Politik - Demokratie (2013/3)
* Politik - Demokratie
Documentation
Menschenrechte
Human Rights
Droits de l'Homme
Amnesty Internation
Annual Report 2013 - Vietnam
Repression of government critics and activists worsened, with severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly. At least 25 peaceful dissidents, including bloggers and songwriters, were sentenced to long prison terms in 14 trials that failed to meet international standards. Members of ethnic and religious groups faced human rights violations. At least 86 people were sentenced to death, with more than 500 on death row. [read more]
Report 2013 - Asien & Pazifik
... In Vietnam wurden mehr als 20 Blogger, Liedermacher und andere friedliche Dissidenten aufgrund konstruierter Anklagen inhaftiert, weil sie angeblich die nationale Sicherheit bedrohten... [Weiterlesen]
Committee to Protect Journalists
CPJ Special Reports Sept 19 2012
Kirche in Not
Open Doors
Reporters sans frontières
Reporters without borders
Reporter ohne Grenzen
UK Foreign & Commenwealth Office
USDS - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Is There Opposition in Vietnam?
Pressemitteilung
25. Juli 2013
Verbesserung der Menschenrechtssituation in Vietnam: Mehr als 3000 Menschen wünschen verstärktes Engagement Deutschlands
Eine Petition, die im ersten Halbjahr des Jahres unterzeichnet werden konnte, fordert von der Bundesrepublik Deutschland eine diplomatische Initiative zur Verbesserung der Menschenrechts-situation in der Sozialistischen Republik Vietnam. Anlass für die Petition waren die Verurteilungen zahlreicher Journalisten und Blogger sowie die Repressionen gegen Priester und Gläubige christlicher Konfessionen, die zeigen, dass sowohl die Religions- als auch die Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit in Vietnam erheblich eingeschränkt sind.
Insgesamt 2.525 Personen haben die Petition online unterzeichnet. Hinzu kommen 775 handschriftliche Unterzeichnungen, die offenbar nicht gezählt wurden, so dass insgesamt 3300 Menschen ein verstärktes Engagement der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in dieser Frage wünschen. Das Resultat wurde Herrn Günter Baumann (CDU/CSU), Obmann im Petitionsausschuss, sowie Frau Ute Granold (CDU/CSU), Obfrau im Ausschuss für Menschenrechte und humanitäre Hilfe, mitgeteilt und die Unterschriftenlisten in elektronischer Form im Sekretariat des Petitionsausschusses eingereicht.
Als Initiator der Petition hoffe ich gemeinsam mit vielen Unterstützerinnen und Unterstützern, dass sich die deutsche Politik in der nächsten Legislaturperiode verstärkt dem Thema Menschenrechte in Vietnam widmet.
Dr. Josef Bordat
10.10.2013 Written by Pham Chi Dung (Asia Sentinel) - Some may be coming from a surprising source - the Communist Party
Vietnam's pro-democracy activists appear to have missed an unprecedented opportunity in the wake of the July visit to the US by head of state Truong Tan Sang. That was followed by an official Paris trip by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that was intended to signal an axis rotation to the West not unlike President Barack Obama's pivot to the East.
The fact is that a vigilant police force has assiduously rounded up enough protesters and dissident bloggers to keep their lesser counterparts in line. The inability to capitalize points to the fact that if there is going to be change in Vietnam's political makeup, it is likely to come from factions inside the Vietnamese Communist Party rather than from without.
If the Communist Party had enough courage to conduct a public and transparent referendum on the subject of independent parties, a number of new organizations would be born now. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Zwei Großmächte ringen um den asiatisch-pazifischen Raum
08.10.2013 Kim Son Hoang (derStandard) - Die USA verstärken ihre Anstrengungen im boomenden Vorhof Chinas. Eine interaktive Grafik zeigt die Beziehungen der beiden Big Player mit Burma, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesien und Co.
Das Interesse ist nicht neu: Bereits 2009 bezeichnete sich US-Präsident Barack Obama bei einem Besuch in Tokio als "ersten pazifischen Präsidenten". Im Jahr 2011 verfasste die damalige US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton einen Gastbeitrag für das Magazin "Foreign Policy", der Titel: "Amerikas pazifisches Jahrhundert". Darin erklärt sie, dass ... [Weiterlesen]
Ni hao aus Peking. China und Indien versalzen die asiatische Suppe
08.10.2013 Von Christian Geinitz (FAZ) - Eigentlich sieht die Lage für die kleinen Schwellenländer gut aus. Doch sie stecken sich bei den großen Brüdern an. Immerhin nimmt ihr Wachstum zu, während es in Indien und China sinkt. [Weiterlesen]
Cu Huy Ha Vu setzt sich trotz Gefängnis für Demokratie ein
07.10.2013 (Forum Vietnam21) - Die Rechtsanwältin Nguyen Thi Duong Ha informierte die Öffentlichkeit in einer kurzen Nachricht vom 04. Oktober 2013 über das Anliegen ihres inhaftierten Ehemannes, Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu, bezüglich der geplanten Verfassungsänderung in Vietnam. Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu, 56, hat an der Pariser Sorbonne Jura studiert und stammt aus einer angesehenen Familie. Er ist der Sohn des früheren kommunistischen Revolutionärs, KP-Gründungsmitglieds und Poeten Cu Huy Can. Er wurde im November 2010 verhaftet und nach Artikel 88 des Strafgesetzbuches aufgrund von "Propaganda gegen den Staat" angeklagt. Ihm wurde vorgeworfen, ein Mehrparteiensystem sowie das Ende der kommunistischen Einparteienherrschaft in Vietnam gefordert zu haben. Im April 2011 wurde er vom Volksgericht Hanoi nach kurzem Prozess zu sieben Jahren Haft und anschließenden drei Jahren Hausarrest verurteilt. Nachfolgend ist der Wortlaut der Nachricht (Dt. Übersetzung von Forum Vietnam21). [tiếng Việt]
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
Ich möchte Ihnen folgende Information mit der Bitte um Unterstützung für Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vus Anliegen mitteilen:
Um 08:23 Uhr (den 04. Oktober, Anm.d.R) hat Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu seiner Frau, der Rechtsanwältin Nguyen Thi Duong Ha in einem Telefongespräch folgendes mitgeteilt:
Mit Bezug auf die Politik des Parlaments und der Regierung der Sozialistischen Republik Vietnam sowie die Aktion zur Einholung von Meinungen zum Entwurf einer Änderung der Verfassung von 1992 hat Dr. Cu Huy Ha Vu am 30.09.2013 dem Parlament der Sozialistischen Republik Vietnam und der Kommission zur Verfassungsänderung über die Poststelle der Haftanstalt Nr.5 des Polizeiministeriums in Yên Định, Thanh Hóa ein Schreiben über seine Meinungen zur Verfassungsänderung von 1992 zukommen lassen.
Das Schreiben von Dr.Vu umfasst 20 Seiten DIN A4 in kleiner Handschrift und besteht aus 7 Abschnitten. Aufgrund des fünf minütigen Telefonats konnte Dr.Vu nur die sieben folgenden Hauptgedanken erwähnen:
I. Der Rechtsanspruch der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams auf Führung des Staates und der Gesellschaft soll abgeschafft werden. Ein Mehrparteiensystem soll eingeführt werden.
II. In der Landesbezeichnung soll das Wort „Sozialistisch“ gestrichen werden. Das Land soll nur „Việt Nam“ heißen. Das Amt eines Präsidenten soll eingerichtet werden.
III. Das Recht auf Verfassungsentwurf und –änderung gehört dem Volk. Ein Referendum über Verfassungsentwurf und –änderung soll abgehalten werden.
IV. Gewaltenteilung soll realisiert werden.
V. Der Satz „die Streitkräfte müssen loyal zur Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams stehen und die Partei sowie den Sozialismus schützen“ soll aus dem Verfassungsentwurf gestrichen werden.
VI. Ein Verfassungsgericht soll errichtet werden.
VII. Der Staat muss daran gehindert werden, Menschen- und Bürgerrechte, willkürlich zu beschneiden.
1. Absatz 2 Paragraph 16 im Verfassungsentwurf (Die Menschenrechte- und Bürgerrechte dürfen nicht missbraucht werden, um die Interessen des Staates sowie des Volkes, und die legalen Interessen anderer Menschen zu beeinträchtigen.) muss wegen des rechtsstaatlichen Prinzips („Bürger dürfen alles tun, was das Gesetz nicht verbietet“, vietnamesische Enzyklopädie) gestrichen werden.
2. Um die Verletzung der Menschenrechte durch den Staat zu verhindern, müssen die Einschränkungen der Menschen- und Bürgerrechte im Gesetz klar festgelegt werden.
Ein Blogger spricht darüber, wie soziale Medien zur Demokratisierung Vietnams beitragen könnten
29.08.2013 By Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Times Online) - As calls for political reform and democracy mount in Vietnam, questions are being asked over what kind of political system could replace the old. However, the main objective of Vietnam’s harried activists remains ensuring that any transition from authoritarianism to more representative governance is not exploited by those Communist Party officials who seek power for themselves. [read more]
Activists Excluded from Vietnam Prisoner Amnesty
29.08.2013 By Agence France-Presse (Jakarta Globe) - Hanoi. Vietnam will free more than 15,000 convicts to mark its independence day celebrations, the president’s office said Thursday, in a major amnesty that excludes prominent political prisoners.
The 15,446 detainees, including 1,842 women, will be released for the 68th National Day anniversary which falls on Monday, said Giang Son, an official in President Truong Tan Sang’s office.
