Vietnam Criticizes 3 O.C. Officials for Pushing Rival Flag

The government of Vietnam has condemned three prominent members of Orange County’s Vietnamese community, branding them “overseas extremists” for promoting public displays of the flag of the former South Vietnam.

The South Vietnamese banner is being flown alongside the U.S. flag on utility poles along the streets of Westminster’s Little Saigon and in parts of Santa Ana and Garden Grove, with the unveiling of a Vietnam War memorial statue in Westminster set for Sunday and with the 28th anniversary of the fall of Saigon on April 30.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Vietnam’s consul general in San Francisco, accused Westminster City Councilman Andy Quach, Garden Grove Councilman Van Thai Tran, and Garden Grove Unified School District board member Lan Quoc Nguyen of “intentionally sowing discord among the Vietnamese community.” He also named Thang Dinh Nguyen, executive director of Boat People SOS in Merrifield, Va.

“Their actions are unacceptable and strongly rejected by the Vietnamese people, including the Vietnamese community” in the United States, Hung said in a written statement issued Thursday.

All four have promoted the flying of the yellow banner with three horizontal red stripes, and oppose doing business with Vietnam until that government adopts democratic measures.

Vietnam’s government has expressed opposition to other stands taken in the staunchly anti-Communist immigrant community of Orange County, home to the largest population of Vietnamese outside the Southeast Asian nation. But Hung’s statement marked the first time that government has criticized anyone by name.

Lan Quoc Nguyen said that he and the others believe they are on a Vietnamese government “hit list” but that they don’t fear reprisals because they don’t plan to return to their homeland unless democracy is restored.

The debate over which flag to fly arose first in Virginia in January and has spread to Orange County, San Jose and Washington state, where city officials have unanimously approved resolutions to banish the flag of Vietnam, a red banner with a gold star. Instead, the flag of the former South Vietnam will be the official choice at relevant events.

While the resolutions have no effect on foreign policy, Vietnam’s government has expressed outrage and complained to Gov. Gray Davis, noting that the U.S. and Vietnam are trying to improve relations.

“This runs counter to the development of the relationship for mutual interest of the Vietnamese and U.S.,” Hung said in his written statement.

Bach Ngoc Chien, spokesman for Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington, D.C., said Monday that he has received many calls of support from Vietnamese Americans who oppose flying the South Vietnamese flag.

“The war is over and it has been more than a quarter of a century now. And there’s no point now for them to ... cause discord among the Vietnamese community,” Chien said. “We, the Vietnamese people all over the world, look for a bright future for the country.”

Lan Quoc Nguyen said he and his Vietnamese colleagues reject such criticism and compared Hung to Iraq’s former minister of information, who had insisted that his country was winning the war even as U.S. forces were entering Baghdad.

“Like the Iraqi talking head, those Vietnamese characters frequently say things without any regard for the truth, validity or consequences of their statements,” Nguyen said. “We don’t dignify ourselves to respond to some statement that certainly does not have any weight or effect in the real world.”