Dear Senator ROACH
It is with particular
concern that I am writing to you regarding a secondattempt to recognize the flag
of the former Republic of Vietnam , asexpressed in SJM8045.. This is to reaffirm
that the people and Government of Vietnam cannot agree with the proposed
Memorial. Let me share with you my thoughts.
First,
the proposed Memorial runs counter to international conventions andpractices.
Now that the so-called Republic of Vietnam ceased to exist overthirty years ago,
its flag therefore no longer has legalstanding in Vietnam .
Like a number of
similar bills or resolutions, the language of the proposed Memorial clearly
negates the existence of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that has
established full diplomaticrelations with the United States since
1995.
Secondly, since the start of the new
phase of normalization andreconciliation in 1995 with your country, Vietnam has
been doing her utmostto put the past aside and look forward to the future,
strivingto build a relationship that benefits both sides. In your State, Boeing
hasbeen selling airplanes to Vietnam and the Port of Seattle maintaining asister
port exchange program with Vietnam 's northern portof Hai Phong. In my opinion,
the proposed Memorial, languaged to revive the past of hatred and sadness, does
not serve the interests of eitherVietnam , or the United States , or Washington
State .
Thirdly,
as a consistent policy, Vietnam welcomes active participation byVietnamese
Americans in expanding the mutually beneficial relationship between Vietnam and
US and their effective integration into the mainstreamof the US life. It is
Vietnam 's strong hope that the community ofVietnamese Americans, about nearly
fifty thousand of whom have chosen your State as their new home, will also adopt
the spirit of friendship andcooperation.Finally, at the federal level the
Secretary of State and other senior USofficials have repeatedly stated that the
US does not recognize the formerRepublic of Vietnam flag. In his meeting with me
last summer,Governor Gary Locke said he and the State of Washington are
supportive ofthe acceleration of mutually beneficial ties between Washington
State andVietnam .As you may recall, the similar Senate Resolution 8659 was
withdrawn fromconsideration last spring when those thoughts were taken into
account.Last but not least; I believe the proposed Memorial, once passed by
yourlegislature, could run afoul of the very US Constitution that vests
thepowers to conduct foreign policy solely in the federal system. Furthermore,by
calling for the recognition of the former flag 'as the only legitimateflag of
the Vietnamese people,' it also renders the freedom of expressionquestionable.In
light of these considerations, I respectfully urge you not to act infavor of the
proposed Memorial.I thank you for your consideration and cooperation.With my
best personal regards,(signed)
NGUYEN TAM CHIENAmbassador
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Subject: Another International
Incident
Date: Feb 23, 2004 9:30 PM
This is a rather long e-mail
and for that I apologize. However, I think it
is well worth reading, even if I did write.
Recently, State
Senator Pam Roach introduced two resolutions in our State
Senate.
The first dealt with recognizing the flag of the former Republic of
Vietnam . The second dealt with support for a proposed Freedom
Fighters
Memorial to be built here in Washington State ..
Senator Roach then received a letter from the ambassador for
communist
Vietnam that protested both resolutions. I have re-typed
the ambassador's
letter. If you wish a copy of the letter with the
letterhead on it, please e-mail me back and I will see that a copy of it is
FAXed to you. After the ambassador's letter is my response to him.
Please feel free to pass this e-mail to any one you
wish.
Terry Minarcin
February 23, 2004Mr. Ambassador,I recently
received a copy of your letter to State Senator Pam
Roach datedFebruary 10, 2004. I would like to respond to that letter.If any
other country had written this letter, it would be, simply put,laughable.
But it was
your country, Mr. Ambassador, communist Vietnam .Your country has never
honorably or honestly met the protocols of anyinternational agreement that you
are a signatory to. Yet, you hide behindthese agreements only
when they suit your fancy. When individuals, such as myself or Mr. M. Benge, or
organizations, such as Amnesty International or Freedom House, or Human Rights
Watch, charge yourcountry with numerous counts of violations of human rights or
worse, youimmediately respond by saying that the matters we are concerned with
areinternal matters and that we are interfering with your country's policies. So
be it. You are interfering with due process here in the State of Washington in
matters that do not concern you. How we honor the contributions of individuals
or ethnic communities here in Washington is of no concern to you. Quit
interfering in our internal matters.