The mass pardon is one of the country’s largest in recent years. But no prisoners sentenced for “propaganda” against the state or attempting to overthrow the communist regime — charges frequently used against activists — appear on the amnesty list seen by AFP. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam: 15 446 prisonniers amnistiés pour la fête nationale
29.08.2013 (RTBF) - A l'occasion du 68e anniversaire de la proclamation de l'indépendance, le 2 septembre prochain, 15 446 prisonniers dont 1842 femmes devraient être amnistiés par le président vietnamien Truong Tan Sang, a annoncé jeudi la présidence. Aucun détenu condamné pour "propagande contre l'Etat" ou "tentative de renversement du gouvernement" communiste (deux accusations souvent utilisées pour mettre en prison des dissidents ou des prisonniers de conscience) ne figure toutefois sur la liste des amnistiés de 2013. [en savoir plus...] - [tiếng Việt]
11.09.2013 (BBC) - A gunman has stormed a provincial land clearance office in northern Vietnam, killing one official and injuring four others, police say. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Southeast Asia's Stark Democracy Lessons
10.09.2013 Written by Michael Vatikiotis (Asia Sentinel) - Greater openness is a work in progress in the face of corruption, division and historical legacies... The main reason for the slow pace of democratic change in Southeast Asia is that power-holders are afraid of change, often claiming that far-reaching reform is a threat to national unity. They hold up traditions and institutions as symbols of identity and sovereignty and warn of impending disaster if they are tampered with... The trouble is that the institutions created to act as checks on the abuse of power have come under attack from the politicians and officials who are subject to scrutiny. [read more]
Vietnam's Internet Censorship Bill Goes Into Effect
10 Sept 2013. By Eva Galperin and Maira Sutton (Electronic Frontier Foundation) - Internet freedom has gone from bad to worse in Vietnam as an online censorship law known as Decree 72 went into effect this month. It bans bloggers and users of social media from quoting, gathering, or summarizing information from press organizations or government websites. While the main justification for the law is to uphold "national security," Vietnamese authorities also claim that this law is aimed at combating online copyright infringement. [read more]
Vietnamese diocese protests 'lawless' government activity, anti-Catholic propaganda
09 Sept 2013 (CWN) - The Diocese of Vinh, Vietnam has issued a statement decrying government propaganda attacks on the Catholic community and on Bishop Paul Nguyen Thai Hop. The diocesan statement protested “false articles and stories, which distort the truth,” after a series of reports in the government-controlled media blaming Catholic activists for a series of violent confrontations with police. The statement said that the clashes—in particular, a bloody assault by police on peaceful demonstrators outside a Redemptorist church—reflected a “lawless” attitude on the part of public officials. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vinh: 30 catholiques grièvement blessés par la police lors d’un rassemblement pacifique
09.09.2013 ('Eglises d'Asie) - Les paroissiens de My Yên dans le diocèse de Vinh viennent de subir une très brutale répression de la part des pouvoirs publics. Dans l’après-midi du 4 septembre, plusieurs centaines d’agents mobilisés par les autorités locales ont lancé une charge féroce contre une partie des paroissiens de My Yên rassemblée pacifiquement devant le siège du Comité populaire communal. ...[en savoir plus...]
Urgent Need to Protect the Internet
Global standards are needed to resist nations’ efforts to control, censor the Internet
07.09.2013 By John Negroponte (Epoch Times) - The Internet as we know it is open, secure, and resilient. This is no mistake. It was designed and evolved this way. Due to its open nature, the Internet has gained traction at a fantastic pace and transformed the world by fostering communication and innovation while generating tremendous economic growth. Roughly 2.5 billion people, more than one-third of the world’s population, currently use the Internet, and another 2.5 billion individuals are expected to go online by the end of this decade. [read more]
Vietnamese police in violent crackdown on Catholic demonstrators
06.09.2013 (CWN) - Police fired shots in the air and attacked with clubs to disperse a group of Catholic demonstrators at a parish church in north-central Vietnam last week. Dozens of demonstrators were treated for injuries after the confrontation. [read more]
Vietnam-US Rapprochement: A New Phase – Analysis
03.09.2013 By Rahul Mishra, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (Eurasia Review) - The swiftly changing security dynamics in East Asia has sprang many surprises to the countries of the region and the extra-regional powers alike. For instance, countries that were at loggerheads with each other during the Cold War years are now finding their interests converging. The Vietnam- US rapprochement is a case in point. Not so long ago, differences between these two countries began to escalate with North Vietnam’s conquest over the US-backed South Vietnam in 1975. However, since the establishment of ties in 1995, both the countries have realised the importance of reciprocity and foreign policy priorities [read more]
China’s Real and Present Danger - Now Is the Time for Washington to Worry
03.09.2013 Avery Goldstein (Foreign Affairs, September/October 2013) - Much of the debate about China’s rise in recent years has focused on the potential dangers China could pose as an eventual peer competitor to the United States bent on challenging the existing international order. But another issue is far more pressing. For at least the next decade, while China remains relatively weak compared to the United States, there is a real danger that Beijing and Washington will find themselves in a crisis that could quickly escalate to military conflict. Unlike a long-term great-power strategic rivalry that might or might not develop down the road, the danger of a crisis involving the two nuclear-armed countries is a tangible, near-term concern -- and the events of the past few years suggest the risk might be increasing. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnamese villagers oppose preservation rules on ancient homes
03.09.2013 By Manabu Sasaki (The Asahi Shimbun) - HANOI--When Ha Thi Khanh built a new house, she didn't expect to run afoul of a project to preserve historical houses in her ancient village, an effort partly backed by Japan.
“As many as 200 police officers and government officials came out of nowhere and destroyed the newly built second-floor portion,” the 56-year-old said. “It is outrageous.” [read more]
Vietnam's Need for the TPP
02.09.2013 Written by David Brown (Asia Sentinel) - Hanoi badly wants the omnibus trade deal but Washington is going to make some painful demands
A lot of regional prosperity hangs on the outcome of multilateral trade negotiations, though they aren't the sort of event that that makes pulses race. Take the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP: 12 very dissimilar nations met in Brunei August 23-30 for their 19th round of talks, and the only news after another week's effort was that they've kicked the can down the road again [read more]
Au Vietnam, parler d’actualité est désormais interdit sur Internet
02.09.2013 Par Mylène Renoult (RFI) - Les internautes vietnamiens n’ont désormais plus le droit de partager des articles d’actualité sur les blogs et les réseaux sociaux. A l’heure où Internet connaît une montée en puissance dans le pays, cette restriction marque une étape de plus dans la politique de surveillance, de censure et de répression du gouvernement à l’égard des internautes. [en savoir plus...]
SE Asia Governments Appear to Squelch Social Media Commentary
02.09.2013 Steve Herman (VOA) - BANGKOK — China's suppression of public comment on political and other topics on social media is well known. Some Southeast Asian nations appear to be moving to emulate China in this regard.
Warnings from authorities and new regulations in countries such as Thailand and Vietnam may have some users of social media thinking twice about what they post or even click "Like" on the popular Facebook site. [read more]
Just Stick to Celebrity Gossip: Vietnam Bans Discussion of News From Blogs and Social Sites
02.09.2013 By Charlie Campbell (Time) - Contentious legislation that effectively prohibits Vietnamese bloggers and users of social-networking sites from discussing current affairs came into force Sunday amid a fierce response from advocacy groups. Vietnam ranked as the 8th worst country in the world for Internet freedom in 2012, according to Freedom House, but this already deplorable rating is likely to plummet further after Decree 72 banned the publishing of material that “opposes” the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or “harms national security” among other vaguely phrased curbs. News information, even if it is official, is held to come under these categories. [read more]
Defensores, mantengan su atención en Le Quoc Quan
02.09.2013 Escrito por Nani Jansen · Traducido por María Angélica Marín (Global Voice Español) - Se suponía que el 9 de julio 2013, tendría lugar en Hanoi el juicio de Le Quoc Quan, uno de los defensores vietnamitas mas activos de los derechos humanos y un bloguero sin pelos en la lengua. A último minuto las autoridades vietnamitas pospusieron el juicio hasta nuevo aviso. Esta es una de las últimas de una serie de violaciones procesales que han sido cometidas con el activista desde su arresto el año pasado.
En su blog [vi] Quan expone abusos a los derechos humanos comúnmente ignorados por los medios de comunicación estatales. Antes de ser inhabilitado de ejercer como abogado en el 2007, defendió casos de derechos humanos en los tribunales. Por su trabajo Quan ha sido repetidamente acosado por autoridades del estado. En el 2007 fue detenido por 100 días, mantenido bajo vigilancia del estado y atacado por individuos cerca de su residencia en agosto 2012 cuando fue golpeado con un bastón de acero. Asimismo miembros de su familia han sido blanco de acciones legales. [seguir leyendo]
Vietnam internet restrictions come into effect
01.09.2013 (BBC) - A controversial law banning Vietnamese online users from discussing current affairs has come into effect. The decree, known as Decree 72, says blogs and social websites should not be used to share news articles, but only personal information.
The law also requires foreign internet companies to keep their local servers inside Vietnam. It has been criticised by internet companies and human rights groups, as well as the US government. Dozens of activists, including bloggers, have been convicted for anti-state activity in the country this year. The new law specifies that social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook should only be used "to provide and exchange personal information". [read more]
Human Rights Central To U.S.-Vietnam Relations
01.09.2013 (VOA) - “Human Rights are a central part of the U.S.- Vietnam relationship,” said U.S. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Scott Busby, speaking recently at a reception in Falls Church, Virginia: “They will remain a central part of our relationship and we will continue to make that point to Vietnamese officials wherever and whenever we can.”... the United States’ relationship with Vietnam cannot reach its full potential until there are improvements in Vietnam’s human rights situation. [read more]
Obama's “Deja vu” Vietnam Diplomacy
28.08.2013 Greg Rushford (The Rushford Report) - A high-stakes diplomatic drama is playing out between the United States and Vietnam. While the focus is on enhancing bilateral economic ties in the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, the economics are also related to broader security- and human rights issues. This article has some fresh news to report on what’s going on behind the scenes: What the ruling Politburo in Hanoi has decided about deepening its economic ties with the major powers. What Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and U.S. President Barack Obama had to say to each other during their July 25 White House meeting in the Oval Office. Who else was in the room — and why that was important. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam: A Police State Where One-In-Six Works For Security Forces
29.08.2013 By Palash Ghosh (IBTimes) - Vietnam, one of the five remaining Communist nations in the world, takes its security very seriously. So seriously in fact that an estimated one in six working people in the Southeast Asian country are employed either full- or part-time in the massive state security network... Professor Carl Thayer of the Australian Defence Forces Academy estimates that at least 6.7 million Vietnamese belong to the country’s many security agencies, roughly one-sixth of its 43-million working population. As a point of comparison, Vietnam’s largest company, the state-owned PetroVietnam oil producer, boasts a workforce of about 50,000. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Internet decree may stifle Vietnam growth
30.08.2013 (Finance 24) - Hanoi - A new internet decree in Vietnam has been derided as potentially putting the brakes on growth in the country's burgeoning information communications technology (ICT) sector.
