CIA The World Factbook

YI: Do you think it's a political culture?

Ninh: Yes, in other words, all countries have their culture. In theory, why can't there be more than two? I told them, suppose I want to run for president. Ross Perot with all his billions, never could make it. And no billionaire could make it without the party machine. But why can't there be a third party machine? Why does it have to be either Democrat or Republican? That baffles me. So you see what I mean. If we have to question ourselves about our one party, why can't the Americans ask why they don't have more parties just like the Europeans and many countries in the world. But it's very rare in the US to get those kind of questions. But I always try to make dialogue or a two-way street. So, I would like to say I don't know but it's not because there is still only party that you do not see any movement in the political and social life. One clear example of that is the media, which are much freer than before and the National Assembly which is much more assertive than before. I remember for example, when the government brought its executive to submit a bill on the role of the national audit. We refused to look at the substance before it was decided the general auditor on which branch of power it would come. He used to be accountable to the executive, which we found rather strange. And we inquired other countries in the world how it was, and most countries, if they were under the legislature, in the case of France, they would take special cases under the judiciary. Only two countries had it under the executive, China and Vietnam. But we voted to remove it under the executive and to have it as an independent body and voted in by the National Assembly, which means, if it voted any position, that position can be revoked by us, and held accountable to us, which meant they had to report yearly to us. So, in a sense, that was a kind of victory of the National Assembly. It wasn't what the executive had expected. So, you see, the new thing is before, the executive knew what was going to happen in the National Assembly. Today, they cannot be certain that everything will work as they tried to anticipate.

YI: You mentioned a freer press. Indeed, the fact that they expose corruption indicate they have the freedom to do investigative reporting. But these are all state-owned media. There is no privately-owned media. Why is that?

Ninh: I think it's because of the press law. I was discussing it at the National Assembly, not under this legislature but the previous one. The majority of the members of the National Assembly voted to keep the media public. When I say public, it means that you have to have some permission from the government. It doesn't mean that everything comes directly from the government. For example, if you want to establish a new magazine, you can. But, you have to find a recognized association under which to establish it. And the money put into it can be private. There are even foreign ventures which have put money into some of our papers. So, it's not that black and white. What I mean is that you need to get the permission. But it doesn't mean that all the magazines and newspapers are created by the government. So you can take the initiative to establish a magazine.

YI: So there are joint ventures between the government and foreign investors in the field of media?

Ninh: There is a joint venture with a company from Switzerland, perhaps a few others. So if you look at the supply, it's very diverse. For example, the People's Daily, that's the party organ. Certain magazines are directly under ministries. But there will be magazines that are under an association.

YI: Outsiders looking in see a great difference between southern and northern Vietnam. There are different ways of doing things, and this is still going on after two decades of reunification. What will it take for both sides to share a common vision?

Ninh: I would like to dispute that perception. I was born in the center, my family lived in the south for a long time and I worked in the north, and now I am back in the south because of my university project. I really feel as a woman and here I have to bring some clarification. Vietnam – the notion of north and south is the creation of the Americans during their intervention. The French colonials stuck to the realities of Vietnam better, because they created three entities. And for those who understand the language, you can go deep into the cultures, the traditions and customs and you will see that Vietnam is composed of three regions and not two. I take exception to that because I come from the central part. Don't mix up over my part of Vietnam. I joke that I'm from Hue, the nicest part of Vietnam, don't miss it. For those who take up the trouble to read the history, to understand the language and its culture, in the center because of the ethnography, there is some Cham influence. So in the central part of Vietnam, people say the faces look a little bit different. It's a common feature, something that has to do perhaps with the Chams kingdom in the old days. My son has curly hair and that must come from which generation of my forbears, my ancestors. What I say is that the notion of north and south is a political notion that was created in 1964. Now, of course, because it has all the ways of the ideological trend then, as the Americans designed the war, an entity that shouldn't have come to being. If you read carefully the Geneva Accord of 1964, in 1966 we should have held general elections throughout the country. But they were never held. And it is a documented fact that it was the Americans side that refused to let general elections take place because the CIA itself knew and recognized that Ho Chi Minh would have won. And therefore, this notion of north and south is political. It's not part of the culture. And there are people from the center. And if you know people joke about the character, the temperament of people in the central part, in the southern part and in the north. That's the qualification that I would like to make. But the political cleavage the divide of course, it was most apparent and real in the two decades after the end of the war. But today, it's quite blurred. I don't think it's it appears fully. Frankly, to be philosophical, when I was ambassador in Brussels and to Luxemburg, I was told that in coffee shops and shops close to the German border, Many of them don't serve the Germans, because of the memories of World War II. And that was 60 years after. Here, of course, it's already 30 years. All in all, I think that the reconciliation and the confusion again, is moving in the right direction is relatively fast, considering each family you had members in opposite camps. My older brother worked for the South Vietnamese army. You could have in one family a colonel up here and a general down there. So, it's like a glass half empty and a glass half full. Some people worry whether we can come closer together. But, given that very fierce war and divide, and the fact that some families were divided, it's gone a long way. The same applies in our relationship with the Vietnamese diaspora. For example, our president when he went to the US, he made a special effort to reach out to the Vietnamese diaspora saying, the war is over. We are all Vietnamese, let's join hands to make Vietnam more prosperous, a better life for all Vietnamese wherever they are. It seems to me that that kind of reaching out we also have inside, those who fought for or were close to the Saigon regime and if we can reconcile with the American veterans, why cant we among ourselves. So I think there's a lot of human truth, a paradox, that we should normalize, and reconcile with our former foes, perhaps we should be able to do it among ourselves.

