[Vision2020] Vietnam has made itself the new 'Asian Tiger'

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of today's (April 27, 2017) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with special thanks to Nick Gier.

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His View: Vietnam has made itself the new 'Asian Tiger'

By Nick Gier

Forty-two years ago this Sunday, the U.S. executed a humiliating retreat from Vietnam. Today I would like to revisit a trip that I made to that country in 2010.

On March 24, our tour group boarded Air Vietnam flight 830 to Hanoi from Bangkok. During the war, American pilots flying this route were carrying thousands of tons of bombs for targets in North Vietnam. (And I was the 1965-66 co-president of Oregon State University's Student-Faculty Committee to End the War in Vietnam.)

As we drove into Hanoi from the airport, we saw many bridges over the Red River that had been destroyed time and again, only to be rebuilt or spanned by pontoons. The river was crowded with boat traffic bearing loads of basic building materials.

I had expected Hanoi to be a drab Marxist-Leninist city, but everywhere I looked there were brightly colored townhouses - far outnumbering the more shabby residences. With ornate French colonial ironwork, they were built narrow and with multiple stories, because property prices are so high.

Hanoi's inner city was vibrant and bustling. Its private stores were piled high with goods, and street side restaurants did a brisk business. The noodle soup called "pho" was the best in Asia.

The first evening in Hanoi, our guide took us to the lowering of the flag at Ho Chi Minh's tomb. The next day, we visited his famous house-on-stilts. Uncle Ho, as the Vietnamese call their beloved president, refused to live in the presidential mansion right next door. A Buddhist temple right next to Ho's home was filled with Vietnamese worshippers.

The "liberation" promised by the North Vietnamese Communists after the U.S. withdrawal in 1975 turned out to be another 14 years of oppression. Private property was abolished and every line of work, even barbering, was collectivized.

The experiment was a colossal failure, but since 1989 most property and businesses have returned to private hands, and Vietnam has become another Asian economic "tiger."

Politically, Vietnam is still a one-party state with tight controls on the press and other media. After trying to discourage religion, the Communists now allow religious freedom. The Buddhist temples and Catholic churches we visited were well attended and well maintained, though politically active Buddhists are not treated very well.

With a mixture of French colonial buildings and wide boulevards, new high-rises and miles of chaotic commercial development, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is now a thriving city of 8.4 million people.

The war museum was a real downer for all of us. We had seen most of these horrific images and we knew most of the tragic stories behind them, but to experience them all in one place and in a short time was emotionally devastating.

During my trip, I was most impressed with the morale of these hard-working, dynamic people, and since my return they have continued to prosper. Even with many non-competitive state-run enterprises, the Vietnamese economy is growing at a rate of 6 percent. (The U.S. rate is about 2 percent.) Those living in poverty have been reduced from 60 percent in 1993 to 13.5 percent in 2014.

Vietnam invests more in its schools than any of its developing country peers, and the results are impressive. For 2016 the Program for International Student Assessment ranked Vietnamese 15-year-olds eighth in the world in science. Seven other Asian nations were in the top 10, while the U.S. came in 25th. In science and technology the U.S. continues to lose its competitive edge to hard-working Asians.

My fear is that the Vietnamese, just as the Chinese have done, will accept the lack of political freedom as long as they have the freedom to worship, to enjoy their professions and to run businesses on their own.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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