Politik - Demokratie (2013/2)

Blow for Vietnam PM in first ever confidence vote

11.06.2013 (Bangkok Post) - Vietnam's premier suffered a setback Tuesday after a third of lawmakers in the one-party state voted against him in a first ever confidence vote, seen as a bid to deflect growing public anger at the communist regime. One hundred and sixty of some 500 lawmakers voiced "low confidence" in Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's premiership, which has been tainted by a string of corruption scandals and worries over his handling of the ailing economy. "Dung's results are a disaster," Vietnam expert Carl Thayer told AFP, adding that the premier "will be chastened by the result but will continue in office"... "The confidence vote reveals that party in-fighting between factions is likely to continue," Thayer added. [read more]

Vietnam MPs vote low confidence in PM Nguyen Tan Dung

11.06.2013 (BBC) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has won the full support of less than half of parliament in an unprecedented confidence vote. Mr Dung received votes of "high confidence" from only 210 members of the 498-seat national assembly. He got 122 votes of "confidence" and 160 votes of "low confidence" in the three-ratings ballot. Remaining lawmakers did not cast ballots. Correspondents say that the vote is a rare public blow for the PM. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam PM takes a hit in first-ever confidence vote

11.06.2013 (Reuters) Hanoi - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was dealt a rare public blow on Tuesday, winning the full support of less than half of members of a parliament dominated by his ruling Communist Party in the country's first-ever confidence vote.

The former central bank governor got votes of "high confidence" from 210 members of the 498-seat national assembly, with 160 passing votes of "low confidence" in a rare show of public scrutiny of Vietnam's leaders. [read more]

Vietnam’s Dung Passes Confidence Vote as Economic Growth Slows

11.06.2013 (Bloomberg) Vietnam’s prime minister secured enough support from parliament during the communist country’s first confidence vote to keep his job, with almost a third of lawmakers rating him poorly as economic growth stagnates.

Nguyen Tan Dung had support from 67 percent of National Assembly members, the legislature announced in Hanoi today. Thirty-two percent of lawmakers gave him a “low-confidence” ranking. Central bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh received a “low-confidence” report card from 42 percent of lawmakers. [read more]

Vatikan und Vietnam verhandeln über diplomatische Beziehungen

11.06.2013 (KAP) Vatikanstadt - Der Vatikan und Vietnam setzen die Verhandlungen über eine Normalisierung ihrer diplomatischen Beziehungen fort. Die bilaterale Gesprächsrunde tagt kommenden Donnerstag und Freitag, wie der Vatikan am Dienstag mitteilte. Es ist das vierte Treffen der Arbeitsgruppe. Mit dem Ende des Vietnamkriegs 1975 hatten die kommunistischen Machthaber die diplomatischen Beziehungen zum Heiligen Stuhl abgebrochen. [Weiterlesen]

Journalist Đoàn Viết Hoạt aus Vietnam zu Gast 10.06.2013 (Nürtinger Zeitung) - Neckartenzlingen (ha). Der SPD-Ortsverein lädt ein zu einem Vortrag mit dem Journalisten Doan Viet Hoat aus Vietnam. Die Veranstaltung findet am Mittwoch, 12. Juni, um 19 Uhr im Seniorenraum der Alten Schule statt. Der Professor und Journalist war als Herausgeber des „Freedom Forum“ – einer illegalen Publikation – 1990 wegen „versuchten Umsturzes der Regierung“ zu 20 Jahren Arbeitslager verurteilt worden. Nach Protesten aus dem Ausland kam er 1998 frei. Alte Schule, Schulstr. 19, 72654 Neckartenzlingen - [tiếng Việt]Regulating television in Vietnam. Ministry of obscurity

10.06.2013 by M.I. (The Economist) - The Communist Party cadres who run Vietnam’s government have never been regarded as the biggest fans of free speech—they prefer jailing the dissidents who challenge their authority—but they may have reached a new low recently, with a law designed to force foreign television broadcasters to pay to be censored.

