1998年国会听证会
情报和安全

斯坦利O. Roth助理助理国务卿东亚及太平洋事务部长参议院外交关系委员会1998年3月10日，主席先生，我很高兴有机会加入助理秘书塔夫夫斯，今天就蒙塔格纳德人的情况就讲话在越南。我想在与越南更广泛的关系的背景下放在蒙塔格纳的情况。但首先，我想强调你的严肃性，我们认为我们在越南面对蒙塔格尔斯面临的情况。在越南争夺越南队的成千上万的蒙塔格尔斯遭受的牺牲和痛苦将永远不会被遗忘在这个国家。我们认识到，他们参与战争的蒙特纳德的成本是毁灭性的，这是我们不能忘记的事情。我们也认识到，中央高地的生活条件比越南其他地区更严重，特别是蒙塔尔兹，特别是医疗和教育等必要性有限。我们将继续按越南政府向所有有资格移民到美国的蒙塔格纳德的退出许可证发出退出许可证。（如ODP和Rovr等正常移民签证）。在这种联系中，让我强调我们的信念，以应对地面的可衡量进展，授予杰克逊-Vanik豁免将促进杰克逊 - 凡妮克立法的目标，导致越南的传统移民。我们在蒙塔格纳德和其他移民问题上向前迈进的努力是与越南广泛议程的一部分。金博宝正规网址 The first and most important item on that agenda is obtaining an accounting of the missing from the Vietnam War. We continue to receive excellent cooperation from the Vietnamese government, which has permitted the normalization of relations in other areas. Obtaining the fullest possible accounting for POW/MIAs remains our highest priority in relations with Vietnam. Normalization in other areas has not lessened the centrality of POW/MIA accounting to the relationship, and every high level USG official to visit Vietnam has stressed this point. The presence of Ambassador Peterson, a former POW, in Hanoi is in itself a symbol of the importance of the POW/MIA issue to Americans, and his energy and commitment to the effort ensure that we will do our best to continue to get results. Sustaining progress on POW/MIA accounting will remain our highest priority objective in the future. We have important national interests at play in Vietnam. We believe it is in our interest to promote Vietnam's economic prosperity and integration into the regional and international structures that enhance regional stability and free trade. Among these are our dialogue on human rights, and our growing cooperation on counter-narcotics. Economic normalization, which we are working to advance, encompasses a range of measures to promote trade and investment so that American businessmen can take advantage of the considerable potential in this dynamic and emerging market. As with POW/MIA accounting, our contacts with Vietnam on migration issues predate normalization. As Assistant Secretary Taft can explain, certain minority groups such as the Montagnards have encountered obstacles in emigrating from Vietnam. Nevertheless, Vietnam's record in permitting free emigration has improved considerably since 1975. The Orderly Departure Program (ODP) has been a solid success. Over 480,000 Vietnamese have emigrated to the U.S. through ODP. Many of these are of special interest to the U.S., such as former detainees in reeducation camps. Despite this progress to date, I would like to state unequivocally that we will continue to press the Vietnamese government to provide fair treatment to all who are eligible for emigration to the U.S., including the Montagnards. The question of free emigration is related closely, as you know, to the waiver of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Jackson-Vanik prohibits the extension of certain U.S. economic benefits to countries that, among other things, deny their citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate. The statute authorizes the President to waive the Jackson-Vanik requirements if doing so will lead to freer emigration from that country. We have recommended the President waive the Jackson-Vanik amendment at this point because of significant improvements over the past year in Vietnam's processing of exit permits for the Resettlement Opportunity for Vietnamese Returnees (ROVR) cases. We will continue to monitor its performance closely, using the prospect of renewal of the waiver to press for further improvements in freedom of emigration. In this way, the waiver will support the objectives of the Jackson-Vanik legislation, promoting freedom of emigration from Vietnam. A waiver of Jackson-Vanik is the next step in economic normalization, a goal of both our countries However, a waiver of Jackson-Vanik does not signal that we are ready to grant MFN status to Vietnam. MFN will require completion of a bilateral trade agreement and approval of the agreement by both houses of Congress. A Jackson-Vanik waiver would, however, remove a key impediment to extending export promotion and trade and investment support programs to Vietnam, including the Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), USDA PL-480 and GSM export credit programs and Maritime Administration Title XI programs. Without these programs, U.S. companies are often at a disadvantage in competing with foreign firms in the Vietnamese market. Associated waivers of Foreign Assistance Act provisions are prerequisites for most U.S. assistance to Vietnam. An exception is humanitarian assistance to Vietnam, which has been provided for prosthetics and rehabilitation services to war victims and to displaced children and orphans. A broader U.S. assistance program, among other things, will help the U.S. influence Vietnam's progres toward an open economy. It will focus largely on the transfer of knowledge to serve as a catalyst for further structural and institutional change. Human rights is an important component of our relationship with Vietnam. We have made clear to Vietnamese leaders that progress in this area will be necessary for our relationship to fully develop. Although there has been a modicum of improvement in the area of personal freedoms, including reduced government interference in daily life, Vietnam's overall human rights record has been poor. There have been credible reports that local Vietnamese officials have denied ethnic minorities, including the Montagnards, access to education, employment and other services. We have initiated a formal human rights dialogue in which we have conveyed our concerns about human rights in both general and specific human rights cases. Secretary Albright raised these issues prominently with Vietnamese leaders during her visit last June to Vietnam. The status of ethnic minorities and specifically Montagnards is a subject we will continue to raise in the context of our human rights dialogue. Vietnam has historical interests in the region, particularly in relation to its neighbors in Cambodia, Laos, China and in the South China Sea. Dialogue among the U.S., Vietnam and its neighbors can contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicting interests. Vietnam's membership in ASEAN and APEC, its participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum, and its growing ties to regional and world markets exemplify the new constructive role that it is beginning to play. This is a role that we should encourage. By developing bilateral ties as we are doing, we can encourage Vietnam to behave responsibly in the region and the world. Let me conclude by saying that nothing is more important in our relations with Vietnam than meeting our commitments -- to the families of our POW/MIAs and to those who served beside us. We will do everything in our power to live up to these important responsibilities. (end text)