Vietnam Expects Good Relationship with US, Says Spokesman
Vietnam wants to build a fair, long-term and mutual benefit cooperation with the US, said spokesman of the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Dzung at a regular conference on April 21 in Hanoi.
"The Vietnam War ended 30 years ago and it is time to open a new stage in Vietnam-US relations," Dzung responded to correspondents' queries on the two countries' ties after the war.
"Vietnam and the US have witnessed significant progress in their relationship over the past ten years, especially after the two countries officially established their bilateral diplomatic ties," the diplomat said.
"Vietnam is on the spirit that the country does not forget the past but it shelves the past and looks forward to the future," Dzung confirmed.
Spokesman Dzung also took the chance to thank peace-and-justice loving Americans for their opposition to the American war in Vietnam, and send sympathy to US families who had their relatives killed in the war.
Recently, the Vietnam-US Society on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the end of the protracted war in Vietnam, sent an open letter to call on Americans to join efforts in healing wounds of the past and develop friendly relations between the two countries.
"Vietnam today is no longer a land of war, but a country of growing prosperity. Our people's earnest desires are to live in peace, independence and freedom, to develop the country along the path of our own choice and to have friendly relations and beneficial cooperation with all countries," the society wrote.
"In pursuit of their humanitarian tradition, the Vietnamese people have been willingly working with the American side to address the war legacy, including the POW/MIA issue. We expect that the American side will show good will to help resolve war consequences for the Vietnamese people," it noted.
Vietnam and the US officially announced normalization of relations on July 11, 1995. In November 2000, Bill Clinton became the first US President to visit Vietnam as his term was nearing to an end.
The Vietnamese government is preparing for a historic trip of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai to the US in the coming two or three months to mark 10 years since the two countries resumed diplomatic ties. It is the first visit by a Vietnamese top leader to the US in 30 years.
The two countries have also reaped a good trade value over several years. Their two-way trade saw a very impressive increase to nearly US$6 billion last year, up from US$1.4 billion in 2001 when they struck a landmark bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
Youth, VNA
Vietnamese
