VN news (June 28)

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

In Vietnam, ' Hanoi Hilton' Brick Links Past and Future 
Albright Looks to the Future in Vietnam 
Albright Leaves Ho Chi Minh City for Hongkong 
Caodaism a Religious Splash of Color in Conformist Vietnam 
Albright lays cornerstone in day of reconciliation 
Drugs culprits should die, say Vietnam prosecutors 
Vietnam Seeks US Cooperation on Agent Orange: Report 
Foreign Investment in Vietnam Increases 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

In Vietnam, ' Hanoi Hilton' Brick Links Past and Future 

By STEVEN ERLANGER
06/28/97
The New York Times

Hanoi, Vietnam, June 27 -- Pete Peterson, the first American Ambassador
to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, gave the visiting
Secretary of State, Madeleine K. Albright, a precious gift today: a brick.

The brick, mounted on wood, is from the " Hanoi Hilton," where he spent
more than six years as a prisoner of war, and which is now being turned
into a luxury block of apartments and stores by a Singapore company.

"This brick is a symbol of a more brutal time," said Mr. Peterson,
who arrived in Vietnam less than two months ago. "But it is also a stepping
stone to a better future." Ms. Albright, visibly moved, said she would
keep it in her office "as a sign of what we've been through and also
of where we're going."

Standing alongside the former prisoner of war also gave Ms. Albright
something else -- political cover.

Mr. Peterson, who was celebrating his 62nd birthday, is not only a highly
decorated veteran and onetime P.O.W., but he is a Democrat, a former
Representative from Florida, and his record of valor and endurance made
it difficult for the Republican Party to block full normalization of
relations with Vietnam and the exchange of ambassadors -- 22 years after
the previous American Ambassador, Graham Martin, left the rooftop helipad
of the previous American Embassy, in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.

For Ms. Albright -- the first Secretary of State since then to visit
Ho Chi Minh City, where on Saturday she will lay the cornerstone of an
American consulate -- this is a trip about the future. Like former Secretary
of State Warren Christopher, who came to Hanoi in August 1995 to raise
the American flag over the new embassy, she is trying to solidify a political
and economic relationship with a Vietnam that has shed its Chinese and
Russian allies and now joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
or Asean, originally set up by Washington as a bulwark against Communism.

But given President Clinton's youthful opposition to the Vietnam War,
in which he did not fight, any high-level visit to Vietnam has to address
the problem of American servicemen -- 1,584 at last count -- who are
still unaccounted for.

So Ms. Albright has spent as much time on the issues of Vietnamese cooperation
in the $10 million a year American effort to achieve "the fullest possible
accounting" of the missing as she has meeting senior Vietnamese officials
to press for faster economic reform, a better climate for investment
and more respect for dissent and religious freedom.

She had a long briefing this morning by the Joint Task Force that searches
crash sites, along with the Vietnamese, to try to resolve the fate of
the missing -- now centered on the remaining 48 of 196 priority cases
listed in 1992, men who were reported to have been seen alive after their
capture. The operation could go on for years, said Lieut. Col. Jonathan
Chase, and ultimately a political decision would have to be made about
what constitutes "the fullest possible accounting."

In her meetings today with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, Foreign Minister
Nguyen Manh Cam and the Communist Party leader, Do Muoi, all expressed
sympathy for the American search and promised full assistance.

Ms. Albright then pressed ahead with the message the Vietnamese are happier
to hear: "We have been able to normalize our political relations with
Vietnam and exchange ambassadors and we now want to lay greater stress
on normalizing and moving forward in our economic relationship."

To do that, she said, Vietnam has to reinvigorate its economic reforms,
or "doi moi," which have lagged because of conservatism in the party,
a divided leadership, corrupt bureaucrats and remaining central controls.
These criticisms echo those of the leadership itself. "What is needed
now is doi moi II," she said, just after signing a copyright agreement
with Mr. Cam.

But Vietnamese leaders were less convinced by her argument that "economic
and political openness are two sides of the same coin," and that they
should relax curbs on political dissent and religious practice.

