Politik - Demokratie (2016)

Chinas große Chance

31.12.2016 Von Angela Köckritz (Die Zeit) - ... In nur einem Monat hat Trump die amerikanisch-chinesischen Beziehungen kräftig aufgemischt. Nicht bloß, weil er offen mit dem Gedanken spielte, mit der Ein-China-Politik zu brechen, nach der Taiwan als Teil Chinas verstanden wird – und damit Peking entsetzte. Vor allem öffnet Trump China wirtschaftspolitisch neue Horizonte. So erklärte er, dass er bereits an seinem ersten Amtstag aus dem Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) aussteigen werde, einem ehrgeizigen Handelspakt, der zwölf pazifische Nationen umfasst.

"Wenn Trump TPP nicht unterzeichnet, ist das gut für China", sagt Mao Zhenhua, Gründer und Chairman von Chinas erster Rating-Agentur Chengxin. China sei von diesem Abkommen ausgeschlossen, und viele Chinesen seien wütend darüber. "Mit TPP wollten die USA andere Länder in Asien vereinen und Chinas Einfluss eindämmen, jetzt macht Trump Raum frei für uns", sagt Mao. "Das heißt, wir können unsere Beziehung zu diesen asiatischen TPP-Ländern verbessern und einflussreicher werden." [Weiterlesen]

China Takes to the Blue Water

30.12.2016 By Todd Crowell (Asia Sentinel) - Beijing discards Mao’s instruction that the land outweighs the seas.

When China’s navy looks beyond its coastal waters, which it increasingly does, it sees a kind of Great Wall, except that, from their point of view, this wall is meant to keep China pinned in and not to keep the barbarians out.  It is now seeking to break out beyond that wall.

The Chinese call this the “First Island Chain,” a line of islands, some small, others huge, extending from the Japan archipelago to the north, the Ryukyu island chain past Taiwan and the Philippines to the south. The waters within this arc are considered an integral part of China itself.

China now routinely conducts naval and air exercises beyond the First Island Chain as far away as the Philippine Sea, and the number of Chinese naval flotillas passing through the First Island Chain has increased significantly in recent years. [read more]

Civilians Helping Governments Stake Claims in South China Sea

26.12.2016 (VOA) - TAIPEI — A statement from China that daily civilian charter flights would serve the contested sea off its south coast raises the growing profile of civilians as a tool for governments to bolster their claims in Asia’s most widespread sovereignty dispute.

The launch Thursday of flights from Haikou in southern China to Woody Island in the South China Sea, as reported by Beijing’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, extends Beijing’s broader campaign to build up the surrounding Paracel archipelago with military and other civilian presence.

The foreign ministry in Vietnam called Chinese flights to Woody Island “a serious violation” of Vietnamese “sovereignty” over the Paracels, according to the country’s online news service, VnExpress.net. [read more]

Chinese carrier enters South China Sea amid renewed tension

26.12.2016 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - TAIPEI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A group of Chinese warships led by the country's sole aircraft carrier entered the top half of the South China Sea on Monday after passing south of Taiwan, the self-ruled island's Defence Ministry said of what China has termed a routine exercise.

Japan said late on Sunday it had spotted six Chinese naval vessels including the Liaoning travelling through the passage between Miyako and Okinawa and into the Pacific.

Japan's top government spokesman said on Monday the voyage showed China's expanding military capability and Japan was closely monitoring it. [read more]

China's 1st aircraft carrier heads for Western Pacific

25.12.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - BEIJING--China's first aircraft carrier has set off for the Western Pacific for an open-sea training exercise, the Defense Ministry said.

State media said it is the first time that the Liaoning, which was commissioned by the Chinese navy in 2012, has headed to "distant sea waters." The Western Pacific region stretches from China to New Zealand and encompasses countries in the Pacific, Oceania and parts of Asia.

The Japanese Defense Ministry said it spotted the Liaoning as part of a fleet of eight Chinese warships that included destroyers and frigates, in the central part of the East China Sea for the first time. It said there was no incursion into Japanese waters. [read more]

Vietnam denounces Chinese flights to disputed island

24.12.2016 (EBLnews) - The Vietnamese government has condemned reports that China will begin a daily civilian charter flight to the contested Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, state media reported Saturday.

"Vietnam resolutely protests China's above-mentioned actions, and demands that China immediately end actions violating Vietnam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago," Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh was quoted as saying by the Toui Tre newspaper, using the Vietnamese name for the Paracels. [read more]

The Fault Lines in Vietnam's Next Political Struggle

23.12.2016 By Zachary Abuza (The Diplomat) - From 24-30 October 2016, Dinh The Huynh, a senior member of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s Secretariat and Politburo paid a low-key visit to the United States. Even though it garnered almost no media attention in the United States, and was largely platitudes and symbolism, it has important implications for Vietnamese domestic politics.

January’s Party Congress was supposed to have settled serious political schisms. But less than a year later, there is already evidence of intra-party fighting and jockeying for positions, suggesting that Trong will be stepping down sooner, rather than later. Vietnamese politics, as opaque as they are, are fluid.

The trip was meant to broaden his exposure to the outside world and to introduce him to foreign leaders. The trip was the strongest hint to date that he will succeed Trong as the VCP’s General Secretary at the mid-term congress.

Not all are on board with Huynh’s apparent ascension.  [read more]

The Spratly Islands in focus

23.12.2016 Stratfor Analysis (The Manila Times) - Vietnam’s military installations and garrisons have dotted the features of the Spratly archipelago — including the Southwest Cay, Sin Cowe Island and Spratly Island itself — for some time.

Vietnam’s moves come at a time of relative calm in the South China Sea dispute. The Philippines and Malaysia have acquiesced to China’s request to handle territorial spats through its preferred mechanism: diplomatic negotiations and joint arrangements that align with Beijing’s interests.

Though it remains to be seen whether the trend will continue, China has gradually gained the tactical upper hand by modernizing its military, developing its islands and acquiring new deep-sea drilling technology. [read more]

Philippinen erheben keinen Anspruch mehr auf internationalen Schiedsspruch

18.12.2016 (Philippinen Magazin) - Nur 50 Seemeilen vor der philippinischen Küste, im südchinesischen Meer beschlagnahmte die chinesische Küstenwache eine US amerikanische Forschungsdrohne. Dieser Vorfall löste in Washington Bestürzung aus und es kam zu einem kurzen aber heftigen politischen Schlagabtausch zwischen beiden Regierungen.

