HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- Winding up a landmark visit, Defense Secretary William Cohen saw and heard stark reminders Wednesday of the Vietnam War and received assurances from both 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 that once was 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.
Seated in heavily lacquered teak armchairs with inlaid pearl figurines, Cohen and Thanh exchanged pleasantries, and Thanh said Vietnam understands that the United States wants a relationship with its former war enemy that is 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 at 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.
Cohen later flew to Tokyo to meet with Japanese government officials and U.S. troops and commanders.
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, who was 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.
Kien told Cohen that American officials in Ho Chi Minh City had described the history of U.S.-Vietnamese relations as "regretful" and that Washington preferred now to "put aside the past and look to the future."
"That is also the position of Vietnam," Kien said.
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 that "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 who also was shot down and held as a POW.
As Cohen's motorcade sped through the steamy, bustling city today it passed the presidential palace, where a war-era North Vietnamese tank stands on display in the yard, a reminder of the final communist assault through the palace gates on April 30, 1975, that toppled Saigon and ended the war.
Though he spent less than 24 hours in Ho Chi Minh City, Cohen could see a vast difference between the vibrant hub of southern Vietnam and Hanoi in the north, where the standard of living is far lower. Cohen was in Hanoi on Monday and Tuesday.
After meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ho Chi Minh City, Cohen was flying to Tokyo for the fourth stop on his Asia tour, which also includes visits to Hong Kong and Seoul.