They did listen closely, however, American officials said, as she raised
three specific cases of prisoners, two jailed for political dissent and
one for religious practice, and asked for their speedy release and the
possibility of family visits.

She said that for Washington to provide loans and loan guarantees to
American companies, Washington had first to waive a Jackson-Vanik provision,
requiring fair emigration. To do that, Vietnam has to live up to its
promise to speed up exit permits for boat people seeking interviews with
American officials in an effort to immigrate to the United States. While
Vietnam had promised 1,500 exit permits a month from April on, so far
only 359 permits have been processed this year, officials said.

More timely exit permits for about 7,000 cases left pending would likely
produce the waiver, American officials said.

But to receive the normal trading status Vietnam seeks -- called "most
favored nation status" -- Vietnam and Washington first have to negotiate
a complicated trade agreement, which is far from ready. Washington submitted
a draft to Hanoi three months ago; Hanoi has not yet responded.

Vietnam is having National Assembly elections next month, and the top
leadership -- the conservative President, Le Duc Anh, 76, and the relatively
more liberal Mr. Muoi, 80, and Mr. Kiet, 74 -- will not run. They will
retain influential party posts, but the transition in the Government
is not helping a speedy negotiation, a Vietnamese official said.

But as Ms. Albright made her own first visit to Vietnam, she basked in
the symbolism of a new era, and in the presence of Mr. Peterson. For
the future, she said, "there is no better guide as our journey unfolds
than Ambassador Peterson, whose own journey from airman to P.O.W. to
legislator to diplomat is an inspiration for Americans and Vietnamese
alike."

For his part, Mr. Peterson said that the Vietnamese treat him like an
old friend. "They approach me in the street like they know me really
well, like they knew me in another life -- and maybe they did." As a
prisoner, he said, he saw the worst of the Vietnamese and they saw the
worst of him. Now it is time to see the best of one another.

"We're not talking 1975 anymore. We're talking 1997," he said. "I
think it would be really helpful if Americans could see Vietnam as a
country, and not a war, if in the American psyche, in the mindset, we
could get to '97 and not '75."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Albright Looks to the Future in Vietnam 

by Carole Landry

HO CHI MINH CITY, June 28 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
on Saturday laid the first brick of a new consulate here in a gesture
she said underscored Washington's resolve to look to the future with
Vietnam.

The new consulate will be built next to the former US embassy in Saigon,
site of a dramatic helicopter evacuation on April 30, 1975 as the city
fell to the communist forces of the north.

"To be able to look towards the future while standing in the shadow of
the past makes it a very special event," Albright said.

The consulate, part of an agreement allowing Vietnam to also establish
a presence in San Francisco, will provide services to 3,000 US residents
in this south Vietnamese city and to the 75,000 American tourists who
pass through every year.

The former embassy building was used by Vietnam's state-owned oil corporation
after the fall of Saigon and returned to the United States in 1995.

Albright, who is the first US secretary of state to visit Ho Chi Minh
City since the end of the war, will end her two-day visit to Vietnam
later Saturday when she flies to Hong Kong.

After the ceremony she dropped by the central market to purchase souvenirs,
toured a centre fabricating artificial limbs and held a meeting with
US businessmen.

"It is very hard to get away from the past," she told reporters at the
end of her whirlwind tour.

"Clearly we all, whether American or Vietnamese, are never going to be
able fully to put the past behind us."

"But what I have been deeply moved by is the desire of the people to
look forward to the future," she added.

More than 58,000 Americans and three million Vietnamese lost their lives
in the war.

But Albright repeatedly underscored here that the United States wants
to broaden relations with Vietnam and focus on economic ties.

In Ho Chi Minh City, she met with Communist Party chief Duo Muoi who
asked Washington for assistance to help the victims of Agent Orange,
the chemical defoliant used by the US air force during the war.

Albright pledged US cooperation to carry out scientific research on the
effects of Agent Orange, US officials said.

During her Friday talks with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet she raised human
rights and warned that the lack of press, religious and political freedoms
could tarnish Vietnam's standing in the international community.