Der philippinische Verteidigungsminister Delfin Lorenzana sagte in einer SMS-Nachricht zu Reportern, „Wir wussten nicht, dass die USA eine Drohne im südchinesischen Meer im Einsatz hat.“ Trotz des Anspruches über das umstrittene Seegebiet, das den Philippinen in diesem Jahr durch das internationale Schiedsgericht in Den Haag zugesprochen wurde, werden die Philippinen nicht intervenieren. [read more]

Trump hails ties despite vow to end trade pact: Vietnam

16.12.2016 (Dailytimes) - HANOI: US President-elect Donald Trump has reassured Vietnam over future ties, according to the communist nation, which is set to lose out if he honours a vow to ditch a major trade deal. In a phone call on Wednesday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Trump "affirmed the wish to cooperate with Vietnam to strengthen bilateral ties".

Vietnam has said it is still committed to existing trade deals, including with the United States, regardless of what happens with the TPP.

Trump is expected to travel to Vietnam in November 2017 for the annual APEC summit. [read more]

Trump estrecha lazos con Vietnam

15.12.2016 (El Nuevo Día) - Bangkok - El presidente electo de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, habló por teléfono con el primer ministro vietnamita, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, al que dijo que quiere estrechar lazos con Vietnam, informó hoy el gobierno vietnamita en su página web.

"El presidente electo Trump alabó los éxitos conseguidos por Vietnam en los últimos años, así como el desarrollo positivo de los lazos bilaterales (entre ambas naciones)", precisó el comunicado oficial en la web del Ejecutivo vietnamita.

En su página de internet, el equipo de transición del presidente electo estadounidense confirmó la llamada y el interés de ambas naciones por estrechar lazos. [seguir leyendo]

Trump dit vouloir approfondir la relation avec le Vietnam

15.12.2016 (Le Figaro) - Le président-élu américain, Donald Trump a contacté mercredi le Premier ministre vietnamien, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, pour lui faire part de sa volonté de renforcer les liens entre Hanoi et Washington, a annoncé jeudi le gouvernement du Vietnam.

Le futur président américain a multiplié ces derniers jours les contacts avec les pays riverains de la mer de Chine du Sud confrontés aux revendication de Pékin qui estime que l'étendue d'eau relève presque intégralement de sa souveraineté.

Dans un communiqué, l'équipe de transition de Donald Trump a confirmé l'échange téléphonique, précisant que les deux hommes avaient évoqué un "large champ d'intérêts communs et qu'ils s'étaient accordés pour renforcer les relations entre les deux nations". [en savoir plus]

Eine chinesische Festung im Ozean

15.12.2016 von Matthias Müller, Peking (NZZ) - Der künftige amerikanische Präsident Donald Trump dürfte sich bestätigt fühlen. Im Wahlkampf hatte er die Regierung in Peking immer wieder attackiert und den kommunistischen Machthabern vorgeworfen, im Südchinesischen Meer einen «gewaltigen militärischen Komplex» zu errichten. Nun publik gewordene Satellitenaufnahmen der Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (Amti) zeigen, welche Fortschritte China bei der Errichtung der militärischen Anlagen auf den im Südchinesischen Meer gelegenen Spratly-Inseln gemacht hat.

Der Direktor der Initiative, Greg Poling, wird mit den Worten zitiert, man habe bisher nicht gewusst, dass der Bau der Anlagen bereits so weit fortgeschritten sei und die Militäranlagen so gross seien. Das chinesische Verteidigungsministerium weist in einer Stellungnahme im Internet darauf hin, dass es sich um chinesisches Staatsgebiet handle. Die Bautätigkeiten seien deshalb legitim. [Weiterlesen]

China rüstet offenbar hoch

15.12.2016 (NZZ) - (dpa) China hat offenbar seine militärische Präsenz im Südchinesischen Meer weiter ausgebaut. Dies zeigen Satellitenbilder, die die amerikanischen Denkfabrik Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) aufgenommen, ausgewertet und am Donnerstag veröffentlicht hat. Demnach besitzt China nun auf allen sieben künstlichen Inseln, die es in der Region aufgeschüttet hat, Flugabwehr-Waffen oder andere Verteidigungssysteme.

Peking hatte bereits im Februar Kritik von Nachbarstaaten und den USA auf sich gezogen, als es einige Raketenbatterien zur Abwehr gegen Luftangriffe in der Region stationiert hatte. [Weiterlesen]

India to Train Vietnam Fighter Pilots

09.12.2016 By Prashanth Parameswaran (The Diplomat) - India will begin training Vietnamese fighter pilots starting next year, according to an agreement inked by the two countries this week.

On December 5, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart, General Ngo Xuan Lich, signed a pact with Hanoi to train the pilots of its Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 multirole combat aircraft. The inking of the agreement came during Ngo’s much-awaited four-day visit to India, which began on December 3.

The two sides have also been looking to further boost relations, with greater momentum from the Indian side under Prime Minister Narendra Modi since his inauguration in May 2014 under the “Act East” policy. [read more]

South China Sea: Vietnam prepares for dangerous days ahead as the country's fisheries clash with Chinese authorities

09.12.2016 By Ben Bohane in Ly Son Island (ABC News) - Provocative activity in the South China Sea is clearly visible in the fiercely contested Spratly Islands, satellite pictures released today show.

Dredging work appears to be underway on a reef that is covered with water at high tide, but is an important stake in the hotspot, with a Vietnamese flag, lighthouse and soldiers stationed there.

"We can see that, in this environment Vietnam's strategic mistrust is total … and they are rapidly improving their defences," retired British navy intelligence analyst, Trevor Hollingsbee said. [read more]

Exclusive: Risking Beijing's ire, Vietnam begins dredging on South China Sea reef

09.12.2016 By Lincoln Feast and Greg Torode | SYDNEY/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Vietnam has begun dredging work on a disputed reef in the South China Sea, satellite imagery shows, the latest move by the Communist state to bolster its claims in the strategic waterway.

Activity visible on Ladd Reef in the Spratly Islands could anger Hanoi's main South China Sea rival, Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the group and most of the resource-rich sea.

Ladd Reef, on the southwestern fringe of the Spratlys, is completely submerged at high tide but has a lighthouse and an outpost housing a small contingent of Vietnamese soldiers. The reef is also claimed by Taiwan. [read more]

Eye on China, India to train Vietnam fighter pilots

06.12.2016 Rajat Pandit (Times Of India) - NEW DELHI: Indians will begin training Vietnamese fighter pilots on its Sukhoi-30MKI "air dominance jets" from next year onwards, much like it has been teaching sailors from the country for operations on board Kilo-class submarines for the last three years.

An agreement to this effect was inked on Monday after talks between defence minister Manohar Parrikar and his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich, who is leading a mega 30-member military delegation, including the air force and naval chiefs, on a three-day visit to India. [read more]

Donald Trump hat ein völlig veraltetes Bild von China

05.12.2016 Von Christoph Giesen, Peking (SZ) - Trumps Reaktionen auf die Kritik an seinem umstrittenen Telefonat mit Taiwans Präsidentin zeigen, wie veraltet sein Bild von China ist.