Technically, the law requires only that the broadcasters apply for so-called “editing licences”. But the media outlets are wary; the implication is that they could be required to pay English-speaking Vietnamese “editors” to watch their content, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The “editors” could then contrive to block coverage of, for instance, political uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. Or documentaries about political repression in Vietnam. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Dung Faces First Confidence Vote

09.06.2013 (Bloomberg News) - Vietnam’s prime minister faces his first confidence vote in parliament today, where he is expected to get the backing of lawmakers after a series of stumbles culminated in a rare public apology to the nation last year. Premier Nguyen Tan Dung, the country’s president and 45 senior officials will come under fresh scrutiny as the 499-member National Assembly holds confidence votes for the first time, part of changes announced in November to bring greater accountability to government. [read more]

California Vietnamese, Tibetans Protest Communist China Leader's Arrival For Summit

07.06.2013 By R. Scott Moxley (OC Weekly) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is getting a warm welcome from U.S. President Barack Obama this afternoon in Rancho Mirage for their summit and not just because the California desert temperature topped 110 degrees. In his five years in the White House, Obama has treated the Chinese leadership with guarded respect. But not everyone in Southern California wants

the new, 59-year-old communist leader to be comfortable. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Protesters Stake Out Estate Hosting Obama-Xi Summit

With support from Congress, hundreds gather in sun to deliver message

08.06.2013 By Annie Wu (Epoche Times) - Before Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping even set foot in California, protesters were already assembled near the Sunnylands estate, in the hot California desert, where Xi and U.S. President Barack Obama are holding their two day summit over June 7 and 8.

The protesters gathered at a time when Obama has been strongly called upon to do more to support human rights in China, most recently by outspoken New Jersey congressman Chris Smith, who brought the topic up in a House session on June 6, calling China the “torture capital of the world.” [read more]

USA & Japan: Die Platzhirsche wehren sich

Wer dominiert den Westpazifik?

07.06.2013 (3Sat) Chinas neue Hegemonialpolitik ruft die alten Platzhirsche im Westpazifik auf den Plan: Japan verteidigt jeden Felsen und die USA gewinnen unverhofft neue Freunde - z.B. den ehemaligen Kriegsgegner Vietnam. Immer wieder kommt es zu Scharmützeln auf offener See, weil sich Japan, Taiwan und China um Inseln im Westpazifik streiten. Wer die Inseln hat, dem gehören auch die Meereszonen um sie herum. Und damit die Fangrechte, aber vielleicht auch bislang unentdecktes Öl und Gas. [Weiterlesen]

We Are Not The New Nazis

07.06.2013 (StrategyPage) - China continues to make threatening moves, and noises in the South China Sea. The nations on the receiving end (Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines) are alarmed at the aggressiveness China is showing towards India, a neighbor with nuclear weapons. This is demoralizing for China’s neighbors who hope that the United States will provide some support if China became too aggressive. None of these nations are interested in negotiations either, in part because of the Chinese custom of using these meetings to generate more propaganda, not seriously try to work out a compromise. All the nations are putting more troops and weapons in the disputed areas and sending more naval and air patrols. Meanwhile the Chinese Navy is seen more often in the South China Sea and Western Pacific. Not just warships, but also long range recon aircraft and marines staging landing exercises on these uninhabited islets. So far this year China has sent groups of warships into the Western pacific at least once a month. [read more]

Vietnamese Blog Back on Line

07.06.2013 by David Brown (Asia Sentinel) - Independent political news voice wiped out by mysterious hackers - The Vietnamese political news blog Anh Ba Sam has regained its equilibrium and its name after a series of mysterious attacks in March. Attackers took over the site, replacing its articles with their own content and changing passwords for the site's administrative sections. When Anh Ba Sam's owners contacted WordPress, the blog's hosting service, in an effort to reclaim access to their site, the company asked the owners to verify their identities. But that wasn't easy – the attackers had changed the site's security information, leaving the owners temporarily unable to prove they were the legitimate administrators. [read more]

Vietnam's Ambitions

06.06.2013 by Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - Before Vietnam can embark on its global journey, it must first resolve the issue of trust at home. Vietnam's ambitions were on display at the 12th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore when Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam delivered his keynote address. Titled "Building Strategic Trust for Peace, Cooperation and Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific Region," the address (which can be read online at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue website) wastes little time in establishing the premise of this year's forum and Vietnam's foreign defense policy. At the heart of all of this, and reiterated time and again by Prime Minister Dung, is the necessity of "building trust". [read more]

If Your Blog Gets Hacked, Can WordPress Help? 