On Friday, Albright and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam signed
a copyright agreement touted by both sides as yet another step towards
normal economic relations, nearly two years after diplomatic ties were
established.

Washington hopes to sign a trade agreement with Vietnam that could pave
the way to most favored nation (MFN) trading status for the southeast
Asian country and US investment support.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Albright Leaves Ho Chi Minh City for Hongkong 

HO CHI MINH CITY, June 28 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
departed Ho Chi Minh City for HongKong on Saturday ending a two-day visit
to Vietnam to boost bilateral relations.

Albright, who is the most senior US official to visit the former Saigon,
attended a ground breaking ceremony of the new US consulate being built
next to the former US embassy, site of a dramatic helicopter evacuation
effort on April 30, 1975 as north Vietnamese troops captured the city.

"To be able to look towards the future while standing in the shadow of
the past makes it a very special event," Albright said at the ceremony.

The former embassy building was used by Vietnam's state-owned oil corporation
after the fall of Saigon and returned to the United States in 1995.

The consulate, part of an agreement allowing Vietnam to also establish
a presence in San Francisco, will provide services to 3,000 US residents
in this south Vietnamese city and to the 75,000 American tourists who
pass through every year.

After the ceremony she visited a centre fabricating artificial limbs
and held a meeting with US businessmen in Ho Chi Minh City and shopped
at a central market.

"It is very hard to get away from the past," she told reporters at the
end of her whirlwind tour.

"Clearly we all, whether American or Vietnamese, are never going to be
able fully to put the past behind us."

"But what I have been deeply moved by is the desire of the people to
look forward to the future," she added.

More than 58,000 Americans and three million Vietnamese lost their lives
in the war.

But Albright repeatedly underscored here that the United States wants
to broaden relations with Vietnam and focus on economic ties.

In Ho Chi Minh City, she met with Communist Party chief Duo Muoi who
asked Washington for assistance to help the victims of Agent Orange,
the chemical defoliant used by the US air force during the war.

Albright pledged US cooperation to carry out scientific research on the
effects of Agent Orange, US officials said.

During her Friday talks with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet she raised human
rights and warned that the lack of press, religious and political freedoms
could tarnish Vietnam's standing in the international community.

On Friday, Albright and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam signed
a copyright agreement touted by both sides as yet another step towards
normal economic relations, nearly two years after diplomatic ties were
established.

Washington hopes to sign a trade agreement with Vietnam that could pave
the way to most favored nation (MFN) trading status for the Southeast
Asian country and US investment support.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Caodaism a Religious Splash of Color in Conformist Vietnam 

HANOI, June 28 (AP) - In the world of conformist communist Vietnam, the
once banned Caodai religious sect is a splash of color with a zeal for
the garish.

Adherents commune with the spirits of historical figures, including Joan
of Arc, Victor Hugo, Vladimir Lenin and, for more lighthearted seances,
Charlie Chaplin. They look to the spirits of such people because of strong
personality traits that are models to others.

Secluded in southern Vietnam's Tay Ninh province, their main temple,
decked out in blues, yellows and reds, borrows from religions around
the globe in an effort to bridge the world of the living with the spirit
world.

Founded in the 1920s, Caodaism is a hybrid of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism,
Vietnamese spiritism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. The result is
a jumbled code of ethics and tenets that has attracted more than 3 million
followers despite the Vietnamese government's control of religion.

In addition to calling on spirits, Caodai believers practice priestly
celibacy, vegetarianism and the worship of ancestors. The religion emphasizes
morality and frowns on material luxuries, lust and deceit.

It's a blend of East and West. Saints include modern China's patriarch
Sun Yat-Sen and Vietnam's first poet-laureate, Nguyen Binh Khiem.

In early June, Caodai devotees got a big boost when their religion received
official sanction from the government, legitimizing its existence in
the eyes of the communist leadership.

It had been a long struggle for a religious movement that raised an army
to fight against the communists during the Vietnam War. But today, the
government says Caodaism fills a void for many people.