Peking verbilligt nicht mehr seine Währung schon lange nicht mehr künstlich, wie Trump behauptet.

Auch die These, dass China Arbeitsplätze aus den USA abzieht, ist eine Mär. Vor 15 Jahren, als die Volksrepublik der Welthandelsorganisation beitrat, fielen in der Tat Jobs in der amerikanischen Industrie weg. Inzwischen kämpft China selbst mit dem Sog der Globalisierung, Arbeitsplätze werden in Niedriglohnländer wie etwa Vietnam oder Kambodscha verlagert. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam split over Castro national mourning

04.12.2016 (Bangkok Post) - Cuba's revolutionary leader Castro died last week at age 90, prompting an outpouring of grief in Vietnam where officials hailed him as a communist brother and comrade.

On Sunday, state offices across the country flew black-ribboned flags at half-mast while authorities called on entertainment venues to suspend activities for the day.

But the national day of mourning -- afforded in the past only to the most senior Vietnamese politicians or war heros -- has not been universally welcomed.

"There is no laws for the Communist Party to ask the nation to mourn a foreigner, whoever that person is," said activist Le Dung. "I do not support this decision at all," he told AFP. [read more]

auch 05.12.2016

Why Do the Americans Still Need Vietnam and the Vietnamese Need Them?

04.12.2016 by Christopher Goscha (HNN) - Many observers, especially those opposed to America’s military intervention in Vietnam in the mid-20th century, tend to downplay the geopolitical importance of Vietnam. America had no business getting involved in Vietnam in the first place. The famous ‘domino theory’ justifying American intervention in Vietnam was flawed. The communist threat was overblown from the start. But one doesn’t have to believe in the ‘domino theory’ or take sides for or against American intervention in the ‘Vietnam’ War’ to recognize that Vietnam remains one of these historically coveted areas of the globe where empires go.

The Americans share the Vietnamese desire to contain the Chinese naval thrust into the Pacific and Indian Oceans. And this is why President Obama, like Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before him, travelled to Vietnam. The Americans still ‘need’ Vietnam and the Vietnamese need them. [read more]

Die dunkle Macht hinter Trump - Das Netzwerk der Lügner

04.12.2016 Michael Streck (Stern) - Wenn die Historiker eines Tages zurückblicken auf dieses Jahr 2016, auf Brexit und Donald Trump, könnte das in etwa so ausfallen, wie Historiker heute über das frühe Mittelalter sprechen, als "dark ages", dunkle Zeiten und Rückfall der Menschheit. Sie werden sich gewiss fragen, wie es so weit hat kommen können. Wie ein Mann mit mandarinenfarbenem Haar, der, wenn er den Mund aufmachte, vornehmlich Unflätigkeiten und Lügen ausspuckte, Präsident der mächtigsten Nation auf Erden werden konnte. Und wie dieser Präsident Trump dann das Weiße Haus noch weißer machte und zugleich dunkler, indem er viele weiße Männer zu engsten Vertrauten und Beratern erhob, die finstere Überzeugungen in sich trugen. [Weiterlesen]

China’s brutally pragmatic response to a shifting world order

01.12.2016 By: Kevin Rudd (The Financial Times) - Beijing abhors unpredictability. With Trump it has strategic unpredictability at scale.

China prefers to deal with the devil it knows. Beijing was fully prepared to deal with a President Hillary Clinton but, like the rest of us, the country’s foreign policy establishment is in the dark about what follows the election of Donald Trump. This creates genuine uncertainty in Beijing.

Chinese policy analysts are now working overtime to map out the future of Sino-American relations. Broadly, there are three overlapping schools of thought. China’s response to Mr Trump will be shaped by whichever prevails. Either way, it will be brutally pragmatic and not remotely ideological. [read more]

Trump’s withdrawal from TPP: What it means for Asia

01.12.2016 By Matthias Helble (Asia Times) - US president-elect jettisoned in one stroke the outcome of 10 years of hard-fought negotiations between 12 countries of the Pacific Rim

US president-elect Donald Trump shocked the aspiring Trans-Pacific Partnership members last week by announcing that the first priority of his presidency will be to withdraw from the trade deal.

Trump’s decision to withdraw from the TPP in favor of bilateral deals also means he jettisons the vision of regional integration of the Asia-Pacific in which the United States plays a leading role.

In doing so, Trump has given both China and Japan the baton to become the front-runners of regional trade integration.  [read more]

How China views Trump

01.12.2016 Keyu Jin (Nikkei Asian Review) - LONDON -- Donald Trump's stunning victory in the US presidential election has shaken the world. But one country has remained largely unmoved: China.

Trump's stance on China is well known: he has blamed the country for everything from hacks on his opponent (thought by the US government to be the work of Russia) to climate change (which he has called a hoax cooked up by China to undermine US competitiveness). And he has promised to impose a 45% tariff on Chinese goods.

If Chinese imports were blocked, prices would rise, undermining consumption, impeding economic growth, and exacerbating inequality. And the US would not even be protected from manufacturing employment losses; the jobs would just go to Vietnam or Bangladesh, where labor costs are even lower than in China nowadays. [read more]

Trump the Predictable

30.11.2016 By John Feffer (Foreign Policy In Focus) - Shortly after taking office in 1969, President Richard Nixon devised his “madman theory.” It was the height of the Vietnam War, and Nixon believed that he could end the conflict. It just required a bit of unpredictability.

Donald Trump has adopted his own “madman theory.” Throughout his campaign, he insisted that any potential negotiating partner — ally or adversary — must be left guessing. Toward that end, he refused to rule out the potential use of nuclear weapons, even in Europe.

But it’s not Donald Trump’s unpredictability I’m worried about. It’s his very disturbing predictability. For Trump, the presidency will be business as usual. The past is prelude, so it’s really not that difficult to predict the arc of this story. [read more]

TPP is dead, long live RCEP? Not so fast

29.11.2016 By Jon Connars  (Asia Times) -  When Xi Jinping asserted at the APEC Summit on November 19th that “China will not shut the door to the outside world but will open it even wider,” he not only forcefully claimed Chinese global leadership on free trade and globalization for years to come, but also sounded the death knell for the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia.” With the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as good as dead and Donald Trump in the White House, the 11 TPP nations were left with no choice but to signal their interest in joining China’s competing trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Shortly after Australia’s endorsement of RCEP, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key followed suit by saying that China would naturally fill the void if the Trump administration ends free trade, thereby signaling his country’s interest in China’s trade deal. Worse, even Chile and Peru, two nations that weren’t included in the original RCEP negotiations, have also expressed their desire to join the talks.

