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Dear Senator ROACH: February 10, 2004

It is with particular concern that I am writing to you regarding a second attempt to recognize the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam, as expressed in SJM8045. This is to reaffirm that the people and Government of Vietnam cannot agree with the proposed Memorial. Let me share with you my thoughts.

First, the proposed Memorial runs counter to international conventions and practices. Now that the so-called Republic of Vietnam ceased to exist over thirty years ago, its flag therefore no longer has legal standing in Vietnam. Like a number of similar bills or resolutions, the language of the proposed Memorial clearly negates the existence of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that has established full diplomatic relations with the United States since 1995.

Secondly, since the start of the new phase of normalization and reconciliation in 1995 with your country, Vietnam has been doing her utmost to put the past aside and look forward to the future, striving to build a relationship that benefits both sides. In your State, Boeing has been selling airplanes to Vietnam and the Port of Seattle maintaining a sister port exchange program with Vietnam's northern port of Hai Phong. In my opinion, the proposed Memorial, languaged to revive the past of hatred and sadness, does not serve the interests of either Vietnam, or the United States, or Washington State.

Thirdly, as a consistent policy, Vietnam welcomes active participation by Vietnamese Americans in expanding the mutually beneficial relationship between Vietnam and US and their effective integration into the mainstream of the US life. It is Vietnam's strong hope that the community of Vietnamese Americans, about nearly fifty thousand of whom have chosen your State as their new home, will also adopt the spirit of friendship and cooperation.

Finally, at the federal level the Secretary of State and other senior US officials have repeatedly stated that the US does not recognize the former Republic of Vietnam flag. In his meeting with me last summer, Governor Gary Locke said he and the State of Washington are supportive of the acceleration of mutually beneficial ties between Washington State and Vietnam.

As you may recall, the similar Senate Resolution 8659 was withdrawn from consideration last spring when those thoughts were taken into account.

Last but not least; I believe the proposed Memorial, once passed by your legislature, could run afoul of the very US Constitution that vests the powers to conduct foreign policy solely in the federal system. Furthermore, by calling for the recognition of the former flag "as the only legitimate flag of the Vietnamese people," it also renders the freedom of expression questionable.

In light of these considerations, I respectfully urge you not to act in favor of the proposed Memorial.

I thank you for your consideration and cooperation.

With my best personal regards,

(signed)
NGUYEN TAM CHIEN
Ambassador


Mr. Ambassador; February 23, 2004

I recently received a copy of your letter to State Senator Pam Roach dated February 10, 2004. I would like to respond to that letter.

If any other country had written this letter, it would be, simply put, laughable. But it was your country, Mr. Ambassador, communist Vietnam. Your country has never honorably or honestly met the protocols of any international agreement that you are a signatory to. Yet, you hide behind these agreements only when they suit your fancy. When individuals, such as myself or Mr. M. Benge, or organizations, such as Amnesty International or Freedom House, or Human Rights Watch, charge your country with numerous counts of violations of human rights or worse, you immediately respond by saying that the matters we are concerned with are internal matters and that we are interfering with your country's policies. So be it. You are interfering with due process here in the State of Washington in matters that do not concern you. How we honor the contributions of individuals or ethnic communities here in Washington is of no concern to you. Quit interfering in our internal matters.

You want us to recognize and honor your flag. The flag represents a country that has promulgated pogroms of genocide, fratricide and international slave trafficking. I, as a resident of the State of Washington, can not condone such behavior. How dare you insist that I do? To do so makes me an accomplice to your egregious crimes against humanity.

You state that the proposed Memorial negates the existence of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It does nothing of the sort. In contrast to your museums and memorials, this Memorial pays tribute to those who paid the ultimate price for Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights in the former Republic of Vietnam. The flag of the former Republic has since come to be recognized as the flag for the struggle for Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights throughout the World. The colors are quite symbolic. The three bands stand for Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights. While the gold shows how precious these ideals are, the red stands for the blood shed for these ideals, both in the past and for those who will defend these ideals to the death. I, for one, am glad to recognize the Freedom Flag and to pay honor to it. I will be glad to recognize your flag when you recognize mine. Until then, your flag, for me, stands for murder, persecution, duplicity, slave trading, and human rights violations.