"We find the Caodai existence meets a legitimate spiritual demand of
the people here," said Muoi Thuong, a spokesman for the government's
Religious Affairs Committee in Tay Ninh.

"These people are religious followers, but they are also good citizens
and patriots," Thuong said in a telephone interview from his office in
Tay Ninh, 60 miles northwest of Ho Chi Minh City.

Established by Ngo Minh Chieu, a French-educated Vietnamese mystic, Caodaism
once dominated Tay Ninh, controlling the religious and political affairs
of the entire province.

In 1975, when North Vietnamese troops overran U.S.-backed South Vietnam,
Caodaism was banned and the church's lands were confiscated. But behind
the scenes, the religion lived on, with its seance rituals and prayer
meetings.

Today, Caodaism is practiced in about half of Vietnam's provinces. In
Tay Ninh, about 40 percent of the province's 916,000 people are Caodai
believers, and the number is expanding every year, Thuong said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Albright lays cornerstone in day of reconciliation 

By Carol Giacomo

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, June 28 (Reuter) - U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright signalled American determination for post-war reconciliation
with Vietnam when she laid the cornerstone for a new consulate here on
Saturday.

Against the backdrop of the old U.S. embassy in the former Saigon which
fell to the communist North in 1975, she hailed broadening ties between
the U.S. and its old enemy and said the new consulate -- with its focus
on economic ties and tourism -- symbolised the future.

Albright was the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Ho Chi Minh city
-- once the capital of U.S.-backed South Vietnam -- since the Americans
lost the war.

Images of the wartime past remained but Albright focused attention on
the future in a centre where Americans, once the imposing military force,
now see major opportunities for business ventures.

"What has really moved me so deeply here in the last couple of days
is that it's very hard to get away from the past," Albright told reporters.

"Clearly we all, whether Americans or Vietnamese, are never going to
be fully able to put the past behind us, but what I have been deeply
moved by is the desire of the people to look toward the future," she
said.

"To be able to look forward toward the future while standing in the
shadow of the past is a very special event," she said after laying the
cornerstone for the consulate.

The consulate is not expected to open for at least another 18 months.

Albright made a stop in Hanoi at the U.S. office searching for 1,584
American servicemen missing from the Vietnam War, saying that Americans
had some way to go before they could put away painful memories of the
war.

But she repeatedly cited Pete Peterson, a former prisoner of war who
took up his post two months ago as the first U.S. ambassador since the
war, as the example to follow and the perfect mender of U.S.-Vietnam
ties.

"I haven't forgotten" about the difficult war experiences when he was
held for six years by the North Vietnamese, Peterson told reporters.

"I've forgiven ... And I feel very strongly about that."

He described Albright's visit to Ho Chi Minh City as a milestone. "She's
symbolic of the commitment to carry on."

After the cornerstone laying, Albright visited two non- profit programmes
that receive U.S. assistance and seek to help Vietnamese with physical
problems, including disabilities caused by landmines laid during the
war.

The first stop was at Operation Smile, founded and funded by Americans
with U.S. government assistance, that has operated on thousands of Vietnamese
children with facial deformities like cleft palates.

Albright toured the hospital and posed for photographs with a group of
children.

Later, she drove 30 minutes outside the city to a facility, partially
funded by the United States, which fits Vietnamese with artificial limbs
and wheelchairs and provides jobs training.

"I'm deeply moved by what I have seen here," she said, praising the
cooperation of private individuals, the U.S. government, businesses and
the Vietnamese government.

Despite Albright's attempt to focus on the future, the United States
yearly spends only $3 million for U.S. aid projects while the annual
cost of searching for a diminishing number of missing servicemen is three
times that, at $10 million.

"It's always difficult to assess how best to spend money," Albright
said when asked about the disparity. "I think one can't discount the
emotional impact of the POW/MIA issue on the American people."

She also took a tour of the crowded local market. Her other stop was
a reception at the American Chamber of Commerce, where she drew applause
for her efforts to push Vietnam on lagging economic reforms.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Drugs culprits should die, say Vietnam prosecutors 

Hanoi, June 28 (Reuter) - State prosecutors in Hanoi have recommended
that appeals for leniency by 19 people involved in a major drugs scandal
should be turned down, and sentences including the death penalty should
stand.

