Secretary of State Warren Christopher has formally recommended that President Clinton establish full diplomatic relations with Vietnam, senior officials said Tuesday.
Although Christopher's recommendation was sent to the White House last week, it remains on the desk of Anthony Lake, the national security adviser, the officials said. Clinton is not expected to decide on the politically sensitive issue soon, they added.Winston Lord, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, recommended normalization last month after Hanoi released hundreds of pages of documents from its archives on missing American serviceman.
Some 2,204 U.S. servicemen remain missing from the war, 1,618 in Vietnam. Last January, Washington and Hanoi established low-level relations through liaison offices in each other's capitals.
In Hanoi Wednesday, American businessmen said they are pleased Washington is seriously considering full diplomatic relations.
"It's certainly in the best interest of the United States," said Chuck Searcy, director of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.
"It will be another step to show that we trust them and we're going to work with them like they're working with us," said Bill Couture, a market researcher for V-Trac, which distributes Caterpillar construction equipment.
"The Vietnamese have put the war behind them, and it's the Americans that can't do this for whatever reason," said Richard Berry, deputy general manager for Citibank in Vietnam.