Ten years after the two countries normalized relations, and three decades after the end of the Vietnam War, a leading Vietnamese official is visiting the United States for the first time. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's trip holds out hope that the two countries will put the war behind them. The vocal protesters that have greeted Mr. Khai during his visit are a reminder that important issues remain on the bilateral agenda, but the opportunity for genuine reconciliation between the two former adversaries has never been better.
It took two decades for the U.S. to normalize relations with Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War. U.S. President Bill Clinton recognized that changes in Vietnam and East Asia made the restoration of official relations a necessity. Vietnam was opening to the outside world and the country was too big -- it has a population of 82 million -- and too ambitious to continue to be ignored by Washington. Two-way trade has virtually exploded from the $451 million in 1995, reaching $6.4 billion last year. The two countries concluded a bilateral trade agreement in 2001, and the U.S. has quickly become the primary commercial partner of one of Southeast Asia's fastest growing economies.
On the eve of his visit, Mr. Khai said that 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War -- in which 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese died -- it was time "to put aside the past and look to the future and a better relationship between the two countries." The U.S. appears ready to reciprocate. At their White House meeting, U.S. President George W. Bush backed Hanoi's bid to join the World Trade Organization and said he would visit Vietnam in 2006. That trip, the second by a U.S. president -- President Bill Clinton made the first one in 2000 -- will coincide with the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders to be held in Hanoi in late 2006.