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Thirty years of bitterness over Vietnam's failed democracy spilled
out onto the otherwise sleepy streets of this beach town yesterday.
Guests at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point woke to booming
chants of “Freedom for Vietnam” and “Go home
VC.”
One of those guests was Nguyen Minh Triet, president of Vietnam,
making his first visit to the United States. Triet was in Orange
County to meet with potential investors for Vietnam's economy.
The 2,000 or so protesters outside the hotel yesterday drew
attention to the seamy side of Vietnam politics – alleged
human rights abuses by the communist government.
“In Vietnam, anybody who is against him ends up in
jail,” said Loc Nguyen, 56, a political refugee who lives in
Bonita and went to Dana Point with about 400 Vietnamese-Americans
from the San Diego area.
Protesters also demonstrated outside the White House as Triet
met with President Bush on Friday. Bush said he stressed to Triet
– who is the first president of the communist-led nation to
visit the White House since the Vietnam War – the importance
of having a strong commitment to democracy and human rights.
After the meeting, Triet told The Associated Press through an
interpreter that his country does not need to improve its human
rights record.
“It's not a question of improving or not,” Triet
said. “Vietnam has its own legal framework, and those who
violate the law will be handled.”
Southern California is a stronghold for the Vietnamese-American
community. The city of Westminster in Orange County is known as
“Little Saigon” and is home to Vietnamese-language
newspapers and radio stations.
Activists say about 60,000 Vietnamese-Americans live in San
Diego County, including a concentration of former soldiers of the
South Vietnamese army.
After Saigon fell in 1975, many Vietnamese began their lives in
the United States at Camp Pendleton. The Marine base outside
Oceanside was a processing point for refugees.
Yesterday's protests were largely peaceful, according to the
Orange County Sheriff's Department. The crowds stuck to the
sidewalk across the street from the hotel. Many waved the flag of
the former South Vietnam, a gold field with three horizontal red
stripes.
A few men made a show of stomping on the flag of the current
Vietnamese government, a red rectangle with a gold star. But the
crowd's energy ratcheted up when Triet's entourage streamed out
of the St. Regis just before noon.
Hundreds of shouting people rushed into the street toward the
fast-moving cars. They were held back by sheriff's deputies on
motorcycles and horses until the tense moment passed.
Loc Nguyen was there with two organized groups from the San
Diego area, the Vietnamese Community and the Vietnamese
Federation.
“We enjoy the freedoms here, but we don't forget about
the people” still in Vietnam, Nguyen said. “We owe the
Vietnamese people. We have to speak for them.”
Nguyen escaped Vietnam in 1977 as one of the “boat
people” who made it to nearby countries in rickety crafts. In
Vietnam, he had been a law student.
Now Nguyen is a real estate broker in North Park. One of his
daughters will make up for his thwarted legal career. She is in law
school at the University of California Berkeley, after attending
Yale. His other daughter went to Harvard and is a doctor.
Many at yesterday's protest had similar stories. Most were in
their 50s or 60s, refugees who fled the country as young adults in
1975. Their pain over wrongs past and present made their voices
shake.
Kim Trang Dang is vice president of the Vietnamese Community of
San Diego. Her husband was in a Vietnamese “re-education
camp” for 13 years after the Vietnam War.
He still bears scars on his wrists from bamboo handcuffs, said
Dang, 57, who lives in Mira Mesa.
“We want to send the message that we need to have
democracy happening in Vietnam. Human rights need to be
practiced,” Dang said. “And release all the activists
who were arrested.”
Hundreds of protesters carried news photographs of Father
Thaddeus Nguyen Van Ly. Ly, a Catholic priest who advocates for
religious freedom, was arrested about a month ago in Vietnam. In
the photos, a man is covering Ly's mouth so he can't testify at a
trial.
“There are a lot more horrific pictures, but no one's
aware of what's gone on. That one has been witnessed by the
American press,” said Tiet Tran, 35, of Kearny Mesa,
president of the Vietnamese Federation of San Diego.
In addition to Ly, Vietnam has arrested or sentenced at least
seven pro-democracy activists in recent months, according to
reports by The Associated Press.
Activists seemed particularly incensed that Vietnam was allowed
to join the World Trade Organization earlier this year. The United
States backed that bid and is the nation's biggest trading
partner.
During a meeting Thursday, senior U.S. lawmakers repeatedly took
Triet to task on human rights abuse claims. Rep. Earl Blumenauer,
D-Ore., who resigned recently as chairman of the U.S.-Vietnam
Caucus in Congress to protest human rights abuses, said the message
from both political parties to the Vietnamese delegation has been
clear.
“They're being told that the biggest single obstacle to
further progress in the relationship, and especially in the
economic relationship, is this crackdown on human rights,”
Blumenauer said Friday.
Triet acknowledged during his Associated Press interview the
differences in the countries' positions on human rights and
suggested more dialogue. He said his talks with Bush were
“frank and open,” and that disagreement over the issue
would not stop a thriving trade relationship from getting
stronger.
Unappeased, Tran said yesterday's protests carried a warning
for potential investors in Vietnam.
“We are just making investors aware that if you go over
there, there's a chance . . . your company will not be
treated the way he preaches today,” he said.
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