Sending Economic Trade Mission to Vietnam Stirs Vivid Passions

* Regarding the trade embargo poll: You have repeated a few times (that) the opinions of Vietnamese people in the local community agreed with President Clinton’s decision on lifting the embargo. I strongly think that most Vietnamese worldwide still very much oppose this decision, for the reason that human rights must and should be applied in this country first of all.

I have met a lot of people here and understand why they still have their resentment toward the Communists. At my temple, many have expressed their feelings for those followers in Vietnam who are forced to accept the regulations from the government which are totally against their religious tradition. Indeed, the government secretly appointed their people into the denominations as leaders. I also witnessed a crowd of about 3,000 demonstrators on the main street of Little Saigon, showing their anger. So, in your survey, those 800 don’t scientifically represent the whole community.

Young Vietnamese Americans don’t have enough knowledge in dealing with the situation. I came to the U.S. just before the fall of Saigon. As a grown person there, I knew how the war was.

H. DIANA TANG

Westminster

* I am a silent Vietnamese American of the group of 54% Vietnamese people who favored the full diplomatic and economic relations between Vietnamese and American government in the recent Times Poll.

I have to break my usual silence because there has been a minor group of Vietnamese who are using the title of the whole Vietnamese community to cheat the public for their political purpose.

About 50 people demonstrated recently to oppose a seminar for trading and investing with the Vietnamese government. They called Dr. Co Pham and his colleagues liars and traitors. But who really are? Let the public answer.

Before 1975, the majority of Vietnamese were victims of both the Communist regime and the old corrupt South Vietnamese government, which contributed 50% to the downfall of South Vietnam.

We don’t support either of those, of course, including remnants who fled to the U.S.A. and continue trying to regain their previous power using dirty means, like the old South Vietnamese government, to denounce the other factions.

In a democratic country like the U.S.A., although everyone can have a voice to express political opinions, they don’t cheat the public by claiming that voice as that of the whole community.

We support all Vietnamese leaders who bring jobs, democracy and improved living standards to homeland Vietnamese and also the Southern California Vietnamese community. We support anyone who reduces the gang and crime problems and brings jobs to welfare recipients and unemployed people, encouraging them to use their spare time for job training, not for noisy street demonstration.

As one of the silent Vietnamese, I really appreciate the Times Poll, which showed that most Vietnamese in Southern California do not oppose trade and full diplomatic relations with the current Vietnamese government.

NAM DAO

Irvine