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visit had led to agreement on pursuing the MIA question, with parallel help to Vietnamese war wounded and veterans. But again the American response had been unsatisfactory: some prosthetic materials had been sent but not much.. June 1988, Foreign Minister Thach and Admiral Vessey had agreed to try to solve 70 priority MIA cases before the end of the year, with American officials participating in surveys and excavations. On 5 July a technical meeting had drawn up a three month plan for joint activities from August to October 1988. It was against this background that on 28 July Assistant Secretary of State, Gaston Sigur, told Congress that it was US policy to continue to maintain the isolation of Vietnam. Secretary of State Shultz stated on 21 July in Hawaii that the US would only normalise its relations with Vietnam in the context of a solution to the Cambodia problem and to that of the MIAS. It had thus become clear that the United States persisted in directly linking humanitarian issues with politics. That was why the Vietnamese had temporarily suspended the 5 July agreement.
18.
I expressed some surprise that Vietnam should react so strongly to what was no more than a reaffirmation of long-standing American policy towards Vietnam. Can replied that Vietnam had made a conscious effort to improve the atmosphere in which US/Vietnamese relations were conducted. They deserved some credit. Instead they had once again been rebuffed. Vietnam wanted to normalise its relations with the US. They were ready to accept either a full US Embassy or an American Interests Section, on a basis of reciprocity. But they would not beg. After I had explained that the effects of the Vietnam war, which had traumatised the American people, had still not entirely worn off, Can observed that the Vietnamese had the greatest difficulty in understanding the depth of American mistrust. For example, there were still Americans who seriously believed that Vietnam held live American prisoners. They had shown American visitors round the former Hanoi Hilton so that they could satisfy themselves that there were no Americans still there. Funseth (State Department) had personally examined another building once used to house American prisoners (21 Hai Ba Truong). But apparently nothing would convince the Americans that there were no living prisoners left in Vietnam.
19.
I urged on Can the advantages of an enlightened policy towards Vietnamese expatriates, as pursued by the Hungarian Government towards its diaspora. Vietnam would discover that such people could act as a bridge, if approached in the right way. This drew from Can the categorical assertion that the Vietnamese Government had no objection to anyone of Vietnamese origin re-visiting
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