Still holding a grudge

While Harry Wu was being held captive by the Chinese government for taking pictures in a restricted area in China last summer, Jimmy Tran's children wrote a letter to President Clinton. The letter appealed to the president to bring their nearly-blind and malnourished father home from Vietnam where he has been a prisoner since May 1993. "We are so young and helpless," they wrote the president. "We are begging you to talk to the Vietnamese government so they release our father back to our family."

When Tran returned to Vietnam to visit relatives in November 1992, he was accused of opposing the regime. "During the time, a riot broke out, a statue of Ho Chi Minh toppled over and he was accused of demolishing the statue," says his father, Tran Viet Nghi. In January 1993, Tran, a U.S. citizen, was arrested for conspiracy to destroy communist symbols. Though there was no proof to convict him, Tran was placed in solitary confinement until his trial in May 1993 where he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

More than two years after Tran was placed in prison, Vietnam marked its 20th anniversary of unification and the end of the war. Clinton lifted the American embargo a year earlier and diplomatic relations were established in July. Vietnam is a country thrust into change, its economic reforms and foreign investments creating a renaissance for a country torn by war and poverty.

While some Vietnamese in America celebrate the changes, others see it as a smoke screen for a government where democratic reforms have yet to occur.

Diem Ngo taught philosophy in Vietnam before escaping the country with his wife and small child in 1976. He had been forced underground and hid for a year and a half after publicly going against the government. Now the executive director of the Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation in San Jose, Ngo helps Vietnamese to establish themselves in America. "People keep talking about the changes in Vietnam but we see changes in the economy. In politics there is no change," says Ngo. "Vietnamese can go back to Vietnam to do business but they can't voice opinions on political issues," he says.

Ngo's sentiments are shared by many Vietnamese in America who want to see human rights violations and political suppression abrogated in their country. "Many (Vietnamese) are former political prisoners. They still remember and are stronger and harder against the communist system," says Ngo.

Ta Minh Hoa muses about how her life would have turned out had she not escaped from Vietnam in 1978. "I would have never attended college. I probably would have gotten married and had children. People would have characterized me as having a tough life, but I would not have anything to compare it to," she says.

Ta went back to Vietnam in April, 1995 and thought the country had improved since her last visit in 1989. "The Vietnamese don't talk about politics as much. They talk about the future. How to improve the country with jobs. How to survive and problems they deal with-population growth, inflation-they have the lowest labor wages in the world," she says.

Now a college counselor at City College and a lecturer for the Asian American studies program at San Francisco State University, Ta believes changes in her country will aid its future. "We have to have a relationship with Vietnam. The whole world is opening up right now," she says.

Vietnamese-Americans like Ta believe the past is behind them. "You can't forget about the war, but you have to look to the future. The only way Vietnam will change is if the Vietnamese hear the voices of Vietnamese-Americans to have comparison. It's like looking in a mirror-when they look at us they will know what they need to change," says Ta.

Ta recently participated in the Be Dau conference held at San Francisco State University. The conference focused on the Vietnamese community in America and emphasized Vietnamese/American relations. The conference sought to open up communication and establish reconciliation in the Vietnamese community as they leave the past and rebuild the future.

Outside the Be Dau conference protesters shouted "Communists get out of San Francisco" and waved banners with human rights slogans. Among those who protested were representatives of the International Sangha Bhikshu Buddhist Association in San Jose. Recently some Buddhist monks in Vietnam were jailed for giving out relief supplies to people in the Mekong Delta. "At present," says a flyer handed out by protesters from the Sangha Bhikshu Association, "Virtually the entire leadership of the Unified Buddhist Church, in this predominately Buddhist country, is under detention."

"The idea of protesting is 20 years old-though they don't get that much attention normally." says Stephen Denney, Vietnam country coordinator for Amnesty USA. Denney says that while public dialogue is hard for the Vietnamese, private dialogue probably takes place. "Some people are afraid to speak out. Political violence has happened in the past." He cites a Vietnamese in America who was assassinated for his views, presumably by anti-communists.

"They can understand why we are against the government if we protest," says Ngo. We can't speak out over there. Our side over here has opportunities to protest our concern."

"I cannot argue with these people. You can't talk reason to them," says Ta who adds many of the people at the protest were invited to attend the conference. "We're not promoting the Vietnamese government to restrict people's freedom," says Ta. "We are not against human rights. They should go to Vietnam and protest there," she says.

In a news release issued from California Assemblyman Mickey Conroy, an August 28 resolution approved by the California Assembly calls for the United States to refuse Most Favored Nation trading status to Vietnam "until the communist government ends human rights violations and begins democratic reforms."

"The resolution passed with such overwhelming support, there is reason to believe the administration will pay attention to it," says Patrick Joyce, an aide to Assemblyman Conroy. If a bill is passed, it will affect the normalization process between Vietnam and America.

California Assemblyman Jim Morrissey, who is actively working to bring Jimmy Tran home from Vietnam, wonders why Tran's case has been ignored. "U.S. citizens always get help from the U.S. government when they're jailed in a foreign country," says Morrissey. "Now that we are about to have an embassy over there, let's try to get the U.S. citizen released," he says. He is upset the administration has paid little attention to Tran's plight. "Is it because the president demonstrated before the war was over?" he asks, "is it because his name is Jimmy Tran? If it was Smith or Jones, I bet they'd help."

SOURCES

Minh Hoa Ta - Lecturer, Asian-American Studies program, San Francisco State University. Counselor, City College. - 239-3846

Stephen Denney - Vietnam country coordinator for Amnesty U.S.A. - 510/642-6539.

Diem Ngo - Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation.

Jim Morrissey - California Assemblyman - 69th district. - 916/445-7333

Patrick Joyce - Aide to California Assemblyman Mickey Conroy. - 916/445-2778.

International Sangha Bhikshu Buddhist Association - flyer from demonstration. - 408/295-2436.

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