A Journey to Put the Past Behind : Trade delegation sponsored by Vietnamese Americans plans controversial trip to Hanoi

The Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce in Orange County has an important trip to Vietnam scheduled to begin late next month. The delegation is interested in improving trade relations and is expected to meet with President Le Duc Ahn and other top government officials. This mission to Hanoi is potentially valuable; the delegation must not be discouraged by local criticism that has arisen.

Not surprisingly, the hard-line foes of normalization in the Vietnamese American community have been howling in protest and have a demonstration scheduled for today outside a chamber seminar in Anaheim.

The trip represents the first time top Vietnamese leaders will have received a group organized by Vietnamese American expatriates. It should be recognized as a promising follow-up to the lifting of the trade embargo that President Clinton wisely approved earlier this year.

However, the trip to Vietnam is not just about dialogue between partisans in a long Vietnamese struggle. The chamber notes that there actually will be only a few Vietnamese Americans in its traveling group; the others will be other interested bankers, developers and business people.

With continued worries about a Southern California economy buffeted by recession and structural changes, the international trade arena is seen as especially important. The proper context for regarding the trip is as part of overall trade initiatives in a changing global economy.

In the past, political differences within the Vietnamese American community have been hostile and even violent. Peaceful protest is an important part of the American political tradition, and those who disagree with the chamber’s initiative are entitled to have their voices heard. However, a Times poll taken just after the embargo was lifted found that the majority of Vietnamese living in Southern California favored the end of sanctions and even full diplomatic relations. Clearly, the time has come to put the rancor of the past behind and to move forward.