Phan Quang Dan: Difference between revisions
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (New page: An early to mid-20th century Vietnamese nationalist and friend of Bao Dai. In the 1940s, he had been in the Dai Viet nationalist party. He had a medical degree from Harvard, and wa...) |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz No edit summary |
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| title = Understanding Vietnam | | title = Understanding Vietnam | ||
| first=Neil L. | last= Jamieson | | first=Neil L. | last= Jamieson | ||
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=nC0LAJITUmsC&pg=PA238&lpg=PA238&dq=%22Phan+Quang+Dan%22&source=web&ots=v5jdYqMlwW&sig=b7IlPvvNIVq1TtTHkgd1tMupKJI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA239,M1}}, pp. 238-239</ref> he was one of only two opposition ministers in the government of [[Ngo Dinh Diem]]. | | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=nC0LAJITUmsC&pg=PA238&lpg=PA238&dq=%22Phan+Quang+Dan%22&source=web&ots=v5jdYqMlwW&sig=b7IlPvvNIVq1TtTHkgd1tMupKJI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA239,M1}}, pp. 238-239</ref> he was one of only two opposition ministers in the government of [[Ngo Dinh Diem]]. Diem did not want him seated, as he considered Dan a demagogue and he was suspicious of demagoguery. U.S. Ambassador [[Eldridge Durbrow]] had told Diem that the idea of a loyal opposition would be helpful internationally for Vietnam, but the idea was unattractive to Diem. Durbrow later said, "We should be prepared to acknowledge to ourselves that even over the longer term, democracy in the Western sense of the term may never come to exist in Vietnam. We should look with tolerance at [the government's] attempts to establish a political system that it considers in conformance with local traditions and needs. We should not try to make over Vietnam in our own image." <ref name=Moyar>{{citation | ||
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=phJrZ87RwuAC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=%22Phan+Quang+Dan%22&source=web&ots=Nw_vN4uceG&sig=X5chCnFWRN37CvwkYSm8KX54kJc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result | |||
| title = Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 | |||
|first = Mark |last = Moyar | year = 2006 | |||
| publisher = Cambridge University Press}}, p. 76 </ref> | |||
Diem later arrested him, and the International Commission of Jurists, in 1961, expressed concern over his disappearance after the coup of November 11, 1960. The ICJ described him as leader of the Democratic Party of South Vietnam.<ref name=ICJ>{{citation | Diem later arrested him, and the International Commission of Jurists, in 1961, expressed concern over his disappearance after the coup of November 11, 1960. The ICJ described him as leader of the Democratic Party of South Vietnam.<ref name=ICJ>{{citation | ||
| url = http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=3465&lang=en | | url = http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=3465&lang=en | ||
Revision as of 10:12, 20 November 2008
An early to mid-20th century Vietnamese nationalist and friend of Bao Dai. In the 1940s, he had been in the Dai Viet nationalist party. He had a medical degree from Harvard, and was reported to have worked for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services during the Second World War.
He was allied with Nguyen Tuong Tan, an early VNQDD nationalist and leader of the Greater Vietnam People's Rule party. After the 1959 legislative elections, where he won the greatest plurality of any candidate,[1] he was one of only two opposition ministers in the government of Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem did not want him seated, as he considered Dan a demagogue and he was suspicious of demagoguery. U.S. Ambassador Eldridge Durbrow had told Diem that the idea of a loyal opposition would be helpful internationally for Vietnam, but the idea was unattractive to Diem. Durbrow later said, "We should be prepared to acknowledge to ourselves that even over the longer term, democracy in the Western sense of the term may never come to exist in Vietnam. We should look with tolerance at [the government's] attempts to establish a political system that it considers in conformance with local traditions and needs. We should not try to make over Vietnam in our own image." [2] Diem later arrested him, and the International Commission of Jurists, in 1961, expressed concern over his disappearance after the coup of November 11, 1960. The ICJ described him as leader of the Democratic Party of South Vietnam.[3]
In 1968, he was stripped of a cabinet post four weeks after being named to it, for an allegedly treasonous statement. He had told a U.S. audience, that the Saigon government should be more liberal in agreeing to talks with the Vietcong. "Either you kill them all or you talk to them, and killing all of them is impossible." [4]
Later, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and deputy Prime Minster for social welfare and refugees in post-Diem governments. He was head of the Ministry of Social Welfare and responsible for Operation Babylift in 1975. He came to the U.S. after the fall of South Vietnam.
References
- ↑ Jamieson, Neil L., Understanding Vietnam, pp. 238-239
- ↑ Moyar, Mark (2006), Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965, Cambridge University Press, p. 76
- ↑ International Commission of Jurists, Vietnam - Dr. Phan-Quang-Dan's Disappearance
- ↑ Purnell, Karl M. (August 26, 1968), "Operation Self-Destruction: Planes Over Saigon", The Nation