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06-22-2005, 09:21 AM
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
2 hours, 35 minutes ago
On the streets of Little Saigon, where the war against communism has never ended, President Bush's visit Tuesday with Vietnam's prime minister stirred interest but few cheers. (Related story: Bush meets with Khai)
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"We hope the prime minister would listen (and) do something for their own people," said Liem Le, 52, who escaped Vietnam by boat 15 years ago and is an auto mechanic in San Diego.
"They don't care. They're exactly like the Soviet Union," he said about Vietnam's communist rulers. "If you talk about democracy, you're in trouble."
The visit of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai is the first time a Vietnamese communist leader has come to the USA. Of the tens of thousands of Vietnamese-Americans who have made homes here and in the other towns of Southern California since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, many keep burning an intense flame of opposition to the communist leaders who took control of their country.
They want the Bush administration to insist on immediate improvements in human rights and religious freedoms in Vietnam. The Vietnam government "significantly restricted" freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion, according to the U.S. State Department 2004 Human Rights Report.
"I wish he would come here to Orange County. We want to show him firsthand how much passion we have," said Janet Nguyen, 28, a Republican city councilwoman in Garden Grove, an adjacent town in this large suburban county south of Los Angeles. "We want the Vietnam government to look at its human rights ... (and Khai) to allow democracy in his own country and stop violating human rights in his own country."
More than 135,000 Vietnamese- Americans live in Orange County, mainly in Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. They make up the largest settlement of Vietnamese people outside Vietnam, and for block after block here, their shops, businesses and restaurants cater to Vietnamese culture.
Some community leaders here went to Washington on Tuesday to protest outside the White House. Hundreds demonstrated in communities elsewhere. (Related video: Demonstrators protest)
In Falls Church, Va., Victor Vinh Pham, 64, who publishes a Vietnamese language newspaper in Fairfax, said, "Most of us are not happy. The way they (Vietnam government) treat people is not right."
Thihh Nguyen, 62, of Annandale, Va., who escaped by boat in 1982, said of Khai's visit, "I think maybe it is good for him; maybe (he'll) open his eyes." But, he added, "I cannot expect good things for the future of Vietnam in the short term."
Some of the immigrants left Vietnam at the war's end or before. Many more recent arrivals were boat people who risked their lives to get out of Vietnam to Thailand and eventually the USA.
Thanh-Phong Tran, 78, a retired engineer and economist who left Vietnam before the war ended, said the protests are aimed as much at the Vietnamese-American community in the USA as at the communist government. It is a reminder for the younger generation.
"Living a good life in the United States makes people forget about many things," Tran said. "So every time we do something like that, it reminds people or brings people back to reality."
He said Bush's support for Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization and his agreement to visit Vietnam next year present diplomatic opportunities to demand human rights. "The communist Vietnamese need relations with the free world," he said.
Tran said Vietnamese-Americans will press Bush to live up to his words. "His speech at the State of the Union, when he talked about bringing democracy to the rest of the world - we are just going to try to quote him every opportunity," Tran said.
Few expect change soon.
"This is a long fight," Tran said. "We have fought for freedom for more than a century. So another few years - so what?"
2 hours, 35 minutes ago
On the streets of Little Saigon, where the war against communism has never ended, President Bush's visit Tuesday with Vietnam's prime minister stirred interest but few cheers. (Related story: Bush meets with Khai)
ADVERTISEMENT
"We hope the prime minister would listen (and) do something for their own people," said Liem Le, 52, who escaped Vietnam by boat 15 years ago and is an auto mechanic in San Diego.
"They don't care. They're exactly like the Soviet Union," he said about Vietnam's communist rulers. "If you talk about democracy, you're in trouble."
The visit of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai is the first time a Vietnamese communist leader has come to the USA. Of the tens of thousands of Vietnamese-Americans who have made homes here and in the other towns of Southern California since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, many keep burning an intense flame of opposition to the communist leaders who took control of their country.
They want the Bush administration to insist on immediate improvements in human rights and religious freedoms in Vietnam. The Vietnam government "significantly restricted" freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion, according to the U.S. State Department 2004 Human Rights Report.
"I wish he would come here to Orange County. We want to show him firsthand how much passion we have," said Janet Nguyen, 28, a Republican city councilwoman in Garden Grove, an adjacent town in this large suburban county south of Los Angeles. "We want the Vietnam government to look at its human rights ... (and Khai) to allow democracy in his own country and stop violating human rights in his own country."
More than 135,000 Vietnamese- Americans live in Orange County, mainly in Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. They make up the largest settlement of Vietnamese people outside Vietnam, and for block after block here, their shops, businesses and restaurants cater to Vietnamese culture.
Some community leaders here went to Washington on Tuesday to protest outside the White House. Hundreds demonstrated in communities elsewhere. (Related video: Demonstrators protest)
In Falls Church, Va., Victor Vinh Pham, 64, who publishes a Vietnamese language newspaper in Fairfax, said, "Most of us are not happy. The way they (Vietnam government) treat people is not right."
Thihh Nguyen, 62, of Annandale, Va., who escaped by boat in 1982, said of Khai's visit, "I think maybe it is good for him; maybe (he'll) open his eyes." But, he added, "I cannot expect good things for the future of Vietnam in the short term."
Some of the immigrants left Vietnam at the war's end or before. Many more recent arrivals were boat people who risked their lives to get out of Vietnam to Thailand and eventually the USA.
Thanh-Phong Tran, 78, a retired engineer and economist who left Vietnam before the war ended, said the protests are aimed as much at the Vietnamese-American community in the USA as at the communist government. It is a reminder for the younger generation.
"Living a good life in the United States makes people forget about many things," Tran said. "So every time we do something like that, it reminds people or brings people back to reality."
He said Bush's support for Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization and his agreement to visit Vietnam next year present diplomatic opportunities to demand human rights. "The communist Vietnamese need relations with the free world," he said.
Tran said Vietnamese-Americans will press Bush to live up to his words. "His speech at the State of the Union, when he talked about bringing democracy to the rest of the world - we are just going to try to quote him every opportunity," Tran said.
Few expect change soon.
"This is a long fight," Tran said. "We have fought for freedom for more than a century. So another few years - so what?"