But the government says the move, which comes into force on Sunday September 1, aims to combat plagiarism, and some experts say this is vital for the emerging online games industry.
Vietnam's ICT (information communications technology) industry is growing day by day. Internet users increased from just more than 17% of the population in 2006 to more than 35% in 2011.
The industry earned $13.7bn in revenue by the end of 2011, more than double the previous year's figure. [read more]
Amnestie zum Nationalfeiertag: Vietnam lässt 15.000 Häftlinge frei
Zum Nationalfeiertag gibt sich die autoritäre Regierung Vietnams traditionell großzügig: In diesem Jahr sollen gleich 15.000 Häftlinge begnadigt werden. Politische Gefangene gehören jedoch kaum dazu.
30.08.2013 (Spiegel Online) - Hamburg - Die ersten freigelassenen Häftlinge laufen vor dem Gefängnistor los, schließen ihre Mütter oder ihre Kinder in die Arme: Zum Nationalfeiertag am 2. September will Vietnam insgesamt rund 15.000 Häftlinge begnadigen. Das gab die Regierung am Donnerstag bekannt. Im Hoang-Tien-Gefängnis etwa hundert Kilometer außerhalb der Hauptstadt Hanoi wurden bereits Insassen entlassen. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]
Visions of a democratic Vietnam
07.10.2013 (Forum Vietnam21) - Nguyen Lan Thang, 41, ist ein vietnamesischer Gesellschaftsaktivist und lebt in Hanoi. Er ist ein bekannter Blogger und Facebooker, wurde mehrmals verhaftet. Wegen seiner Teilnahme an einer Anti-China-Demo wurde er November 2011 verhaftet, von Sicherheitskräften geschlagen und anschließend von der Polizei ins Krankenhaus zur Behandlung gebracht. Die niederländische Journalistin Maartje Duin hat u.a. Nguyen Lan Thang in Hanoi getroffen, sie berichtete in eigener Website über ihre Erfahrung bei dieser Begenung und über die Zensur in Vietnam.
Laptop, Smartphone und Fotokamera sind Nguyen Lan Thangs Waffen, seine zahlreiche Aufnahmen, die er in Facebook veröffentlichte, widerlegen viele Behauptungen bzw. Beschuldigung der Polizei und der staatlichen Medien. Seine Bilder liefert er auch an andere Blogger.
Vor kurzem hat Nguyen Lan Thang ein knapp 13-minutiges Video in youtube veröffentlicht, in dem er über die Bedeutung der sozialen Medien in Vietnam spricht. Das Video gibt einen guten Einblick in die Lage der vietnamesischen Blogger und Netizens. Der englischer Untertitel des Videos stammt von Doan Trang, auch Bloggerin und Facebookerin, die wie Nguyen Lan Thang Mitglied des Netwerks der vietnamesischen Blogger ist. [Video anschauen] - [tiếng Việt]
Facebook trumps state media as Vietnam mourns General Giap
07.10.2013 Agence France-Presse in Hanoi (News24) - As news emerged of the death of Vietnam’s legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap, most journalists were forced to stay silent -- leaving the landmark event to be revealed by the country’s swelling ranks of Internet users.
Tributes to Giap, whose guerrilla tactics defeated the French and US armies, flooded cyberspace soon after his death at 102 on Friday. But reporters in some of the biggest state media outlets could not print a thing about the biggest event in years. [read more]
China Warns US, Japan, Australia Not to Gang Up in Sea Disputes
07.10.2013 Reuters (Jakarta Globe) - Shanghai. China said on Monday the United States, Australia and Japan should not use their alliance as an excuse to intervene in territorial disputes in the East China Sea and South China Sea, and urged them to refrain from inflaming regional tensions.
On Friday, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and US Secretary of State John Kerry raised the maritime disputes during a trilateral strategic dialogue in Bali, Indonesia. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam's Talk/Fight Strategy in play on Human Rights Negotiations
22.09.2013 By Michael Benge (American Thinker) - For decades, the Vietnamese communists' negotiating strategy has been "Talk/Fight" -- first in dealing with the French, then with the U.S. during the Vietnam War, and now in the current U.S.-Vietnam Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. The "Talk/Fight" strategy is to engage their opponent in negotiations, stalling for time, all the while replenishing, repositioning, and resupplying their troops, as they gain ground and concessions. According to Ernest Bower, senior advisor on Southeast Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "the American government admires Vietnam's strategic thinking." [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Obama’s Absence is Chance for China to Steal the Show
05.10.2013 By Robertus Wardi & Abdul Khalik (The Jakarta Globe) - Nusa Dua, Bali. The absence of US President Barack Obama at two key Asia meetings next week could be a pivotal moment in China’s dominance in the region, analysts here said, raising questions about the United States’ capacity to extend its influence to other parts of the world when it is forced to grapple with problems at home... “Obama’s cancelation clearly gives China an upper hand over the US in their rivalry for influence in the region,” Aleksius Jemadu, dean of Pelita Harapan University’s School of Social and Political Sciences, said. [read more]
Hanoi’s Mixed Signals: A State of Flux
04.10.2013 By Luke Hunt (The Diplomat) - The Vietnamese have never made communications an art form. In a one-party communist state – and there aren’t too many of them left – the state controlled press with the national wire service at the helm is normally more than enough to toe and deliver the government line.
The process has served Vietnam since the communist takeover of the north in 1954 and the annexation of South Vietnam 21 years later. But times are changing and this week a slew of official announcements were made public through an array of voices that muddied the waters of government policy. [read more]
Vietnam trauert um Kriegshelden Vo Nguyen Giap
04.10.2013 (ORF) - Der legendäre vietnamesische General Vo Nguyen Giap ist heute im Alter von 102 Jahren gestorben. Das gab die Regierung in Hanoi bekannt. Giap besiegelte die Niederlage der französischen Kolonialtruppen 1954 in der Schlacht von Dien Bien Phu und trug später mit dem Fall von Saigon im April 1975 entscheidend zum Abzug der US-Armee bei. Nach dem Revolutionsführer Ho Tschi Minh genoss Giap in Vietnam zeitlebens die größte Popularität. Nach Hos Tod im Jahr 1969 verlor Giap allerdings zusehends an Einfluss. [Weiterlesen]
Mort du général Giap, héros du Vietnam communiste
04.10.2013 (euronews) - Stratège militaire hors pair, le général Vo Nguyen Giap est mort ce vendredi à l‘âge de 102 ans. Il était le dernier dirigeant du Vietnam communiste encore en vie, une des figures les plus adulées dans le pays après Ho Chi Minh. [en savoir plus...]
Muere a los 102 años el general Nguyen Giap, el último estratega de la Guerra de Vietnam
04.10.2013 (ABC.es) El general Vo Nguyen Giap, uno de los principales estrategas militares de la Guerra De Vietnam (1955-1975) y el responsable de la victoria de las fuerzas vietnamitas frente a las tropas francesas en la batalla de Dien Bien Phu (1953), ha fallecido a la edad de 102 años, según ha informado la cadena de televisión pública británica BBC. [seguir leyendo]
Vietnam and the US: Need for Each Other
02.10.2013 Written by Kim Them Do (Asia Sentinel) - The TPP is important for both. Vietnam, faced with a variety of domestically-generated problems and a geographical proximity to a China too close for comfort, has a major stake in the shift of the American focus from the Atlantic to the Pacific, welcoming the United States as a resident Pacific power to balance Vietnam's often-belligerent neighbor to the north.
Certainly Vietnam, which is experiencing economic slowdown because the market economy under socialist orientation didn't work, is looking for a counterbalance to Chinese influence. People are angry that Chinese workers are everywhere, that dubious Chinese-exported foods are flooding the markets, that its naval operations in the South China Sea are increasing and that the government has no legal or military way of resolving claims over disputed territories. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
France-Vietnam: des contrats signés, une pétition ignorée
26.09.2013 (RFI) - Le Premier ministre Jean-Marc Ayrault a signé, mercredi 25 septembre à Paris, avec son homologue vietnamien Nguyen Tan Dung, un partenariat stratégique, censé donner un nouvel élan dans les relations entre les deux pays... Mais les deux chefs de gouvernement n'ont pas évoqué les sujets qui fâchent. Le Vietnam se situe ainsi à la 172e place du classement de la liberté de la presse. C'est aussi derrière la Chine, la deuxième prison au monde pour les blogueurs et les net-citoyens. [en savoir plus...] - [tiếng Việt]
Hundreds of Vietnam Villagers Admit Lynching Dog-Snatchers
16.09.2013 AFP (Jakarta Globe) - Hanoi. Hundreds of villagers in central Vietnam have signed a petition admitting taking part in the lynching of two suspected dog-snatchers last year, state media reported Monday.
The petition is an apparent attempt to prevent police singling out seven villagers accused of killing the two men in August last year.
The pair were allegedly caught trying to sell dogs to local restaurants in the impoverished central region.
An official from the Danh Thang commune, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the petiton had drawn “hundreds of signatories” because “hundreds of people attacked the thieves” rather than the seven under suspicion, according to Thanh Nien newspaper Monday. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
History the Weak Link in Beijing’s Maritime Claims
30.08.2013 By Mohan Malik (The Diplomat) - China says historical title supports its maritime claims. But did it really have sovereignty?