05.06.2013 by David Brown (Global Voices Online) - In March, Vietnamese political news blog Anh Ba Sam underwent a series of attacks that left its content compromised and its owners unable to access the blog’s back end. Attackers took over the site, replacing its articles with their own content and changing passwords for the site’s administrative sections.

When Anh Ba Sam’s owners contacted WordPress, the blog’s hosting service, in an effort to reclaim access to their site, the company asked the owners to verify their identities. But this wasn’t easy — the attackers changed security information on the site, leaving the owners temporarily unable to prove their claim. Although the has since been resolved, it raises critical questions about the role of blog hosting platforms and their responsibilities to provide adequate security measures for their clients. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam’s Angry Feet

06.06.2013 By TUONG LAI (The New York Times) - Last month, Vietnamese courts imposed heavy sentences on two patriotic students in their early 20s who had been charged with “speaking ill of China.” These charges touched the most sensitive nerve in the nation’s psyche — our patriotism and spirit of nationalism — and publicly exposed the government’s shady collusion with foreign aggressors. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Drill with Vietnam to test China waters

06.06.2013 (The Telegraph, India) - New Delhi, June 6: Four Indian warships anchored in Da Nang will sail out of the Tien Sa port for a rescue drill with the Vietnamese navy in waters that China contests, about the same time that defence minister A.K. Antony lands in New Delhi tonight after a three-nation Asia-Pacific tour. [read more]

US warns Vietnam 'backtracking' on rights

06.06.2013 (The Straits Times) - WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior US official warned on Wednesday that Vietnam's record on human rights was deteriorating as he faced calls from Congress to put tougher conditions on the nations' warming partnership. [read more]

Vietnam: Fall Van Thuân kommt nach Rom 04.06.2013 (Radio Vatikan) - An diesem Mittwoch endet die diözesane Phase im Seligsprechungsverfahren von Kardinal François Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân. Die Akten gehen damit zur genauen Prüfung nach Rom an die Kongregation für Selig- und Heiligsprechungen. Der aus Vietnam stammende Van Thuân, damals Bischof von Saigon, hatte nach der Machtübernahme der Kommunisten von 1975 bis 1988 in Gefängnissen und Umerziehungslagern verbracht. [Weiterlesen]

A diamond in the South China Sea's rough

04.06.2013 By Richard Javad Heydarian (Asia Times) - MANILA - While Japan possesses the hard power and military hardware to keep China's territorial ambitions in relative check, smaller, less-armed countries like the Philippines and Vietnam have proven far more vulnerable. Now, an emerging Japan-led "security diamond" alliance could change the region's big-versus-small country dynamic, including in the contested South China Sea.

Since 2010, the Philippines and Vietnam have banked in varying degrees on enhanced security ties with the United States to counter China's rising maritime assertiveness. Three years into the US's so-called "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific, however, it remains unclear whether Washington's announced recommitment to the region is serving as a credible deterrent. [read more]

Communist Party Betrays Vietnam's Peasants

26.05.2013 (Times Media, SA) - Not content with a 30-minute delay on broadcasts of foreign television channels, communist Vietnam has introduced a brazen new law which observers say could force media outlets such as the BBC and CNN to pay for their own censorship. The law, known as Decision 20, requires channels to apply for an editing license with a government-approved local partner who will "prepare" - subtitle and edit - their content for a local audience, for an undisclosed fee. The authoritarian nation already bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run. It has also long-censored foreign television channels, which are broadcast with a delay of up to 30 minutes to allow sensitive content to be cut. [read more]

Diplomat charged with selling US visas

26.05.2013 (Bangkok Post) - WASHINGTON - A consular officer allegedly sold visas for millions of dollars at the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, and laundered millions in profits by buying real estate in Phuket and Bangkok, reports said Sunday. He has been held without bail for more than a week as a "serious flight risk" defendant. Mr Sestak faces charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and bribery.

