By Pham Quang Vinh
Vietnam’s new ambassador to the United States reflects on the state of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship.
People who doubt that bitter foes can become good friends should look at the United States and Vietnam.
When I served on Vietnam’s delegation to the United Nations, from 1987 through 1990, I found most Americans warm and friendly, even though many Americans, understandably, could not look beyond the legacy of war.
But, in 1995, the U.S. and Vietnam established diplomatic relations. Now, as the Ambassador of Vietnam to the U.S., I find Americans focused on the future and what we can accomplish together, from creating jobs through trade to building mutual understanding through education.
As for the Vietnamese – a youthful people whose median age is under 30 – we are also eager to move ahead. During a 1,200-mile bicycle ride across our country in the late 1990s, Ted Osius, now U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, feared that he might encounter hostility upon arrival at an old demilitarized zone. Instead, he was welcomed by a woman who told him, “We are now brothers and sisters.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat