VN news/business news (May 29)

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

May 29: Words of healing: Web site has become an electronic 'Wall' for
        Vietnam survivors 
May 29: Senator seeks aid for Vietnamese who fought for U.S 
May 29: Fears over boat people stranded as repatriations end 
May 29: Peterson: Set aside the suffering to forge ties with Vietnam 
May 29: Pilot's remains returned from Vietnam 
May 29: China MFN Complicates Timing Of U.S. Moves On Vietnam 
May 29: Design contracts awarded for Vietnam gas project 


Thursday - May 29, 1997

Words of healing: Web site has become an electronic 'Wall' for Vietnam
survivors 

Hollis L. Engley / Gannett News Service
The Detroit News

Retired U.S. Army Col. Nicholas "Andy" Andreacchio says he's not
bitter about the anti-war protests he found 30 years ago when he came
home from a year as an adviser to the South Vietnamese army. But the
ex-tank man hasn't changed his opinion of the protesters.

"I thought they were a bunch of privileged, selfish, self- centered,
spoiled brats," he says from his home in Tacoma, Wash., "who were more
than willing to see the poor people go out and do their fighting for
them."

He still thinks that.

But one of his friends is Barry Spatz (online name "Doc Spatz"), an
Irvine, Calif., psychologist and one of Andreacchio's former "spoiled
brats." Spatz graduated from high school in 1963, protested the
Vietnam War and became a conscientious objector. Thirty years later,
he thinks the real Vietnam-era patriots are the people "with the guts
to stand up to a country gone mad with blood lust and hooked on body
counts."

The unlikely friends met decades after the war in that uniquely '90s
place, the World Wide Web, at a site called Re: Vietnam -- Stories
Since the War (www.pbs.org/pov/stories).

"I'm almost horrified by the things I wrote," says Spatz, who has a
better understanding now of the patriotism of his contemporaries who
went to Vietnam. "I didn't even think about how someone would react to
that. I wanted to say my piece. I guess it had been smoldering."

"He was a big antiwar type," Andreacchio says of Spatz. "We exchanged
some acid-dipped messages on the board, and from there we got a little
more logical."

U.S. military involvement in Vietnam lasted almost 20 years; more than
58,000 American men and women and an estimated 2 million Vietnamese
died there before the war ended in 1975. The nation was ripped by war
protests in the late '60s and early '70s -- the Spatzes on one side,
the Andreacchios on the other.

Logic and civility are sometimes still absent from the painful debate,
even as U.S. diplomatic relations are being restored with Vietnam.

Reasonable dialogue is what Marc Weiss and the people at Public
Broadcasting's nonfiction independent film showcase P.O.V. had in mind
in November when they used PBS Online grant money to establish Re:
Vietnam.

On the web site, one can read and contribute to more than 60 ongoing
e-mail dialogues as diverse as "Maya Lin and racism" (Lin designed the
Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.), "Teaching about Vietnam" and
"Vets and non-vets -- a dialogue."

"First," Weiss says, "we wanted to allow people to reflect on this
huge polarizing event with the advantage of the separation of time,
and we wanted that reflection to be personal.

"Second, we wanted to find a way to encourage real dialogue between
people who probably did not agree with each other -- people willing to
talk about their differences and listen with some degree of respect."

That is what happened, and dialogue on the site has expanded beyond
veterans and protesters. There are stories from wives and children of
veterans, nurses who served in Vietnam, Vietnamese Americans -- people
who were changed by the war though they never wore a uniform.

Their stories often have one familiar thread -- the veteran in their
life is silent about his experience.

"Whatever I learned about the war was through my own search and asking
outside of the family because my father never really talked about it,"
says Hoaithi Nguyen, the daughter of a Vietnamese Air Force captain.
The family escaped to the United States in 1980.

Hoaithi (pronounced "Y.T.") says she was bitter and angry for years
about her war experience. When she saw the P.O.V. site, she says, "I
thought it was about time I dealt with it on an emotional level."

