Remarks by Ambassador Michael W. Marine

at Los Angeles World Affairs Council
Los Angeles, California

October 28, 2005

Thank you for your kind introduction, Mr. Kane.  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  It is an honor to speak before you today, and I am grateful to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council for offering me the opportunity to be here.  Although I spent some time in Southern California as a student at Loyola University here in Los Angeles and later at UC Santa Barbara, this is my first trip to Southern California as United States Ambassador to Vietnam, and it's a great pleasure to be back. 

Given the extensive cultural and historical ties between Southern California and Vietnam, it was only fitting that I make this trip.  Moreover, I believe there is much I can learn about our two countries' bilateral relations from this visit, and I look forward to hearing your comments and questions after my remarks.

Today, I would like to briefly take stock of our dynamic relationship with Vietnam – what it is today and where it is headed tomorrow.  Without question, we have made significant progress in recent years.  President Bush received Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải at the White House in June – the first visit to the United States by a sitting Vietnamese Prime Minister.  This year also marked the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, the tenth anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations, and the fifth anniversary of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement, or BTA.  Each of these anniversaries is special in its own way.  Between the Prime Minister's visit and the many other high-level contacts we have had, this year has presented numerous opportunities to strengthen our relationship.

   On the other hand, our two countries' deepening relationship has also presented new challenges – economic, commercial, political and global – for the United States and Vietnam to confront together.  It is important to acknowledge that our success this past year in addressing some of these challenges is the result of a continuous commitment from both sides to improving our relationship.  We have together forged strong bonds despite a very tragic history, creating a path of reconciliation and cooperation that, I believe, sets a strong example for others to follow. 

Cooperation on the issue of the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel from the Indochina conflict provided the initial impetus that enabled us to move our relations forward, and this issue remains one of our top priorities.  This humanitarian task is one we pursue with the Vietnamese people, who also are wrestling with the challenge of finding and identifying sons and daughters lost in battle.

Since 1992, the U.S.-Vietnam cooperation on the fullest possible accounting has brought home more than 500 fallen service personnel, and with them answers and closure for their families.  I have had the honor to visit sites where our military personnel and Vietnamese staff work side-by-side, in very difficult conditions, to find these answers.   These joint, humanitarian efforts will continue unabated until our mission is completed. 

In the ten years since normalization, we have also nurtured productive advances in bilateral ties in the areas of science and health, education and culture, security and law enforcement, as well as in the area of military cooperation.  The kind of joint, sustained efforts we are now achieving in these areas would have seemed unimaginable to most of us viewing Vietnam-U.S. relations just one decade ago. 

More than any other area, our two countries' economic and business ties form the cornerstone of our relationship.  Since the U.S.-Vietnam BTA came into effect in 2001, bilateral two-way trade has tripled.  It exceeded USD 6.4 billion last year.  The United States is now Vietnam’s largest export market, purchasing one-fifth of all Vietnamese exports.  U.S. exports to Vietnam have increased by 250 percent in the past three years.  Figures for the first half of 2005 indicate that two-way trade continues to be strong, up 30 percent through June over last year's figures.  Importantly, American exports to Vietnam during the first six months of 2005 have increased by 76 percent over the previous year.  In 2004, California ranked second (behind Washington state) in terms of total exports to Vietnam, with the total value of exports topping $151 million in products such as computers and electronics, processed foods, machinery, and transportation equipment.

The investment picture is bright as well:  American companies increasingly are interested in investing in Vietnam, in part because in some sectors labor costs there can be 30 percent less than those in southern China. 

Nonetheless, while trade and investment between our two nations have grown dramatically in recent years, there is a great deal of room for further expansion.  Our ongoing negotiations over Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization are setting the foundation for these future increases in trade and investment.  I would be pleased to talk more about that issue during the question period after my remarks.  For now, suffice it to say that those negotiations are ongoing and we will continue to tackle all the unresolved issues in order to conclude the negotiations as quickly as possible. 

Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải’s trip to the United States capped the first ten years of U.S.-Vietnam relations and set the stage for our two sides to take the relationship to a higher plane.  Completing the work required to join the WTO will be a huge milestone on the road to deeper, richer economic ties but, Vietnam can do and should do more, much more, to court investment and expand business opportunities for American and other foreign firms.

Among the tasks before it, Vietnam must create a financial system that allows capital to flow to those who will manage it effectively; establish a predictable, transparent and rules-based legal and regulatory system that is free from corruption; and, protect intellectual property rights through strong laws and effective enforcement.  Vietnam must also invest in the infrastructure improvements that foreign investors demand, while also protecting its beautiful natural environment.

Just a few words on intellectual property rights, which I know is an area of particular concern to many in the Industry here in Southern California.  Vietnam is just beginning to create the kind of legal and regulatory protections that most companies demand in a potential investment destination.  What is lacking, however, is enforcement.  Piracy and counterfeiting are serious concerns, whether the products in question are movies, music, books, software, pharmaceuticals or brand-name products.  With regard to American movies, books and movies, the piracy rate is effectively 100% in Vietnam.  Lack of IPR protection not only deters foreign investment, but also puts Vietnam behind its neighbors in crucial areas of competition.  Progress on IPR protection will require the combined voices of the U.S. Government and American business, and we will continue to emphasize the importance of IPR protection at every appropriate opportunity.

Helping Vietnam maintain its economic growth in the face of transnational challenges is an area where the United States can, and does, assist.  Vietnam now also faces two significant health issues, which without prudent and timely action, could quickly escalate into crippling crises.  The first of these is avian influenza.  Recognizing how serious this disease is, the Government of Vietnam has launched a massive effort to vaccinate poultry populations and contain the virus in birds.  This may not be enough, however to prevent a pandemic affecting humans, if the virus mutates. 

In response, to this global threat, the U.S. Government is leading an international, high-level political initiative to address Avian and Pandemic Influenza.  Earlier this month, the Department of State hosted the inaugural meeting of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza.  For its part, Vietnam, along with more than 70 other countries,  accepted the challenge to be part of this Partnership.  In short, the Partnership calls for countries to pledge transparency and information sharing, in exchange for help in improving surveillance and their ability to respond to outbreaks.  As a start, the U.S. Government will provide USD 25 million to the Southeast  Asian region, with Vietnam as one of the focus countries, to fight against avian influenza.  We intend to help combat possible outbreaks through improved surveillance and broad public education programs, by assisting in the ongoing poultry vaccination program and by building capacity in research and diagnosis.   

The second health issue of concern is HIV/AIDS, which is already an concentrated epidemic in Vietnam's intravenous drug user and commercial sex worker communities and which threatens to become a generalized epidemic that would result in enormous human and economic losses.  The U.S. Government is committed to a strong partnership with Vietnam to help avert this looming HIV crisis.  This year, we have provided over USD 27 million and next year we will contribute USD 33 million to this fight.  In 2004, President Bush named Vietnam one of fifteen priority countries to receive assistance from his Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.  The President chose Vietnam as the 15th priority country – and the only one in Asia – because there is a very real chance that the epidemic can be controlled there with prompt action.

As I have made clear in my remarks, we are working very hard with Vietnam on these serious concerns of potential health crises and the need to promote a better environment for business and trade.  But, it is important to remember that our relationship grows broader by the day.  For example, in the area of defense and military-to-military contacts, our ties are developing steadily on a positive course.  U.S. Navy ships regularly visit Vietnamese ports, fostering cross-cultural understanding each time they do so.  The U.S. military also coordinates U.S. assistance for Vietnam’s demining efforts and engages in other humanitarian activities.  Leaders of both militaries now meet regularly not only to exchange views on security issues, but also to develop common ground in actions to promote regional stability for continued growth.

We also have a growing relationship with Vietnam in other previously sensitive areas, such as counterterrorism and law enforcement.  Although there is much more that I believe we could be doing – particularly in the field of law enforcement – we have made progress in recent years, most notably in last year’s bilateral Counternarcotics Agreement.             

