Addressing war consequences plays significant role in Vietnam-US relations

These meetings,as part of his US visit to participate in the 2017 Vietnam-US Defeanse Policy Dialogue held between October 15 and 18 (local time), was aimed to discuss bilateral cooperation aspects of mutual concern and promote activities that focus on dealing with the aftermath of the war in Vietnam.

* On October 16, General Vinh met with Matt Pottinger, Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the US National Security Council. Welcoming the Vietnamese guest, Director Pottinger expressed his interest in the bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and the US, centering in their joint programs to address war consequences in Vietnam.

General Vinh briefed Pottinger of the success of the project of environmental remediation of the dioxin contamination at the Da Nang Airport, and asked Pottinger to continuously promote such projects in Vietnam, especially in resolving the continuing dioxin contamination in Bien Hoa Airbase, Dong Nai province.

* At the talks with Senator Patrick Leahy, Vice Chair of the US Senate Appropriations Committee, on October 17, the Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister thanked the US Senator for what he has done for in the past, particularly, his support in the project to detoxify Da Nang Airport of dioxin.

General Vinh emphasized that the success of the project bring great humanitarian significance in protecting the health of the local community, and was considered a technological achievement as it was the first large-scale project in the world to address a non-biodegrade chemical.

For his part, Senator Leahy congratulated the success of the project at Da Nang Airport and pledged to do his utmost to ensure that the dioxin remediation project at Bien Hoa Airfield is realized.

* On October 18, before leaving Washington D.C., General Vinh met with Senator John McCain, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services. He extended the sentiments of the Vietnamese leaders inquiring after the senator.

For his part, Senator McCain was very touched after receiving  some of the memorabilia from his stay in Vietnam in the late 1960s and early 1970s from General Vinh.

The Vietnamese general also informed Senator McCain of the recognition of the Vietnam-US cooperation in dealing with war consequences, particularly the Da Nang Airport dioxin remediation project, and hoped that the US Senator would foster another such project at Bien Hoa Airbase.

In turn, Senator McCain expressed his good memories during his visits to Vietnam.  He also said that Vietnam and the US have been enjoying an effective cooperation in various fields, adding his continuing support for the bilateral relationship.

* That same day, General Vinh met with Susan Thorton, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The general briefed his host on the outcomes of the recent Vietnam-US Defense Policy Dialogue and hoped that President Donald Trump’s visit to Vietnam to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2017 in the beginning of November in Da Nang will be successful. He hoped that Thorton would make contributions to the two countries’ friendship in the coming time.

For her part, Thorton pledged to further promote the bilateral cooperation in line with the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Partnership.

* Earlier, in the morning of October 16, General Vinh talked with Gloria D. Steele, Acting Assistant Administrator for Asia of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Mark S. Kasman, Director of the Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA) under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). General Vinh stated that over 20 years since the Vietnam-US diplomatic normalization, their cooperation in addressing consequences left behind by the war in Vietnam has become a bright spot and one of the most successful areas in the bilateral relations. That cooperation has satisfied the two governments and peoples.

General Vinh thanked the USAID for assisting in the success of the Da Nang dioxin remediation project and in creating the Environmental Assessment of the Dioxin Contamination at Bien Hoa Airbase.  He also suggested that the agency closely work with the relevant Vietnamese agencies in announcing the success of the project in Da Nang in November 2017, as well as to hold an international seminar on this project in early 2018.

The officials from USAID and EPA agreed with General Vinh’s suggestions, adding that the agencies would proactively foster a three-year action program on addressing the war aftermath in Vietnam. The two sides reached consensus on soon signing the program, which includes the dioxin remediation project at Bien Hoa Airfield.

Additionally, the US will help Vietnam strengthen its capacity and build a communications strategy in order to disseminate joint activities on resolving war consequences to the citizens of both countries, as well as all over the world, so that they learn more about the considerable efforts on this field that were put in by both Vietnam and the US.

* On the afternoon of October 15, General Vinh met with Ann Mills Griffiths, Head of the US National League of Families of Prisoners of War/ Missing in Actions (POW/MIA). According to the general, the Vietnamese side has facilitated the search efforts for the remains of servicemen of the two sides in recent times and the results are very positive.

During his recent visit to the US, General Ngo Xuan Lich, Politburo member, Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and Defense Minister, handed over two reliable documents on the locations of US servicemen's remains in Vietnam. General Vinh also took this chance to turn over two more dossiers with information about MIA search sites. 

Notably, Vietnam has called on local people to find, collect and return the belongings and long-held artifacts of US troops, and the appeal brought about considerable results. The search for the remains of US troops fallen in the war is a major issue in Vietnam's foreing policy toward the US, added General Vinh.

The Vietnamese guest also informed Griffiths of the success of the project of environmental remediation of dioxin contamination at Da Nang Airport and stressed the urgent need of conducting a similar project at Bien Hoa Airbase. He underlined that such cooperation projects are among the  pillars in the Vietnam-US ties, contributing to both overcoming the war’s aftermath and is the key to further opening up the long-term future of Vietnamese-US ties.

For her part, Griffiths highly appreciated Vietnam’s efforts in the search for the remains of US servicemen missing in action during the war in Vietnam. She also thanked the country for creating favorable conditions for Vietnam-US’s joint POW/MIA recovery teams to carry out their missions, and hoped for further favorable results of the search in future, contributing to heightening the bilateral cooperation relationship.

Griffiths stated that remediating the dioxin in Vietnam is humanitarian activity and her organization will try their best to raise the American officials’ responsibilities for this issue.

* During his stay in the US, General Vinh also met with the assistants to the senators of the US Senate Committees on Armed Services and on Foreign Relations.

Translated by Van Hieu