[news] Transcript of the PBS talk [1/3]

[AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>]

I very much value PBS (shorthand for Public Broadcasting Srvice) discussion=
s.
I think they are pretty instructive, informative, and educational. PBS is T=
HE
national public television service in the U.S. It is also influential
(i.e., many issues raised on PBS receive considerable attention from the=20
American audience and media). Its talk on Vietnam, with a number of big=20
guys, is interesting.

For these reasons, I am posting the transcripts of the PBS program last
night on VN-US relations. Many thanks for Anh Ian Bui for calling our
attention to this.
 =20

                                      NORMALIZED RELATIONS

            [Vietnam]                     MAY 15, 1997

                                           TRANSCRIPT

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     In a significant step to normalize relations with Vietnam, the
     United States recently established its first embassy in the Asian
     country since the fall of Saigon in 1975. To head the new mission,
     the U.S. selected Pete Peterson a former prisoner of war in
     Vietnam. Following a background report, Margaret Warner looks at
     the state of relations between the two countries with three
     experts on Vietnam.
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     MARGARET WARNER: Pete Peterson=92s arrival
     in Vietnam last Friday was a dramatic and        -----------
     symbolic moment. Thirty-one years ago, as   [Image] A RealAudio
     a U.S. fighter pilot, he=92d been [Vietnam]            version of
     shot down over North Vietnam.              this NewsHour segment
     He spent the next seven years in Hanoi as      is available.
     a prisoner of war. Now, this one-time         -----------------
     Florida congressman was returning to          NewsHour Links
     Hanoi as the first U.S. ambassador to            -----------
     Vietnam since the Vietnam War ended in         May 15, 1997:
     1975.                                      Margaret Warner leads
                                                  a discussion about
     PETE PETERSON, U.S. Ambassador, Vietnam:       the future of
     I=92m very, very pleased to be back in            Vietnam-U.S.
     Hanoi once again. This is a very special        relations.
     day for America and for Vietnam. Today we        -----------
     exchange ambassadors, marking the full        April 10, 1997:
     normalization of diplomatic relations        Treasury Secretary
     between our two countries.                      Robert Rubin
                                                discusses his trip to
     [Vietnam] MARGARET WARNER: Among those        Vietnam with Jim
               greeting Peterson was a former          Lehrer.
     North Vietnamese militia man, who 30             -----------
     years ago had captured another American      November 25, 1996:
     pilot, now-U.S. Senator John McCain.        Jim Lehrer discusses
                                                the latest efforts to
     After the Vietnam War, North and South       improve U.S.-Asia
     Vietnam were united as one country under    relations with Bruce
     Communist rule. A decade ago it began to   Stokes of the Council
     forsake some of its socialist economic     on Foreign Relations.
     policies for a more free market approach.        -----------
     This economic liberalization,   [Vietnam]    November 21, 1996:
     which the Vietnamese call =93doi              Four experts discuss
     moi,=94 included welcoming investment from        the state of
     abroad. The results have been dramatic.       U.S.-Asia Trade
     Gross Domestic Product has grown 8              relations.
     percent or more every year this decade.          -----------
     The country=92s per capita income is still     Browse the Online
     very low, about $250 a year, but it is       NewsHour's Economy
     three and four times that in Hanoi and Ho        coverage.
     Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. Both        -----------------
     cities are awash in modern consumer            Outside Links
     goods.                                           -----------
                                                  The official U.S.
     [Vietnam] Some of this growth has been     Treasury Department.
               spurred by the foreign                 -----------
     investment. Actual foreign money invested
     in Vietnam has skyrocketed from just $16 million in 1990 to $1.4
     billion in 1995, and four times that much was committed to future
     projects that same year.

     Foreign investors are attracted by Vietnam=92s             [Vietnam]
     demographics and potential for growth. Its population of
     75 million makes it the 13th largest in the world. Its people are
     young, well-educated, and have a reputation for being highly
     industrious. For several years, while the Japanese, French, and
     others were investing in Vietnam, American business was frozen out
     by a post-war U.S. economic embargo. But since the embargo was
     lifted three years ago, the U.S. has become the sixth largest
     trading partner for Vietnam.

     [Vietnam] Now, the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City bristle
               with signs for U.S. products and companies. Politically,
     however, the Vietnamese government has not liberalized much. The
     Communists maintain strict one-party rules, government control
     over the local press, and a tight lid on demonstrations and
     dissent.
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