Anger, Optimism in Little Saigon Over Call for Relations

In Little Saigon, where political emotions run especially deep, the news Tuesday that the United States might establish full diplomatic relations with Vietnam evoked both bitterness and optimism.

Here, in the largest Vietnamese community outside of the native land, hard-liners who generally view the world as either communist or non-communist reacted with contempt to Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s recommendation that President Clinton establish ties to Hanoi.

But others said it was time to put the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975 with a communist victory over the south, behind and recognize the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, which also wants to expand trade with the United States.

If the United States extends diplomatic recognition to Vietnam, it will renege on a promise it made more than 30 years ago, said Ban Bui, chairman of the Vietnamese Community of Southern California. The solidly conservative group has consistently opposed any ties with Hanoi.

“When Americans came to our soil, their reasons were that they would help the Vietnamese achieve democracy,” Bui said. “We have yet to do [that], and it’s not morally right that the United States would now establish ties with a former enemy.”

U.S. troops fought beside the South Vietnamese until they were withdrawn in 1973, after 58,000 combat deaths.

Extending official recognition to a regime “which can be termed, at best, ‘authoritarian’ ” is troubling, said Mai Cong, president of the Vietnamese Community of Orange County, a nonprofit social service agency. She said that political and religious persecution are common in Vietnam.

However, there is not political solidarity in Little Saigon, largely composed of refugees who immigrated to Orange County after Saigon fell 20 years ago.

Dr. Co Long Dang Pham, president of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, said he supports normalization because of the business opportunities for U.S. companies in Vietnam.

Pham has been a vocal advocate of normalization with Vietnam, which has been unpopular in Little Saigon, where many residents are anti-communist. He has been the target of protests and death threats.

“I’m so glad to hear that. This has been long overdue,” Pham said. “If we bring businesses to Vietnam we can help improve its economy. Vietnam has the human and natural resources. They need the technology, management and organization.”

There are also some residents of Little Saigon who lament that the Vietnamese American community lacks the political influence to play a role in the debate in Washington over establishing ties with Vietnam. The U.S. government will act without consulting them, they said.

“It really doesn’t matter how we feel about this because the U.S. interests are more important than the Vietnamese community’s interest,” said Dat Hoang, news editor of Little Saigon Radio. “President Clinton should demand that Hanoi . . . move the country toward a more democratic society and away from a one-party regime.”

Westminster City Councilman Tony Lam, the only Vietnamese American elected to public office in the county, reacted with ambivalence to Christopher’s recommendation for ties with Vietnam.

But he expects that the Clinton Administration will make a decision on normalization without consulting the Vietnamese American community, like it did when the President lifted the trade embargo on Vietnam last year.

“I want to see the Administration discuss this with the Vietnamese community, but this being an economic decision for American business, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Lam said.

Times staff writers Lily Dizon and Thao Hua contributed to this report.