The ruling Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper said prosecutors had
told members of a judgement board on Friday that statements made during
an appeals trial over the past week, did not provide grounds for a significant
softening of sentences against any of the 19.

"In fact, some defendants still deny the verdicts against them and say
that other people are to blame," the newspaper said.

The appeals trial, into a case which has ensnared several senior members
of Vietnam's powerful security establishment, began on Tuesday and is
not expected to end for several more days.

Around half of those involved are former police or border guards. They
were found guilty in May of involvement in a syndicate which is said
to have flooded Vietnam with hundreds of kilograms of heroin.

Eight were sentenced to death, while the rest were given lengthy jail
terms. In addition, most had property, cash and homes confiscated. Nhan
Dan said prosecutors had suggested some of that could be returned to
family members.

The case has attracted widespread media coverage in Vietnam. Hundreds
of people gathered outside the court building in May as court proceedings
were taking place.

Voice of Vietnam radio said on Saturday that statements made by the defendants
had indicated clearly that other people were involved, and called for
the authorities to question other police and customs officials.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Vietnam Seeks US Cooperation on Agent Orange: Report 

HANOI, June 28 (AFP) - Hanoi has asked Washington for assistance to overcome
the consequences of Agent Orange, the chemical defoliant used by the
US airforce during the Vietnam War, a report said Saturday,

Vietnam Communist Party chief Do Muoi raised the issue with visiting
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the official communist party
organ, Nhan Dan said.

It quoted Do Muoi as saying he hoped the countries could overcome "consequences
left by the war including functional rehabilitation for handicapped people
and consequences caused by the Agent Orange."

Do Muoi, who met with Albright late Friday in Ho Chi Minh City, also
pledged the fullest cooperation with the United States in its efforts
to account for the remaining 1,584 US servicemen missing since the war.

His remarks came on the heels of a barrage press reports here of the
suffering inflicted on more than two million Vietnamese exposed to Agent
Orange during the war.

At a press conference in Hanoi, Albright acknowledged the problem but
said further study was needed.

"We are all aware of the existence of the problem. But we must operate
not on the basis of emotion but on scientific fact," she said.

Albright arrived in Vietnam on Thursday for a two-day visit aimed at
speeding progress on a bilateral trade agreement and to discuss human
rights.

During her Friday talks with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet she slammed Vietnam
for its lack of press, religious and political freedoms and requested
the release of three political prisoners.

On Saturday she attended a brick-laying ceremony for the US consulate
adjacent to the former US embassy in Saigon, the site of a dramatic evacuation
effort on April 30, 1975 as the city fell to the forces of the north.

On Friday, Albright and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam signed
a copyright agreement which both sides touted as yet another step towards
normal economic relations, nearly two years after diplomatic ties were
established.

She was to leave later Saturday for Hongkong for ceremonies marking the
return of the territory to China on July 1.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Foreign Investment in Vietnam Increases 

HANOI (June 28) XINHUA - Vietnam granted licences to 211 foreign-invested
projects with a combined registered capital of 2.15 billion U.S. dollars
in the first six months of this year, the Vietnam News Agency reported
today.

This brings the total number of licensed projects to 1,729 with a combined
registered capital of 27.89 billion dollars.

The actual amount of capital used by foreign-invested enterprises in
the first half of the year reached 1.6 billion dollars, a 62 percent
increase compared with the same period last year, bringing total utilized
capital to 10.061 billion dollars.

In the first six months of the year, foreign-funded enterprises excluding
oil and gas saw their exports rise 31 percent to 460 million dollars
over the first half of 1996.

The vast majority of Vietnamese partners in foreign joint ventures are
state-owned businesses. They account for 96 percent of projects and 99
percent of the invested capital.

More than 700 companies from over 50 countries and regions have invested
in Vietnam, providing jobs for 200,000 people and employing tens of thousands
of others in construction work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------