U.S.-Vietnam Relations: Is Now the Time?
Abstract
Have recent developments in Indochina made it advisable for the United States to restore diplomatic relations and end the associated trade embargo on Vietnam? The United States has had no diplomatic relations with Vietnam since the fall of Saigon in 1975. Planning for restoration of relations has ebbed and flowed in the intervening 15 years, coming closest to realization in 1977-78 under the Carter Administration, which entered office intending to proceed with normalization. At crucial points, however, restoration of relations has been blocked by one or more of four principal issues. The first issue is Reparations. The Kissinger-Le Duc Tho package of "peace" agreements signed in Paris in 1973 contained commitments for U.S. financial aid to restore the war-torn Vietnamese economy. While the United States maintained that Hanoi's repeated violations of other parts of the accords rendered the offer of assistance null and void, Vietnam has repeatedly expressed its belief that the money is "owed" to it. Vociferous, persistent and maladroit Vietnamese insistence on its "right" to reparations delayed resumption of relations early in the Carter Administration, and then led to action by Congress to forbid any action to negotiate "reparations, aid, or any other form of payment." While this issue was of key importance in 1977, it is of little consequence now; Washington regards the issue as closed, and Hanoi has dropped the question of its "right" to the money. The second issue is MIAs. Even before the U.S. military involvement in Vietnam ended, the issue of U.S. servicemen missing in action became a potent one. The third issue is Cambodia. Vietnam's December 1978 invasion of Cambodia caused the Carter Administration to permanently shelve any thought of restoring relations. The fourth issue is China. Animosity between China and Vietnam has placed U.S. policy makers in the position of having to choose between the two as allies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 28, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA437396
Entities
People
- John Medeiros
Organizations
- National War College