The story was covered up by the US State Department, but was revealed by McClatchy news agency last Friday. [read more]

Todesstrafe für Goldräuber

24.05.2013 (Nordbayerischer Kurier/dpa) - Hanoi. Drei Goldräuber müssen in Vietnam nach einer Serie spektakulärer Überfälle mit dem Leben für ihre Straftaten bezahlen. Die Männer hatten zwischen 2000 und 2005 mit mehreren Komplizen acht Goldhändler überfallen, einen von ihnen erschossen, drei schwer verletzt und etwa 30 Kilogramm Gold erbeutet, wie eine Lokalzeitung in Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt am Freitag berichtete. Ein Gericht verhängte gegen die geständigen Drahtzieher (47 bis 56 Jahre) die Todesstrafe durch Giftinjektion. Ein Komplize wurde zu lebenslang, ein weiterer zu 15 Jahren verurteilt. Zwei Bandenmitglieder seien vor dem Prozess an einer Überdosis Rauschgift gestorben, schrieb die Zeitung. [Weiterlesen]

http://www.nordbayerischer-kurier.de/nachrichten/todesstrafe_fuer_goldraeuber

Irrer Plan aus Tschechien: Vietnamesen-Polizei soll Drogenhandel an deutscher Grenze stoppen

23.05.2013 Von Frank Selig (Bild) - Prag – Tschechien will an der Grenze zu Deutschland bald vietnamesische Polizisten auf Streife schicken. Die Prager Regierung schloss jetzt eine solche Vereinbarung mit Vietnam. Grund: Die Drogenszene an der Grenze wird mehr und mehr von vietnamesischen Kartellen kontrolliert. Sie stellen Crystal im großen Stil her, verkaufen die Todesdroge anschließend auf Asia-Märkten an der Grenze zu Sachsen. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]

“Decision 20” silences 16 foreign TV channels

21.05.2013 (Reporters without Borders) - Reporters Without Borders is shocked by a government decree, called Decision 20/2011/QD-TTG, which has prevented local retransmission of four categories of foreign TV channels since 15 May by requiring them to pay for simultaneous translation of all their programming into Vietnamese.

Vietnam Satellite Digital Television Company (VSTV), a pay-TV operator launched by French broadcaster Canal+ and Vietnam’s national TV broadcaster, suspended retransmission of 21 TV channels including CNN, BBC and Star World as soon as the decree took effect. [read more]

La “Décision 20” provoque la suppression de 16 chaînes de télévision étrangères

21.05.2013 (Reporters sans frontières) - Depuis le 15 mai 2013, un nouveau décret, la Décision 20/2011/QD-TTG, impose à quatre catégories de chaînes de télévision étrangères la traduction intégrale et simultanée de leurs programmes. La société Vietnam Satellite Digital Television Company (VSTV), co-créée par le groupe français Canal +, a immédiatement cessé la diffusion de 21 chaînes, parmi lesquelles CNN, la BBC et Star World. “Nous réclamons auprès des autorités vietnamiennes le retrait immédiat de ce décret, qui vise clairement à contraindre les chaînes étrangères à se retirer du pays. Se conformer à cette loi provoquerait des coûts trop élevés pour les chaînes, qui ne pourront toutes s’y soumettre. Mais au-delà des frais engendrés, cette mesure, difficile à mettre en œuvre, ouvre surtout la porte à toutes les censures”, a déclaré Reporters sans frontières. [en savoir plus...]

Vietnam's Population Reaches Over 88.5 Million

21.05.2013 (Bernama) - Hanoi. As of April 1, 2012, Vietnam's population reached 88.5 million people, an increase of 915,000 people over the previous year, local Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Tuesday, quoting latest released statistics data.