Paradoxically though, RCEP is not just a TPP “made in China,” but a considerably less ambitious trade deal that will mostly lower tariff and non-tariff barriers without touching national policies (such as environment and labor law) the way the TPP intended. [read more]

Is Vietnam Reigniting a Fire in the South China Sea?

29.11.2016 By Nguyen Quoc-Thanh (The Diplomat) - Hanoi is starting to feel more and more isolated as its regional neighbors reconcile with China. With Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to reset ties with China, and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s decision to put his country in the Chinese orbit, the situation all around Vietnam is evolving very rapidly. China also signed agreements for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road with Cambodia in mid-October, not to mention their joint military exercise scheduled for December. Together, these rapprochements are seen by the Vietnamese as coming at the expense of their country, which is now “isolated” by land and sea.

Things have gotten worse and worse for Hanoi only five months after The Hague international tribunal’s verdict; the latest developments in the South China Sea (SCS) have shifted in Beijing’s favor. One by one, Vietnam’s neighbors have looked toward China and now seek conciliation.

The trauma caused by the battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974, when ships of the People’s Republic of China sunk those of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), runs deep. The Vietnamese requested assistance from the U.S Seventh Fleet but their request was denied. [read more]

Vietnam Taking Long-Term Hard Line Toward China on Maritime Claims

28.11.2016 (VOA) - TAIPEI — Vietnam is lengthening a military runway on a tiny islet to help hold off a larger, more aggressive China for control in Asia’s widest-reaching sovereignty dispute as other claimants keep quiet or seek negotiations.

The government in Hanoi is extending the runway on one of the Spratly Islands, a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, from 762 to 1,005 meters and building new hangars, according to the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The longer runway would allow easier access for the air force’s maritime surveillance aircraft, it said. [read more]

Wo der Kommunismus noch lebt: China, Vietnam, Laos, Kuba

26.11.2016 (DiePresse) - Über 25 Jahre nach dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion haben nur noch vier bzw. fünf Länder weltweit kommunistische Regierungen.

Vor dem Fall der Sowjetunion gab es zahlreiche Länder mit kommunistischen Regierungen. 2016 verbleiben noch vier, oder - je nach Lesart des nordkoreanischen Regimes - fünf. Eines davon ist Kuba. Mit Fidel Castro ist am Freitagabend jener Mann gestorben, der mit der Revolution von 1959 den Grundstein dazu legte. [Weiterlesen]

Pope and Vietnam’s president meet at the Vatican in bid to warm long-strained ties

24.11.2016 (SCMP) - Pope Francis has hosted Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang at the Vatican as the two work towards warming long-strained ties, a press release from the Holy See said.

The two men “discussed the good relations which exist between the Holy See and Vietnam, reinforced by a common spirit of dialogue” over the course of a 15-minute meeting Wednesday, the statement said.

Vietnam’s communist regime broke off diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1975, but both sides have been working towards reconciliation since 2007, including a meeting between the prime minister and the pope two years ago. [read more]

What Would US TPP Withdrawal Mean?

23.11.2016 By Prashanth Parameswaran (The Diplomat) - On Monday night, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump made headlines around the world when he included U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as one of the executive actions he would take upon taking office on January 20 in a transition update to the American people.

Should Trump withdraw the United States from TPP, it would be a disaster for the United States both economically and strategically.

Strategically, TPP’s failure will reinforce doubts about American credibility in the region amid a rising China, as several Asian leaders including Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong have warned. [read more]

Wie China von Trumps TPP-Absage profitiert

22.11.2016 Von Kai Strittmatter, Peking, und Christoph Neidhart, Tokio (NZZ) - Trump und TPP hatten ein gemeinsames Ziel: Chinas Wirtschaftsmacht einzudämmen. Mit dem Ausstieg der USA aus dem Freihandelsabkommen könnte das Gegenteil eintreten.

Es wirkt wie eine verkehrte Welt. Erst verhilft Donald Trump ausgerechnet China, dem weltgrößten Kohleverbrenner, zur Rolle des Vorreiters im Klimaschutz. Und jetzt darf das offiziell noch immer kommunistische China auch noch den mächtigsten Verteidiger von Freihandel und Globalisierung geben. Trump hat China im Wahlkampf einiges angedroht, unter anderem Strafzölle und einen Handelskrieg. Beginnen aber wird er seine Präsidentschaft mit einem Geschenk für China, wie es sich Peking schöner nicht hätte wünschen können: Trump lässt die Transpazifische Partnerschaft TPP sterben.

Das Aus von TPP ist für Chinas Führer nun eine einmalige Chance. Amerikas Partner sind dagegen enttäuscht. Singapurs Premier Lee Hsien Loong hatte Washington schon im Sommer gewarnt, es setze "seinen Ruf aufs Spiel". Ein Ende von TPP würde Amerikas Freunde in Asien "sehr verletzen".

Die Chinesen werben nun für ihren eigenen Freihandelspakt, die "Umfassende Regionale Wirtschaftspartnerschaft" RCEP. Die RCEP baut auf die bisher lose Vereinigung "Asean plus Sechs" auf und soll auch Indien einbeziehen. Dieser Pakt würde damit fast ganz Südost- und Ostasien wirtschaftlich einbinden. Bei RCEP sind die USA nicht dabei. Anders als TPP will sich die RCEP auf den Freihandel beschränken, Umwelt-, Arbeits- und Patentrecht sollen nicht vereinheitlicht werden. [Weiterlesen]

Trumps kalte Schulter für Asien-Pazifik-Region

22.11.2016 (SZ) - Hanoi (dpa) - Es war für den kommunistischen Einparteienstaat das Sahnestück in der Strategie, das einstige Agrarland nach Krieg und Mühen endgültig in die erste Welt zu führen: Die transpazifische Partnerschaft (TPP), das war Vietnams Tor zu attraktiven Märkten wie den USA, Japan und Australien.

Und nun dies. Donald Trump kündigt für den allerersten Tag seiner Amtszeit als US-Präsident den Rückzug aus TPP an.

"Eine Katastrophe für Vietam" sei das, sagt der frühere Präsidentenberater und Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Le Dang Doanh der Deutschen Presse-Agentur. Die Vietnamesen träumten schon von Exportzuwächsen um die 20 Prozent.

