Latest news with #VietnamVeteransofAmericaFoundation
Boston Globe
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump administration eases ban for US diplomats at Vietnam War anniversary
Knapper is also not expected at the main event, which includes a parade and speeches Wednesday, the actual anniversary of South Vietnam's surrender and the American evacuation from what was then Saigon on April 30, 1975. Critics of the attendance ban welcomed Burns's presence, but insisted it was not enough. They said the Trump administration had already shown a lack of understanding about the importance of postwar reconciliation with a country that is now a strategic partner in efforts to counter China's influence across the region. Advertisement 'From where I sit, they don't have a clue,' said John Terzano, a founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, who has been returning to Vietnam since 1981. He said the United States had bumbled into the war and stayed too long because leaders at the time, like Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, saw Vietnam only through the lens of arrogance or parochial interests. Washington was now at risk of making similar mistakes, he added. Advertisement 'The ambassador is not here,' Terzano said. 'And the symbolic nature of that matters.' The Trump administration did not give a reason for the ban, though some US officials speculated that the White House did not want to be seen as celebrating an anniversary of defeat around the 100th day of Trump's second term. Analysts noted that the United States and Vietnam had elevated their ties in 2023 to a comprehensive strategic partnership as a step forward — not because of the war or a hunger for reconciliation, but rather because of urgent shared interests, which can transcend diplomatic squabbles. 'The US values its closer ties with Vietnam because of its strategic competition with China, while Vietnam hopes its closer ties with the US will greatly help its quest for security and prosperity,' said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. Few countries in Asia are more hostile to China than Vietnam is. Vietnam's people see their national identity as embedded in their resistance to dominance from Beijing. As China's southern neighbor and former colony, Vietnam has frequent disputes with China over territory in the South China Sea, even as it welcomes Chinese investment. Roughly 30 percent of Vietnam's exports went to the United States last year, producing a large trade imbalance. But China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, and Trump's tariffs and his destruction of the US Agency for International Development have shaken Vietnam's bond with the United States. USAID recently suspended funding for removing land mines left behind from the war, and the cleanup of Agent Orange, an herbicide that causes cancer and birth defects. Advertisement Vietnam's goal has long been balanced relations with great powers. In an essay published Sunday in the state news media, To Lam, Vietnam's top leader and the general secretary of the Communist Party, stressed the power of personal reconciliation among former enemies. 'I have witnessed many moving encounters between Vietnamese veterans and American veterans — those who once stood on opposing sides of the battlefield, who once confronted each other at gunpoint, but who can now shake hands, converse, and share sincere understanding without lingering resentment,' he wrote. 'Today, Vietnam and the United States — once former adversaries — have become comprehensive strategic partners, cooperating for peace, for the benefit of both peoples, and for the security and stability of the region.' Yet Xi Jinping, China's leader, who recently visited Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, and the Trump administration have each warned Vietnam not to support the other. The US ambassador's absence at the 50th anniversary commemorations may now be seen as another attempt to pressure Vietnam into compliance. 'For many Vietnamese, the message is: 'You have to choose,'' Vuving said. 'For some others, the message is 'Vietnam's Communist regime is incompatible with a US partnership.'' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Administration Eases Ban for U.S. Diplomats at Vietnam War Anniversary
The Trump administration, reversing a policy that angered Vietnam veterans, has eased a ban on senior American diplomats attending events for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. On Tuesday, the United States informed Vietnamese officials that Susan Burns, the U.S. Consul General, would attend a reception on Tuesday night with other diplomats and Vietnamese officials. Witnesses reported seeing her at the event, which was held at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, and one shared a photo with The Times. Marc E. Knapper — the U.S. ambassador and son of a Vietnam veteran — was not seen with Ms. Burns, though he had previously planned to represent the United States. Mr. Knapper is also not expected at the main event, which includes a parade and speeches on Wednesday, the actual anniversary of South Vietnam's surrender and the American evacuation from what was then Saigon on April 30, 1975. Critics of the attendance ban welcomed Ms. Burns' presence, but insisted it was not enough. They said that the Trump administration had already shown a lack of understanding about the importance of postwar reconciliation with a country that is now a strategic partner in efforts to counter China's influence across the region. 