The first day of a historic U.S. visit by Vietnam's prime minister had a rocky start yesterday, as hundreds of noisy protesters lined the street outside his Seattle hotel and others heckled him at an afternoon news conference.
Phan Van Khai, the first Vietnamese prime minister to visit the United States in the 30 years since the Vietnam War ended, yesterday kicked off his weeklong, multistate tour by urging Vietnamese emigres to help strengthen relations between the two nations.
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Although trade advocates and some Vietnam veterans welcomed Khai, he remains a controversial figure for many Vietnamese Americans, who accuse him of human rights abuses, including denying free speech, freedom of religion and democratic elections.
"He always talks about unifying the country, but in practice, he never does that," said Sai Nguyen of the Vietnamese American Coalition in Northwest America, which organized a protest and rally yesterday across from Khai's hotel. "Unification means accepting everybody's different political views."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/229244_vietnam20.html