Of the total, 28.5 million are urban citizens, accounting for 32.3 percent; and 43.7 million are male, accounting for 49.5 percent, reports China's Xinhua news agency.

The new data has brought the country's population density to 267 people per square kilometres, a high rate compared to that in the region and the world as well.

The latest data also revealed the fact that Vietnam's population tends to grow old remarkably. The under-15-year-old group made up 23.9 percent of the total, compared to 33.1 percent in 1999.

The country's aging rate, a result from comparing the number of people over 60 with those under 15 years old, increased from 24.3 percent in 1999 to 42.7 percent in 2012.

As of 2012, four percent of the people above 5 year old never went to school, while 5.3 percent of those above 15 were illiterate, and 20.8 percent of the population has not yet graduated from secondary school.

Women of the 15-49 year-old group having more than three children accounted for 14.2 percent of the total

China, Vietnam building military structures in Spratlys

21.05.2013 by Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) - MANILA, Philippines - As the Philippine government is busy mending fences with Taiwan, China on the other hand is busy constructing military structures at Union Bank, a chain of reefs in the hotly contested Spratlys region.

Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon yesterday said that Union Bank, a wide body of shallow water located well within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), is now teeming with construction activities not only by the Chinese but also by the Vietnamese.

“That’s the report I’ve been receiving from our local fishermen coming from that area. They are building military structures,” Bito-onon said.

Aside from its military garrison in Mischief Reef, China has already established and fortified its military structure in Subi Reef, as it has already completed construction of a three-story building, wharfs and a helipad. Subi is located only 26 nautical miles off Kalayaan town in Pag-Asa Island.

Continuous monitoring at the West Philippine Sea region has registered an increase in the presence of Chinese warships in the area.

China’s naval deployment coincided with the recent pronouncement of a senior Chinese general that the killing of the Taiwanese fisherman by PCG personnel can already be considered as an attack on China since Taiwan is a Chinese territory.

Asia-Pacific leaders warn of water conflict threat – Efforts to secure water have sparked tensions

21.05.2013 (Kuwait Times) - CHIANG MAI, Thailand: Fierce competition for water could trigger conflict unless nations cooperate to share the diminishing resource, leaders from Asia-Pacific nations warned yesterday. From Central to Southeast Asia, regional efforts to secure water have sparked tensions between neighbours reliant on rivers to sustain booming populations. Breakneck urbanisation, climate change and surging demand from agriculture have heaped pressure on scarce water supplies, while the majority of people in Asia-Pacific still lack access to safe water despite strong economic growth. “There could be a fight over resources,” Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra cautioned in an address to a regional water security forum in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. “No country in this region can handle these challenges alone,” she said, hailing forums such as the Asia-Pacific Water Summit as the route to satisfying countries’ thirst peacefully. A Thai firm is behind a controversial dam over the Mekong river in Laos, a project decried by downstream countries Vietnam and Cambodia which fear it could ruin their farming and fishing industries. [read more]

In Vietnam law makers are law breakers

21.05.2013 (Tobacco Reporter) - It was difficult for Vietnam to enforce tobacco control laws because the people who passed those laws also broke them, according to a story in Vietnam Net.

At a meeting of the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs, deputy Cuong described smoking in public places as a chronic disease that was never cured. “At the meetings of the National Assembly (NA), just during the break, the hallway was filled with cigarette smoke,” said Cuong. “It looked terrible.”

In the offices of the NA committees, he added, deputies closed the doors, turned on the air-conditioners and smoked.

Cuong said the implementation of the law had to begin with Congress because this was the law-making agency. After the NA had done so, the government and the agencies of the ministry of justice had to implement the law strictly, he added.