'From where I sit, they don't have a clue,' said John Terzano, a founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, who has been returning to Vietnam since 1981. He said that the United States had bumbled into the war and stayed too long because leaders at the time, like Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, saw Vietnam only through the lens of arrogance or parochial interests. Washington was now at risk of making similar mistakes, he added. 'The ambassador is not here,' Mr. Terzano said. 'And the symbolic nature of that matters.' The Trump administration did not give a reason for the ban, though some U.S. officials speculated that the White House did not want to be seen as celebrating an anniversary of defeat around the 100th day of Mr. Trump's second term. Analysts noted that the United States and Vietnam had elevated their ties in 2023 to a comprehensive strategic partnership as a step forward — not because of the war or a hunger for reconciliation, but rather because of urgent shared interests, which can transcend diplomatic squabbles. 'The U.S. values its closer ties with Vietnam because of its strategic competition with China, while Vietnam hopes its closer ties with the U.S. will greatly help its quest for security and prosperity,' said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. Few countries in Asia are more hostile to China than Vietnam is. Vietnam's people see their national identity as embedded in their resistance to dominance from Beijing. As China's southern neighbor and former colony, Vietnam has frequent disputes with China over territory in the South China Sea, even as it welcomes Chinese investment. Roughly 30 percent of Vietnam's exports went to the United States last year, producing a large trade imbalance. But China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, and Mr. Trump's tariffs and his destruction of U.S.A.I.D. have shaken Vietnam's bond with the United States. U.S.A.I.D. recently suspended funding for removing land mines left behind from the war, and the cleanup of Agent Orange, an herbicide that causes cancer and birth defects. Vietnam's goal has long been balanced relations with great powers. In an essay published on Sunday in the state news media, To Lam, Vietnam's top leader and the general secretary of the Communist Party, stressed the power of personal reconciliation among former enemies. 'I have witnessed many moving encounters between Vietnamese veterans and American veterans — those who once stood on opposing sides of the battlefield, who once confronted each other at gunpoint, but who can now shake hands, converse and share sincere understanding without lingering resentment,' he wrote. 'Today, Vietnam and the United States — once former adversaries — have become comprehensive strategic partners, cooperating for peace, for the benefit of both peoples, and for the security and stability of the region.' Yet Xi Jinping, China's leader, who recently visited Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, and the Trump administration have each warned Vietnam not to support the other. The American ambassador's absence at the 50th anniversary commemorations may now be seen as another attempt to pressure Vietnam into compliance. 'For many Vietnamese, the message is: 'You have to choose,'' Mr. Vuving said. 'For some others, the message is 'Vietnam's Communist regime is incompatible with a U.S. partnership.'' Ms. Burns is expected at a parade for the anniversary on Wednesday, according to two people with knowledge of the U.S. confirmation that was sent to Vietnamese officials. The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi did not respond to requests for comment.
New York Times
22-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
U.S. Tells Its Diplomats in Vietnam to Avoid War Anniversary Events
The Trump administration has told its senior diplomats in Vietnam not to take part in events marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. Four U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic decision-making said that Washington had recently directed senior diplomats — including Marc Knapper, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam — to stay away from activities tied to the anniversary on April 30. That includes a hotel reception on April 29 with senior government leaders and an elaborate parade the next day — gatherings hosted by Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, where the war ended with South Vietnam's surrender. Veterans returning to Vietnam have also been told they're on their own, for public discussions they organize on war and reconciliation, and anniversary events. For many, it amounts to a sudden reversal after months of anticipation. 'I really don't understand it,' said John Terzano, a founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation who served two tours in Vietnam and has attended anniversary events for decades. 'As a person who has dedicated his life to reconciliation and marveled at how it's grown over the last 20 years or so, this is really a missed opportunity.' 'It really doesn't require anything of the United States to just stand there,' Mr. Terzano added, in an interview after landing in Hanoi. 