US embassy cable - 04HANOI2449

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV 
 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINR, VM 
SUBJECT:  Ambassador's September 3 Farewell Call on General 
Vo Nguyen Giap 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  During his September 3 farewell call on 
General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Ambassador said that, although 
much progress had been made over the past three years, much 
still remained to be done to normalize fully bilateral ties. 
General Giap urged the United States and Vietnam to avoid 
"incidents" that could damage the relationship, called on 
the United States to assist Vietnam in dealing with Agent 
Orange, underlined Vietnam's hope for greater U.S. 
assistance in human resources development and in science and 
technology, and stressed the importance of the U.S.-Vietnam 
relationship for regional peace and security.  Giap also 
noted that, with the exception of a few Vietnamese-Americans 
who had "betrayed" the "homeland," the majority of them 
wanted to return to Vietnam, and Vietnam's policy was to 
encourage this.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by DCM, DATT, and 
Pol/C, paid a farewell call September 3 on General Vo Nguyen 
Giap, 92, a contemporary of Ho Chi Minh and a hero of the 
struggle against France and the United States.  Accepting 
Giap's invitation to begin, the Ambassador noted that, when 
he arrived in Hanoi three years before, there had already 
been much good progress in establishing the bilateral 
relationship, and the past three years had seen many 
positive developments.  However, there was still much left 
to be done, and, considering that the United States and 
Vietnam had fought a war and had a painful history, slow and 
gradual progress was understandable, the Ambassador said. 
 
3. (SBU) One of the many bilateral accomplishments was the 
normalization of military-to-military ties, the Ambassador 
continued.  Minister of Defense General Tra had visited the 
United States, and there had already been two U.S. Navy ship 
visits to Vietnam.  Recalling his meeting with General Tra 
the week before, the Ambassador said that he and the 
Minister had had very cordial discussions in which the 
Minister himself had volunteered ideas on how to improve mil- 
mil relations.  Commercial ties between the United States 
and Vietnam were also very strong, and U.S. investment in 
and trade with Vietnam were expanding.  Humanitarian 
cooperation and educational exchange programs were also 
making good progress, the Ambassador noted. 
 
4. (SBU) In the area of high-level visits, Deputy Prime 
Minister Vu Khoan's trip to Washington, during which he met 
with the Secretary and APNSA Rice, was a good opportunity to 
have high-level discussions on issues of mutual strategic 
interest, the Ambassador said.  The United States hoped 
that, in the years ahead, we would be able to broaden even 
further the relationship between our armed forces.  To 
improve law enforcement cooperation, we hoped to be able 
break down mistrust and develop ties with Vietnam's police. 
It was also important for Vietnam to reach out to the 
Vietnamese-American community to achieve better 
reconciliation with them.  There had been good steps in this 
area over the past two years, but there was much more that 
Vietnam could do, the Ambassador observed. 
 
5. (SBU) Noting that he was "not a diplomat," General Giap 
said that he would speak frankly.  The GVN had decided on 
and the MFA was implementing a clear policy towards the 
United States.  Over the past several years, Giap's overall 
impression was that the relationship had developed well, and 
it appeared that ties had become fully normalized after 
twenty-one years of conflict.  Overall, the situation 
between the two countries was good.  But, Vietnam shared 
with the United States the desire to improve further the 
relationship, and both sides had to try hard to achieve this 
on the basis of equality and mutual respect.  Both sides 
should not cause "incidents," whether large or small, that 
could damage the relationship.  Vietnam also wanted to have 
more friendly relations between the peoples of the two 
countries, Giap said. 
 
6. (SBU) The United States and Vietnam should continue to 
strengthen their two-way trade and commercial ties, Giap 
continued.  Although he would not go into the issue in 
greater detail because he was not an economist, in recent 
years, there had been some "incidents and cases" that 
"should not have happened."  Vietnam also wanted to improve 
ties between its young people and those of the United 
States, and the media in both countries could play a role in 
improving American understanding of Vietnam, Giap observed. 
 