Beijing’s claims to nearly all of the South China Sea are now embossed in new Chinese passports and official maps. Chinese leaders and foreign ministry spokespersons insist with increasing truculence that the islands, rocks, and reefs have been China’s “territory since ancient times.” Normally, the overlapping territorial claims to sovereignty and maritime boundaries ought to be resolved through a combination of customary international law, adjudication before the International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, or arbitration under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). While China has ratified UNCLOS, the treaty by and large rejects “historically based” claims, which are precisely the type Beijing periodically asserts. On September 4, 2012, China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, told then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that there is “plenty of historical and jurisprudence evidence to show that China has sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters.” [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam: Citizens against Corruption
12.09.2013 (Transparency International) - n the past two years, Vietnam has witnessed extraordinary examples of ordinary people standing up against corruption. But these concerned citizens face difficult challengers and in some cases find themselves targeted for their courage by the institutions they criticise.
Take the case of Doan Van Vuon (see box) a small business man thrown off his land because of a dispute: he ended up physically confronting people from the local authorities when his legal appeals were dismissed and although his land claims were later upheld, he was sentenced to prison for attempted murder. Several months earlier, investigative journalist Hoang Khuong who went undercover to expose police corruption but was sentenced to four years for bribing a policeman in a sting operation he staged and recorded for his article. [read more]
Catholiques et non-catholiques expriment leur solidarité avec les paroissiens de My Yên et leur indignation devant les mensonges de la presse officielle
12.09.2013 (Églises d'Asie) ont été très rapidement connus des catholiques dans les trois provinces qui composent le diocèse de Vinh. Dès le 6 septembre, la déclaration de l’évêché de Vinh et la lettre commune de l’évêque du diocèse étaient diffusées sur Internet. ... [en savoir plus...]
Vietnam Official, Gunman Killed in Land Dispute
12.09.2013 Trung Nguyen (VOA) - A land dispute in Vietnam has ended in tragedy after a gunman broke into a local government building and shot four people, killing one before turning the weapon on himself. Authorities in northern Thai Binh City say Dang Ngoc Viet took the action after finding out his land plot was going to be confiscated for development. The man killed in the shooting was an official with the local land management agency... Vietnam's controversial land policies have pushed tens of thousands from their homes and businesses in recent years as development has accelerated. [read more]
Religions united in defence of the diocese of Vinh under attack from Communist authorities
11.09.2013 By J.B. An Dang (AsiaNews) - Vinh . Religions united in defence of the diocese of Vinh under attack from Communist authorities. A number of Vietnamese religious leaders from various faiths has issued a a press release in support of the Catholic Church and the bishop of Vinh at a time when the latter are under a violent defamatory attack by official media and local authorities.
The statement, signed by the representatives of various group, was released yesterday. In it, the signatories express sympathy and solidarity with the diocese and its members for leading the fight for people's rights against the abuses by local government and police. [read more]
Vietnam official dies in 'land row' shooting
Peking macht Marxismuskurse zur Pflicht für Journalisten
28.08.2013 (derStandard.at) - Peking - Chinas Regierung hat alle chinesischen Journalisten zur Marxismuskursen verpflichtet. Die Ideologiekenntnis gerade jüngerer Reporter lasse zu wünschen übrig, schrieb das Parteiorgan "Volkszeitung" am Dienstag zur Begründung. "Immer wieder werden Regeln und die Disziplin gebrochen", klagte das Blatt. Deswegen müssten sich die Berichterstatter stärker auf die Kernwerte zurückbesinnen. Die Teilnahme an den mehrtägigen Kursen sei Pflicht für alle 307.000 chinesischen Journalisten und Producer. [Weiterlesen]
Statement on the Decree no. 72/2013/nd-cp, a violation of the constitution of vietnam and of international conventions to which Vietnam is a signatory
27.08.2013 (Bauxite Việt Nam)
We:
- Citizens of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, especially those who use the Internet as a means to enrich knowledge and awareness, to be updated with domestic and international information in order to live, to learn and to work with human dignity in a civilized and modern society;
- Vietnamese people who are residing abroad and concerned about the destiny of Vietnam, about the freedom and democracy of the compatriots inside the country;
Considering that the Decree No 72/2013/ND-CP of the Government on "Management, provision and use of Internet services and online information" dated 15 July 2013, effective 01 September 2013 (hereinafter referred to as Decree 72) includes provisions that are or potentially are of arbitrary implementation and contrary to the Constitution, the laws of Vietnam, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations: [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam's lost children in labyrinth of slave labour
24.08.2013 By Marianne Brown Hanoi, Vietnam (BBC) - Last year, three teenage boys jumped out of a third-floor window in Ho Chi Minh City and ran as fast as they could until they found help. It was one in the morning and they did not know where they were going. "I was really scared someone would catch us," recalled Hieu, 18. [read more]
Vietnam's Ongoing Freedom Struggle
23.08.2013 By Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - Calls for political reform have grown increasingly loud
On September 2, 1945, Vietnam declared itself independent from France. History, of course, shows that France did not formally leave Vietnam until cessation of hostilities in 1954 upon the conclusion of the First Indochina War.
It has long been the narrative from the Communist Party of Vietnam that they and only they fought for their nation's independence. Such a view, however, ignores other nationalist elements that, while united in cause with the communists, differed in ideology; and it was this ideological divide that would lead to the Second Indochina War involving the United States. [read more]
Vietnam to order Dutch corvettes
22.08.2013 By Menno Steketee, Amsterdam (IHS Jane's Defence Weekly) - Vietnam is to buy two corvettes from the Netherlands, Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) confirmed to IHS Jane's on 22 August. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Go free chat! Disruptive services outrun Big Brother
When autocrats try to control a new communications medium, you know that medium is good for society
22.08.2013 By Galen Gruman (InfoWorld) - The news this week that Vietnam is thinking about regulating free chat services like Whatsapp and Line, and perhaps banning them, may seem like yet another Big Brother government oppressing its people -- which is true. But these free chat services also pose a threat to purported democracies like the United Kingdom and United States, both of which have been caught broadly spying on their citizens and, in the United Kingdom, harrassing the family of a reporter covering the Edward Snowden leaks. They threaten the big telcos, as well, both the private enterprises in more economically liberal countries and the state properties in more controlled economies. [read more]
Access denied: Vietnam government hates WhatsApp, Viber and OTT pals
22.08.2013 By Zen Terrelonge (Mobile Entertainment) - Discusses countrywide ban on over-the-top apps to get people calling and texting again. Over-the-top messaging and calling services like WhatsApp, Viber and Skype have been accused of damaging business for operators, though some of the latter have forged partnerships with the new age comms providers and bundled the platforms into tariffs. [read more]
Fotos von Vietnams Verkehrspolizisten nur mit Genehmigung
22.08.2013 (ORF) Wer in Vietnam Verkehrspolizisten fotografieren will, muss künftig vorher fragen. Die umstrittene Regelung helfe der Polizei, gegen jene vorzugehen, die den Behörden drohten oder gegen Verkehrsbeamte protestierten, sagte der Direktor der Verkehrspolizei, Tran Son Ha.
Zuvor hatten Berichten zufolge Journalisten und Bürger mehrfach Verkehrspolizisten bei der Schmiergeldannahme fotografiert und gefilmt. Laut Kritikern schützt das Gesetz lediglich bestechungswillige Polizisten. [Weiterlesen]
Vietnamese Intellectuals Protest Controversial Decree 72
22.08.2013 Tra Mi (VOA) - Hundreds of Vietnamese intellectuals and professionals have issued a statement protesting a new decree that includes provisions banning the sharing of news and information on various social networks. The group, which includes Vietnamese inside the country and overseas, say the measure - known as Decree 72 - will seriously violate freedom of expression and is against Vietnam’s laws, constitution, and international commitments on human rights. Nguyen Quang A, former chairman of the non-governmental Vietnam Association for Information and head of the Vietnam Institutes of Development Studies, is the leading co-signatory. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
After Planning To Curb Social Media, Vietnam Now Wants To Ban Messaging Apps Like Viber, Whatsapp, Line, Zalo And WeChat
22.08.2013 By Prasant Naidu (Business 2 Community) - Governments don’t like social media and Vietnam definitely doesn’t like the common man getting powerful. Vietnam, the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula, isn’t a country that enables freedom of speech and is now planning to decide a policy in managing free internet-based telecom tools like Viber, Line and Whatsapp, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said on Friday, a move bound to increase concerns about Communist Party censorship. [read more]
Viewpoint: Vietnam's bloggers challenging one party rule
20/08/2013 (BBC) - After years of conflict and hardship, Vietnam has emerged as Asia's newest industrialising economy - but social and economic change present challenges to one-party rule, among them the vibrant blogging scene. Vietnam specialist Jonathan London charts the state's pursuit of bloggers in Vietnam's newly fluid political scene. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam prepares ban on chat apps
21.08.2013 By Arno Maierbrugger (investvine) - The Vietnamese government is currently looking into the possibility of banning free messaging services such as WhatsApp, Line and Viber because of "the harm they do to the country’s network providers," local media reported. The news came after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that the government will soon be deciding on a new policy on how to manage these tools. What that means is so far unclear, but a ban certainly would not be out of the question. [read more]
