Hoping to repair its frayed international relations, Vietnam has amended its constitution to delete condemnation of France, Japan, the United States and China.
The revised preamble was adopted by the country's National Assembly last Thursday on the closing day of its winter session. An English-language text carried by the official Vietnam News Agency was monitored today in Bangkok.The constitution hails Vietnam's victories over the countries it has fought since Ho Chi Minh founded the Communist Party in 1930, and sets the building of socialism as the key goal. It retains the frequent mention of the Soviet Union as the model for Vietnam's revolution.