Tumultuous crowd welcomes Clinton to Hanoi

WEB EXCLUSIVE On the scene with Kelly Wallace in Hanoi, Vietnam

In this story: 'Huge victory' for Vietnamese reform Boisterous crowds greet senator elect No apology planned for years of war RELATED STORIES, SITES

HANOI, Vietnam (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton has opened a new chapter in relations with Hanoi on Friday during the first visit to communist Vietnam by a serving U.S. president.

Thousands of people gathered in clusters along the route from Hanoi's international airport just before midnight Thursday in what was believed to be the largest turnout ever for a visiting head of state.

"This only happens once in a thousand years," said Hanoi homemaker Tran Thi Lan, 50.

Both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon visited the former South Vietnam as president during the long Vietnam War, which ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975. But Clinton is the first to visit the unified country, and the first in the capital city of Hanoi.

Though his official airport welcome was low-key, Clinton is expected to have unprecedented access to the Vietnamese people via the live broadcast of his keynote speech at Hanoi's National University on Friday afternoon.

His three-day visit aims to help heal both countries' wounds from the Vietnam War, which he once wrote he "opposed and despised," and took careful steps to avoid.

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'Huge victory' for Vietnamese reform

Pete Peterson, the former prisoner of war appointed by Clinton as the first postwar ambassador to Vietnam from the United States, called Clinton's visit "a huge victory" for reform-minded elements in communist Vietnam.

"It was Bill Clinton who opened up and had the vision for moving ahead rather aggressively with our relationship with Vietnam, when in many senses it may not have been to any political advantage of his," Peterson said. "He saw this as an opportunity for America to heal wounds and to build bridges."

In 1994, Clinton ended the trade embargo imposed on Vietnam, and a year later re-established diplomatic relations -- with the support of prominent Vietnam veterans.

As for Clinton's opposition to the war that cost nearly 60,000 American lives -- and about 3 million Vietnamese -- Peterson said he doubted the president's hosts would make any mention of it.

"It probably is well-known," the ambassador said, "but it's never been mentioned to me."

More than 50 U.S. corporations sent executives to Vietnam during Clinton's visit in hopes of gaining a foothold in what they believe is a vast untapped market of 78 million people.

Boisterous crowds greet senator elect

Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first lady, arrived in Hanoi several hours before Clinton, coming from her trip to Israel for the funeral of Leah Rabin, the widow of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The first lady drew admiring crowds when she took a shopping and gallery trip after her arrival.

"I am delighted to be here," Mrs. Clinton told reporters. "I am very excited about our trip" and "feel very good about the wonderful reaction."

Tran Hien Lan, an English literature teacher whose father's paintings hung in the gallery Mrs. Clinton visited, said: "It's our great pleasure to see her here, because we've heard a lot about her, we've read a lot about her. She is one of the most well-known women in the world. She is a very talented woman."

Boisterous crowds gathered everywhere Mrs. Clinton went, even though the city had come almost to a halt to watch the national soccer team compete in the semifinals of the Tiger Cup regional tournament. Mrs. Clinton waded into one group, shaking some of the hundreds of hands extended toward her.

Mrs. Clinton, who was just elected senator from New York, intends to use her visit to highlight Vietnamese women.

The war with the United States raised the status of Vietnamese women, many of whom fought side by side with men. Some rose through government ranks, particularly in the communist North.

When the war ended in 1975 and the country was reunited, many women found themselves nudged back to the sidelines as soldiers returned from the battlefield to prior jobs.

The pendulum has been swinging slowly back in recent years -- the vice president, Nguyen Thi Binh, is female -- although women who venture into business or politics still are generally expected to be housewives, too.

With her election last week, the profile of Mrs. Clinton's visit has been elevated. Before leaving Monday to return to the United States, she is to give a speech in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.

No apology planned for years of war

White House spokesman Jake Siewert has told reporters that the president's televised speech "will be focused very firmly on the new chapter that we are developing in the U.S.-Vietnamese relationship."

"The president will talk at some length about the history of our relationship, but more importantly about the future and where he sees that relationship going," Siewert said.

The speech would also look to greater cooperation in fighting diseases -- such as AIDS -- and flooding, which has devastated large tracts of Vietnam recently.

Siewert said globalization and its challenges would be a topic for discussion with Vietnam's leaders.

Clinton has also said accounting for U.S. servicemen missing in action (MIA) from the Vietnam conflict would be a priority.

Clinton will hold talks with Communist Party secretary Le Kha Phieu, who is regarded as the country's most powerful leader, on Saturday.

U.S. officials have made clear that in his reconciliation efforts, Clinton will not go so far as to offer an apology for the war.

"Obviously the war divided a lot of Americans. If anything, this is meant to heal those divisions and point the way toward a new future," Siewert said.

Hanoi has made clear Clinton is welcome as a friend who ended the punishing trade embargo in 1994, established diplomatic ties a year later and struck a landmark trade pact in July.

The president and first lady, accompanied by daughter Chelsea and other government officials, will be in Vietnam for three days, returning to Washington on Sunday.

CNN Correspondents John King and Kelly Wallace, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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CIA -- The World Factbook 2000 -- Vietnam

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