By Anh Do, Los Angeles Times
Of all the places in the world, why did Larry Agran have to choose Vietnam?
Irvine Councilman Larry Agran has dropped his plan for the city to have a friendship city in Vietnam. Photo from City of Irvine.
That’s what local Vietnamese Americans wondered after learning the longtime Irvine councilman hoped to forge a relationship between the master-planned community and Nha Trang, a south coastal city in Vietnam known for its beaches and scuba diving.
To many who fled the country after it fell to communist forces, Agran’s proposal seemed designed to cause hurt and hundreds indicated they planned to confront Agran on Tuesday when he was expected to roll out his “friendship city” proposal.
But in the face of the growing uproar, Agran withdrew his plan, saying he was bowing to the concerns of “a good many people.”
Irvine is nearly 40% Asian — with large Chinese and Vietnamese populations — and is only miles from Little Saigon, the nation’s largest Vietnamese American community and a place where anti-communist sentiments still run deep. The flag of South Vietnam is ubiquitous in the immigrant community, fluttering from government flagpoles, carried proudly in community parades and waved by politicians seeking votes.
Agran said he’d hope to establish a more personal relationship with the Vietnamese city.
“In a multi-cultural city like Irvine, we like to establish these bonds,” he said. “It’s person-to-person, city-to-city, we steer clear of national government.”
Read the full story by Anh Do from Los Angeles Times.
