Former US President Bill Clinton, who announced the normalization of US-Vietnam relations a quarter century ago, has hailed the partnership between the two former war foes.
“Grateful for 25 years of partnership — working towards peace, prosperity and security — in Vietnam and Southeast Asia,” Clinton wrote in a tweet on July 12.
| A screenshot of Clinton's tweet |
He also thanked “all of those whose support made it possible, including Senators [John] McCain, [John] Kerry, [Bob] Kerrey, [Chuck] Robb, and [Max] Cleland and Congressman [Douglas] Peterson — all Vietnam veterans.”
Bill Clinton was the first US president to visit Vietnam in 2000, 25 years after the Vietnam War ended, and was warmly welcomed then.
Besides the normalization of diplomatic relations with the Southeast Asian country, the Clinton administration lifted the economic embargo on Vietnam and the two nations reached a Bilateral Trade Agreement in 2000 after five-year negotiations.
Former US President Bill Clinton, right, toasts with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh during an event celebrating 239th anniversary of the US independence and 20th anniversary of normalization of relations between the US and Vietnam in Hanoi, Vietnam on Thursday July 2, 2015. (AP / Tran Van Minh.) |
In the fifth visit to Vietnam in 2015 to celebrate 20 years of US-Vietnam diplomatic ties, Clinton described normalization of relations as “one of the most important achievements of my presidency,” and said it helped lift the burden that had been weighing down the American spirit since the Vietnam War, AP reported.
