Senator John McCain, who helped lay the foundation for a cooperative Viet Nam-US relationship, passed away on 25 August (US time) at the age of 81.

Senator John McCain (Photo: Reuter)

McCain himself served in the invading war of the US in Viet Nam. He joined in the Rolling Thunder air campaign in 1967, bombing targets in the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam (northern Viet Nam). His plane was shot down on 26 October, 1967 and McCain was taken prisoner. He was returned to the US in an exchange of prisoners in 1973.

Returning from Viet Nam, McCain joined politics and was one of the first persons campaigning for normalization of US-Viet Nam relations through promoting humanitarian issues such as removing unexploded ordnance left by the war, searching for missing-in-action personnel, supporting people with disabilities caused by the war, and detoxifying areas polluted by dioxin.

In 1994, the US Senate approved a resolution sponsored by McCain and Senator John Kerry, calling to end the economic sanction against Viet Nam, paving the way for the normalization of relations between the two countries one year later.

Following the normalization of bilateral ties, McCain and Kerry visited Viet Nam many times to address the issue of American missing-in-action soldiers (POW/MIA).

Along with pushing for the normalization of relations with Viet Nam, Senator McCain also supported the Vietnamese community in the US, serving as a bridge between them and the US authorities as well as the Vietnamese Government.

At a meeting with the Senator in Washington DC on January 21, 2016, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh praised the Senator for his great contribution to the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

In reply, McCain said he always attaches importance to the US-Viet Nam relations, and for him, Viet Nam has an important position and role in the region.

Senator McCain is one of the persons who have laid the foundation for the Viet Nam-US ties to develop into a comprehensive partnership with remarkable progress across the fields, benefiting both countries at present.

(Source: VNA)