U.S.-Vietnam relations: a new chapter - Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Aug 6, 1995 - Transcript

US Department of State Dispatch, August 14, 1995

Thank you, Director-General Ngoc, for that kind introduction. It is a pleasure to be here with Vice Minister Le Mai and other distinguished guests. I am grateful to the Institute for International Relations for helping to organize this event. The staff and students of the Institute are playing an important part in charting a broader role for Vietnam as it continues to integrate itself into Asia and the world.

I have come to Vietnam on behalf of President Clinton and the American people to begin a new chapter in the relationship between our nations. And I have come here this afternoon to speak directly to the people of Vietnam about the future that I hope we can share together.

I am especially pleased to be able to address an audience that includes so many students and young people. One of the startling facts about Vietnam is that three-fifths of your countrymen and women are under 25 years of age. Vietnam is an old country, but a young nation. Its future, and its evolving place in the community of nations, are yours to shape.

This is the first generation of Vietnamese students in many decades to enter adulthood informed by the memory of war, but inspired by the promise of peace. This is what I know you call the "peace generation"--the first that can devote all its energies to renovation at home, and to cooperation with your neighbors and the world. Without forgetting the past, or abandoning tradition, you have a chance to help your country move forward with greater freedom and greater prosperity.

The ties between the United States and Vietnam reach back further than you might think: Way back in 1787, Thomas Jefferson, a champion of liberty, as well as a man of science, tried to obtain rice seed from Vietnam for his farm in Virginia. Fifteen years later, when Jefferson was President of the United States, the first American merchant ship sailed into a Vietnamese port. Almost 150 years later, jefferson's words that "all men are created equal" were echoed in Vietnam's own declaration of independence.

Because of the war American troops fought on your soil, I have no doubt that American history books will always include a chapter on Vietnam--just as Vietnamese history books will surely include a chapter on America. Today, our people are still scarred by the war. But let us remember that history is a work in progress. That bitter past has also planted the seeds for a better future.

More than 3 million Americans served in Vietnam. Even amidst the death and destruction of war, many came to appreciate the culture of your people and the beauty of this land.

We have other bonds as well. The 1 million people of Vietnamese origin who now live in the United States can also be a bridge for reconciliation and cooperation between our two countries. Just south of my home city of Los Angeles, California, there is a place called "Little Saigon," where Buddhist temples and neighborhood groceries selling rau muong co-exist with the freeways and shopping malls of southern California. And when I look out my window from the State Department in Washington, I can see across the river to Arlington, Virginia--a historic old American community and also a vibrant new center of Vietnamese culture and commerce. Indeed, the United States has been enriched by our Vietnamese-Americans, one of the most successful immigrant groups in our recent history.

Yet apart from visits by returning veterans and family members, there has been little direct contact between our two countries over the last 20 years. I know these have been difficult years for Vietnam--years of economic hardship and until recently, years of conflict. But we have now reached a time of promise and a time of change. We still have history to make, a new chapter to write in the history we share.

A month ago, President Clinton decided the time had come to normalize diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. He was supported in this decision by a majority of the American people and by an important group of American veterans who had served here during the war and who now serve in the United States Congress. The President believes, as do they, that closer ties are in the interest of both our nations. The diplomatic relations we initiated yesterday will help us to fully account for those who sacrificed in the past, and will also allow our countries to work together on behalf of regional prosperity and regional security.

Our most important priority in restoring ties with Vietnam is to determine the fate of each American who did not return from the war. Each soldier who was lost remains cherished, with a name, a family, and a nation that cares. There should be the fullest possible accounting for each one. This is a solemn pledge my government has made to the American people. Fulfilling it remains the key to a closer relationship between our two countries.

I want to thank the Vietnamese officials, veterans, and citizens who have helped us find answers, by sharing their memories of the war and by leading us to crash sites and burial grounds. They have come forward time and again to help Americans ease our sense of loss. I know that the people of Vietnam have endured great losses as well. That is why the United States has released thousands of documents to help the Vietnamese authorities search for those of your countrymen who are still missing in action. And that is why we have funded humanitarian projects for war victims.