Sanchez Skips Diplomacy for Vietnam Trip

While President Clinton’s historic visit to Vietnam has been hand drawn to avoid controversy, Rep. Loretta Sanchez intends to meet with two high-profile Vietnamese dissidents during the delegation’s four-day visit.

One of six members of Congress joining Clinton on the historic trip, Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) represents the largest Vietnamese community in the U.S. She has emphasized human rights and refugee issues during her four years in Congress. The trip, which begins today, is the first peacetime visit by an American president to Vietnam. President Nixon visited South Vietnam in 1969, during the height of the Vietnam War.

Sanchez plans to meet with the Venerable Thich Quang Do, secretary-general of the banned United Buddhist Church of Vietnam, who has protested government interference in religion, and Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, a dissident released from jail in September 1998 but who remains under

police surveillance.

Sanchez met with the two dissidents in March 1999 as part of a congressional delegation in Vietnam to discuss human rights, refugee issues and the full accounting of U.S. servicemen still listed as missing in action from the war.

The White House was notified well in advance about the meetings, which will take place in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, Sanchez press spokeswoman Sarah Anderson said Wednesday. A year ago, Sanchez joined 29 members of Congress in nominating Do for the Nobel Peace Prize.

“The White House is very aware she’s meeting with these folks, and it’s not a problem,” Anderson said. “She’s honored and delighted to be part of the official delegation.”

Spokesmen for the White House and the National Security Council said they were unaware of any controversy surrounding Sanchez’s meetings.

Sanchez has spoken several times on the House floor condemning repression of religious freedom in Vietnam, where there are restrictions on worship and publications are banned. Two weeks ago, Do was placed under house arrest for taking supplies to flood victims, Anderson said.

Mai Cong, a longtime leader in Orange County’s Vietnamese American community, was one of three local residents invited last week to the White House. They joined a group of 30 people, representing Vietnamese American communities around the country, and met with Clinton aides to discuss the pending trip.

Normalizing relations with Vietnam--through trade agreements and travel--is a hot-button issue among the large number of Vietnamese refugees in the U.S., many of whom fled the country after the defeat of South Vietnamese and American forces and the reunification of the country under Communist rule.

Sanchez has opposed granting subsidies to Vietnam, arguing that the money would support the Communist government without securing economic and political reforms. Cong said she supports Clinton’s trip to discuss trade, POW/MIAs and other issues, as well as Sanchez’s visits with dissidents. Both are different ways of practicing rapprochement, she said, and both give more exposure to the country and concerns over its human-rights record, she said.

“I believe it will help make life easier for dissidents in Vietnam because [the government] will know that people are watching,” Cong said of Sanchez’s actions.

The delegation arrives today and returns to Andrews Air Force Base on Monday. Clinton also arrives today after attending an economic summit in Brunei.

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* TRADE TALK

On trip’s first leg, Clinton reassures Pacific Rim on U.S. trade policy. A10