Google challenger in Vietnam redirecting queries

18.05.2013 (The Asahi Shimbun) - HANOI, Vietnam - A Russian-financed search engine seeking to challenge Google's dominance in Vietnam is redirecting queries for some politically sensitive terms to the American company's search engine, apparently as a way of avoiding government anger or legal liability for sending surfers to sites containing criticism of the ruling party. The move May 16 follows an Associated Press story on the well-funded start up, Coc Coc, which noted it didn't seem to be censoring results. The shift illustrates the difficulties facing companies in Vietnam's booming Internet industry, which must contend with a government intent on stifling online dissent that is a challenge to its authoritarian rule. For Coc Coc, it sends a message to the ruling Communist Party that it doesn't have to worry about it encouraging opposition to one party rule. But it points to possible difficulties for Google if it wants to open offices and promote its products in Vietnam--and not have to act as a government censor. Google doesn't have an office in Vietnam because it is concerned about liability for content on its servers. Coc Coc has more than 300 staff and a large office in Hanoi, the capital. [read more]

Vietnam's people are finding their political voice

15.05.2013 by Jonathan London (South China Morning Post) - Important things are happening in Vietnam. Most attention has been given to the state repression that continues to sully its reputation internationally. Yet, within the past few months, Vietnam has experienced indisputable changes in its political culture, a development that is of much greater significance. The changes consist not only of petitions or sporadic acts of defiance; in a very short period, the country has developed a lively, even pluralistic, political culture. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Vietnam: Gesetz zur Zensur ausländischer Sender zeigt Folgen

16.05.2013 (DeutschlandRadio) Weil sie sich nicht an vietnamesische Gesetze halten, hat ein Satellitenanbieter des Landes die Ausstrahlung internationaler Fernsehsender eingestellt. Denn CNN und die BBC lassen ihre Programme nicht in die Landessprache übersetzen. Das aber sieht ein Gesetz vor, das gestern von der Regierung in Hanoi verabschiedet wurde. Es fordert zudem, dass nur Inhalte gesendet werden, die der Gesundheit des vietnamesischen Volkes zuträglich sind. Auch muss die Werbung aus Vietnam kommen. Ausnahmen gibt es nur für Direktübertragungen von Sportveranstaltungen. Vietnam wird von einer sozialistischen Einheitspartei regiert.

Vietnam provider drops foreign news TV channels

16.05.2013 By Chris Brummitt (Associated Press) - HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- A Vietnamese satellite TV company stopped airing international channels including BBC and CNN on Thursday, citing a law that foreign governments have warned would result in international news and entertainment channels ending their broadcasts in a country increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression. Underlining the confusion that has reigned about the law's scope and implementation, Vietnam's other major cable and satellite providers continued to broadcast as normal. The government said international news channels were exempt from one main aspect of the law requiring broadcasters to translate their content into Vietnamese before airing it. The United States and other governments, especially those with national broadcasters, have been urging Hanoi to abandon or modify the law, which came into effect on Wednesday. [read more]

Vietnam to produce lethal injections

16.05.2013 (The Bangkok Post) - HANOI - Vietnam has issued a new law allowing domestically produced chemicals to be used in lethal injections, a change that should enable it to resume the currently stalled executions of more than 530 people on death row. The holdup was a result of a European Union ban on its factories exporting chemicals used in lethal injections. The ban was issued because the EU regards capital punishment as a human rights violation. It has left Vietnam unable to execute a prisoner since November 2011, when the country decided to switch from firing squads to lethal injections on humanitarian grounds. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Russians attempt to topple Google in Vietnam 

16.05.2013 by Chris Brummitt (ECN Magazine) - HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- A Russian-financed search engine seeking to challenge Google's dominance in Vietnam is redirecting queries for some politically sensitive terms to the American company's website, apparently as a way of avoiding government anger or legal liability for sending surfers to sites containing criticism of the ruling party. The move Thursday follows an Associated Press story on the well-funded start up, Coc Coc, that noted it didn't seem to be censoring results. The shift appears to illustrate the difficulties facing companies in Vietnam's booming Internet sector, which must negotiate the government's intent on stifling online dissent that is posing a challenge to its authoritarian, one-party rule.