YI: Let's talk about the role of powerful women in Vietnam. You led and were involved in many women's organizations. Vietnamese women seems to have been involved in struggles, whether in conflict or in the household. Vietnamese women are very strong. To what do you attribute this strength?

Ninh: First of all, I think it's in the culture. In China, feudalism was very deep and the women had their feet bound. In Vietnam, right from the start women were much freer. There is a saying, a united couple can work wonders. So that kind of spirit has always been there. Second, it was the wars. Because during the war, all the men were fighting. Back home, women were thrust into positions of responsibility in the agricultural, cooperatives or in the local communes or villages. They became village chiefs and all that. And even inside the resistance, there were many women, who did political work, some even accompanied the troops as medical assistants. Today--- even though it's written in the law--- in practice at home, back in the 1930s, the policy was written in the party platform, and later into the constitution, the first one being in 1946. So legally, and the women's union, were picked up by the party but even before the party. Now, with peace and with the young women being more educated, the greatest gain is among women in business. You'll be surprised to find so many young dynamic, enterprising and successful women entrepreneurs in Vietnam. I remember we had a network of Vietnamese women internationally. And we were a delegation of women bankers and I organized a dinner where I gathered all the CEOs and deputy CEOs of banks, the vice-governor of the central bank, and the deputy chair of the state securities. I had 13 or 14 of them, and it was a really big surprise to see so many Vietnamese women in banking. I think the women today are grasping the opportunities in the economic field, where I think is moving more slower is in politics. In political life, I think the government is not enough, in the National Assembly there is good average, in our legislature was 27.3 percent, but this legislature dropped to 25 percent.

YI: Why do you think that is? Women are not interested in politics?

Ninh: I think it has something to do with young women wanting to be in the economy. Make money. But I think that later, when they are above 40 years, once they've got the money, they will want to make a difference in all fields of life and activities. So I hope then they will turn to political life. But it also has to do with women's unions not adapting in time to the complexities of the power struggle and so trying to find good candidates, defending good candidates, campaigning for good candidates , I think that the women's unions fall short. They have to work harder. In the new framework, in the new conditions, how do you adjust? The women union did wonders in the early years after the end of the war, in terms of eradicating illiteracy. No doubt about that. They are doing a good job at the grass roots level. And the World Bank and various NGOs are very much in favor of the women's union work. But in the political life, they need to learn some more. It's not as easy as the social fields.

YI: Where do you see Vietnam in 10 years time? What will be the biggest challenges it will face?

Ninh: One of the biggest challenges will be in the infrastructure because FDI or foreign direct investment is not going to be matched, or quick enough and robust enough to set up another physical and technical infrastructure. But the second biggest challenge will be in the field of human resources. At the moment, companies are saying that mid-level managers in Vietnam are paid higher than even in China because they are very scarce commodity here. Thirdly, is the whole question of administrative reform, transparency, corruption, accountability. All issues of governance. And as I said before, how to narrow the regional gap.

YI: On that note Madame Ninh, thank you very much for your valuable time and for the informative session.