Laying firm groundwork for a sustainable and long-lasting partnership

During the period 1993-1995, you worked as Ambassador and Acting Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations. This coincided with the normalisation of Vietnam-US relations in 1995. At that time, how did the international community assess this event? How important was this period in terms of the development of the two nations afterwards?

In December 1992, I came to the US to work as the Ambassador and Acting Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations. In addition to participating in the activities of the United Nations, I had to focus on negotiations of the normalisation of relations between Vietnam and the US. Before I came to the US, the then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tran Quang Co told me that “You will come to the US to make preparations [for the normalisation] and will come to Washington DC to open Vietnam’s diplomatic representative office there”.

During the 1988-1992 period, Vietnam and the US made great progress in solving humanitarian issues, especially the Missing In Action (MIA) issue. At that time, American businesses were well aware of the great potential and opportunities in the Vietnamese market, and wanted to do business in Vietnam as soon as possible, for fear that the opportunities would be grabbed by investors from other nations. In fact, before leaving the White House, former US President George Bush Snr allowed US businesses to establish their representative offices in Vietnam in order to seize business opportunities here.

When President Bill Clinton began his work in the White House, Vietnam and the US implicitly understood that they would together work to accelerate the negotiation process toward the normalisation of relations. In April 1993, the US side sent a high-ranking delegation led by former US Secretary of State Edmund Muskie to Vietnam and Cambodia, in order to assess two conditions that the US had previously put forward – progress on locating MIA soldiers and Vietnam’s withdrawal of troops from Cambodia.

However, while the Muskie delegation remained in Vietnam, in Washington DC a US scholar named S. Morris released a document which he said was picked up from Russia’s archives. According to the document – which we now know was a fake – Vietnam’s Politburo had reported that some US prisoners of war had been sent to the Soviet Union. Of course, this document threw cold water on the Vietnam-US relations at the time. After that, the Clinton Administration had to conduct an investigation to determine whether the document was veracious. Therefore, my plan to go to Washington to establish a diplomatic representative office was postponed.

In October 1993, former Deputy Prime Minister Phan Van Khai went to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly Meeting and pay an unofficial visit to the US. During this visit, Khai made a thorough explanation to the US side about Vietnam’s goodwill, and this was highly commended by the US business community, media, and public. Although the two sides had yet to establish their diplomatic representative agencies, President Clinton made a step forward by agreeing with the World Bank regarding the provision of loans for infrastructure projects in Vietnam.

Soon after that the S. Morris document was found to be a counterfeit. However, even still some members of the Clinton Administration did not agree with normalising relations with Vietnam. On February 3, 1994, President Clinton made another important step by declaring the removal of the embargo against Vietnam.

That day, while watching TV and listening to President Clinton making a speech to the American people about normalising relations with Vietnam, I was moved to tears. I remembered the previous 20 years, from 1975 to 1994, a period in which we had to weather lots of difficulties to see the US lift the embargo against Vietnam. Since then, Vietnam’s policy of Doi moi and opening up to the world has had greater scope to develop.

Even though it was night-time in Vietnam, I made a phone call informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ leadership about the good news. In New York, a professor had told me on several occasions that President Clinton would not lift the embargo. However, upon hearing this news, he came to meet and congratulate me, saying that “you [Vietnam] have won”.

In late 1994, the two sides agreed to establish liaison offices in the capitals of the two countries in January 1995. Throughout the entire process of normalisation, perhaps the 1993-1994 period had the most challenges and significance. This is because it ushered in a new chapter in the Vietnam-US relationship – a chapter defined by peace and friendship.

President Bill Clinton has made significant contributions to the development of Vietnam-US relations

What impressed you most when you worked as the first Vietnamese Ambassador to the US?

The first task of our representative agency was to rent a space for our headquarters. The US side gave us the building that used to be the embassy of the former Saigon administration. However, we could not use the building as it had been left unused for 20 years and had deteriorated. After that, we rented an office inside a building with a staff of only 13. Today, that number has tripled and the embassy remains in that building.

Everyone at the agency was happy then and worked around the clock, even during the holidays. When the office was busy, husbands and wives of the office staff also joined in the work. Everybody wanted to have a representative agency in the US as soon as possible, as it would help solve the two countries’ bilateral issues, especially in terms of economics and trade.

American firms, humanitarian organisations, the mass media, scholars, overseas Vietnamese, US officials, and parliament members were all warmly welcomed at the office. Later on, an American journalist likened the embassy to “the humanitarian face of Vietnam”.

We were also requested by Vietnamese enterprises to provide information about American businesses. Many groups of Vietnamese people also asked us to pick them up at the airport and help them with their tours in the US.

However, that is not to say that things were achieved easily. War legacies still existed and impeded the agency’s activities. Some people did not share the two countries’ interests and were opposed to the normalisation of relations. Thankfully, at present, the number of such people has remarkably reduced.

What do you think about the development of Vietnam-US relations over the past two decades? What have been the most significant milestones?

After 20 years of diplomatic relations, Vietnam and the US have lifted their relations to a comprehensive partnership, culminating in Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s official visit to the US in July 2015 – the first by a Vietnamese party general secretary.

Other important milestones over the past 20 years include the US lifting the embargo against Vietnam on February 3, 1994; the two countries’ exchange of ambassadors in 1997; and the signing of the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement in Washington DC on July 14, 2000. From November 16-19, 2000, President Bill Clinton paid an official visit to Vietnam. Between July 23 and 27, 2013, the two countries established their Comprehensive Partnership. This partnership may be more important than a strategic partnership. In terms of trade relations, the US is Vietnam’s biggest export market. When the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) takes effect, Vietnam’s exports to the US will increase strongly.

Today, the Vietnam-US relationship is important to Vietnam in many sectors, such as trade, education, science and technology, and even security and freedom of navigation, and national sovereignty in the East Sea as well.

Speaking about the prospects of the Vietnam-US relations, the first US Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson affirmed that one day Vietnam and the US would forge a strategic partnership. He said that in terms of relations between the two countries “nothing is impossible”. Today, following great strides forward in relations, Peterson’s prediction has been proven true.

How will the relations be impacted by the upcoming visit to Vietnam by US President Barack Obama?

At present, given the general global situation, as well as that in the Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia, and in the East Sea in particular, there are momentous developments and challenges threatening the security and strategic interests of both the US and Vietnam.

Thus, like the historic official visit to the US by Vietnam Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in July 2015, US President Obama’s visit to Vietnam will help the two countries further strengthen their relations in order to overcome challenges facing both countries.

In the short term, it will be necessary to put the TPP into practice. The US side highly commends Vietnam’s participation in the TPP despite the fact that it is a relatively poor nation. The US is determined to help Vietnam benefit from this deal in order to encourage other nations to join as well.

In addition, concrete steps in Vietnam-US co-operation for ensuring peace, stability, and sovereignty in the East Sea will also be highlighted. Additionally, in line with Obama’s strategic vision and mindset, the US side also wants to lay a firm foundation for a sustainable and long-lasting relationship with Vietnam, so that their next administrations will be able to follow and foster it, as the US is now doing with Cuba.

Therefore, I believe that Obama’s visit to Vietnam will help lift both Vietnam and the US to new heights, meeting the expectations of the two countries’ people.