Ton Nu Thi Ninh on US-Vietnam History and the Country Today

JUST TO SAY, I WONDER WHETHER YOU FEEL A LITTLE SORT OF A DISCONNECT IN THIS MOMENT TO BE REVELING IN THIS ATTENTION ON YOUR COUNTRY WHILE SO MUCH ATTENTION IS ALSO BEING PUT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP IN THE SPLIT SCREENS WITH HIS POLITICAL DRAMAS BACK AT HOME.

THIS IS TODAY’S WORLD.

A WORLD OF CHANGE AND DISRUPTION.

I THINK WE TAKE IN STRIDE.

VIETNAM IS USED TO DEALING WITH DISRUPTION OF ALL SORTS, INCLUDING WAR.

THE GREAT THING IS THAT TODAY IT IS REALLY AS SIMPLE AS PEACE.

THAT’S WHY IT’S SO FITTING THAT IT’S THE SUMMIT, THE U.S. AND NORTH KOREAN SUMMIT SHOULD BE HELD IN VIETNAM.

I’M STRUCK BY THE WAY YOU SAY VIETNAM TAKES THINGS IN STRIDE, INCLUDING THE WAR.

FAMOUSLY, THAT’S WHAT VIETNAM DID.

IT IS SAID TO HAVE RECOVERED SOONER, QUICKER, BETTER FROM THE WAR THAN AMERICA DID.

EVEN THOUGH YOU SUFFERED BY A MASSIVE FACTOR MORE CASUALTIES, MORE DEAD, MORE WOUNDED, MORE DESTRUCTION THAN THE UNITED STATES DID.

TALK FOR A LITTLE BIT, FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT REMEMBER, HOW DIFFICULT A TIME THIS WAS AND POTENTIALLY, WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THIS PEACE COULD HAVE LED TO SUCH PROSPERITY HERE?

I’M AMONG THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT AFTER DECADES, SINCE THE END OF THE WAR, THE PRICE THAT WE HAVE PAID IN TERMS OF MATERIAL AND HUMAN LOSSES TO ME IS NOT AS HEAVY AS, YOU KNOW, INTERNAL DIVISION.

I HAVE SAID IT PUBLICALLY HERE AND THERE AMONG VIETNAMESE.

TO BE VERY FRANK, IF I HAVE SOME GRUDGE TOWARDS THE U.S. STILL, IT IS THAT IT HAS SHOWED THE KIND OF DIVISION.

WE ARE RECOVERING FROM THAT DIVISION AMONG VIETNAMESE.

WHAT’S AT THE HEART THAT WAS DIVISION?

THAT THERE’S A NORTH AND A SOUTH THAT ARE DIFFERENT AND ANTAGONISTIC.

IT GOES BEYOND IDEOLOGY.

NOW IT’S A KIND OF DISTRUST THAT REMAINS WITH A SMALL PORTION OF THE OVERSEAS VIETNAMESEMMUNITY.

FORTUNATELY, THE SECOND, THIRD GENERATION, THEY TAKE THINGS IN THEY WANT TO GO BACK AND HAVE A LOOK FOR THEMSELVES TO SEE THEIR ANCESTRAL LAND AND FIND OPPORTUNITIES, ARE VERY OPEN MINDED.