'This is all ceremonial stuff — that's what makes it sound crazy and disappointing.' State Department and embassy officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A half-dozen people with knowledge of the directive said it was not clear where it originated or why it had been issued. April 30 is the 100th day of Mr. Trump's second term. Some U.S. officials speculated that a Trump appointee or a State Department leader feared drawing attention away from that milestone with events that might highlight America's defeat in a war that Mr. Trump managed to avoid. In 1968, a year when 296,406 Americans were drafted into military service, Mr. Trump received a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels that led to a medical exemption. Regardless of the reasoning for Washington's retreat from the 50th-anniversary events, it adds another blow to decades of painstaking diplomacy by Republican and Democratic administrations, which had sought to both heal the war's wounds and build a strategic partnership for countering China. Mr. Trump had already frozen U.S.A.I.D. money allocated for addressing the legacy of the war. Even after officials restored some of it, many programs — for finding missing soldiers and demining old battlefields, for example — are still struggling with layoffs and uncertainty. The foundation of bilateral relations, built by veterans from both sides, has essentially been weakened. It was their emotional and physical hard work, with visits and civil society partnerships in Vietnam, that had persuaded former enemy governments to work through complicated issues like unexploded ordnance, soldiers missing in action and the toxic legacy of Agent Orange and other American herbicides. The momentum of postwar bonding led in 2023 to a new level of strategic partnership between the two nations. And the work had been on track to expand, until Mr. Trump's approach to the world, pugilistic and allergic to the acknowledgment of errors, strained relations. 'It's taken decades to build the current level of mutual trust and cooperation between the United States and Vietnam,' said George Black, the author of 'The Long Reckoning,' a study of U.S.-Vietnam relations after the war. 'And the whole process has been underpinned by our willingness to deal with the worst humanitarian legacies.' Mr. Knapper, the son of a Vietnam veteran who was sworn in as the U.S. ambassador in 2022, had embraced his diplomatic mission. As of a few weeks ago, he had been expected to attend the main anniversary events on April 29 and 30 alongside delegations from other countries, including Australia and the Netherlands. He has often led ceremonies in which the United States gave artifacts from the war back to Vietnamese military families, and repatriated the remains of what were believed to be missing Americans. In an essay for this month's Foreign Service Journal, he wrote about traveling to Vietnam with his father and son in 2004, describing the trip as 'a clear reminder of the sacrifices on both sides and the enduring importance of reconciliation.' 'As ambassador,' he added, 'I believe that to truly strengthen our ties, we must engage deeply and directly with the people and leaders of Vietnam.' With that goal in mind, before Mr. Trump took office, the two countries had planned to show off their hard-earned bond in a new exhibit at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. The museum, Vietnam's most visited cultural institution, chronicles American war atrocities. Under the plan, one of its wings was to be transformed: Design blueprints aimed for a lively introduction to the activists and officials who helped forge a model of postwar recovery. Organizers had hoped the ambitious exhibit would open this month, or at least by July 11, the 30th anniversary of the restoration of American diplomatic relations with Vietnam. But it's now in limbo. The project was funded by U.S.A.I.D., while the United States Institute of Peace managed the details. The Trump administration has dismantled both agencies. 'Reconciliation is in our economic, geopolitical and moral interest,' said Andrew Wells-Dang, a senior program officer at the peace institute who oversaw the museum project until he was fired a few weeks ago. 'U.S. government and nongovernmental partners alike,' he added, 'are reeling from the effects of the new administration's actions, leaving our Vietnamese colleagues distraught and confused.' Vietnamese officials did not respond to requests for comment about the anniversary. But they have repeatedly nudged the United States toward responsibility for the war's lingering impact, with some success. After high-level discussions, the Defense Department recently restored money it had set aside for war legacy issues, even though its administrative partner, U.S.A.I.D., is gone. As a result, the cleanup process for contamination from Agent Orange at the Bien Hoa air base has been revived, at least for this year. Mr. Trump's tariffs, however, have added another layer of vexation. With a rate set at 46 percent for Vietnam — above nearly every other country — some U.S. officials thought Vietnam might disinvite diplomats to the anniversary events. That did not happen. The tariffs are now paused, and the two countries are locked in negotiations, with Vietnam seeking a reprieve and U.S. officials pushing Hanoi to decouple from China. Vietnam has often made clear that it would like to find room for its fierce independence and pursuit of prosperity. The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, recently visited Hanoi. The anniversary events could have provided a way for the United States and Vietnam to show that, despite a brutal war, they are still close strategic partners. Instead, Vietnam is left to wonder how much it will now be asked to endure from its former adversary. Mr. Terzano said that in a proud nation that cares deeply about symbolism, the U.S. decision to avoid the events looks 'petty and nonsensical.' He argued that the absence would strengthen the world's gathering storm of doubt about America. 'You take a look at the chaos that has transpired,' he said. 'Nations around the globe are all questioning: 'Where is the U.S.? What does it mean?''