Vietnam wants to 'manage' chat apps
21.08.2013 (News24) - Hanoi – Vietnam's government is to decide policy in managing free internet-based telecom tools like Viber, Line and Whatsapp, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said on Friday, a move bound to increase concerns about Communist Party censorship. State media said the government might "ban" free messaging services because of the harm done to network providers. [read more]
Vietnam bestellt russische Su-30-Kampfflugzeuge für 450 Mio. Dollar
21.08.2013 (RIA Novosti) - Russland hat mit Vietnam einen Vertrag über die Lieferung von 12 Jagdflugzeugen des Typs SU-30MK im Wert von 450 Millionen US-Dollar unterzeichnet, erfuhr RIA Novosti am Mittwoch aus einer gut informierten Quelle. Es handelt sich dabei um die dritte Lieferung der SU-Maschinen nach Vietnam. Die beiden vorherigen seien bereits erledigt, hieß es. „Vietnam bekommt 12 Jagd-Jets vom Typ SU-30MK in der Standardausführung, in der die Maschinen zuvor auch an China geliefert wurden. Der Stückpreis einer solchen Maschine liegt bei 35 bis 37 Millionen US-Dollar“, so die Quelle. [Weiterlesen]
Russia to Deliver 12 Su-30 Fighter Jets to Vietnam – Source
21.08.2013 (RIA Novosti) - MOSCOW – Russia will deliver another batch of 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighter aircraft under a recent contract worth about $450 million, a defense industry source told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. The contract was reportedly signed last week, and the Su-30s are expected to be delivered to Vietnam in 2014-2015. “A similar modification, priced at $35-37 million per plane, had been earlier sold to China,” the source said. [read more]
Vietnam compra doce aviones de guerra de fabricación rusa
20.08.2013 (Univision) - (EFE).- El Gobierno de Vietnam ha cerrado un acuerdo con las autoridades rusas para adquirir doce aviones de combate Sukhoi-30 por unos 600 millones de dólares (450 millones de euros), publican hoy los medios locales. [seguir leyendo]
Park books trips to Russia, Vietnam
After September G-20 summit, she heads to Hanoi for a state visit
21.08.2013 (Korea JoongAng Daily) - President Park Geun-hye will visit Russia and Vietnam next month to kick-start her so-called “sales diplomacy” mission aimed at boosting economic cooperation with other nations, the Blue House announced yesterday. After Russia, Park will meet with the Vietnamese president in Vietnam on Sept. 9. The summit will address the future vision for bilateral relations and other cooperative measures in various fields. [read more]
Condamnés à mort pour trafic de drogue
21.08.2013 (20 minutes) Une Thaïlandaise et un Nigérian ont été condamnés à mort cette semaine pour trafic de drogue au Vietnam, pays qui a une des législations antidrogue les plus dures du monde. Les deux procès, séparés, se sont déroulés à Ho Chi Minh-Ville, sans publicité, et la presse officielle du régime communiste n'en a parlé qu'une fois la sentence prononcée. [en savoir plus...] - [tiếng Việt]
Thailänderin und Nigerianer in Vietnam zum Tode verurteilt
21.08.2013 (ThailandTIP) - Hanoi/Bangkok. Das Volksgericht in Ho Chi Minh Stadt verurteilte die 31-jährige Suracha Chaimongkol bei einem einen Tag dauernden Prozess, schreibt die Zeitung Thanh Niên. Vietnamesische Behörden fanden das Kokain versteckt in zwei Fotoalben im Gepäck von Frau Suracha, als sie am Flughafen Tan Son Nhat am 1. Oktober 2012 ins Land einreiste, hieß es. [Weiterlesen] - [tiếng Việt]
Thai sentenced to death in Vietnam
21.08.2013 (Bangkok Post) - HANOI, Vietnam - A court in southern Vietnam sentenced a Thai woman to death for smuggling 2 kilogrammes of cocaine into the country, state media reported Wednesday. The People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City convicted and sentenced 31-year-old Suracha Chaimongkol at a one-day trial Tuesday, the Thanh Nien newspaper said. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
New Vietnamese party to challenge rulers
20.08.2013 By Mac Lam and An Nguyen (Asia Times) - A veteran member of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam is spearheading efforts to form a new party to challenge the government by attracting support from members disgruntled by a slowing economy and concerned over Chinese territorial encroachment. The Social Democratic Party founded last week by Le Hieu Dang, a leading dissident and 45-year Communist Party member, aims to establish multiparty rule and ''build a true democracy'', its leaders said, vowing to confront the government despite the risk of arrest.
Hundreds of Communist Party members have already decided to leave the Communist Party to join the new party, according to a statement by the Social Democratic Party, whose founding follows rare public debate this year on the need for constitutional amendments allowing multiparty rule. [read more]
Vietnam activists 'to form multi-party democracy'
16.08.2013 (BBC) - A group of activists in Vietnam have expressed their intention to form a new political party to promote multi-party democracy in the communist country. They include members of the Communist Party, which has a monopoly on political power under the constitution.
The move comes as officials have recently detained dozens of bloggers for dissent.
A court recently reduced the sentences of two activists accused of spreading anti-state propaganda.
In Vietnam, questioning the ruling party's monopoly on power is considered a serious crime.
Correspondents estimate that close to 38 activists, including bloggers, have been arrested for anti-state activities this year. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Kapitalisten-Trick. Marxismus gratis - Vietnam will Studenten locken
15.08.2013 (20 Minuten) - Marxismus-Seminare an der Ho-Chi-Minh-City-Universität sind wegen schlechter Auslastung neu kostenlos. Das Interesse an Marxismus-Kursen in Vietnam lahmt, deshalb will die kommunistische Regierung die Schulung in linken Lehren nun kostenlos anbieten. Ministerpräsident Nguyen Tan Dung hat per Dekret an staatlichen Universitäten die Studiengebühren für alle Studenten erlassen, die sich für vierjährige Kurse in Marxismus-Leninismus und die Gedanken des Revolutionshelden Ho Chi Minh einschreiben. Die Zulassungsstellen der Unis erklären sich den Niedergang des Fachs Marxismus damit, dass künftige Arbeitgeber der Studenten daran wenig Interesse zeigen. [Weiterlesen]
Héritage – Le Vietnam offre des cours gratuits de marxisme
15.08.2013 (Le Monde) - Le gouvernement vietnamien est fier de l'héritage marxiste de son ancien président Hô Chi Minh, et il veut le montrer. Pour combattre la désaffection que subissent les cursus universitaires de marxisme-léninisme et d'"idéologie d'Hô Chi Minh" (sic), le gouvernement du communiste Nguyen Tan Dung a préféré la carotte au bâton, en les rendant tout bonnement gratuits, raconte BBC News. [en savoir plus...]
Vietnam offers free courses in Marxism and Ho Chi Minh studies
14.08.2013 By Nga Pham (BBC News, Bangkok) - Vietnam is to waive university fees for philosophy students who agree to take courses in Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh ideology, in a bid to boost the uptake of unpopular courses.
PM Nguyen Tan Dung has signed a decree stipulating the fee exemption. [read more]
Dalai Lama Website Hacked
13.08.2013 By Carol Wickenkamp (Epoch Times) - The official Chinese language website of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Tibet’s government in exile, is the most recent victim of hackings against dissident groups, which experts attribute to Chinese hackers.
Tibet.net has been compromised by hackers who injected malicious software into the site, attempting to infiltrate visitors’ computers. The attack did not affect either the English or Tibetan versions.
The attack on the CTA’s website has been contained, and the exile government’s spokesperson, Tashi Phuntsok, told Reuters that technicians were able to restore the website early on Tuesday, said Phayul, another Tibet in exile website. [read more]
South China Sea: Beijing’s imperialism worries Vietnamese
06.08.2013 by TT (AsiaNews) - Hanoi -In August, more than 9 thousand trawlers and 350 thousand fishermen from the Chinese province Hainan "spill out" of their specific areas for fisheries, invading the territorial waters of Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea. A few days ago in fact the ban imposed by the Beijing government, in force May 16 to August 1, 2013 expired. It had prohibited fishing vessels venturing into the waters surrounding the Paracel and Spratlys islands. Moreover, according to the recent agreement between Hanoi and Beijing, China will take over larger portions of the sea according to a increasingly "imperialist" policy. The area is the center of a fierce dispute between the Philippines, Vietnam and China with the exploitation of underground natural resources (oil and natural gas) at stake is, as well as the control of a focal point for international maritime trade in the Asia-Pacific region. [read more]
Vietnam kills 1st prisoner by injection
06.08.2013 (Bangkok Post) - Vietnam executed its first prisoner by lethal injection on Tuesday, ending a two-year pause in capital punishment caused by the country's struggle to obtain the needed chemicals, state media reported. The Communist country decided in 2011 to switch from firing squads to legal injection on humanitarian grounds. But it had been unable to execute anyone because the European Union (EU) bans factories from exporting drugs. It issued a law this year allowing the production of local chemicals to be used in executions, but the source of the drugs used in Tuesday's execution was unclear.[read more]
Zwei Jahre nach letztem Erschießungskommando
Erste Hinrichtung in Vietnam mit Giftspritze
06.08.2013 (n-tv) - Erstmals seit der Abschaffung von Erschießungskommandos vor zwei Jahren ist in Vietnam ein Gefangener mit einer Giftspritze hingerichtet worden. Vietnam hatte im Juli 2011 die bis dahin üblichen Erschießungskommandos abgeschafft und durch die "menschlicheren" Injektionen abgelöst.
Wegen eines Exportverbots der EU konnte das kommunistische Land die dafür benötigten Chemikalien aber nicht importieren. Nach einer Gesetzesänderung im Mai dürfen nun auch einheimische Produkte eingesetzt werden. [Weiterlesen]
Première exécution depuis deux ans
Le pays a exécuté mardi son premier prisonnier par injection létale, après une interruption de deux ans des exécutions en raison de problèmes d'approvisionnement en produits chimiques.
06.08.2013 (20minutes.ch) - Le pays communiste avait abandonné en juillet 2011 les pelotons d'exécution au profit de l'injection létale, une méthode qu'il jugeait «plus humaine», mais il n'avait pas pu importer les produits nécessaires en raison d'une interdiction d'exportation de l'Union européenne. En mai, la loi avait finalement été modifiée pour permettre que les condamnés à mort soient exécutés avec des produits chimiques locaux, ouvrant la voie à une reprise des exécutions. [en savoir plus...]
