Posted on 08/17/2016 12:27:27 AM PDT by naturalman1975
A commemoration ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan in Vietnam has been cancelled.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Vietnamese authorities had cancelled Thursday's Veterans Day at the Long Tan cross site.
The department said it understood private access to the site was still permitted and the advice of exercising normal safety precautions in Vietnam was still current.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement the Vietnamese government had advised it would not permit the ceremony to go ahead.
An official party including the Australian and New Zealand ambassadors will still lay a wreath on Thursday.
"The government is deeply disappointed at this decision, and the manner in which it was taken, so close to the commemoration service taking place," the statement said.
The Australian government is trying to urgently lodge its concerns with its Vietnamese counterparts, saying the nations had been working closely together for 18 months to prepare for the commemoration.
"Australian veterans and their families had planned to attend a ceremony at Long Tan marked by mutual respect to remember and honour the sacrifice of those lost in the Vietnam War from both sides," the statement said.
"For many veterans, this would have been their first visit to Vietnam since the war."
More than 1000 Australians had travelled to Vietnam to attend the anniversary memorial service.
Veterans Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said representations to have the decision overturned would be made at the "highest levels".
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was seeking to speak with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Wednesday.
"For us to be given such short notice of the cancellation is, to put it in very frank terms, a kick in the guts," Mr Tehan told reporters in Canberra.
The government was advised of the decision late on Tuesday.
Commemorations will continue in Australia on Wednesday evening and Thursday.
The Vietnamese government was concerned about the "deep sensitivities" and the impact the commemoration would have on the local community, Mr Tehan said.
He insists Australian government officials had "gone out of our way" to make sure it was a "low-key commemoration" due to the sensitivities.
Mr Tehan said the government had no warning about the decision to his knowledge.
"One of the bitterly, bitterly disappointing things about what has occurred is the fact that this decision has taken place with such short notice," he said.
The Australian government's focus was on the wellbeing of the veterans and families who had travelled to Vietnam for the ceremony.
"My real hope is that we will see a change of heart by the Vietnamese government," Mr Tehan said.
Australia needs to use some diplomatic pressure here. Surely there’s something Vietnam wants or needs from Australia... sure would be a shame if that something got cancelled.
Well, to be very brutal... The (North Vietnamese) got what all they could get form the Aussies ... The vets and families had already traveled to Vietnam, had spent their money (most of it) already, and will have to spend more of it in Vietnam going home. And waiting for their plane flights back out.
In a country that values “saving face” as they do, this is an insult to the whites. Another Vietnamese war victory over the white capitalists.
That’s certainly not impossible, but it would be a matter of killing the golden goose. More and more Australians make the pilgrimage to Vietnam every year - for many of the veterans in their 70s, they know it’s their last chance and not all have gone for Long Tan - though pivotal in Australia’s time there, to individuals it can be far less important than where they served themselves. And their kids are going as well. Economically from a Vietnamese perspective I’m not sure this makes sense and so I’m not sure that is what is behind it. Seems more likely someone has taken offence at something, whether justified or not and nobody is talking about it right now.
I agree with that. It is a reason, but I don’t it is the “right” (Actual!) reason for this cancellation, nor is it a good, long-term answer - for the very things you mentioned.
If this were Hillary’s government, I would say somebody bought off Hillary. But the North Viets always seemed more sensible than this.
What day does Vietnam celebrate Walter Cronkite Day?
I don’t know, maybe the Vietnamese just want to move on.
What I have noticed here in the southern part of Vietnam, is that this is not a country at war anymore. Not even a little. They are busy trying to compete, busy trying to build up their country, and busy working. Everyone is busy. All of the time. Everywhere. Constantly.
Two entire generations, have now grown up here, since the war ended. The average age of the population is I believe, 25. I have (never) gotten any feedback from anyone, anywhere, which seems racist. Zero. It is a bit more conservative than Thailand or Cambodia. Well a lot more conservative from that standpoint (there is not really much of a nightlife scene here, at all). But there is a lot going on here now, still.
I think Vietnam is a new place.
It is a much different world now.
I have New Zealand cousins who fought in Vietnam around about this time...
I don’t know if they were in this one...
Long Tan: Vietnamese authorities allow restricted access to battle site after negotiations
Well, that is what happened during the entire Tet Offensive. We won very battle, won back very city, took the stored arms and eqpt, and knocked them out of the area for two years.
But lost the PR battle, lost the TV battles, and lost the war to the democrat-communists in Washington and NYC.
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