other names.

Truong, who has said he expects to face the firing squad for his
crime, urged the Hanoi People's Court to hand out stiff sentences when
the closed-door trial ends on Wednesday.

Lao Dong said Truong had asked the board of judges ``to be tough with
such the kind of crime that I committed because the damage that drugs
cause is a serious threat to the existence of the entire human race.''

Sources who attended the trial on Monday said Truong, who has tried to
commit suicide twice, told the court that he did not intend to appeal
against his sentence and asked to be executed as soon as possible.

The prosecution has called for eight of the 22 accused, half of whom
are police officers and border guards, to be sentenced to death. It
reccomended that eight others be jailed for life and the rest get
various prison sentences of up to 20 years.

Truong stands accused of playing a key role in flooding the country
with more than 300 kg (660 pounds) of heroin from remote corners of
Thailand, Laos and Burma over several years.

He vowed before the trial began to implicate some ``extremely
important people'' in the still-widening scandal in return for the
lives of his co-defendant wife and brother being spared.

But instead of naming new names he told the court that the ringleader
was fellow defendant Nguyen Trong Thang, an import-export company
employee whom the prosecution said should die.
                 ___________________________________


Why We Are in Vietnam 

Christian Science Monitor

A former bomber pilot and POW gives a new answer to the question-mark
book title of 30 years ago: "Why Are We in Vietnam?"

He is Douglas (Pete) Peterson, the US's first postwar ambassador to
Vietnam, and he wants to bridge "a river of pain that runs between our
countries." He hopes the example of one with his grim Vietnam history
will help others move from hostility to healing. A good reason to be
"in Vietnam" again.

Some in Congress opposed naming an ambassador now on grounds that
Vietnam has not given adequate answers about missing Americans. Some
opposed it while political fund-raising from foreign and other sources
remains under investigation.

But in Hanoi Mr. Peterson will be well placed to pursue questions
about the missing, as well as to aid reconstruction, control of drug
trafficking, and trade relations. And he should have support from most
of Congress, including the Vietnam generation of which he was a part
as a Democratic representative from Florida.

Among the vets are Peterson's GOP ex-POW counterpart, Sen. John McCain
of Arizona, and former presidential candidate Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) of
Nebraska, wounded in the war. At the 15th anniversary of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial - the wall with names of 58,196 dead and missing -
Mr. Kerrey spoke of the body healing quicker than the heart. He saw
the final step toward healing in Pete Peterson's taking up his
ambassadorial post.

After any war the first ambassador to a former enemy has a reconciling
function. James B. Conant exercised it when he left the presidency of
Harvard University to be the first US envoy to Germany after World War
II. As for military men bearing olive branches, Gen. Douglas MacArthur
was named President Truman's viceroy of Japan before the US had a
postwar ambassador there. He defied advocates of punishing the nation
he had defeated; he said he wanted to bring solace and hope.

But then, with Americans united in an unambiguous cause, there was not
the post- Vietnam need for reconciliation within the US also. Many
Vietnam vets returned to less than heroes' welcomes. Sen. John Kerry
(D) of Massachusetts, a veteran himself, rightly observed, "The
warriors were confused with the war, and that should never have
happened."

Now there is unstated symbolism as a nonveteran and early opponent of
the war, President Clinton, appoints a veteran to the Hanoi post. It
underscores Ambassador Peterson's wish to hear people say " Vietnam"
without always adding the word "war."

US envoy to Hanoi hopes his example as ex-POW will move others from
hostility to healing.
                 ___________________________________


Veteran and Former POW Returns to Vietnam as Envoy

Wall Street Journal

Hanoi -- Former prisoner of war Douglas "Pete" Peterson landed at
Hanoi's sleepy Noi Bai International Airport on Friday to become the
first U.S. ambassador posted to communist Vietnam.

"This is a special day for America and Vietnam. The exchange of
ambassadors marks the full normalization of our relations," said Mr.
Peterson, a Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war here, soon
after his arrival. "This is the beginning of a new era of constructive
relations." He added that while the issue of accounting for U.S.
servicemen still listed as missing in action was Washington's
priority, he hoped the two countries would conclude a trade treaty
soon. "Simply put, U.S. policy is to help Vietnam to become a
prosperous country, at peace with its neighbors and integrated into
this dynamic region."

Ties have been strengthening only slowly: President Bill Clinton in
1994 lifted a decades-old trade embargo on Hanoi and established
diplomatic ties the following year. Last month, the two countries
reached a copyright accord, a minor step toward the goal of achieving
a full trade agreement, which would lead to "most favored nation"
trading status for Vietnam. Officials say an air-service accord
allowing U.S. airlines to fly to Vietnam may be in place before the
end of this year.

Cluttered Agenda

But much more remains on the agenda. Vietnam, for example, is still
barred from receiving U.S. Export-Import Bank loans and financing,
which U.S. businessmen complain ultimately hurts American business
interests. And the small but vocal missing-in-action lobby group in
the U.S. continues to exert much influence over U.S. policy.

Indeed, Mr. Peterson's arrival, almost exactly 22 years after the
communist victory over U.S.-backed forces in 1975, was long delayed by
domestic politics and legal wrangling. "There's a lot of backslapping
about how great it is that we have an ambassador now," said Fred
Burke, head of the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the American Chamber of
Commerce, "but his confirmation should have been a no-brainer." Some
U.S. businesspeople here fear the delay may have irritated the
Vietnamese side, creating a degree of ill will in the trade
negotiations.

The ambassador's arrival is a step toward normalized trade relations,
but it's largely symbolic, added Mr. Burke. The "real work" will be to
get Vietnam to open its market up to U.S. trade and services,
something the Vietnamese are reluctant to do, he says. "The Vietnamese
want to protect their nascent industries."

U.S. trade negotiators have been waiting since March for the
Vietnamese government to respond to its draft trade proposal. There's
little the new ambassador can do to speed up this round of
negotiations. But once an agreement is reached, trade experts are
hopeful that the ambassador's influence in Congress will help push
though the ratification of a deal back in Washington.

"He's a former businessman as well a former POW, so he appreciates the
need to make the U.S. more competitive here," said Mr. Burke, who
remains optimistic that a trade deal can be struck over the next 12 to
18 months. The ambassador's credentials should also give him sway with
both Congress and the Vietnamese government, he added.

'Look Toward the Future'

Mr. Peterson's arrival "affirms that both countries are interested in
closing the chapter on the past in order to look toward the future,"
Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet recently told reporters. In the past, Mr.
Kiet has criticized Washington for failing to move forward on trade
and economic ties.

Much has changed since Sept. 10, 1966, when, on his 67th mission, Mr.
Peterson's air force bomber was shot down over then-North Vietnam's
Red River delta. He bailed out and landed in a mango tree beside an
irrigation ditch halfway between Hanoi and Haiphong port.

Mr. Peterson was locked up in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" jail --
which, in a sign of the times, has now been transformed into a swanky
hotel and office complex -- until his repatriation in 1973.

And his arrival is a generation away from the chaos and disgrace that
marked the departure of the last U.S. ambassador to Vietnam.

Two decades, two years and 11 days ago on Friday, the U.S. ambassador
to South Vietnam, Graham Martin, tucked the U.S. flag under his arm,
climbed atop the embassy in what was then called Saigon and fled the
devastated city by helicopter.