Cambodia: Social media fuels new politics
06.08.2013 By Marta Kasztelan (Asia Times) - PHNOM PENH - The recently concluded general elections in Cambodia, won narrowly by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), highlighted the growing political role of social media. Throughout the election period, Facebook users took to their smart phones and computers to share information and on polling day report electoral irregularities. Although the vast majority of Cambodians still live in the countryside, changes in technology and demography mean that more and more young people are joining social networking sites. According to social media agency We Are Social, currently one new user joins Facebook every two minutes in Cambodia, translating to an average of 1,000 new members per day. [read more]
America, Vietnam and Cambodia. Realpolitik redux
Two former foes receive different treatment from the Obama administration
03.08.2013 (The Economist) - On July 25th President Barack Obama welcomed his Vietnamese counterpart, Truong Tan Sang, to the White House. It was only the second such visit by a Vietnamese head of state since the normalisation of relations between the two old enemies in 1995. The meeting was a new high in what is being called a “comprehensive partnership”. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Philippines, Vietnam take China hedges
02.08.2013 By Richard Javad Heydarian (Asia Times) - MANILA - Soon after the US and China used a high-level strategic and economic dialogue in mid-July to underscore the importance both attach to their relationship, the Philippines and Vietnam made their own pitch to court great power support amid ongoing and, in certain maritime areas, intensifying territorial conflicts with China.
While Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang made a symbolic visit to the White House on July 25, an occasion where both countries agreed to move closer towards a full-fledged strategic partnership, the Philippines welcomed Japan's increasingly emboldened leader, Shinzo Abe, who has vowed to strengthen Tokyo's strategic depth in Southeast Asia. [read more]
Holding Beijing to Universal Values
01.08.2013 By Hon. David Kilgour, J.D. (The Epoch Times) - This article is based on a note presented on July 20, 2013 at a public forum at the Theatre of Federation of Medical Societies, Hong Kong.
It is good to be back in one of world’s greatest cities. The rest of us, including investors with consciences, are watching Hong Kong carefully for many reasons, but perhaps most especially to decide whether your well known adherence to universal values can be maintained under the ‘One country, two systems’ model.
This is, for example, why many residents of your city and elsewhere are urging members of your Legislative Council to join the growing world consensus that maximum pressure must be applied now on the new government in Beijing to end the pillaging of Falun Gong vital organs for commercial trafficking purposes. [read more]
Protest in Mamila against China’s aggresive policy in the Southeast Asian sea
24.07.2013 By Doan Trang (Blog Doan Trang) - About 500 Filipinos, including members from 20 civil society organizations, on Wednesday trooped to the Chinese Consular Office in Makati, Metro Manila, in a protest against China’s aggresive policy in the Southeast Asian sea.Some Vietnamese people also attended the protest.
At the protest, one organizer, the West Philippine Sea Coalition, had handed Nguyen Lan Thang, 38, a blogger from Hanoi, a letter of cooperation proposal, calling the Vietnamese people “to stand by the Filipinos in a joint effort” against China’s aggressive policy in the Southeast Asian sea.
LETTER OF COOPERATION PROPOSAL
To our Vietnamese friends,
We, the West Philippine Sea Coalition, who calls and organizes the global day of Philippine protests against Chinese aggressive policy in our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), would like to convey our most amicable salutation to you – the Vietnamese people who share our concern about Chinese provocative behavior in the Southeast Asian waters. [read more]
Net Savvy Activists Keep Vietnamese Bloggers One Step Ahead of Authorities
25.07.2013 By Valerie Hamilton (PRI's The World) - Thursday, President Barack Obama meets with Vietnamese president Truong Tan Sang in Washington. On the US agenda: human rights in Vietnam, especially the government’s crackdown on dissident bloggers. Press watchdog groups estimate Vietnam has imprisoned 35 bloggers, one of the worst records in the world. And a new decree issued last week tightens restrictions on Internet use even more. But Vietnam’s bloggers are learning how to keep one step ahead of the authorities, with the help of net-savvy activists in the US. Valerie Hamilton reports. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Kuhner: Obama hails Ho Chi Minh - Comparing Uncle Ho to Jefferson dishonors America’s military
02.08.2013 By Jeffrey T. Kuhner (The Washington Times) - President Obama has insulted the memory of the nearly 60,000 Americans who died in Vietnam. Last week, Mr. Obama met with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. Mr. Sang peddled the lie that the communist nation’s founder, Ho Chi Minh, was inspired by the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Obama agreed, publicly stating that both countries share a mutual admiration for Jefferson and our founding principles. In short, Mr. Obama advanced a grotesque historical myth — one that was repeatedly mouthed by the American anti-war left during the 1960s: Ho was a champion of Jeffersonian democracy, a patriot who simply wanted to end colonial rule. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ho was a committed Marxist revolutionary, who from his youth sought to erect a one-party Leninist state. In the 1920s, Ho visited the Soviet Union, where as a student he was trained at Moscow’s infamous Lenin School. He then established his communist movement in Vietnam. His forces sought to drive the French out of Indochina. [read more]
Trampled rights restrict US-Vietnam ties
01.08.2013 By Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Times) - Vietnam's aspirations for the future face several hurdles at home and abroad. Although the recent meeting between the heads of state of Vietnam and United States suggests better times ahead, the extent of this progress will depend on the depth of Vietnam's cooperation. The meeting between President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam and President Barack Obama at the White House last week was neither failure nor success. Only time will tell whether the high profile visit, only Vietnam's second to the US for a head of state, will yield substantive bilateral results. What was clear, however, was that the one-time battlefield adversaries aim broadly to build stronger relations. [read more]
Groß-Razzia in Moskau: Mehr als 1 000 illegale Arbeitsmigranten aus Asien erwischt
31.07.2013 (RIA Novosti) - Bei einer Groß-Razzia in Moskau sind am Mittwoch rund 1 200 illegale Arbeitsmigranten aus Vietnam festgenommen worden, berichtet die Moskauer Verwaltung des Innern. Die Migranten hätten dort mit Familien, darunter mit schwangeren Frauen und Kleinkindern, unter menschenunwürdigen Bedingungen gehaust. [Weiterlesen]
Asia laps up lax Israeli weapons rules
30.07.2013 By Alvite Singh Ningthoujam (Asia Times) - ... During 2011-2012, major European nations and the US had to cut down on their defense budgets due to the economic crisis. Further, the US has also withdrawn its troops from Iraq (and is in the process of doing the same in Afghanistan). Despite these events, the diminutive Jewish state maintained its age-old trade elsewhere, and profitably. Currently, Asia-Pacific remains a major target for Israeli arms sales... Among these Asian giants, Vietnam is another potential country where Israel is willing to conduct its arms business. [read more]
Absurd to equate Jefferson and Ho Chi Minh
29.07.2013 By Cal Thomas (Washington Examiner) - On his visit to Washington last week, President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam told President Obama the late revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, was inspired by the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the words of Thomas Jefferson. In an ad in the Washington Post, President Sang even claimed Jefferson's vision of liberty was the same as Ho's. Not exactly.
According to the U.S. State Department's Vietnam 2012 Human Rights Report: "The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam. ... The most recent National Assembly elections, held in May 2011, were neither free nor fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities. [read more]
Propel Vietnam Toward Democracy24.07.2013 By Dr. Nguyen Dan Que (The Epoch Times) - During a White House meeting this week with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, President Obama has a golden opportunity to nudge Vietnam toward democracy.
The United States has repeatedly warned Vietnam that economic development and democracy must go hand in hand. Having brushed the warning off, the Vietnamese have seen their economy fall into a difficult situation. Concurrently, China–Vietnam relations are becoming bitter over the East Sea (as the Vietnamese call the South China Sea), even with utmost deference from Hanoi. [read more]
Philippines to move air force, navy near disputed sea
28.07.2013 (The Asahi Shimbun) - AP - MANILA--The Philippines plans to relocate major air force and navy camps to a former U.S. naval base north of Manila to gain faster access to waters being contested by China in the South China Sea, according to the country's defense chief and a confidential government report.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said July 28 that as soon as relocation funds are available the government plans to transfer air force and naval forces and their fleets of aircraft and warships to Subic Bay, which has become a busy free port since the 1992 departure of the U.S. Navy. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
India offers Vietnam credit for military ware
28.07.2013 Sandeep Dikshit (The Hindu) - In a first, India has offered a $ 100-million credit line to Vietnam to purchase military equipment. It will be used for purchasing four patrol boats.
The credit line was agreed upon around the time India once again expressed its resolve to remain involved in oil exploration activity in the Phu Kanh basin of the South China Sea. Vietnam says it is within its rights to invite India to explore for oil in this area. But China claims that this basin is within the “nine dotted line” or its zone of influence. The credit line is likely to be finalised by the time the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam visits India towards the end of the year. [read more]
Building a New American Legacy in Vietnam
26.07.2013 By Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - The meeting between Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and US President Barack Obama at the White House went about as well as one could expect. As was planned beforehand, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and human rights were brought up. Despite differences, the United States and Vietnam intend to see this relationship grow, conditional, of course, on certain improvements. [read more]
Barack Obama recibe al presidente vietnamita
25.07.2013 Por Olga Sarrado (RFI) - El presidente estadounidense Barack Obama recibe hoy en la Casa Blanca a su par vietnamita,Truong Tan Sang... Entrevistados: Enrique Posada, director del Observatorio Virtual Asia-Pacífico de Bogotá, y Ellen Bork, directora de Democracia y Derechos Humanos de la Iniciativa de Política Exterior. [seguir leyendo] - [Escuchar (04:18)]
'Candid' Talks with Vietnam's Sang on Human Rights, Obama Says
25.07.2013 (VOA) - U.S. President Barack Obama says he had a "very candid" conversation with his Vietnamese counterpart about human rights when he hosted Troung Tan Sang at the White House.
Thursday's meeting earned Sang the honor of being only the second Vietnamese leader to hold talks with a United States president in Washington since the former wartime enemies normalized relations in 1995.
Sitting alongside Sang, Obama told reporters that Washington believes all nations should respect freedoms of speech, religious and assembly. Sang said Vietnam and the United States still have differences on the human rights issue. [read more]
Five Questions President Obama Doesn’t Want to Face as He Meets with Vietnam’s President Today on the Trans-Pacific Partnership
25.07.2013 (Public Citizen) - WASHINGTON - July 25 - Following yesterday’s release of a report on the abysmal labor conditions in Vietnam that confirms the U.S. Labor Department’s 2012 downgrading of Vietnam to the worst category of labor rights violators, President Obama will meet with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang today in Washington. The two leaders will discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade and investment agreement that the Obama administration seeks to conclude with Vietnam in October. Human rights and labor organizations have called for suspension of the talks until Vietnam can meet basic labor and human right standards. [read more]
Why is Obama meeting the president of Vietnam?
