The first international conference on war memories in Asia was held in Seoul on November 25th – 26th, attended by researchers and civil society workers from Bangladesh, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Mr. Phạm Văn Chương, VPDF’s Vice-President, was present.

Themed “Reimagination of Asia – Peace Agenda and Politics of War Memory”, the conference was co-organized by the Northeast Asian History Foundation and the Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA).

As pointed out by the co-organizers in their concept paper, tackling the issues of “war and memories” was a key to positive changes in relations among Asian countries, who often support the idea of regional cooperation and community, but fail to take it further, beyond the surface level. Thus, it is hoped that the conference would help share the vision for a paradigm shift, to look back to the past for the future rather than restrict the future for the past, they emphasized.

In his presentation titled “Reflections on Vietnam War Memories”, Mr. Phạm Văn Chương said:

“In its history, Vietnam has on many occasions fallen victim to foreign invasion and domination, with heinous crimes committed against the Vietnamese people. We had to take up arms and fight, and finally triumphed. The invaders were driven out, and had to recognize our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Peace was restored, and relations with the aggressor country re-normalized.

“Looking back on those times, we are resolved to defend the fruits of our struggle, to foil all new attempts at imposing war on us, to consolidate the hard-won peace, and to make it sustainable. While we never forget the tremendous sufferings inflicted upon us by the invaders, we do not allow such nightmarish memories to haunt our whole life. As we usually put it, we are ready to shelve the past and look forward to the future.

“But, for a sound clap it takes two hands. For sound bilateral relations, especially between perpetrators and victims of past crimes, it takes from both sides goodwill, a spirit of reconciliation and, most importantly, honesty and respect for historical facts.”

As examples, he cited two cases from the American war in Vietnam – the Mỹ Lai massacre and the use of the dioxin-laden Agent Orange – and stressed:

“1. Historical facts should be respected, and could not be distorted or covered up or whitewashed forever. Sooner or later, they will come to light, but hopefully the sooner the better in order to avoid repetition of past mistakes and benefit longlasting relations between nations.

“2. While certain governments, for one reason or another, may pursue a negative policy towards other nations at certain moments, their ordinary citizens normally can act positively, provided that they have access to correct information, respect for historical truths, and a sense of responsibility. In the same direction, plus journalistic objectiveness, the media may play a positive, even decisive, role.

“3. For victims, past sufferings can never be forgotten; but a wrongdoing may be forgiven if the wrongdoer sincerely apologizes and is committed not to repeating it.

“4. We should learn from the past, but not become prisoners of the past. We should not let the past weigh heavily on the present and the future. We should allow present circumstances and interests, and the goal of building a better future for all, to provide guidance for our attitude and our relationships”./.