As Ties to U.S. Are Knotted, Hanoi Seeks Economic Help : Asia: Vietnam presents Christopher with a financial wish list. He stresses human rights and MIA issues.

Vietnam began pressing hard Saturday for a series of economic benefits from the United States after finally obtaining the formal diplomatic ties that open the way for those privileges.

In ceremonies today, Secretary of State Warren Christopher looked on solemnly, his right hand folded across the chest of his dark gray, double-breasted suit, as the American flag was raised over the new U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. The same building had served as the U.S. liaison office here since January.

But only hours after Christopher arrived here Saturday to formalize a diplomatic relationship with the Communist government, Vietnamese officials gave the secretary of state a detailed list of American trade and commercial programs whose benefits they want to obtain.

Hanoi’s economic requests underscored the fact that, although the United States and Vietnam have just established diplomatic relations, the two countries have considerably different ideas about what happens next.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam told Christopher that economics should be the “focus” of the new relationship between America and Vietnam--a warning that the United States should stay away from sensitive political questions such as democracy and human rights.

In contrast, the secretary of state asserted that human rights is an important aspect of the new ties between the two countries. And he said the United States will continue to press hard for more information about the approximately 1,600 Americans who fought in the Vietnam War and are still listed as missing in action in Vietnam.

Christopher talked repeatedly of the history and symbolism of his visit, the first ever by a U.S. secretary of state to Hanoi.

“One of the most divisive chapters in American history is going to be put behind us,” he said, referring to the war that ended 20 years ago. He said the establishment of diplomatic ties with Vietnam “gives us an opportunity to establish a new set of memories.”

At the top of the list of benefits Vietnam wants is most-favored-nation trade status, a benefit enjoyed by most of the nations with which the United States has diplomatic relations. So-called MFN status would enable Vietnam to export goods to the United States with the same low duties enjoyed by other countries.

Cam also asked the Clinton Administration to make it easier for American companies to invest in Vietnam by opening the way for the firms to obtain insurance from the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corp.

In addition, he said Vietnam wants to negotiate a tax treaty and aviation and maritime agreements with the United States. And he asked for help with trade development assistance, which helps countries like Vietnam to develop trade ties.

So quick and determined was Hanoi’s effort to obtain economic benefits that Christopher warned Vietnamese officials to slow down. He said that “while we want to move ahead, they have to be a little bit patient,” according to State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.

Before Vietnam obtains any of these economic benefits, it will have to negotiate a detailed trade agreement with the United States, a process that could take several months. When the United States established diplomatic ties with China at the beginning of 1979, it took a year before the two countries worked out a trade agreement and China obtained MFN benefits.

Christopher told a news conference that the job of negotiating a trade pact with Vietnam is “one that we’re going to start on right away, with the aim of getting it done as soon as possible.”

Congress could seek to block the trade agreement or any of the other benefits for Vietnam, like MFN status, that might follow from it. A number of conservative members of Congress remain opposed to the normalization of relations with Vietnam, and some have said they will try to block any further upgrading of ties between Washington and Hanoi.

A team of Clinton Administration officials is being formed to work out the details of a trade agreement with Vietnam. Burns said the team will probably begin meeting with Vietnamese officials in Hanoi in September.

Last month, Clinton declared that the normalization of relations with Hanoi and increasing contact between Americans and Vietnamese “will advance the cause of freedom in Vietnam, just as [similar moves] did in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.”

Clinton’s words seem to have increased Vietnam’s determination to make sure the United States sticks to economics and does not try to use the new diplomatic relationship as an opportunity to champion the causes of democracy and human rights.

On Saturday, Cam warned Christopher that “independence is the cornerstone of our foreign policy,” a U.S. official reported. And he cautioned that one of the bases for relations between the two countries is that they respect each other’s sovereignty and avoid interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

The secretary of state tried to avoid criticizing Vietnam’s human rights record at the very time the two countries were formally establishing relations. “I don’t want to give some sort of letter grade,” he told one news conference. “This is a great day in Vietnam.”

Asked how he would evaluate the human rights situation in Vietnam, he replied: “Well, it is certainly a record that we want to continue working with them on. . . . It’s an area in which we hope to see further improvement, but that’s not unique to this country.”

Dinah PoKempner, counsel of Human Rights Watch/Asia, testified in Congress two weeks ago that, although Vietnam has made some human rights improvements in recent years, “serious abuses persist, particularly the detention and punishment of people for the peaceful expression of their political views or their faith.”

Clinton announced July 11 that he had decided to open the way for full diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and Christopher’s trip here is aimed at putting the President’s decision into effect.

On Saturday, inside the government guest house that once served as the residence of Ho Chi Minh, the architect of Vietnam’s Communist revolution, the secretary of state and Vietnamese foreign minister signed the formal documents establishing the two countries’ new ties.

Christopher promptly announced that he has named a veteran Foreign Service officer, Desaix Anderson, as charge d’affaires for the U.S. Embassy here. Anderson is a specialist on both Indochina and Japan.

Aides said he will serve only until Clinton nominates an ambassador and the nominee is confirmed by the Senate.