By Tam Nguyen, Nguoi Viet
By the time hundreds of protestors had reached Irvine City Hall Tuesday night, Councilman Larry Agran already had agreed to amend his motion that called on his city to enter a “friendship city” agreement with Nha Trang, Vietnam, and two other cities.
Members of the Vietnamese American community gather outside of Irvine City Hall carrying American flags and South Vietnamese flags on Tuesday night to convey that they don’t want Irvine to enter into a “friendship city” relationship with a city in Vietnam. Photo by Dan Huynh/Nguoi Viet.
Still, one after another went to the podium to tell Agran and the rest of the city council their thoughts on the idea. The throng of Vietnamese Americans had come by buses from Garden Grove, Westminster and even San Diego to let Agran and the rest of the city council know that entering any sort of agreement with Nha Trang would be an insult to the community.
By the time the meeting was over, members of the Irvine City Council, by a 3-2 motion, rejected entering into a friendship city agreement with any city – Agran also had proposed cities in Pakistan and China – and to create new rules that would govern just how Irvine could enter into partnerships with foreign cities in the future.
More than 100 people, including 20-plus elected and appointed leaders or their representatives — let their voices be heard by the council. And the Irvine council heard loudly that Vietnamese Americans living in the United States did not want to align themselves with a country that many had to flee decades ago to find freedom from oppression.
Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, when she took her turn at the podium, offered data that detailed Vietnam in general, and Nha Trang specifically, for a poor record on human rights.
“Shame on you, Mr. Agran, for not thinking twice,” the Los Angeles Times reported Nguyen as saying.
Lan Q. Nguyen, a member of the board of the Garden Grove Unified School District, also offered his perspective with a simple summation, according to the Times. “For those who don’t grasp how oppressive the government of Vietnam is, think of North Korea,” he said.