Aber nicht nur das: Demokratieverfechter hatten sich durch die TPP-Auflagen zu Mindeststandards bei Arbeits-, Umwelt- und Transparenzauflagen viel versprochen. "Das wird den politischen Reformprozess verlangsamen", fürchtet Nguyen Quang A, früher Direktor des reformorientierten Instituts für Entwicklungsstudien, nun. [Weiterlesen]

Recent developments surrounding the South China Sea

21.11.2016 By Hrvoje Hranjski (U.S. News & World Report) - BANGKOK (AP) Satellite imagery suggests Vietnam has extended a runway and constructed new hangars on one of the disputed Spratly islands it controls, apparently enabling it to accommodate surveillance aircraft there.

As in the past, Hanoi has not commented on the imagery provided by the Center for Strategic and International Studies . The think tank says the construction is modest in comparison to rival claimant China's massive island-building on seven Spratly features. [read more]

Trump wird TPP am 1. Tag im Amt kündigen

22.11.2016 (heute.at) - Der zukünftige US-Präsident Donald Trump kündigte am Montag per Videobotschaft an, das Freihandelsabkommen TPP prompt an seinem ersten Tag im Amt aufzukündigen. Er löst damit eines seiner Wahlversprechen ein.

TPP sei eine "potenzielle Katastrophe für unser Land", so Trump in seiner Videobotschaft. "Stattdessen werden wir gerechte, bilaterale Handelsverträge vereinbaren, die Arbeitsplätze und Industrien zurück nach Amerika bringen." [Weiterlesen]

Death Of TPP Trade Deal A Blow For Vietnam's Promising Economy

21.11.2016 By Brett Davis (Forbes) - Death Of TPP Trade Deal A Blow For Vietnam's Promising Economy

Vietnam was set to be one of the major beneficiaries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which now seems all but dead after the U.S. president-elect Donald Trump declared withdrawing America from the pact would be one of his first actions in office.

Vietnam’s manufacturing-led economy, particularly the textiles sector, was set to reap the reward of slashed tariffs among the 12 Pacific-rim nations who signed on to the deal, which also included Japan, Australia, Canada and Mexico.

Importantly for Vietnam, it would have allowed workers to form independent trade unions and collectively bargain with employers, a move that would have almost certainly seen a rise in average wages. Independent unions have not previously been allowed in the Communist Party-ruled country. There is no word yet on if this reform will continue, however it is difficult to imagine it going ahead without the carrot of unfettered access to the U.S. market. [read more]

Trump and the Bomb

20.11.2016 By Michael Krepon (Foreign Affairs) - When U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, he will face a global nuclear order that is increasingly unstable. North Korea, deteriorating U.S.–Russian relations, and the triangular competition among India, Pakistan, and China are all cause for concern. Add in Beijing’s growing ambitions to control resources and sea-lanes around its periphery and Trump’s repeated promises to rip up the Iran nuclear agreement, and the future of global nuclear arms control looks even more uncertain.

It’s conceivable that a Trump presidency, like that of Ronald Reagan, could produce welcome surprises. But it is also possible—and more likely—that the risk of a nuclear war will grow during his term in office. Much will depend on Trump’s instincts on nuclear issues, which are far from clear, the advisors he chooses, and how he responds to the counsel they provide. [read more]

China wirbt beim APEC-Gipfel für Freihandel

19.11.2016 (DW) - Beim APEC-Treffen der Pazifik-Anrainer ist der künftige US-Präsident nicht mit an Bord. Dennoch bestimmt seine Ablehnung des Freihandels das Treffen mit. Chinas Präsident Xi sprach sich gegen jeden Protektionismus aus.

Eine mögliche Abschottungspolitik der Vereinigten Staaten unter dem gewählten US-Präsidenten Donald Trump bereitet vielen Staats- und Regierungschefs beim Pazifik-Gipfel der 21 APEC-Staaten in Lima Sorgen.

Viele APEC-Staaten wollen TPP zwar noch nicht aufgeben. China werde aber die Lücke wohl füllen, sollte die künftige Trump-Regierung wirklich von den Freihandelsbemühungen abrücken, sagte Neuseelands Ministerpräsident John Key. Australiens Premierminister Malcolm Turnbull warnte zugleich vor Protektionismus. "Das ist der Weg in die Armut." [Weiterlesen]

Another blow to Obama’s TPP after Vietnam says it won’t ratify trade pact and Australia looks to China

17.11.2016 (SCMP) - The United States-led Pacific trade pact appears to be crumbling after Vietnam said it would not ratify it and Australia signalled support for Chinese-led trade deals before a meeting this weekend of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Peru.

Vietnam’s prime minister said his country will shelve ratification of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) accord due to political changes ahead in the United States, but wants to maintain good relations with Washington.

The TPP, the signature economic policy of US President Barack Obama’s Asia-Pacific rebalance, looks increasingly uncertain with a Republican Congress and an incoming president Donald Trump who had called the agreement a “disaster”. [read more]

China Just Won The U.S. Election

09.11.2016 James Palmer (Yahoo News / Foreign Policy Magazine) - The election of Donald Trump will be a disaster for anyone who cares about human rights, U.S. global leadership, and media freedom. That means it’s a victory for Beijing, where as I write, the Chinese leaders near me in the palatial complex of Zhongnanhai are surely cracking open the drinks and making mean jokes.

There are four major victories for the Chinese leadership here, tempered by one possible fear. The first victory is the obvious one, the geopolitical victory; China no longer faces the prospect of Hillary Clinton, a tough, experienced opponent with a record of standing up to bullies. Instead, it faces a know-nothing reality TV star who barely seems aware that China has nuclear weapons, has promised to extort money from U.S. allies around China like South Korea and Japan, and has repeatedly undercut U.S. credibility as a defense partner. Trump is also exactly the kind of businessman who is most easily taken in by China — credulous, focused on the externalities of wealth, and massively susceptible to flattery. A single trip, with Chinese laying on the charm, could leave him as fond of China’s strongmen as he is of Russia’s Putin.

Countries like Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines, uncertain about who to back in the contest for power in the Pacific, will swing massively China’s way, preferring a country that keeps its promises to one that can turn on the pull of an electoral lever. The strongest U.S. allies, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, no longer confident in the U.S. nuclear umbrella, will begin seriously considering other alternatives — like acquiring their own nuclear deterrent, prompting new tensions with China. [read more]

Asian-American Voters, Once Republican, Are Turning Democrat

31.10.2016 (abcnews) - By Matthew Pennington, Falls Church, Va. — Though they are regarded as the most conservative of Asian-American voters, the Vietnamese are increasingly shifting their support to Democrats. That reflects a broader shift among Asian-Americans from being majority Republican supporters to overwhelmingly Democrat. Donald Trump's polarizing rhetoric on issues like immigration could accelerate the trend.

