Vietnam: Us President Clinton Begins First Visit By A Serving American Leader To Hanoi

Record ID: 4249

  • Title: Vietnam: Us President Clinton Begins First Visit By A Serving American Leader To Hanoi
  • Date: 17th November 2000
  • Summary: Bill Clinton has kicked off the first visit by a serving US president to former US foe Communist Vietnam hoping to open a new chapter based on trade, but he will also address the more touchy issue of human rights. Newspaper editorials in the state press on November 17 said Clinton and his wife Senator-elect Hillary were "warmly welcome" on their three day official visit Residents lined up the streets of Hanoi to watch Clinton's motorcade drive past. Clinton was greeted with full state honours at Hanoi's Presidential Palace by Vietnamese counterpart Tran Duc Luong and posed with him for pictures beneath an enormous bust of Ho Chi Minh, America's Vietnam War nemesis. Earlier, the two men stood side by side to attention under a yellow awning in front of the ornate French colonial building as a military band struck up the US national anthem. A Vietnamese boy and two girls wearing the red scarves of young communist pioneers handed Clinton, his wife Hillary, and daughter Chelsea bouquets of flowers. Clinton said he was very moved by his welcome in communist Vietnam and saw it as a good omen for building a new future with America's former foe. Luong wished Clinton the best for his visit. Clinton did not answer when asked by reporters if he intended to offer an apology for US actions in the Vietnam War, which killed more than 58,000 Americans and an estimated three million Vietnamese before it ended in 1975. He also remained silent when asked if he planned to raise Vietnam's human rights record during his trip. Clinton's welcome at the former French colonial governor-general's residence took place just next door to revolutionary hero Ho Chi Minh's grey marble mausoleum, a reminder of a more hard-line communist era in Vietnam. Economic Cupertino is expected to figure prominently in Clinton's talks with Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. But US officials have said he will also raise the sensitive issues of democracy and religious freedom in the tightly controlled one-party state. While Clinton will be aiming to heal wounds of the war, U. S. officials have made clear he will not go so far as to offer an apology.
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  • Location: VIETNAM HANOI, VIETNAM
  • Reuters ID: LDL0012E4IB17
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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  • Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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