
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 6, 1995                   TAG: 9508070124
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: HANOI, VIETNAM                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S., VIETNAM BEGIN `NEW ERA'

On a summer morning rich with symbolism, the United States and Vietnam officially reconciled Saturday. But talks between Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his Vietnamese counterpart signaled differences on where both sides believe their new relationship might lead.

``This is the beginning of a new chapter and a new era,'' said Christopher on the first day of a historic two-day visit to Hanoi. It is time, he said, to ``establish a new set of memories, a new set of relationships.''

Christopher is the highest ranking American to come to Hanoi in modern history. He is the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Vietnam since 1970.

His trip comes 20 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 26 days after President Clinton restored diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Today, Christopher is scheduled to inaugurate a U.S. Embassy here.

That follows the signing of documents Saturday (celebrated with Russian champagne and California chardonnay) that officially restored diplomatic relations with Vietnam's communist government. Those ties were severed 50 years ago when Vietnam split in two along the 17th parallel.

Throughout the day Christopher attempted to focus attention - both publicly and in private talks - on the trip's historic significance and on the Clinton administration's commitment to resolving the fate of 1,615 American servicemen still listed as missing in action in Vietnam.

The two sides also agreed to continue discussing human rights issues without defining agendas for those talks, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns told reporters.

Nguyen Manh Cam, Vietnam's foreign minister, used the same opportunities to underline his country's priorities - economic ties and trade agreements. He emphasized Vietnam's desire to obtain most-favored nation status that gives a country the lowest possible tariffs on goods imported into the U.S.

After graciously welcoming Christopher at a private luncheon, Cam suggested that renewed economic ties would provide the best remedy to putting the war behind both countries. He also noted that respect for one another's independence should become the foundation for this new relationship, according to Burns.

Cam specifically pushed for MFN status at the beginning and end of that lunch, he said. Christopher in turn advised Cam that the Vietnamese should ``be a little patient,'' on that issue.

Christopher also announced Saturday that Clinton had appointed Desaix Anderson, a career foreign service officer, to oversee the embassy. Anderson, who worked in Vietnam for the U.S. government during the war, will assume the post until an ambassador is nominated and confirmed.

by CNB