Emotions draw "Doc Del" of Hawaii back to the site again and again.
"Doc Del" is the online name of an ex-Army medic who lives on the
island of Maui. He protects his real name. He patched up wounded U.S.
soldiers from November of 1967 to February of 1970, when he left
combat for the peace of his Maui hometown. "I didn't admit to being a
vet until 1980," he says.

Doc Del says he doesn't hang around with veterans now except on the
web. Re: Vietnam has become his digital VFW hall, where he can be with
his buddies, get irrational, share a laugh.

"Everybody I meet here I believe is honest," he says. "Doc Spatz has
no problems throwing out anything he knows is going to get him
slammed. I respect him for it, but that doesn't keep us from slamming
him when we think he's off the wall. Also, while I'm slamming Doc
Spatz, he'll say, 'Whoa! Pull yourself together.'

"I can't find anywhere else where I have a say. I have a voice here, I
don't have a voice anywhere else."

Vietnam stories

Gannett News Service

Here is a sample of postings from Re: Vietnam -- Stories Since the War
(www.pbs.org/pov/stories):* Laura Hansmann: "I watched the six o'clock
news every night, praying that my husband wasn't in the body bags I
saw on the television, and that the bombs exploding on the screen were
falling far from him. I agonized over the fear that I might never see
him again. He came back a haunted, totally different man than the one
who left."* Jan Cline: "I had been married three years and sent a
husband with laughing eyes to Vietnam, and I got a husband back, but
his eyes no longer laughed. ... And although we are divorced, I
sometimes feel like I remain a waiting wife and shall forevermore."*
Tom Adams: "Sometimes I wonder if there are links between my own
combat experience in the Gulf and my dad's in Vietnam. I came back
from the war in the Gulf, I drank to kill the pain, stop the dreams
and numb myself to human contact, which seemed almost horrifying at
the time. About six months after I came back from the Gulf I got
divorced. Five days later I got in a wreck and was comatose for four
days. Spent three months in the Navy hospital. Fourteen surgeries
later, I'm finally out of the hospital for good. But so much of this
trouble, I think, came from the fact that I didn't know how to talk
about what I did, what I saw in the war."* Jed: "When was the last
time you heard a politician say, 'I was against the war and am proud
of it'? What all of us did was some right and some wrong, things to be
proud of and things to be sad about. What we never had -- and still
don't -- is an atmosphere in which we can acknowledge that so we can
accept it and move on."
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Thursday - May 29, 1997

Senator seeks aid for Vietnamese who fought for U.S 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Alfonse D'Amato wrote to Secretary of State
Madeline Albright today asking her to assist 31 Vietnamese who fought
alongside American troops during the Vietnam War but now are being
held in Hong Kong.

In his letter, the New York Republican said the Vietnamese, known as
the Nungs, ``served with the elite Green Berets and routinely carried
out dangerous missions behind enemy lines.''

``Because of their service in Vietnam, they would face certain
persecution if not death if forced to return to that country,'' he
said.

D'Amato asked the State Department to grant the Vietnamese veterans
and their families refugee status and allow them to come to the United
States.

``Rather than being treated as honorable veterans, they are being held
in a detention center like common criminals. Some of them have been
held for as long as seven years,'' he said.

How the Nungs got to Hong Kong, and their precise legal status there,
were not immediately clear. The State Department had no immediate
comment.

Earlier this year, D'Amato took up the torch for Christophe Meili, the
former bank guard who blew the whistle on a Swiss bank that destroyed
Holocaust-era documents. The Senate passed legislation last week that
would grant sanctuary to Meili and his family.
  _________________________________________________________________

Thursday - May 29, 1997

Fears over boat people stranded as repatriations end 

South China Morning Post

Vietnam yesterday stood firm behind its call to end the repatriation
of boat people from Hong Kong by Saturday - raising new doubts over
the fate of an estimated 400 illegal migrants languishing in the
territory.