Australia Sends More Vietnamese Asylum Seekers To Manus Island

11.05.2013 (Bernama) - Melbourne - The Australian government has transferred more Vietnamese asylum seekers to its detention centre on Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s Manus Island. The 21 men departed Darwin early Saturday morning and have now arrived in PNG, the Immigration Department said. They are the third group of Vietnamese boat arrivals sent to Manus in recent weeks. Overall, the Vietnamese are the fourteenth group of asylum seekers the government has sent to Manus Island since August last year. [read more]

Chinese Foreign Minister Stumbles in Asean

09.05.2013 Written by Hai Hong Nguyen (Asia Sentinel) - Southeast Asia Tour, designed to build regional confidence, sows mistrust

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ended his tour last week of four Asean countries - Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei - by reaffirming his country's recalcitrant position on its so-called nine-dash line, which gives it sovereignty over the South China Sea almost up to other countries' doorsteps. The message that Wang delivered left no doubt of the continuity of the policy shaped by the preceding Chinese government towards its disputes over territory and sovereignty in the South China Sea with the littoral nation claimants: Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam. While Wang was still on his four-nation tour, some Chinese scholars and hawk generals in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) made aggressive statements, with one commentator even speaking of the possibility of opening fire on the Philippines as a method of intimidating Vietnam from defending its share of the disputed islands in the sea. [read more]

40 Years On, Fleeing Vietnamese Take To Seas Again

09.05.2013 By Chris Brummitt, The Associated Press (Yahoo! News) - HANOI, Vietnam - Nearly 40 years after hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the country's Communist regime by boat, a growing number are taking to the water again.

This year alone, 460 Vietnamese men, women and children have arrived on Australian shores — more than in the last five years combined. The unexpected spike is drawing fresh scrutiny of Hanoi's deteriorating human rights record, though Vietnam's flagging economy may also explain why migrants have been making the risky journey. The latest boat carrying Vietnamese cruised into Australia's Christmas Island one morning last month, according to witnesses on the shore. The hull number showed it was a fishing vessel registered in Kien Giang, a southern Vietnamese province more than 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles) from Christmas Island, which is much closer to Indonesia than it is to the Australian mainland. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Communist Vietnam - Human Trafficker Extraordinaire

04.05.2013 By Michael Benge (American Thinker) - Vietnam is now the proud possessor of the inglorious title "The Worst Human Rights Violator in Southeast Asia," according to recent testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. State-affiliated labor export companies are major suppliers of men, women, and children to the forced labor and sex trafficking markets, while government officials profit from kickbacks. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

‘China Model’ Harms the World

08.05.2013 by He Qinglian (The Epoch Times) - China’s “neo-colonialism” became a popular topic again when Chinese Communist Party head Xi Jinping visited Africa in mid-March. 

Neo-colonialism roughly means: China, exploiting Africa’s resources while disregarding the environmental impact, has also been dumping cheap industrial products into Africa. 

China’s economic development has brought few job opportunities for Africans. What’s worse, China’s policy of “unconditional financial aid” and “not interfering with other countries politics,” has broken Western countries’ pattern of providing aid only when certain political requirements are met. This has loosened the reins on some African dictators. [read more]

Le modèle chinois nuit au monde

08.05.2013 par He Qinglian (The Epoch Times) - Le «néo-colonialisme» de la Chine redevint un sujet populaire lorsque le chef du Parti Communiste Chinois Xi Jinping fit une visite en Afrique à la mi-mars. Néo-colonialisme, grosso-modo, signifie: la Chine, exploitant les ressources de l’Afrique tout en négligeant l’impact environnemental, déverse aussi des produits industriels bon marché sur l’Afrique. Le développement économique chinois a apporté fort peu d’opportunités d’emploi aux Africains. Pire encore, la position chinoise d’«aide financière inconditionnelle» et de «non-intervention dans les affaires politiques d’autres pays», a cassé le modèle suivi par les pays occidentaux de ne fournir une aide qu’une fois certaines exigences politiques satisfaites. Ceci a relâché les rênes sur certains dictateurs africains. [en savoir plus...] 

Aussie link as Vietnam crackdown continues