Clinton in Vietnam

President Bill Clinton begins his visit to Vietnam with a clearly stated goal – to help the United States see Vietnam as “a country not a war” – but a mixed agenda muddles the sort of relationship that might emerge from his trip. Rather than trying to settle 25-year-old scores, establish a new business environment and direct government reforms, the president will be successful if he speaks simply and directly about the value his country places on human rights, at home and in its relationships abroad.

The president’s protests against the Vietnam War as a youth, which has brought him grief in the United States, might have helped him in negotiating a return to normalized relations with officials Ho Chi Minh City. The U.S. trade embargo was lifted in 1994, the Hanoi embassy was reopened in 1995 and the remains of half the U.S. servicemen missing in action were identified and brought home during his administration. The events during the next couple of days, marking the first visit to Vietnam by a U.S. president since the fall of Saigon, could establish American policy there for many years to come.

Not surprisingly, the view of Vietnam as an untapped market ready to be exploited is common. Representatives of some 50 corporations are accompanying the president on this trip, and while human rights – free speech, fair courts, unrestricted travel, an end to arbitrary imprisonment – might be on the minds of some, business opportunities will dominate their discussions. That’s why it is so important for the president, on his final major trip of his administration, to speak forcefully on a subject that his own free-trade stance has helped provoke.

The White House has hoped for years that the mere presence of so much capitalism will have a reforming effect on Communist governments. So far, it is more hope than fact. The message of engagement with Vietnam is simple: Treating it people with dignity and respect is the basis for a nation’s positive relationship with the United States. Business is secondary.