Some 244 migrants returned on voluntary repatriation flights to Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City yesterday - the last of 302 charter flights that
have transported more than 57,500 returnees since 1989.

Amid the uncertainty of the weeks ahead, officials of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sought to put the last
flight into a historical perspective.

"We should not forget the situation we were faced with six or seven
years ago, with asylum crumbling in the region, people dying at sea
and being raped, and with a seemingly impossible situation to solve,"
said Jean-Noel Wetterwald, UNHCR chief of mission in Hong Kong.

"So today is a milestone, because it is our last chartered flight . .
. So yes, we have reasons to be satisfied that this saga is being
closed."

Trieu Van The, Vietnam's most senior immigration official, said it was
time for the return process under the Comprehensive Plan of Action to
end.

"We have always confirmed with Britain and Hong Kong that we request
they finish repatriations by May 31 and it is their responsibility to
do this," said Mr The, who heads the immigration department of
Vietnam's powerful Interior Ministry.

When asked what would happen to any Vietnamese migrants still left at
the handover, Mr The said they would be the responsibility of Hong
Kong and Britain.

British and UN officials are desperately seeking a more relaxed stance
from Vietnam, stressing it would be impossible to clear the camps in
time.

"A deadline is a deadline and it will be respected," said Catherine
Bertrand, Vietnam chief of the UNHCR.

An estimated 800 migrants and 1,400 screened refugees are expected to
be stranded in Hong Kong on Saturday following the last forced returns
tomorrow.

Of the screened-out migrants group, an estimated 400 have been
rejected by Vietnam on nationality grounds and the rest cannot leave
the territory for a host of reasons.

Some must stay because of sick relatives or court cases, while others
have escaped.

Some have married those considered non-nationals or refugees, further
complicating the situation.
  _________________________________________________________________

Thursday - May 29, 1997

Peterson: Set aside the suffering to forge ties with Vietnam 

Hanoi Vietnam (AP) Five blocks from the dungeon-like prison where he
languished during the Vietnam War, U.S. Ambassador Pete Peterson sinks
into a plush chair in his embassy office along Hanoi's busy Giang Vo
Avenue.

More than two decades after he was released from the ``Hanoi Hilton,''
Peterson is shifting gears to become America's peacemaker and diplomat
in a former enemy capital.

``I have huge mission here,'' Peterson told The Associated Press in an
interview Thursday. ``The overall mission is to somehow bring us to
normalization in relations.''

Both countries have come a long way since the war ended: The recent
exchange of ambassadors this month culminated the normalization of
political ties.

But scars remain and trade ties are lagging. Peterson is determined to
find ways to heals wounds and move on.

``Our two countries had been in a state of animosity for 20 or 30
years and it's going to be very difficult to find these bridges to go
back and hold hands,'' he said.

It's a personal search for Peterson, as he tries to reconcile his
former life as an Air Force pilot held prisoner and his new job as
America's top diplomat in Vietnam.

He's forgiven his captors men, he says, who were just doing their
jobs. And he has no regrets about flying strike missions over northern
Vietnam.

``I don't have any remorse about that. I'm sorry if people were killed
in that process, but war is hell and there is no other way to put
that,'' he said.

Peterson's F-4 Phantom was shot down in 1966 over a tiny village
midway between Hanoi and the port of Haiphong. That night was the
beginning of a hellish 6 1-2 years of torture and isolation as a
prisoner of war.

``Hoa Lo was a very stark and very repulsive place,'' he said, using
the Vietnamese name for the prison. ``Some of the areas were
incredibly close quarters, very tiny cells with no light, almost
dungeon-like.''

``We agreed to take whatever torture was dished out to the point of
permanent physical injury or death or something just short of that,''
he said.

