Two Views on Embargo of Vietnam

Your article “O.C. Doctor Paying Price for Free Speech” (Oct. 3) presented Dr. Co Pham’s advocacy for lifting the embargo toward Vietnam, and how he was made to suffer because of his public stance. It also managed to paint the Vietnamese community locally as a group of radical nationalists which blindly opposes the Communist government of Vietnam and its collaborators, and could recourse to violence to enforce their stand.

Nothing would be further from the truth, for the demonstrations involving hundreds of people have proceeded quite orderly and peacefully. As people who have sought shelter from the atrocities of the Communist regime, we loathe violence and bloody confrontations. Since the Communist government took over in 1975, it has decimated and imprisoned hundreds of thousands, it has driven 1.5 million people toward exodus and countless others to their death in the quest for freedom. And yet we aspire to forget the war and its miseries, and to forgive all past crimes.

For the sake of a country richly endowed in natural resources, now one of the poorest in the world, with the hope of bringing the basic necessities of life to our brothers in Vietnam, we long to infuse economic assistance to Vietnam. However, improvement can only happen through serious reforms, and to this day, the Communist government has shown no such commitment.

The historic handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin was welcomed worldwide because it testified to a mutual recognition of each other’s rights. When and if the Communist government of Vietnam demonstrates willingness for change, our community would equally welcome Dr. Pham’s handshake with Communist officials.

Unlike what the article suggested, the majority within our community differs with Dr. Pham’s views not because we embrace a staunch anti-communist position, but out of compassion for the people in Vietnam. We uphold our stand firmly and peacefully because no unnecessary bloodshed should pave the road toward a better future for a long-suffering nation.

CHAN KIEU, M.D.

Interim Chairman, Vietnamese American Physicians of Southern California

Fountain Valley

* The Times is to be complimented in reporting in detail the plight of Dr. Co Pham of Westminster as he courageously campaigns to end the U.S. economic embargo of Vietnam. Clearly the time has come to heal the wounds of that tragic war and declare it to be over.

Dr Pham, as a successful businessman, recognizes how improving the economic conditions of Vietnam can lead to greater political freedom. This can come about by permitting our companies to do business there. As Dr. Pham says, “A sound economy in the country would succeed where war and politics have failed, providing human rights and dignity and bringing about democracy.” He deserves our support.

TOM W. BUTTERWORTH

Veterans for Peace, Corona del Mar