25.07.2013 By John Sifton (Politico) - President Barack Obama is hosting an uncommon visitor at the White House today: the president of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang. Among the topics for discussion, the White House says, are trade and closer security and military ties. Human rights are also on the agenda, but as the administration pursues its Asia “pivot” or “rebalance,” the question is how hard Obama will push the leader of the long-entrenched one-party state. Vietnam has a terrible and worsening human rights record, marked by systematic suppression of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, media censorship, and repression of labor rights. Increasingly nervous about its hold on power, the ruling Communist Party has stepped up its persecution of citizens who question the government’s actions or call for democratic elections. [read more]
Editorial: Religious freedom for Vietnam - President Obama gets an opportunity to bear witness
25.07.2013 (The Washington Times) - President Truong Tan Sang of Vietnam visits the White House on Thursday, and this is a providential occasion for President Obama to speak up for religious liberty.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom is less optimistic, warning that the government continues to deploy special religious police to suppress Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai communities through “discrimination, violence and forced renunciations of their faith.” Defenders of religious freedom are often imprisoned.
The commission cites two high-profile cases. Le Quoc Quan, a human rights activist, lawyer and blogger who protested the Vietnamese government’s use of land belonging to Catholics, has been imprisoned since Dec. 27 on dubious charges of tax evasion. He hasn’t yet had the opportunity to defend himself at trial. The commission is further concerned over the plight of Cu Huy Ha Vu, who is serving a seven-year prison term for opposing the government’s taking of land from a Catholic parish in Da Nang as well as his advocacy of human rights. [read more]
Vietnam dismisses US concerns on human rights
23.07.2013 By Chris Brummitt, AP (North Jersey) - HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — American concerns over the arrests of dissidents and other human rights abuses in Vietnam shouldn't stand in the way of closer military and economic ties with the Southeast Asian nation, the country's president said Tuesday ahead of talks in Washington with President Barack Obama. President Truong Tan Sang's remarks, made in emailed responses to questions by The Associated Press, are a sign of Vietnam's desire to strengthen relations with the United States, a country with which it shares concerns over Chinese assertiveness in the region. Sang's trip to the United States is only the second such visit by a head of state since the former foes resumed relations in 1995. He will meet President Obama on Thursday. [read more]
Vietnam seeks end to US arms embargo
23.07.2013 (IOL) - Hanoi, Vietnam - Vietnam's president is calling for an end to a US ban on the sale of lethal weapons to his country ahead of talks this week with President Barack Obama. President Truong Tan Sang said “it is now the time for our bilateral relations to be fully normalised in all fields” in an emailed answer on Tuesday to a question on the embargo by The Associated Press [read more]
Vor Staatsbesuch. Vietnam fordert Ende des amerikanischen Waffenembargos
23.07.2013 (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) - (ap) Der vietnamesische Präsident Truong Tan Sang will bei seinem bevorstehenden Besuch in Washington auf ein Ende des amerikanischen Waffenembargos gegen sein Land dringen. «Es ist jetzt Zeit, dass unsere bilateralen Beziehungen vollständig normalisiert werden», erklärte Sang am Dienstag in einer E-Mail an die Nachrichtenagentur AP. Die USA verbieten den Verkauf tödlicher Waffen an das südostasiatische Land, in dem sie einst einen verlustreichen Krieg geführt haben. Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama empfängt Sang am Donnerstag im Weissen Haus. [Weiterlesen]
US sincerity questioned in Southeast Asia
23.07.2013 By Richard Javad Heydarian (Asia Times) - MANILA - Shortly after China agreed to negotiate a binding code of conduct (CoC) to resolve simmering disputes in the South China Sea, the world's two leading powers held the fifth US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington. At that meeting, both sides committed to a significant broadening of their bilateral relations.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially US strategic partners the Philippines and Vietnam, were among those who paid close attention to the tone and substance of the dialogue, hoping to glean insights into Washington's future commitment to anchor peace and stability in East Asia. Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang will visit the White House later this week to sound out Washington about its security role in the region. [read more]
Washington Week: Focus on US-Asia Ties
21.07.2013 By Michael Bowman (Hawaii Reporter) - WASHINGTON — America’s deepening commitment to the Asia-Pacific region will be highlighted this week, as President Barack Obama hosts Vietnam’s president at the White House. The encounter occurs 40 years after the end of U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War, and at a time of growing trade and security ties between Washington and Hanoi... The White House says Presidents Obama and Sang will also discuss human-rights concerns, climate change, and economic ties. The meeting will be closely watched by America’s Vietnamese immigrant community. [read more]
Vietnam Between Rock and a Hard Place
19.07.2013 By David Brown (Asia Sentinel) - Is disappointment with China behind Vietnam president's hurried visit to Washington? Head-of-state visits typically take months to organize, but Vietnam's President Truong Tan Sang is going to Washington on very short notice and just after an evidently jolting encounter with China's leaders. Could it be that Sang and his colleagues have decided to pay the price the US has demanded for a "strategic partnership"?
Early in June, US State Department officials told a Congressional subcommittee that closer ties with Vietnam, in particular weapons sales, are on hold until there is "continued, demonstrable, sustained improvement in the human rights situation." The officials put on the public record a message that US diplomats have been delivering privately for a couple of years. Their testimony largely went unnoticed except by the online media that stoke the fires of dissidence in Vietnam. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam Lodges China Protest Over Claims of Attack on Fishermen
18.07.2013 (Bloomberg News) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s government said a Chinese boat crew beat Vietnamese fishermen near a disputed island chain, the third reported clash between the neighboring countries in contested waters this year.
Vietnam, in a letter protesting the July 7 incident to the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi, requested an investigation and compensation for the fishermen, who also lost personal property, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said in a statement yesterday. The Chinese vessel chased two Vietnamese fishing boats near the Paracel Islands, he said, without specifying the number of fishermen involved. [read more]
Time to admit wrong in Vietnam
17.07.2013 Dominik George Nargele (The Washington Times) - Once again there is a communist show trial going on in Vietnam. The distinguished lawyer, Le Quoc Quan, who has American ties, was arrested in December after he wrote a column for the BBC’s website in which he argued for a new constitution without a guarantee of a Communist Party monopoly.
In 2006 and 2007, Mr. Le held a U.S. congressionally funded fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy, where he analyzed the legal foundations of civil society in new democracies. Twelve members of Congress signed a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently calling for Mr. Le’s release. The letter warned Hanoi that democratic relations with the United States would be hurt by the continuing communist agenda of restricting citizens’ liberty. [read more]
Vietnam’s Unearned White House Invitation
16.07.2013 by Tyler Roylance (Freedom House) - The White House announced last week that President Obama will be hosting the president of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang, on his first visit to Washington on July 25. The meeting appears to fall under the U.S. administration’s Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy, or Asia Pivot, which is aimed in large part at addressing the rising regional tensions associated with China’s political and economic pressure on its smaller neighbors. While stepping up its dialogue with Beijing, the United States is strengthening ties with allies and other countries in East and Southeast Asia. But unlike most of these partners, Vietnam remains a repressive one-party state and has done little, by way of democratic reform, to earn a presidential invitation. [read more]
Sprunghafte Zunahme katholischer Bootsflüchtlinge aus Vietnam
16.07.2013 (Kipa) - Sydney - Die Unterdrückung von Katholiken sowie der zunehmend harte Kurs gegen Bürgerrechtler in Vietnam hat die Zahl vietnamesischer Bootsflüchtlinge in Australien sprunghaft steigen lassen. Die Zahl der Bootsflüchtlinge aus Vietnam sei in den ersten sechs Monaten im Vergleich zur Gesamtzahl vietnamesischer Flüchtlinge im vergangenen Jahr um das 30-Fache gestiegen, berichtete der australische Sender ABC (Dienstag) unter Verweis auf neueste Daten der Einwanderungsbehörde. [read more]
Government confirms 30-fold increase in number of Vietnamese seeking asylum in Australia
16.07.2013 By Jane Norman and staff (ABC) - Immigration Department figures show a 30-fold increase in the number of Vietnamese people seeking asylum in Australia. Yesterday a boat carrying 84 people - mainly Vietnamese - was intercepted in waters 50 kilometres away from the Kimberley town of Broome. The group was brought ashore at the local port and has been transferred to the Curtin Detention Centre. Department figures show 759 Vietnamese people have arrived by boat so far this year - up from fewer than 50 last year. [read more]
Chinese-Vietnamese Oil & Gas Agreement Seen as Political Posturing
15.07.2013 by Tim Daiss (Energy Tribune) - Rivals in recent years and even bitter enemies at times, China and Vietnam are trying to agree where they can amid decades old territorial disputes and over-lapping claims. The latest installment took place on June 19 when the two sides extended an agreement to jointly explore for oil and gas in the Gulf of Tonkin until 2016. The two sides also significantly expanded the area to be explored despite tensions over large areas of the South China Sea (SCS) that both claim. [read more]
Execution plan condemned by international medical community
15.07.2013 (British Medical Association) - The BMA has expressed grave concerns over reports Vietnam is to restart executions by lethal injections. Vivienne NathansonThe association has joined the Danish and German medical associations in stressing that no medicines or medical personnel should be used in executions. It follows reports that executions involve unspecified drugs and medical expertise. In a letter to Vietnam minister of health Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến, the three associations outline their opposition to execution by lethal injections, which were due to recommence on June 27. [read more]
Vietnam Calling on Washington
13.07.2013 by Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's visit to Washington on July 25 will likely pave the way for future exchanges and developments between the two leaders
News of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to Washington, DC, has been cause for speculation. To be discussed are regional issues and trade, as well as climate change and human rights. [read more]
Vietnam sentences four to death for drugs
11.07.2013 (The Asahi Shimbun) HANOI--A Vietnamese court sentenced four men to death for dealing in heroin, adding to those waiting capital punishment while the government tries to source chemicals for lethal injection, state media reported on July 11. [read more]
Eine Geste an Amerika?
