Clinton `moved’ as he looks to new Vietnam future

Clinton was later cheered by ordinary people when he went on a walkabout in the city centre.

At the Presidential Palace, barely a stone’s throw from revolutionary hero Ho Chi Minh’s grey marble mausoleum, Clinton paused for a few moments before a red flag bearing the People’s Army of Vietnam motto: Quyet Thang (Determination to Win).

Asked how he felt about being the first serving US President to come to Vietnam since the war, which killed more than 58,000 Americans and an estimated three million Vietnamese, Clinton told reporters: “I am glad to be here and I’m looking forward to building a new future. This is very moving this morning, this welcoming ceremony.”

Clinton told Luong he had been “very moved” by the friendliness he had noticed on the streets of Hanoi since he arrived late on Thursday. “I think it’s a good omen,” he said.

Luong said he hoped Clinton’s trip would be “very interesting” for both countries.

Clinton did not answer when asked by reporters if he intended to offer an apology for US actions in the war. He also remained silent when asked if he planned to raise Vietnam’s human rights’ record during his trip.

After talks with Luong and a stop at Hanoi’s 11th Century Temple of Literature, Clinton emerged onto a commercial street and shook dozens of hands of smiling and cheering bystanders.

Dozens of people stood four and five deep on the pavement in front of French colonial-style shopfronts, leaning forward towards the President. Clinton visited a craft shop and then stopped for lunch ata small Vietnamese restaurant.

Economic cooperation was expected to figure prominently in Clinton’s talks with Luong and later with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. But US officials have said Clinton would also raise the sensitive issues of democracy and religious freedom in the tightly-controlled one-party state.

Clinton and Luong witnessed the signing of two bilateral agreements, one covering cooperation on labour issues, including worker safety and unemployment benefits, and another on science and technology.

The latter includes cooperation in disaster mitigation and covers discussion on intellectual property rights, a key concern for US businesses in Vietnam.

On Friday afternoon, Clinton is expected to be given the unprecedented honour of a live broadcast of his keynote speech at Hanoi’s National University.

White House spokesman Jake Siewert said on Thursday the speech would look at the history of US-Vietnam relations but, more importantly, look forward to the future.

It would also look to greater cooperation in fighting diseases like AIDS, and flooding which has devastated large tracts of Vietnam recently.

While Clinton aims to help heal wounds from the war during his trip, US officials have made it clear he will not offer an apology.

Newspaper editorials in Vietnam’s state press on Friday said Clinton and his wife Senator-elect Hillary were “warmly welcome” on their three-day official visit.

The Communist Party daily, Nhan Dan (People) praised Clinton for lifting a punitive trade embargo in 1994, normalising diplomatic relations a year later and for a landmark bilateral trade pact signed in July.

The People’s Army paper, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, said Vietnam-US relations had experienced “many ups and downs”, but Hanoi’s aim was a brighter future in which “the sorrowful pages of the war will not be repeated”.

Despite the cordiality of Clinton’s welcome, friction is possible on rights, with Hanoi countering the prospect of a wrangle with calls for Washington to do more to ease suffering caused by the war.

It has said Washington has a moral obligation to do more to help reduce injuries and deaths caused by leftover ordnance and for the huge numbers of people it says suffer from the effects of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant sprayed over wide areas by US forces to deny Communist guerrillas cover.

During his visit, Clinton is expected to announce a modest increase in aid, but US officials say his ability to do more is hamstrung by the fact he is a lame-duck President.

In recent weeks, rhetoric in the official press has ranged from straightforward calls for more war-related aid, to one blistering attack from a serving general against imperialist aggressors, rapists and child killers.

Clinton has said accounting for US servicemen missing in action (MIA) from the conflict will be his priority in Vietnam.

But diplomats say Hanoi has cooperated in this effort andthe issue is not expected to be a source of friction.