Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese refugees formally ends

Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyễn Mạnh Cầm signed documents restoring diplomatic relations and opening embassies. The decision capped a gradual process...

At the final meeting of the CPA steering committee, participating governments confirmed that the regional plan would formally end on 30 June. This decision sought to close a large asylum and...

Malaysia and UNHCR closed the final camp after more than two decades of asylum, transit, return, and resettlement. More than a quarter-million people had passed through the country. The closure marked...

A camp for Vietnamese asylum seekers in Malaysia closed five days before the formal end of the Comprehensive Plan of Action. The closure marked the end of a period of first asylum and screening for...

The Communist Party opened its Eighth Congress in Hanoi and reviewed a decade of Đổi Mới. Delegates discussed industrialization and modernization while maintaining one-party rule. The agenda reflected...

The congress concluded after setting priorities for the next development period and continuing economic renovation. Its program sought to expand production and international integration under...

UNHCR ended a transitional period of repatriation and care assistance after the CPA. People who had returned to Vietnam still needed reintegration support, while regional governments and agencies...

The Senate confirmed Peterson’s appointment, moving the two countries toward routine diplomatic representation. A former POW became the first U.S. ambassador to postwar Vietnam. His appointment...

Peterson arrived to take up his post, beginning the work of the first U.S. ambassador in Vietnam since the war. His personal history as a former POW shaped public attention, while the embassy’s agenda...

The two countries exchanged ambassadors for the first time since the war and formally established resident diplomatic representation. Embassy relations created channels for negotiation and consular...