That shift could have an effect on the presidential race. Though Asian-Americans represent only about 4 percent of the electorate and tend to have low turnout, they are a potentially significant bloc in battleground states like Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia. [read more]

Beyond Vietnam’s ‘Great Fish Kill’

27.10.2016 By David Brown (Asia Sentinel) - Environmental concerns, human rights issues begin to surface.

“If the problem of human rights isn’t properly solved,” said my friend C.V., “Vietnam is going to be isolated from the international community, and that will make it really hard to develop our country.” We spoke just after blogger Mẹ Nấm was taken into custody on October 10, charged with “distorting the truth, opposing the party line and state policies.”

Western press reports linked the popular blogger’s arrest to her criticism of the Hanoi government’s management of an environmental disaster,  the hundreds of tons of fish killed in April when a newly commissioned foreign-owned steel mill unaccountably released toxic chemicals into coastal waters.  Police told Vietnamese reporters, however, that the charges lodged against Mẹ Nấm were more relate to her compilation of some 31 deaths of individuals in police custody, a list she posted over two years ago.

Hanoi has signed virtually every international agreement on environmental stewardship, but it’s still the party/state that sets the agenda and monopolizes decision-making. The regime’s suspicious of civil society in general, and particularly hostile to organized protest. There’s no acknowledged space for environmental activism of the sort practiced in democracies by not for profit organizations. [read more]

Why Vietnam is delaying TPP ratification

28.09.2016 By Xuan Loc Doan (Asia Times) - Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) will not include the ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a US-led trade agreement, on its agenda for the upcoming session – and its last meeting in 2016 – which starts on October 20 and ends on November 21.

That means the trade pact would not be approved until early next year – probably March or April, when the NA, the one-party state’s rubber-stamp parliament, meets for its first session in 2017.

China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea was seen as a major reason behind Vietnam’s concerted efforts to strengthen its ties with the US and join the TPP in recent years.

The relationship between the two communist neighbors has become a little bit warmer, or at least, less tense, following Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s latest six-day China trip, which ended on September 15 – the day Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan made the comment on the TPP ratification. This might have influenced Hanoi’s decision to postpone the TPP vote. [read more]

Shadow on the South China Sea

28.09.2016 Bill Hayton (History Today) - Since the beginning of the 20th century, a tiny collection of islets and shoals has been the focus of disputes involving seven nations.

American and Chinese warships shadow one another around disputed islets, planes jostle in the skies overhead and seven different governments argue over who has the rights to the oil and fish in the waters beneath. At the heart of this is the question of who owns the rocks and reefs of the South China Sea. They may be tiny – their total area is just a few square miles – but they could trigger a global confrontation.

There are actually two sets of disputes in the South China Sea: one is about the islets themselves and involves China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and, to a limited extent, Indonesia. The other is about the spaces in between the islets – which is really about the rules of the international system, particularly the Law of the Sea – and that predominantly concerns the US and China. It is the overlap between the two disputes that makes them so potentially dangerous. An incident between local fishing boats could end in conflict between two of the world’s most powerful navies. [read more]

Tension over South China Sea remains high at UN General Assembly

25.09.2016 (New Europe) - UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh is calling on all parties involved with territorial ownership issues in the South China Sea to exercise self-restraint and solve disputes by peaceful means.

The issue of ownership of territories in the South China Sea has become a heated topic in recent years. China claims virtually the entire sea as its own, citing historical reasons. That has pitted it against Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei. [read more]

Inselstreit im Südchinesischen Meer - Taiwan verärgert über Google

23.09.2016 von Beat Bumbacher (NZZ) - Im Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer mischt auch Taiwan mit. Das hat die Regierung in Taipeh indirekt publik gemacht, indem sie von Google fordert, eigene Militäreinrichtungen auf einer Insel im Spratly-Archipel auf Google Earth unkenntlich zu machen.

Die kleine Inselrepublik, die von Peking bekanntlich immer noch als Teil Chinas betrachtet wird, kontrolliert schon seit längerer Zeit die Insel Taiping (auch Itu Aba genannt) , eine der flächenmässig grössten Eilande der Spratly-Inseln. Jetzt wurde bekannt, dass Taiwan dabei ist, seine Position dort 1600 Kilometer vom Mutterland entfernt durch den Bau von offensichtlich militärischen Anlagen zu verfestigen. Auf Google Earth ist nämlich seit neuestem zu erkennen, dass auf Taiping Bauten im Entstehen sind, deren Struktur ziemlich eindeutig auf eine militärische Nutzung schliessen lässt. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam to delay TPP ratification until after US elections

21.09.2016 (SCMP) - Vietnam will delay ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until after the US elections, a lawmaker said on Wednesday, in the latest blow to the massive trade pact.

Prospects that the 12-country deal could be ratified in Washington this year have dimmed, with US lawmakers casting doubt on whether President Barack Obama’s signature Pacific trade deal will receive substantial backing or even come to a vote.

Both US presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have said they oppose the TPP, raising questions about the future of the pact come the November ballot. [read more]

Ein Riss im vietnamesischen Filz

20.09.2016 von Michael Radunski (NZZ) - Vietnams Wirtschaft leidet unter grassierender Korruption. Seit Jahren kündigt die Regierung immer wieder entschiedene Schritte an. Nun hat es gleich mehrere Topmanager erwischt.

Trinh Xuan Thanh soll zum Symbol für Vietnams Zukunft werden. Allerdings nicht so, wie es der fünfzig Jahre alte Vietnamese aus Hanoi wohl gerne hätte. Für den ehemaligen Politiker und erfolgreichen Geschäftsmann gab es bisher nur eine Richtung: Ob in der Politik oder im Geschäftsleben, für Thanh ging es immer steil nach oben. Doch als am späten Freitagabend das vietnamesische Ministerium für öffentliche Sicherheit eine Erklärung über Thanh veröffentlichte, war darin kein einziges gutes Wort zu lesen: Von absichtlicher Verletzung der Rechtsvorschriften ist die Rede, von gravierendem Missmanagement und den schwerwiegenden Folgen davon. Kurz: Thanh wird Korruption in besonders grossem Ausmass vorgeworfen. Am Ende der Erklärung finden sich ein kurzer Steckbrief Thanhs sowie ein internationaler Haftbefehl. [Weiterlesen]

Südchinesisches Meer: Japan zu Säbelrasseln bereit

18.09.2016 (cash) - Im Streit über chinesische Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer will Japan verstärkt Flagge zeigen. Das soll mit Patrouillen und Militärmanövern geschehen.

Dazu seien gemeinsame Patrouillen mit den USA sowie Militärmanöver mit weiteren regionalen Anrainern geplant, sagte die japanische Verteidigungsministerin Tomomi Inada am Donnerstag in Washington.