In as much as military and law enforcement issues are often the most sensitive in any relationship, the deepening ties we have in these areas reflect the greater trust and spirit of cooperation our two countries share.  The United States and Vietnam no longer have any circumstances under which it is plausible to imagine our militaries fighting each other – the United States fully respects Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  We share many areas of mutual interest in regional and international security, and are finding ways to work together on these issues. 

For example, both countries desire peace in the Asia-Pacific region and believe that there can be no economic growth and prosperity without a stable security environment.  Vietnam also shares our desire to thwart the development and spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), and has opposed North Korea’s attempts to flaunt the will of the international community by developing nuclear weapons.  This is of no small significance considering the traditionally close ties between Hanoi and Pyongyang.    

Vietnam and the United States also stand together in opposition to the global scourge of terrorism.  Vietnam’s leaders have spoken out in no uncertain terms about the need to fight terrorism, and Vietnam has been an active participant in regional counterterrorism efforts, particularly in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

Of course, in any bilateral relationship, whether between close allies or newfound partners, there will be friction and areas of disagreement.  In fact – and, to some extent, counter-intuitively – the closer two countries become and the broader their relationship is, the greater the number of areas in which contention can arise. 

I think this is where the United States and Vietnam now are, but it’s not something we should rue or seek to change.  There will always be areas in which the United States and Vietnam don’t see eye-to-eye.  This doesn’t mean we should whitewash areas of disagreement for the sake of the overall relationship.  Nor does it mean we should hold one aspect of bilateral relations hostage to another.  Rather, the challenge is how we manage – and, hopefully, find a way to overcome - our differences so that they don’t overshadow or weaken the overall relationship between both countries.

One area in which we have our differences with Vietnam is human rights, including religious freedom.  The Vietnamese Government proudly and rightly touts its progress in delivering “collective” human rights such as education and poverty reduction.  However, we remain concerned that the Government of Vietnam is less tolerant of political dissent and continues to clamp down on moves to even talk about multi-party democracy.  Moreover, it is unacceptable that the Vietnamese people do not enjoy the fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, press, and assembly.   Even as we seek to expand our economic ties with Vietnam, we continue to promote these ideals vigorously and to remind the Vietnamese Government that these are not privileges, but rather principles that have been universally affirmed and should be universally enjoyed.

 In fact, Vietnam's poor human rights record remains a barrier to a warmer and more productive bilateral relationship.

Since the United States designated Vietnam as Country of Particular Concern for serious violations of religious freedom in September 2004, we have continued to urge the Vietnamese Government to expand the space for religious believers to practice their faith.  In response, Vietnam has enacted new legislation on religion and officially banned forced renunciations of faith.  A number of prisoners who were detained, we believe, for the practice of their religion were released over the past year.  In May, we exchanged letters with the Government of Vietnam, summarizing all of the steps Vietnam intends to take to fully implement its new religious legislation.  Now, we are monitoring the implementation of these commitments carefully.   We remain concerned that some local officials fail to understand the letter and/or the spirit of the new legislation and continue to detain or mistreat religious believers.

One area where we have seen progress has been in the Central Highlands, where we have noted Vietnam's openness to working with Cambodia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the issue of the welfare and well being of ethnic minorities, particularly those who previously migrated to Cambodia and have now been returned.  We remain concerned about the human rights situation in the Central Highlands, but we are heartened that Vietnam has allowed greater access by international observers, including members of my staff,  to the region.  Considering the troubled history of the Central Highlands, this is a welcome step.

Another positive sign on the human rights front was the release and amnesty of several prisoners of concern to the United States on September 2.  Since I first called on the Government of Vietnam to release its prisoners of conscience in a speech this past March, the Vietnamese have undertaken a historic number of prisoner amnesties as part of their national celebrations, releasing over 26,000 prisoners in three rounds, including several high-profile individuals.  These amnesties were important, and we look forward to more gestures of this type.

I would also highlight that the U.S. and Vietnam have agreed to hold a bilateral human rights dialogue in the near future.  This will provide us another opportunity in which to raise issues of concern directly with the Government of Vietnam.