11.07.2013 Von Till Fähnders, Singapur (FAZ) - Das Volksgericht in Hanoi sagt kurzfristig den Prozess gegen den Dissidenten und Blogger Le Quoc Quan aus. Womöglich hat Washington Druck ausgeübt. Denn Vietnam geht weiter rigide gegen Internetaktivisten vor.
Das Vorschieben eines kranken Richters dürfte nicht ausreichen, um Vietnams Ruf zu verbessern. Die autoritär regierende Kommunistische Partei ist in den vergangenen Monaten so hart gegen regierungskritische Blogger vorgegangen, wie seit Jahren nicht. Einige wurden wegen des „Missbrauchs demokratischer Freiheiten“ verurteilt. Die internationale Kritik an dem Vorgehen war in dieser Woche laut hörbar. [Weiterlesen]
Defence trade on horizon as Vietnamese president travels to Washington
11.07.2013 Jon Grevatt, Jane's Asia-Pacific Industry Reporter, Bangkok (IHS Jane's 360) - The White House announced on 11 July that President Barack Obama will host Vietnam's President Truong Tan Sang later this month in a visit that will strengthen bilateral defence relations and could lead to military sales. A statement said the two leaders will meet in Washington on 25 July and that President Obama "welcomes this opportunity to discuss with President Sang how to further strengthen our partnership on regional strategic issues and enhance our co-operation with the ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations]". [read more]
Vietnam’s New Military Buys: Considerations
11.07.2013 (Defense Industry Daily) - China’s 2009 display of naval might certainly marks an increased shift toward “forward defense” external link farther from its borders, a policy that must eventually include China’s trade lifeline to Vietnam’s south, through the Straits of Malacca. It also underlined a growing gap between China’s increasingly advanced ships and high capacity hovercraft, and Vietnam’s fleet external link of older Soviet and even American ships. [read more]
Vietnamese President Officially US Bound
12.07.2013 By Zachary Keck (The Diplomat) - As expected, Washington announced that President Barack Obama will host Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang at the White House on July 25.
According to a statement issued by the White House late Thursday, “The President welcomes this opportunity to discuss with President Sang how to further strengthen our partnership on regional strategic issues and enhance our cooperation with ASEAN. The President also looks forward to discussing human rights, emerging challenges such as climate change, and the importance of completing a high standard Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.” [read more]
Vietnam President to Visit White House Amid Dissident Crackdown
12.07.2013 (Bloomberg News) - Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang plans to visit the U.S. to meet President Barack Obama as the former foes seek closer economic and military ties despite concerns the Communist country is cracking down on dissidents.
Obama will meet Sang on July 25 to discuss human rights, climate change and Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, the White House said in a statement. Sang, who visited China last month, is one of the three senior-most leaders in Vietnam, with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung running the government and Nguyen Phu Trong heading the Communist Party... Human rights advocates have pushed the U.S. to make trade deals, humanitarian aid and arms sales contingent on an improvement in Vietnam’s human rights record, according to a report issued last month by the Congressional Research Service. [read more]
Vietnam prevents scholar from traveling to Rome for beatification meeting
12.07.2013 (Catholic World News) - Vietnamese officials prevented Nguyên Hoang Duc, a literary critic, from traveling to Rome to attend the recent ceremony marking the closing of the diocesan phase of the beatification process of Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuán (1928-2002). [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Opinion: Vietnam and the Absence of Trust
11.07.2013 Written by Khanh Vu Duc (Asia Sentinel) - If Vietnam wishes to be taken seriously, it must reconsider its priorities at home and abroad. The Cold War could be considered the Golden Age for Communist states. This was the period of Khrushchev, Castro, Mao Zedong, and Ho Chi Minh, from Latin America to Eastern Europe and the far corners of Southeast Asia...
Undoubtedly the modern China and Vietnam are not the countries envisioned by Mao or Ho Chi Minh, certainly not by Karl Marx, especially in the case of China, with its glitzy skyscrapers and ruling elite, in whose few hands holds the greatest concentration of wealth. China is far from an egalitarian, communist paradise. Rather, it, as well as Vietnam, has transformed into an authoritarian state with a love of money, benign insofar as its people toe the line and tread carefully. [read more]
Obama invites Vietnam president for rare trip
11.07.2013 (Channel NewsAsia) - President Barack Obama has invited his Vietnamese counterpart to visit the United States this month, sources said Wednesday, looking to boost cooperation on security and trade despite concerns over the communist state's rights record. [read more]
Report: Corruption Growing in Vietnam
10.07.2013 (VOA News) - A new report on global corruption trends finds more than half of Vietnam’s population believes corruption has increased in recent years. In a survey done by Transparency International, 55% of respondents from Vietnam felt an increase in corruption, compared to an average of 48% in Southeast Asia as a whole. [read more]
Why do Vietnam's patients bribe their doctors?
10.07.2013 By Ha Mi (BBC) - Three months ago, a woman from a village south of Hanoi needed her son referred to a provincial hospital by a district doctor for an operation. Handing over an envelope containing 50,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) ($2.4, £1.6) did not do the trick, but when she added another 50,000 VND, the referral was secured. [read more]
Bishop of Vinh: a reformist effort from Catholics, for the full development of Vietnam
09.07.2013 (AsiaNews) - Mons. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop, a supporter of the campaign for the end of single-party system, in an interview with AsiaNews relaunches the "task" for human, spiritual and social growth. The state is going through a "difficult" historical situation, the conflicts in the South China Sea are a "threat" to the nation's integrity. Overcoming the "clash" with the Communist authorities for a full evangelization. He will be going to Rio for WYD.
Vinh (AsiaNews) - As bishops, but mainly as Vietnamese, it is "our mission" to contribute to the development of the country. Growth that passes through a "change of mentality", nullifying the centrality "of the Marxist ideology" and favoring a "return to the traditional culture". This is what Mon. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop underlined in an interview with AsiaNews. Mons. Paul, Bishop of Vinh, is a staunch supporter of the constitutional reform-campaign - promoted through petitions and collected signatures - for the end of the hegemony of the single, communist party system. The prelate, President of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, confirms the union of intent which binds the Vietnamese clergy to the intellectual movements supporting the change, because "it is the responsibility of all to think about the fate of the nation." A goal, he warns, that can only be achieved through "an education that looks to the young people and students in particular", considered the true authors of real development that not only affects the economy, but also involves "society, politics and religion". [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnam und Laos schliessen Demarkation ihrer Grenze ab
09.07.2013 (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) - (dpa) Knapp vier Jahrzehnte nach dem Ende des Vietnam-Kriegs haben sich die Nachbarstaaten Vietnam und Laos abschliessend auf den Verlauf ihrer 2'000 Kilometer langen Grenze geeinigt. Am Dienstag brachten die Regierungschefs der beiden kommunistischen Staaten zum Abschluss des zehn Jahre dauernden Demarkationsprojekts die letzte Grenzmarkierung an. [Weiterlesen]
Pope Francis pays tribute to late Vietnamese cardinal
09.07.2013 (Catholic World News) - Pope Francis paid tribute to Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuán in a meeting with officials involved in his beatification cause, the diocesan phase of which recently concluded. Born in 1928, Cardinal Van Thuán was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Saigon six days before the South Vietnamese capital’s fall to Communist invasion. Imprisoned for 13 years, he served as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 1998 until his 2002 death.
Vietnam: Playing with fire
07.07.2013 Written by David Brown (Asia Sentinel) - Facing off against China. Follow America and save the country; follow China and save the party. This saying, heard everywhere in Vietnam, distills the geopolitical dilemma facing its ruling Communist Party. Forty years after the last American troops left Vietnam, the party that won independence and unified the nation has lost much of its legitimacy. No amount of harking back to the virtues of Ho Chi Minh and his comrades can restore its élan nor, it seems, root out systemic corruption. The regime's biggest liability is its failure to right a faltering economy. But public opinion is also scornful of its inability to defend Vietnam's interests against China. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]
Vietnamese Catholics celebrate Card. Văn Thuận, future blessed
04.07.2013 by Thanh Thuy (AsiaNews) - The diocesan phase of the beatification process has closed. Tomorrow Mass presided by Cardinal Vicar of Rome Agostino Vallini. At home prayers and celebrations in his memory. Catholic families pass on the heroic deeds of the cardinal to their children. July 5, the Vietnamese Church will celebrate the closing of the diocesan process of beatification of Card. Francis Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận, icon of the Asian Church with his testimony of faith, in the midst of suffering and persecution. Now the cause of the cardinal and the servant of God will begin a new and special iter, the so-called "Roman phase" at the Vatican Congregation for the Cause of Saints. The Mass celebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini - vicar of the diocese of Rome - will mark the handover of the work of a process that began October 22, 2010, five years after the death of former coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City. This day of celebration is an occasion of joy and pride for Vietnamese Catholics from around the world, eager to read about a man of virtue and faith - before even being a pastor - who was able to patiently endure captivity under the Communist regime. In families it has become a tradition to tell the children about the heroic deeds of a priest already revered as a saint and symbol of the Christian faith... [read more]
Kerry at ASEAN Forum for Talks on S. China Sea Disputes
02.07.2013 Scott Stearns (VOA) - BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, BRUNEI — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Brunei for a regional forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN. The group is hoping to agree on a legally binding code of conduct to manage a series of territorial disputes in the South China Sea among China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The U.S. Navy is increasingly active in the South China Sea and in joint operations with the Philippines. [read more]
Manille reproche à Pékin sa présence militaire massive en mer de Chine
01.07.2013 Gabriel Kahn, Manille (RFI) - Les Philippines ont reproché à la Chine, lors de l’ouverture du sommet de l’Association des nations de l'Asie du sud-est à Brunei, d’avoir renforcé massivement sa présence militaire en mer de Chine dans les eaux contestées par plusieurs pays de la région et ont qualifié sa tactique de menace pour la paix. [en savoir plus...]