China erhebt Anspruch auf weite Teile des Südchinesischen Meeres. Diese waren von einem internationalen Schiedsgerichtshof als nicht berechtigt zurückgewiesen worden. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam issues warrant for senior official over graft

18.09.2016 (The Taipei Times) - Vietnam has issued an arrest warrant for a scandal-hit senior official accused of mismanaging a government-run oil giant, the latest executive targeted in the government’s attempt to clean up the corrupt state sector.

Trinh Xuan Thanh, one of the highest-ranking officials to be sought by police in the communist nation in recent years, has not been seen in public since he left the country last month, according to state-run media.

His arrest warrant came just one day after four of his former colleagues at the PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Co subsidiary were arrested for allegedly costing the firm nearly US$150 million during his time as chairman.

There have been a string of high-profile arrests and prosecutions of wealthy businessmen and executives in recent years, but analysts said they are the result of political infighting rather than a genuine commitment to reform. [read more]

Japan to step up role in South China Sea

17.09.2016 (World Bulletin) - Japan’s new defense minister, Tomomi Inada, has injected her country more firmly into the South China Sea controversy during her first visit to Washington as a minister.

“Japan will increase its engagement in the South China Sea, such as, for example, joint training exercises with the U.S. and regional navies,” she declared during a speech delivered earlier this week to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Beijing has been accused of trying to change the rules by its massive land reclamation projects of several reefs and atolls and by its claims to the entire sea, which were ruled unfounded in July by an international tribunal -- whose authority China refuses to accept. [read more]

Vietnam arrests former PetroVietnam executives

16.09.2016 (Channel NewsAsia) - HANOI: Four former top brass from Vietnam's state-run oil and gas giant PetroVietnam have been arrested for allegedly costing the firm nearly US$150 million in losses, the government said Friday (Sep 16).

The four businessmen, who worked for the PetroVietnam Construction (PVC) subsidiary, include former director Vu Duc Thuan, former deputies Nguyen Manh Tien and Truong Quoc Dung and former chief accountant Pham Tien Dat.

The group was arrested for "intentionally violating state regulations on economic management causing serious consequences" amounting to $147.9 million in losses, the Ministry of Public Security said on its website.

Analysts often view such cases as the result of political infighting rather than a genuine commitment to reform. [read more]

Top-Manager in Vietnam wegen Missmanagements festgenommen

16.09.2016 (Der Farang) - HANOI (dpa) - Vier Top-Manager im Konzern der staatlichen vietnamesischen Ölfirma PetroVietnam sind wegen Missmanagements festgenommen worden.

Sie sollen zwischen 2011 und 2013 den Verlust von umgerechnet fast 150 Millionen Dollar verursacht haben, teilte das Ministerium für öffentliche Sicherheit am Freitag mit. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam and China: A Delicate Balancing Act

15.09.2016 By Nicholas Chapman (The Diplomat) - On September 10, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc embarked on his first visit to China since his June election during the first session of the 14th National Assembly. Phuc brought 32 ministerial officials and other delegates with him, indicating the priority and importance of the country’s relationship with its northern neighbor and traditionalally.

Phuc’s visit comes only two months after the Permanent Court of Arbitration dismissed China’s historical claims to the South China Sea, ruling in favor of the Philippines, an award which China dismissed as “null and void.” Although Vietnam welcomed the case, public frustration has emerged at the Vietnamese government’s lack of action after the ruling. Pockets of protests erupted in Hanoi, with some protesters gathering outside the Philippine Embassy. One particularly symbolic banner read, “Thank you, Philippines, you have a brave government.” These protests were quickly halted by the police given the government’s high sensitivity to opposition. [read more]

Can China’s charm offensive mend its fractured ties with communist neighbour Vietnam?

15.09.2016 By Shi Jiangtao (SCMP) - China has launched a charm offensive over the past week to woo Vietnam’s visiting Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as part of a diplomatic bid to ease simmering tensions with its Asian neighbours over sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea.

But analysts cautioned that relations between Beijing and Hanoi remain difficult despite the positive appearance projected over the past week.

Diplomatic observers said Phuc’s trip to China, which ended on Thursday, shows Beijing values the geopolitical importance of Hanoi, a key rival claimant to waters in the South China Sea.

In an unusual gesture to showcase the special relationship between the Communist neighbours, Phuc was received by five out of seven Politburo Standing Committee members during his six-day trip, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. [read more]

Could the South China Sea dispute trigger a Sino-US war? Five charts that tell you who might win

14.09.2016 By Daniele Palumbo (IBT) - Chinese expansion in the South China Sea is bringing conflict between Beijing and its neighbours – Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam – closer than it has been for decades. Vietnam has fortified several islands it controls, while Japan has been publicly rebuked by Beijing over its 'interference' in the sea – most of which China claims. The Philippines has called for "restraint and sobriety" as its own dispute with Beijing rumbles on.

But the South China Sea and a lesser-known spat with Japan over islands near Taiwan has not only brought talk of a regional war in the Pacific to the fore, but raised the prospect of the US being dragged into open warfare with China. Beijing's expansionism threatens not only the interests of US allies in East Asia but also global trade, given that some 40% of all shipping passes through the disputed area of ocean. [read more]

Indien und Vietnam bauen militärische Zusammenarbeit aus

03.09.2016 (DW) - Angesichts der jüngsten Spannungen im Südchinesischen Meer wollen Indien und Vietnam auf militärischem Gebiet enger kooperieren. Indien liefert Schnellboote an Vietnam und stellt einen Großkredit bereit.

Beim Besuch des indischen Premierministers Narendra Modi in Hanoi haben beide Seiten zwölf Kooperationsverträge unterzeichnet. Einer beinhaltet die Zusammenarbeit der Marine beider Länder. Zudem schlossen ein indischer Schiffshersteller und die vietnamesische Küstenwache einen Vertrag. Bei einem Treffen mit dem vietnamesischen Regierungschef Nguyen Xuan Phuc bot Modi eine Kredithilfe von umgerechnet 500 Millionen US-Dollar an, um die militärische Zusammenarbeit zu erleichtern. Indien wird Vietnam zudem Schnellboote liefern. [Weiterlesen]

Invasión del turismo chino exacerba la hostilidad de los vietnamitas hacia sus vecinos

30.08.2016 (Pulso de San Luis ) - Nha Trang, Vietnam (EFE) - Pese a los beneficios económicos que reporta, el fuerte crecimiento del turismo chino en Vietnam es fuente de numerosos conflictos que exacerban la tradicional hostilidad de los vietnamitas hacia sus vecinos del norte.

Las autoridades de varias ciudades del país barajan desde el pasado julio medidas para sancionar a turistas chinos que “falten al respeto a la historia y la cultura vietnamita”, según la prensa local.

