[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 46 (Monday, November 20, 2000)]
[Pages 2894-2895]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a State Dinner Hosted by President Tran Duc Luong of Vietnam 
in Hanoi

November 17, 2000

    Mr. President, Madam Luong, distinguished representatives of the 
Vietnamese Government, ladies and gentlemen: Let me thank you for your 
welcome to me and to my family and to our entire American delegation.
    We are honored to join you in writing a new chapter in the 
relationship between the United States and Vietnam and grateful that 
this chapter has a happy beginning. Yes, the history we leave behind is 
painful and hard. We must not forget it, but we must not be controlled 
by it. The past is only what precedes the future, not what determines 
it.
    America and Vietnam are making a new history today. A generation 
from now, people will look back on this time and see the American 
veterans who came back to Vietnam searching for answers about the past 
and the Vietnamese who enlisted them in building a common future. They 
will see the young Vietnamese students, eager to absorb all the world 
has to offer, and the young Americans who have come here to learn with 
them. They will see the entrepreneurs and the scientists and the 
conservationists and the artists, forging links between Vietnam and the 
world.
    In short, people will look back and reach the same conclusion as the 
great Vietnamese statesman Nguyen Trai when he said 500 years ago, 
``After so many years of war, only life remains.''
    Today, our people face a changing world and a changing life 
together, with the same basic aspirations and even some of the same 
worries. How can we seize the opportunities of a global economy while 
avoiding its turmoil? How can we open our doors to new ideas while 
protecting our traditions, our cultures, our way of life?
    Globalization is bringing the world to Vietnam and also bringing 
Vietnam to the world. Films about life in Vietnam, from ``The Scent of 
the Green Papaya'' to ``The Three Seasons'' are winning awards all over 
the globe. The paintings of the Vietnamese artist Do Quang Em command 
fortunes at international art shows. The 200-year-old poems of Ho Xuan 
Huong are published in America, in English, in Vietnamese, and even in 
the original Nom, the first time ancient Vietnamese script has come off 
a printing press. Fashion designers like Armani and Calvin Klein base 
new collections on the traditional Vietnamese dress, the ao dai. 
Americans are tasting lemon grass, garlic chives, and even bitter melon, 
all of which, by the way, grow on a Vietnamese farm in our State of 
Virginia, just a 20-minute drive from the White House.
    Mr. President, globalization also means that on the Internet, 
Americans can read the latest Vietnamese financial news or learn about 
the challenges in restoring Hanoi's Old Quarter or support the 
organizations working to preserve new species being found in the central 
highlands. It means we can download fonts in the Vietnamese language. 
Indeed, before long, sophisticated translation technologies will make 
the Internet a force for linguistic diversity, not uniformity.
    When we open our doors, we not only let new ideas in; we let the 
talent and creativity and potential of our people out. That, too, will 
come to Vietnam. After just one day in your country, I am certain there 
will be no stopping the people of Vietnam as they gain the chance to 
realize their full potential. The people of the United States are happy 
that the time has come when we can be partners.
    As ``The Tale of Kieu'' foretold, ``Just as the lotus wilts, the 
mums bloom forth; time softens grief; and the winter turns to spring.''

[[Page 2895]]

Now the frozen images of the past have begun to thaw. The outlines of a 
warmer shared future have begun to take shape. Let us make the most of 
this new spring together.
    I ask you to join me in a toast to the President of Vietnam, to 
Madam Luong, to the people of this great country, and to our future 
friendship together.

 Note:  The President spoke at 7:38 p.m. at the Presidential Palace. In 
his remarks, he referred to President Luong's wife, Nguyen Thi Vinh.