March 24, 2007 Saturday

Senior Viet diplomat to be new ambassador to US;
Two other deputy foreign ministers will be envoys to Japan and China

Roger Mitton, Vietnam Correspondent

HANOI - AS A sign of its rapidly warming ties with the United States, Vietnam will send one of its most respected diplomats as the new ambassador to Washington.

Mr Le Cong Phung, 59, the most senior of the nation's four deputy foreign ministers, will soon be named as Hanoi's new man in the US.

His transfer to Washington is part of a major reshuffle at Vietnam's Foreign Ministry that will be announced after legislative elections in May.

Three of the four deputy ministers are expected to be sent out as ambassadors.

Two assistant ministers, the next rung down, will also be shifted. One of them, Mr Pham Binh Minh, 48, is being groomed to take over as minister.

The current Foreign Minister, Mr Pham Gia Khiem, is expected to relinquish his post and focus solely on his role as one of the deputy prime ministers.

The raft of changes are part of a major diplomatic overhaul planned by Vietnam's dynamic new Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his special envoy for foreign affairs, Mr Vu Khoan.

The reshuffle will involve sending two other deputy foreign ministers, Mr Le Van Bang and Mr Nguyen Phu Binh, as ambassadors to China and Japan, respectively.

Assistant Minister Nguyen Truong Thanh, 48, will become the new ambassador to Singapore.

Mr Phung's appointment as the new ambassador to the US is regarded as among the most important in the Prime Minister's planned diplomatic reshuffle.

Mr Phung is used to important missions, having handled sensitive talks with Beijing in 2000 that led to the demarcation of the fractious land border between China and Vietnam.

In Washington, he will need all his skills to defuse congressional demands for tariffs to counter a torrent of cheap Vietnamese imports into the US, and growing American outrage over Hanoi's recent crackdown on human rights campaigners and pro-democracy activists.

But most believe that Mr Phung, an outgoing, karaoke-singing golfer, will be up to the task.

He is known to have a more liberal and flexible disposition than his predecessors.

As well as a new ambassador, Vietnam's US embassy has already received new top-notch young political and economic officers, Dr Hoang Anh Tuan and Dr Nguyen Hong Thach.

And the ministry's current spokesman, Mr Le Dung, is expected to be appointed as consul-general in San Francisco.

Said Professor Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy: 'The new crop of diplomats in Washington will extend Vietnam's political reach in the US.

'Vietnam is on a steep learning curve that will take several years to master. Keeping onside with the US will ensure that the upward trajectory is smooth and steady.'

The reshuffle is being watched closely because it comes at a time when relations between Hanoi and Washington are the best they have been since the end of the Vietnam War.

A priority of the new ambassador will be to cement these improving ties without ruffling feathers in Beijing.

With that in mind, Foreign Minister Khiem will head off to China today to reassure Beijing's leaders that they have nothing to fear from Vietnam's warming ties with Washington.

Said Prof Thayer: 'Hanoi will play on its developing relations with Washington to encourage China to be more pro-active in trade and investment with Vietnam. As long as there is a hint of Sino-American rivalry, Vietnam will play the role of pivot.'