You want us to
recognize and honor your flag. The flag represents a Country that has
promulgated pogroms of genocide, fratricide and internationalslave
trafficking. I, as a resident of the State ofWashington , can
not condone such behavior. How dare you insist that I do?To do so makes me an accomplice to your egregious crimes
againsthumanity.You state that the proposed Memorial negates the
existence of the SocialistRepublic of Vietnam . It does nothing of the sort. In
contrast to yourmuseums and memorials, this Memorial pays tribute to those who
paid theultimate price for Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights in the
formerRepublic of Vietnam . The flag of the former Republic has since
come to be recognized as the flag for the struggle for Freedom, Democracy, and
Human Rights throughout the World. The colors are quite symbolic. The
three bands stand for Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights. While the gold shows
how precious these ideals are, the red stands for the blood shed for these
ideals, both in the past and for those who will defend these ideals to the
death. I, for one, am glad to recognize the Freedom Flag and to pay honor to
it.I will be glad to recognize your flag when you recognize mine.
Until then,your
flag, for me, stands for murder, persecution, duplicity, slavetrading, and human
rights violations.You state that you are trying your utmost to
put the past aside. With yourcountry's past records of abuse of all standards of
civilized behavior, Ifully understand your desire to brush the past aside.After
all, your cause for recognition is only hurt by your past actions.All of the
residents of Washington will be more than happy to extend to you the hand of
friendship and cooperation when you fully embrace Freedom,Democracy and to
extend Human Rights to all Vietnamese.
Until then, stayout of our internal
affairs. The proposed Memorial is not a statement offoreign policy.
Where you got that idea is beyond me. Once again, you try to cloud the
issue.What the people of America do is not your concern. It is
an internal affair of the State of Washington by private citizens to honor those
who gavetheir lives defending Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights,ideals which
are anathematic to your despotic government. That is what that flag of gold with
three horizontal red stripes stand for.Now let us look closely at what your
country has done and continues to do.
Communist Vietnam
has engaged in genocide. This began in earnest duringthe Second Indochina
War. You declared it the Second Indochina War. Bydefinition
then, it was a war. As such, you were bound by the GenevaConventions governing
the treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs)..
But, as Istated before, you have yet to honestly and honorably meet the tenets
ofany international agreement to which you are a signatory.Your
treatment of POWs testifies to this.. In addition, you executed atleast 11
American POWs who were in your custody. This is a war crime andgenocide.
To this day, you try
to commit genocide. Take thematter of Ly Tong, a
Vietnamese-American . You tried to interfere in a
Thaicourt of law and demanded that Thailand execute Ly Tong. His
crime? Telling the Vietnamese about Freedom, a condition that you can not
tolerate.Communist Vietnam has engaged in and continues to engage in
fratricide.This began in 1956 when the communist regime in Hanoi started their
landreform programs.. While it would
be easy to blame the agent provocateur of the
Communist Internationale, Ho Chi Minh, the real
architect was Truong Chinh.
How many Vietnamese
died under this pogrom?10,000? 50,000? 100,000? More? Even one
victim of this pogrom constitutes fratricide. The pogrom initiated against the
Vietnamese minorities in northwest Vietnam fall into this same category.The aim
of this pogrom was to 'ethnically cleanse' Vietnam of those minorities who had
helped the French. I mention this to showthat you continued this policy after
the conclusion of the Second Indochina War with the start of your forcible
relocation of Vietnamese who were associated with the former Republic of Vietnam
to those areas you soblithely called
New Economic
Areas. You continue your ethnic cleansingtoday under the guise
of religious persecution, which is also a blatanthuman rights violation.. Any
one executed under this pogrom is a victim ofyour genocidal and fratricidal
policies.Let us take a look at your country's involvement in the international
slavetrafficking movement. Several times during the Second Indochina War,
andeven afterwards, you sold American, allied, and
Vietnamese POWs to theformer Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . To whit, in
1983, you sold 275American and 27,000 Vietnamese POWs to the USSR to reduce your
war debt to them.
This is a most egregious violation of human
rights and a crimeagainst humanity. There were other times you sold other
American, alliedand Vietnamese POWs to the USSR but not so many at one time.You
could resolve many of the POW/MIA cases with ease by opening up your military
and political police files. You do not because there is no profitin humanely
resolving this emotional issue. You extort monies from America for your own
profit and gain. Why? Because you feel that President Nixon promised you
some $4.3 billion dollars in reconstruction aid. Be that as it
may, you can recover that money easier if you release your files publicly to the
families and to the world. At least this can mitigate some of your crimes. And
then you have the gall to demand that Americans not interfere in your internal
affairs and to honor your flag.
With your record,
you should be happy not to be on trial by an international court for your crimes
against humanity.
Until then, do not interfere in our
internal affairs in how we honor those who have died for Freedom,
Democracy, and Human Rights.
Do not interfere with how we honor our
citizens who contribute to the well being and welfare of our
State.
Terrell A. MinarcinConcerned Citizen for
Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights for Vietnam
