APRIL 2016

ALSTEIN LE

VOL1 ISSUE 1

The Government of Vietnam

History
Vietnam is a communist country. Vietnam was
called Nam Viet about 5000 years ago. China had
controlled the country until the 16th century. In the 19th
century France took over Vietnam. France first unified
Vietnam in 1887, when a single governor-generalship was
created, followed by the first physical links between north
and southa rail and road system. Japan took over the
military bases until 1940 and the French still controlled
Vietnam until 1945. Vietnam split into North and South
Vietnam because in 1954 the French army was defeated.
The Vietnam War started in 1955 and ended in
1970. By April 9, 1975, Hanoi's troops marched within 40
miles of Saigon, the South's capital. South Vietnam's
president Thieu resigned on April 21 and fled. Gen. Duong
Van Minh, the new president, surrendered Saigon on April
30, ending a war that claimed the lives of 1.3 million
Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans.
Vietnam sent 60,000 soldiers to fight against Pol
Pots Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1979. At the same
time Vietnam was defending the northern border from
Chinese invasion.
The U.S. lifted a Vietnamese trade embargo in
Feb. 1994 that had been in place since U.S. involvement
in the war. Full diplomatic relations were announced
between the two countries in July 1995. In April 1997, a
pact was signed with the U.S. concerning repayment of the
$146 million wartime debt incurred by the South
Vietnamese government, and the following year the nation
began a drive to eliminate inefficient bureaucrats and
streamline the approval process for direct foreign
investment.
Economy and Relations
After the war ended Prime Minister Phan Van Khai
came to the United States and met President Bush and
other business leaders. The US became Vietnams largest
trading partner. They trade about 7 billion dollars of goods
each year.
Sources cited

http://www.infoplease.com/country/vietnam.html?pa
geno=6
Alstein Le

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai meets Bill Clinton