Canada Reviews Ties with Vietnam
Canada Outraged Over Execution of Vietnamese Canadian
Dateline: 04/30/00
As thousands dance in the streets in Ho Chi Minh City celebrating the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, the Canadian government has called for a review of all bilateral relations with Vietnam.
Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other Canadian officials are outraged over the unexpected execution of a Vietnamese Canadian convicted of heroin smuggling. Toronto seamstress Nguyen Thi Hiep was put to death by firing squad in Hanoi on April 24. She was convicted in 1997 of smuggling five kilograms of heroin.
CBC News reported that two months ago Toronto police sent Vietnamese authorities information indicating that Nguyen Thi Hiep and her 74 year old mother, who is still being held in a Hanoi jail, may have been set up. Toronto police have evidence of a similar case around the same time of another woman being used to smuggle heroin in paintings. The difference in that case was the woman was arrested at Toronto Pearson International airport, not in Vietnam.
No warning was given to Canadian officials or to the family and there was no chance to intervene. A personal plea for clemency from Prime Minister Chrétien was ignored. Mr. Axworthy's request for an explanation was also ignored.
Cécile Latour, the Canadian ambassador to Vietnam, who is currently in Canada, will not return to Vietnam as scheduled, and will be reviewing all aspects of Canada's relations with Vietnam. Canadian diplomats have boycotted the 25 year anniversary celebrations organized by the Vietnamese government to mark the end of the war, and officials have rejected a request for technical assistance for Vietnam's application to join the World Trade Organization.
Mr. Axworthy has written to his counterpart in Vietnam asking that Ms. Nguyen's elderly mother be released on humanitarian grounds, and that Ms. Nguyen's remains be returned to the family in Canada.
Trade between Canada and Vietnam is not significant, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Relations is looking at proposals for new sanctions against Vietnam.
