U.S., Vietnam to Open Liaison Offices

Building on President Clinton’s lifting of the U.S. trade embargo, Vietnam and the United States announced an agreement Thursday for opening diplomatic missions in each other’s capital.

The two nations will not exchange ambassadors, but the opening of liaison offices is “an important step toward normalization of relations,” the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said.

In Washington, White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers said, “It’s the furtherance of a step the President announced when he lifted the trade embargo.”