How Vietnam and the U.S. Made Up

Growth in the combined value of imports and exports has been spectacular, rising from $US3 million in 2000 to $US17.8 billion in 2008. In other words fear and suspicion of the expansionist ambitions coexist with a necessary economic and political relationship.

The war’s impacts

While the war is not part of the popular consciousness, the consequences are ubiquitous. Wartime deployment of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange (containing the carcinogen dioxin) has rendered vast tracts of land useless and there is a high incidence of death and deformities resulting from contact with dioxin residues.

While the US does not officially acknowledge the effects of Agent Orange, it is assisting with remediation; for example, there are currently major projects to remove contaminated soil from around from US airbases like Da Nang where inadvertent dumping occurred.

Similarly, unexploded munitions have rendered up to 20 per cent of the country uninhabitable; they also impose a lethal legacy, with an estimated 42,000 killed and 62,000 injured since 1975. Equally notable is the relatively neutral reporting of these issues in the state controlled media, suggesting great sensitivity to its ally, the United States.

This is not surprising in view of the increasingly close economic and military ties between the two countries.

Powerful testimony to this shift is a series of events beginning with the 2010 Vietnamese government announcement that Cam Ranh Bay, the best deepwater port in South East Asia, would be opened to foreign naval vessels for docking and repairs. Subsequently US naval vessels have routinely visited the port.

In June 2012, the US Secretary of Defence, Leon Panetta, visited Hanoi to help Vietnam deal with “critical maritime issues”, which is widely interpreted as code for containing China.

Contradictions and consequences

While memories of the American War may have been lost, the human and environmental consequences are, and will continue to be, enduring.

But Vietnam must play the game of international trade and relations – close ties with the US are both a geo-political necessity and a major source of economic advancement. Ironically, as is the case with its neighbour China, this successful relationship is a challenge to the moral foundations of the socialist state and to its past.