World

Cohen Ends 'Milestone' Vietnam Visit

March 13, 2000 / 7:21 AM EST / AP

Winding up a landmark visit, Defense Secretary William Cohen saw and heard stark reminders Wednesday of the Vietnam War and received assurances from military and civilian leaders that the communist government has set aside hard feelings from the conflict.

"In my view, your visit is a milestone in the development of relations between our two countries," Vo Viet Thanh, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh Municipal People's Committee, told Cohen at the outset of a meeting in the ornate city hall, formerly a seat of French colonial rule in Indochina.

Ho Chi Minh City, on the banks of the Saigon River, was known as Saigon until North Vietnamese forces defeated U.S.-backed South Vietnam in April 1975 and unified the country under communist rule. Thanh is essentially the mayor of Ho Chi Minh City and a surrounding district.

Thanh said Vietnam understands that the United States wants to have with its former war enemy a relationship based on a spirit of "peace, friendship and cooperation."

"I'm sure that with such a purpose, your visit should not make anyone worried," Thanh said. It was not clear what he meant by that, although American officials believe the Vietnamese are concerned about how China views their ties to America.

Cohen is the first U.S. defense secretary to visit Vietnam since the war ended 25 years ago. Diplomatic relations were restored in June 1995.

The American later flew to Tokyo to meet with Japanese government officials and U.S. troops and commanders.

A Cohen aide told reporters on the flight that Washington and Tokyo are on the verge on an agreement to settle U.S. complaints about a health hazard to American servicemen and their families at Atsugi Naval Air Facility.

The aide, who spoke on the condition he not be identified, said he expected a deal to be announced when Cohen visits Atsugi on Thursday. He gave no details but said the solution would be "very expensive" for Japan. The U.S. Navy has complained for more than 10 years about dioxin levels around an incinerator located just outside the naval base.

Cohen began his final day in Ho Chi Minh City with a trip to a military hotel at Tan Son Nhut Airport, the former air base that served as a headquarters and hub for American forces during the war. Visible on the perimeter of the airfield are concrete revetments where U.S. helicopters were sheltered.

At the heavily guarded military hotel, Cohen met with the commander of the 7th Military Region of southern Vietnam, Lt. Gen. Phan Trung Kien, a special forces soldier in Saigon during the war. In the formal introductions, through a Vietnamese interpreter, Kien was described as a "hero of the war."

Cohen never served in the military.

Reporters were not allowed in the room when Cohen made his remarks, but spokesman Kenneth Bacon said later that the defense secretary assured Kien that the United States has put the past behind it. He said Cohen told Kien tat "warriors are the ones most interested in peace," and he cited as examples Sen. John McCain, who was shot down in his Navy plane and held prisoner in Vietnam for five years, and Pete Peterson, the U.S. ambassador, also shot down and held as a POW.