Peterson was released in 1973 and has emerged from that experience
ready to bridge new ties, but the war still defines Washington's
policy on Vietnam. The search for almost 1,600 American servicemen
listed as missing-in-action in Vietnam is at the top of Peterson's
agenda.

Although he says there's little chance of finding any POWs or MIAs
alive in Vietnam today, like many Americans, he's not ready to give
up.

``I would never say never, but I would say it would be highly unlikely
given the conditions under which they would have been held.''

The U.S. embassy occupies a modest office building on a dusty,
commercial avenue away from the government and diplomatic quarters.

Past two security checks and a six-floor elevator ride, Peterson's
bright, spacious office overlooks the bustling avenue below. It's just
a short car ride from his former prison that is now the site of
marble- and glass-highrise. A few cells and the prison's menacing
front gate remain to be converted into a museum.

Diplomacy aside, Vietnam and the United States are still without a
trade agreement. Vietnam remains one of only a handful of countries
without U.S. most-favored-nation trade status.

The United States is waiting for Vietnam's response to a proposed
trade pact that could be the next step in normalizing lagging economic
relations, Peterson said.

``The trade agreement is really in the Vietnamese court at this
time,'' he said. ``What we have to find here is a stability in the
commercial markets and commercial opportunities, a stability that does
not now exit.''

To win MFN status, Vietnam must prove it has taken steps to allow its
citizens freedom to emigrate a requirement under the congressional
amendment that bars U.S. trade with communist countries that restrict
emigration.

Economic relations are the next step normalizing ties with Vietnam.
Based on the progress the two countries have made since U.S. President
Bill Clinton lifted a decades-old embargo on Vietnam in 1994, closer
trade and cultural ties aren't far off, Peterson said.

``We have a great deal to offer each other that will ultimately bring
our two peoples and cultures together in a more positive way,
certainly a peaceful way,'' Peterson said.
  _________________________________________________________________

Thursday - May 29, 1997

Pilot's remains returned from Vietnam 

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The remains of an Air Force pilot are being
returned to his family 25 years after his fighter jet was shot down in
a dogfight over Vietnam.

The Pentagon says Capt. Jeffrey L. Harris was on a combat mission over
North Vietnam on May 10, 1972, when his F-4E Phantom was attacked by
an MiG-19. The flight leader on the mission said Harris's jet burst
into flames right before it crashed, and there was no sign that the
pilot was able to eject.

Three joint U.S.-Vietnamese investigations and excavations in 1993,
'95 and '96 have yielded scores of remains. Many of them are still
being identified through DNA testing and other methods.

With the identification of Harris, a native of Clinton, Md., 2,123
American servicemen remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
  _________________________________________________________________

Thursday - May 29, 1997

China MFN Complicates Timing Of U.S. Moves On Vietnam 

WASHINGTON (DJ) -- Vietnam's access to U.S. Export-Import Bank support
isn't likely to happen for a number of months because of reluctance
within the Clinton administration to move amid the current political
firestorm surrounding China's trade status, officials say.

For Vietnam to gain Eximbank support President Clinton will have to
first waive Jackson-Vanik statutes, which are tied to emigration
policies. But officials say that with heated debate likely over the
coming months about China's most favored nation (MFN) status, and its
Jackson-Vanik review, the White House won't be moving to lift curbs on
Vietnam.

'There is some speculation that Jackson-Vanik (for Vietnam) could be
lifted by Aug. 1,' a U.S. official told Dow Jones Newswires. 'But I
think that is awfully optimistic.'

Clinton moved last week to renew China's MFN status. But it is widely
anticipated that there will be aggressive moves in Congress to
overturn renewal and that the debate over Beijing and its policies
could drag well into the autumn.

The China debate is expected to be stretched out primarily because of
concerns on Capitol Hill about Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese
control on July 1 and limited U.S. leverage over Beijing if various
worse-case scenarios surrounding Hong Kong begin developing.

