May 1, 2000 (3 p.m. EDT) No. 89

CANADA ANNOUNCES FURTHER VIETNAM SANCTIONS

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, Minister for International Co-operation Maria Minna and Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) Raymond Chan today announced the results of Canada's review of bilateral relations with Vietnam. The review comes in the wake of last week's execution of Nguyen Thi Hiep, a Vietnamese-Canadian woman who had been found guilty of drug trafficking four years ago.

"We have yet to receive any reaction from the Vietnamese authorities on this case. The Vietnamese government's public pronouncements about their reasons for proceeding with the execution have not addressed the concerns we raised with them," said Minister Axworthy. "Effective today, therefore, all ministerial-level contact between Canada and Vietnam is suspended, other than contact that occurs in the context of multilateral meetings. In addition, Canada will not support Vietnamese candidates for positions in international organizations."

Minister Minna further strengthened Canada's message to the Government of Vietnam by indefinitely postponing upcoming consultations on existing development assistance and future programming.

"Postponing our annual consultation on development assistance will send a clear signal that we are not satisfied with the response of the Vietnam government," said Minister Minna.

Reports from Vietnam claim that the authorities there had not been convinced by the evidence provided by Toronto police and, therefore, proceeded with the execution. "This is simply not good enough," said Secretary of State Chan. "The Vietnamese authorities did not respond to Canada's requests that the Toronto police visit Hanoi to provide more details of their findings. Proceeding to execution without providing for this opportunity for further discussion was unconscionable."

Mr. Axworthy called on the Vietnamese government to respond favourably to the request of Ms. Nguyen's family that her aged mother, Tran Thi Cam, who received a life

sentence on the same charge as Ms. Nguyen, be released on humanitarian grounds. The Minister also asked that the family's request for Ms. Nguyen's remains to be returned to them be granted.

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Debora Brown

Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

(613) 995-1851

Naseem Nuraney

Office of the Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific)

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Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

Robin Walsh

Office of the Minister for International Co-operation

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Media Relations Office

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Internet http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca (electronic version of the document):

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