Ky’s Vietnam Visit Has Many in O.C. Watching Closely

Amid Little Saigon’s annual Tet festivities, there was a strong emotional undercurrent among many expatriates Saturday over the return of former South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky to his homeland.

Almost 29 years after the fall of Saigon, many Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans in Orange County still harbor hatred for the Communist regime that invited Ky for a three-week visit that began Jan. 14.

“Many Vietnamese vets think Ky betrayed us,” said Lap Nguyen, 52, a veteran of the South Vietnamese armed forces.

He explained that as Communist North Vietnamese troops were bearing down on the South Vietnamese capital, Ky “told us ... that everybody must stay in the trenches and keep fighting. Then he left the country.”

“Now he wants to help a conciliation with Vietnam,” said Nguyen, sitting with friends and other veterans smoking and sipping coffee at a Westminster cafe off Bolsa Avenue, which was lined on both sides by an estimated 60,000 who had come to watch the annual parade

For weeks, Ky’s visit has been trumpeted in Little Saigon’s newspapers, magazines, TV and radio shows.

The area is home to 136,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry and the cultural center of the state’s Vietnamese immigrant population.

It was the elderly, many of whom fled the Communists with little more than the clothes on their backs, who reacted most strongly against Ky’s visit, saying he played into the Vietnamese government’s hands for his own benefit.

Many, like Lap Nguyen, also downplayed any role in the community that Ky has played over the years, saying he has never been an influential figure in Little Saigon’s political and cultural life.

Yet others, like political activist Ky Ngo, expressed mixed emotions. He pointed out that under the Vietnamese dictatorship, government critics are jailed.

“I respect what [Ky] has done, because we have freedom of expression here in the United States, and we can go and do what we please,” Ngo said.

But Ngo added that by speaking on behalf of Vietnam, “he has condemned the people” who have been jailed fighting for democracy.

Not all believe Ky has crossed the line and betrayed democratic principles.

Anthony Dang, 39, a computer programmer, said the government of Vietnam seems to be reaching out to expatriates to return and help revive its economy.

“I left Vietnam when I was 15 and have gone back twice already,” Dang said.

“He’s not getting any younger. He’s 73. I think it’s all right.

“I understand the community’s emotion, but the bottom line is: You have to help rebuild the country.”

Viet Tide, a news and entertainment weekly, ran photographs of Ky embracing the mayor of Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguoi Viet Daily News, one of the community’s most influential newspapers, took exception to Ky’s explanation that the trip was to revitalize the tourist economy of Vietnam, and also to discuss politics.

But Dinh Pham, a Nguoi Viet reporter, said the newspaper argued in an editorial that it’s difficult to separate politics from the economy.

In addition, many dissidents have been imprisoned in Vietnam -- voices that have become heroes for the expatriate community, he said.

“That’s not democracy,” Pham said.

Not everyone was critical of Ky for making the visit. In fact, there seems to be a new voice emerging from residents who respect the majority’s views about the old regime, but believe it’s time to move on.

Long Dao, 45, owner of the Top Baguette sandwich shop, said: “Thirty years of hatred is enough. I don’t think any Vietnamese here have any respect for Ky. He’s not my leader.

“But I believe in freedom of speech. Let’s forget and go on.”

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Times researcher Philip Le also contributed to this report.