You state that you are trying your utmost to put the past aside. With your country's past records of abuse of all standards of civilized behavior, I fully understand your desire to brush the past aside. After all, your cause for recognition is only hurt by your past actions.

All of the residents of Washington will be more than happy to extend to you the hand of friendship and cooperation when you fully embrace Freedom, Democracy and to extend Human Rights to all Vietnamese. Until then, stay out of our internal affairs.

The proposed Memorial is not a statement of foreign policy. Where you got that idea is beyond me. Once again, you try to cloud the issue. What the people of America do is not your concern. It is an internal affair of the State of Washington by private citizens to honor those who gave their lives defending Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights, ideals which are anathematic to your despotic government. That is what that flag of gold with three horizontal red stripes stand for.

Now let us look closely at what your country has done and continues to do.

Communist Vietnam has engaged in genocide. This began in earnest during the Second Indochina War. You declared it the Second Indochina War. By definition then, it was a war. As such, you were bound by the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs). But, as I stated before, you have yet to honestly and honorably meet the tenets of any international agreement to which you are a signatory. Your treatment of POWs testifies to this. In addition, you executed at least 11 American POWs who were in your custody. This is a war crime and genocide. To this day, you try to commit genocide. Take the matter of Ly Tong, a Vietnamese-American. You tried to interfere in a Thai court of law and demanded that Thailand execute Ly Tong. His crime? Telling the Vietnamese about Freedom, a condition that you can not tolerate.

Communist Vietnam has engaged in and continues to engage in fratricide. This began in 1956 when the communist regime in Hanoi started their land reform programs. While it would be easy to blame the agent provocateur of the Communist Internationale, Ho Chi Minh, the real architect was Truong Chinh. How many Vietnamese died under this pogrom? 10,000? 50,000? 100,000? More? Even one victim of this pogrom constitutes fratricide. The pogrom initiated against the Vietnamese minorities in northwest Vietnam fall into this same category. The aim of this pogrom was to "ethnically cleanse" Vietnam of those minorities who had helped the French. I mention this to show that you continued this policy after the conclusion of the Second Indochina War with the start of your forcible relocation of Vietnamese who were associated with the former Republic of Vietnam to those areas you so blithely called New Economic Areas. You continue your ethnic cleansing today under the guise of religious persecution, which is also a blatant human rights violation. Any one executed under this pogrom is a victim of your genocidal and fratricidal policies.

Let us take a look at your country's involvement in the international slave trafficking movement. Several times during the Second Indochina War, and even afterwards, you sold American, allied, and Vietnamese POWs to the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. To whit, in 1983, you sold 275 American and 27,000 Vietnamese POWs to the USSR to reduce your war debt to them. This is a most egregious violation of human rights and a crime against humanity. There were other times you sold other American, allied and Vietnamese POWs to the USSR but not so many at one time.

You could resolve many of the POW/MIA cases with ease by opening up your military and political police files. You do not because there is no profit in humanely resolving this emotional issue. You extort monies from America for your own profit and gain. Why? Because you feel that President Nixon promised you some $4.3 billion dollars in reconstruction aid. Be that as it may, you can recover that money easier if you release your files publicly to the families and to the world. At least this can mitigate some of your crimes.

And then you have the gall to demand that Americans not interfere in your internal affairs and to honor your flag. With your record, you should be happy not to be on trial by an international court for your crimes against humanity.

Until then, do not interfere in our internal affairs in how we honor those who have died for Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights. Do not interfere with how we honor our citizens who contribute to the well being and welfare of our State.

Terrell A. Minarcin
Concerned Citizen for Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights for Vietnam