Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040147
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Clinton made his announcement after describing his thinking in several private meetings with veterans' groups and family members of servicemen still missing from the Vietnam War. Reaction from those groups was largely negative.
The move opens an important emerging market for American goods in Southeast Asia and was greeted with enthusiasm by U.S. business interests already setting up operations in the former enemy capital of Hanoi.
Clinton said he was convinced the step would further efforts to get a full accounting of the missing Americans, and that his decision was not based on enabling U.S. business to make profits there.
"We would lose leverage [on resolving MIA questions with Vietnam] if there were no forward movement," Clinton said. He said there had been much progress in recent months in accounting for 2,238 American MIAs and POWs in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
"Whatever the Vietnam War may have done in dividing our country in the past, today our nation is one in honoring those who served and pressing for answers about all those who did not return," he added.
Senate Republican leader Robert Dole of Kansas said, "While many of my colleagues think lifting the trade embargo on Vietnam is the right course, I believe it is the wrong decision at the wrong time for the wrong reasons."
Clinton's decision to risk the wrath of veterans' groups was made easier by the Senate's non-binding 62-38 vote Jan. 27 favoring an end to the embargo. Some veterans and family groups maintain that Vietnam has recovered the remains of hundreds of MIAs but refuses to turn them over.
John Summer, executive director of the American Legion, said, "The embargo was the only leverage that we had," and that he wouldn't be surprised if Vietnam's cooperation begins to diminish.
Even though Clinton minimized the benefits American businesses would receive, it is no secret that Vietnam is regarded as ripe territory for foreign investors. It is one of Asia's fastest-growing markets, and nearly all other countries that had once joined in the embargo have re-established commercial ties with the communist nation.
In Hanoi, American business leaders hailed Clinton's move, saying it would give them the chance to compete in a $1 billion market.
Vietnam is "the hottest emerging market in the world right now," said Eugene Matthews, president of Ashta International Inc., an investment and consulting firm. Ashta is one of 34 U.S. firms that have opened offices in Vietnam. European and Asian nations already have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the country.
Clinton said removing the embargo was not the same as restoring full diplomatic relations.
"I want to be clear. These actions do not constitute a normalization of our relationship. We must have more progress, more cooperation, and more answers," Clinton said.
Clinton also said he would establish a U.S. liaison office in Vietnam. responsible for handling MIA matters, human rights, trade and other issues.
by CNB