However, Vietnam still have not gone far enough, and we will continue to call on the Government of Vietnam to release the following prisoners-of-conscience who are still in prison and deserve to be free today:  Journalist Nguyễn Vũ Bình, Dr. Phạm Hồng Sơn, essayist Nguyễn Khắc Toàn, activist Trần Văn Lương and former South Vietnamese police officer Phan Văn Bàn.

In dealing with the issues that require our attention – and there will without a doubt be other issues we haven’t even thought of that will require our attention – I see it as my responsibility, and the responsibility of my staff in the Embassy and the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, to help to minimize distrust between our two countries by maximizing communication and fostering understanding.  We do this through outreach to Vietnamese ministries, universities and institutes.  We also look for ways to interact with the Vietnamese youth and the media, which remains State-controlled.  Despite these controls, there are signs that the media is taking on a positive role as watch guard for the people, through its coverage of corruption cases and the problems caused by environmental neglect.  Just three months ago, I participated in my first live web chat event on Vietnamnet, taking questions from readers in Vietnam and the United States on topics including religious freedom, human rights and Agent Orange.  The transcript of the hour-long discussion was posted on the web within hours, virtually uncensored.  Within four days, the site had received over 350,000 hits.  It is a small step but a significant one in our efforts to provide information and share ideas to the public.

When we considers how far apart the United States and Vietnam once were, how implacably against each other we were – and it wasn’t that long ago – I believe it’s a testament to efforts in both countries to build bridges, foster communication and create an atmosphere of trust and understanding that we have been able to accomplish what we have over the past decade.  We have much more to do, so will this work must and will continue. 

But it’s not just the work of embassies and government officials that can build bridges and bring our two countries closer together.  Southern California is home to the greatest number of persons of Vietnamese heritage outside of Vietnam, as we can see in  this room today.  Americans of Vietnamese descent are in a key position to help to build bridges, eliminate misunderstanding and create trust.  All of you in the Vietnamese-American community can play a huge role in building and enriching the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relationship. 

But it has to be a two-way street.  The Vietnamese Government seems to recognize the important contributions ethnic Vietnamese around the world can make to Vietnam's continued development and has taken steps to reach out to them.  But there's more Vietnam can do, such as dealing honorably with the cemeteries of South Vietnam's war dead and giving public recognition to the humanitarian efforts of Vietnamese-Americans to help Vietnam.

Americans are known for their strong sense of optimism about things to come, and history has shown that this is warranted.  This is also a character trait we have in common with the Vietnamese.  They are equally famous for their resiliency and hopeful outlook on life, which makes them, in my view, good company and good partners.  Above all, I believe this shared optimism is a critical part of the bilateral partnership we have now, a partnership we can build upon. 

I know that I am hopeful.  Let me share something with you:  last month, the Vietnamese Government informed us that it decided to donate USD 100,000 to the American victims of Hurricane Katrina, and that there was a medical team standing by to fly to the United States to provide medical services.  We were not able to accept the offer of medical help, due to liability issues.  But, we accepted the check with gratitude.  The next day, one of my staff members was invited to a launch ceremony for the Vietnamese Red Cross’ campaign to solicit donations for the American victims.  He received a check from the Vietnamese Red Cross for USD 20,000, and then shook the hands of over a hundred Vietnamese Red Cross representatives from companies and offices throughout Hanoi as they dropped fat envelopes of donations into the collection box.  And this ceremony was repeated across Vietnam in all 64 provinces. 

I was deeply touched by this incredibly generous outpouring of support for the American victims of Hurricane Katrina coming from a people and country that do not have a lot of extra resources to spare.  None of the special events we have held this year to celebrate the tenth anniversary of diplomatic relations have demonstrated as clearly as this generous response in our time of need the true depth of the bonds that have developed between our peoples.  And that is why I am so optimistic that we are, indeed, on our way to realizing our shared goal of moving this relationship to the next level. 

In closing, I would like to say that all of you here, those in the academic, business, tourism and development communities, all have an important role to play in increasing the people-to-people exchanges to increase mutual understanding between the United States and Vietnam. I hope to see the relationship, not only between our two countries, but between California and Vietnam, continue to thrive and grow.  With your help, I am confident that it will.  Thank you.

(Embassy of the United States in Vietnam)