7. (SBU) Turning to the Paris Peace Accord of 1973, Giap 
said that an article therein obligated the United States to 
help Vietnam to overcome the damage caused by the war, and 
this included both "traditional and humanitarian" issues. 
Giap noted that representatives from Vietnam had traveled to 
the United States, and, on their return, had spoken with 
him.  Giap's impression was that the results of these visits 
were very good.  Giap expressed his hope that the bilateral 
relationship continued to develop economically, politically, 
militarily, and diplomatically. 
 
8. (SBU) Giap said that Vietnam wanted to cooperate fully 
with the United States on the issue of full accounting. 
Vietnam was grateful to the USG for providing materials to 
the GVN to deal with Vietnam's own MIA issue.  However, 
Vietnam would like to see the USG put even more effort into 
solving the Agent Orange issue.  Giap had met Admiral 
Zumwalt, who had ordered the spraying of Agent Orange in the 
Mekong Delta during the war.  On the ground, soldiers from 
both sides, including Admiral Zumwalt's son, had been 
exposed to the defoliant, and the Admiral had "agreed that 
the USG should cooperate with Vietnam" to "resolve the 
problems," Giap related. 
 
9. (SBU) Giap expressed his hope that the United States 
would continue to assist Vietnam in developing human 
resources and providing scientific and technological 
assistance.  Training people was the most useful way to help 
each other, Giap said, and he stressed once again that both 
sides should minimize "incidents" to ensure that relations 
became stronger.  The improvement of U.S.-Vietnam relations 
was an important factor in maintaining peace and stability 
in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly Southeast Asia, and 
Giap thanked the Ambassador for putting much effort into 
this cause over the past three years. 
 
10. (SBU) The Ambassador thanked General Giap for his 
comments, noting that increasing contact between the young 
people of both nations and strengthening science and 
technology cooperation were both very good ideas.  In fact, 
there was now a program, which existed only in Vietnam, to 
bring students to the United States to receive advanced 
degrees in the sciences, the Ambassador said. 
 
11. (SBU) Giap noted that his own granddaughter was a 
student in Virginia, and, returning to the issue of 
Vietnamese-Americans, said that the majority of them wanted 
to return to the "homeland," and that Vietnam's policy was 
to become increasingly "open," both politically and 
economically.  Remittances from Viet Kieu in the United 
States were also increasing every year.  Of course, there 
were some who had "betrayed the homeland," Giap continued, 
but that happened in every country.  However, most 
Vietnamese were "patriotic," and Giap expressed his hope 
that the USG would do what it could to "assist" overseas 
Vietnamese in returning to Vietnam more frequently. 
 
12. (SBU) It was well known that Vietnam's Declaration of 
Independence borrowed language from America's Declaration of 
Independence, Giap continued, and there were many 
similarities between Vietnam and the United States.  Vietnam 
did not forget that, during the war, "the majority of 
Americans" were opposed to the war.  Peace, friendship, and 
development were the keys to making better the bilateral 
relationship on the basis of equality and mutual respect. 
Giap asked the Ambassador to convey his greetings to his 
friends in the United States, particularly those Americans 
who had parachuted into Vietnam during World War II.  The 
Vietnamese people did not forget the good things that others 
did for them, and they always respected the independence and 
sovereignty of others.  Vietnam's culture was very 
patriotic, but it was also peace- and independence-loving. 
Ho Chi Minh had desired peace and independence not only for 
Vietnam, but also for all the peoples of the world, Giap 
said. 
 
13. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that his first time working 
in Vietnam was at the Embassy in Saigon when Vietnam was at 
war.  This second time around, Vietnam was at peace and 
developing.  Giap responded that Vietnam was "heroic and 
developing," but still poor, and the United States was much 
richer.  The Ambassador said that the United States wanted 
Vietnam to become richer, and we were trying to help by 
encouraging increased investment and assistance.  The United 
States wanted a strong Vietnam, and there was no strategic 
conflict -- in fact, there were many areas of strategic 
convergence -- between our two countries, the Ambassador 
concluded.  Giap said, "I know." 
BOARDMAN