MFN grants China the same tariff treatment as most other countries
that trade with the U.S. However, it has been estimated by the World
Bank that up to 90% of Chinese exports to the U.S. would be choked off
if MFN were lifted.

China has the second-largest bilateral trade surplus with the U.S.
after Japan at about $40 billion in 1996. The surplus is expected to
hit $50 billion this year, according to various forecasts.

Various U.S. lawmakers see the threat of lifting MFN as a way of
assuring that China's handling of Hong Kong after July 1 is within
appropriate boundaries.

Vietnam, meanwhile, has been taking steps to meet U.S. legal
requirements on labor and emigration issues that will help the Clinton
administration ease various prohibitions on U.S. government support,
like Eximbank credits, U.S. officials say.

And while more work is needed on easing emigration curbs to enable a
lifting of Jackson-Vanik prohibitions on Vietnam, officials also note
a copyright deal struck in March as a sign of progress toward economic
normalization that was launched in 1994 when Clinton moved first to
reestablish diplomatic relations with Hanoi.

Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin visited Hanoi in March ahead of the
copyright deal, which some U.S. officials say was instrumental in
moving the trade normalization process forward. And Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright is scheduling an autumn visit as a further sign
that Washington is looking to continue the normalization process.

A key piece of the normalization effort is a bilateral trade
agreement. And while Eximbank financing looks likely once the China
MFN matters are resolved in Washington, officials say much more worked
is need on the U.S.-Vietnam trade pact.

The bilateral trade pact is a key condition for MFN treatment by the
U.S. and is critical for Vietnam to gain access to U.S. markets.

Talks over the bilateral trade agreement may be held next month in
Washington, although odds are being put on a July meeting given
various factors, prominently the timing of a formal reply by Hanoi to
U.S. proposals.

The U.S.'s formal proposal was only completed in March. And the U.S.
only recently finished explaining the details to Vietnamese officials,
officials say.

'The ball is in their court now,' a U.S. trade official told Dow Jones
Newswires.

U.S. officials say they aren't sure how long the negotiations will
take. But officials predict it will easily be months before the timing
of a deal is clear.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Rubin is scheduled on Tuesday to meet
privately with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to briefly review his recent
visit to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City where he held a series of
high-level talks.

Rubin, who is the highest ranking U.S. economic official to visit
Vietnam in the post-war period, has said that he intended to push for
more rapid support of Vietnam when he returned to Washington. And
officials say next week's Capitol Hill meeting is aimed at keeping key
lawmakers informed as part of the administration's effort to lay the
groundwork for various legislative measures that will likely be
required as the economic normalization moves forward.

Administration officials say the meeting isn't aimed, however, at
initiating any specific action. But some officials anticipate Rubin
will make a pitch for financial backing for technical assistance to
Vietnam, which is among the items that Hanoi suggested it needs.
  _________________________________________________________________

Thursday - May 29, 1997

Design contracts awarded for Vietnam gas project 

HANOI (Reuter) - British Petroleum's Vietnam operation said on
Thursday that design contracts for a gas project in the Nam Con Son
basin off the country's southern coast had been awarded to Brown and
Root Proprietary Ltd.

The contracts relate to offshore production facilities for the Lan Tay
and Lan Do gas fields in Block 06.1 and to a 400 km (250 mile) gas
pipeline transportation system and onshore terminal.

The Lan Tay and Lan Do fields have reserves of 57 million cubic metres
and the gas is expected to be used in the Ho Chi Minh City region for
power generation, the statement said.

The awards were made on behalf of the Block 06.1 partnership of BP,
Statoil 1/8STAT.CN & ONGC and of a Nam Con Son consortium comprising
state firm Petrovietnam, BP, Statoil 1/8STAT.CN and Mobil.

The gas pipeline transportation system work will be carried out under
a joint venture between Brown and Root and J.P. Kenny.

BP said that subject to continued good progress the first gas
production was expected in 1999.
  _________________________________________________________________