El episodio más llamativo hasta el momento se ha producido en Nha Trang, una de las ciudades más afectadas, donde el Gobierno ordenó la deportación de 66 ciudadanos chinos, en su mayoría guías turísticos, por operar de manera ilegal y, según algunos medios, por difundir datos erróneos sobre la historia de Vietnam.

“Algunos han estado diciendo cosas falsas, dicen que nuestra ciudad debe ser parte de China”, comenta a Efe Nguyen Huong, recepcionista de hotel en esta ciudad del centro del país.

“Son muy maleducados y ruidosos. Algunos se niegan a pagar si no es en moneda china, aunque sea ilegal, y tengo que averiguar siempre la tasa de cambio. Prefiero no tener pasajeros chinos, tratan muy mal a los vietnamitas”, protesta Pham Dinh Khanh, taxista. [seguir leyendo]

China Charges American Woman with Spying After a Year in Detention

30.08.2016 (Breitbart) - China has indicted 56-year-old American business consultant Phan “Sandy” Phan-Gillis on charges of spying for a foreign government, with a possible life sentence hanging in the balance. She is a naturalized American citizen of Chinese descent, who arrived in the United States as a refugee from Vietnam.

The Associated Press reports that Phan-Gillis was detained in March 2015 while visiting China as “part of an American trade delegation that was promoting business opportunities in her hometown of Houston, Texas.”

The Nanning Intermediate People’s Court accepted the case against her on July 11 but only recently has her family and legal counsel been informed of the charges. Her first hearing date has not been set yet.

Her husband, Jeff Gillis, says “she is charged with being a spy for a foreign government from 1996 to 1998, and that the charges are ‘absolutely false,'” the AP reported. [read more]

In Vietnam, propaganda lives on

29.08.2016 By Tan Qiuyi (Channel NewsAsia) - HANOI: For weeks in January, an imposing bright red poster of Uncle Ho in silhouette dominated the streets around the National Convention Centre west of the Vietnamese capital. As the city’s frenetic motorbike traffic whizzed by, the poster’s technicolour trail of faces and flowers called on the young to “study and follow the moral example” of Vietnam’s revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh.

No longer about war and resistance, they hail the country’s new ideals - development, modernisation, prosperity. Set against the country’s fast growing capitalist skylines, however, their slogans, look and feel like relics of a by-gone era.

“I don’t care about propaganda posters and I don’t find them interesting at all,” said Nam, a young electrical engineer taking a lunch break on the banks of Hanoi’s scenic West Lake. [read more]

South China Sea Fact: One of the Last Things South Vietnam Did Was Fight China

27.08.2016 By Joseph Trevithick (The National Interest) - In January 1974, South Vietnamese forces clashed with the People’s Liberation Army Navy in the Paracel Island chain—a hot spot between China and present day Vietnam today.

The two countries had established their competing claims to the islands—which the Vietnamese refer to as Hoang Sa and the Chinese call Xisha—well before they came to blows. The South Vietnamese navy regularly chased foreign fisherman away in the 1960s under the umbrella of American military might.

But in 1973, the U.S. started cutting off support for the Vietnamese Republic. American negotiators cut deals with the North in Paris and Congress then cut aid to the South.

Beijing quickly quickly realized the situation was changing in their favor. Communist forces already controlled the northern half of the archipelago.  [read more]

Vietnam seeks foreign support for ‘maritime freedom’

24.08.2016 (Malaymail Online) - HANOI — France and other countries should help to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam’s president told AFP today, as unease grows over China’s increasingly muscular approach in the key waterway.

China claims most of the sea where it has built up reefs capable of hosting military equipment, sparking ire from competing claimants, including Vietnam, and raising fears of potential armed conflict.

Speaking to AFP ahead of a visit by French leader Francois Hollande next month, Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang said he hopes France and others will help to diffuse regional tensions in the waterway, which it calls the East Sea.

“We highly welcome the cooperation from France and other nations in the process of maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world and on the East Sea,” he said, speaking from the presidential palace, the former residence of the Indochina governor during French colonial rule. [read more]

ONGC Videsh Ltd to stay put in South China Sea for strategic reasons

24.08.2016 Sachin Parashar (The Times Of India) - NEW DELHI: Despite not having found any hydrocarbon, India's ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) will stay put in South China Sea for exploration off the coast of Vietnam. The Vietnam government has given another extension to OVL for exploration in deep sea Block 128, which is located in contested waters, allowing India to maintain its presence there purely for strategic reasons.

Beijing has in the past repeatedly warned against exploration activities in the region and has asked India to instead consider a "joint development'' with China.

Vietnam in the recent past has emerged as the fulcrum of India's Act East policy which has seen the government attempting to upgrade its defence and security partnerships with countries in the region. [read more]

Beware Beijing’s self-serving interpretations of history

23.08.2016 by Christopher Lingle (The Japan Times) - SHANGHAI – Beijing has irredentist claims on all its borders and over all the waters that wash onto its shores. Indeed, it claims about 80 percent of the South China Sea, including the Spratlys and Paracels, which are on a broad plateau up to 1,600 km from China’s eastern coastline. For its part, China insists on a “sacred duty” to recover and reunify what it perceives as “lost” territories.

Besides Taiwan, China claims India’s state of Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls South Tibet, or Zangnan. In 2006, China’s ambassador to India declared the “whole state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory … we are claiming all of that. That is our position.”

An insistence on sovereignty over the South and East China Seas incited disputing parties to apply treaties that China has approved in order to resolve jurisdictional conflicts. To this end, The Hague Arbitral panel declared that China’s excessive claims to resource jurisdiction of the South China Sea has no basis in the Law of the Sea Treaty. Driven by an obsessive desire to fulfill a singular sense of geographical destiny, Beijing ignored the panel’s findings that its historic rights arguments were legally unsound.

If Beijing successfully creates fake history to extend its borders, it can then rigorously apply its doctrine of “absolute sovereign rights,” which is a central tenet of its foreign policy. [read more]

Beijing 'hinted at military action' against Japan over South China Sea dispute

China 'warned' Japan not to join US's freedom of navigation operations in South China Sea.

21.08.2016 By Vasudevan Sridharan (IBTimes) - Beijing is thought to have threatened Japan that it would launch military action if Tokyo pressed ahead with its stance on the South China Sea dispute. Chinese officials are reported to have conveyed the warning to a top-ranking Japanese official in June.

According to diplomatic sources, cited by Japan's Kyodo news agency, China's ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, told Japan that it would cross a "red line" if Japanese vessels took part in the so-called freedom of navigation operations launched by the US in the South China Sea. Cheng even went on to indicate that Beijing would not hesitate to take military action. This emerged only on Sunday, 21 August though the incident reportedly occurred in June. [read more]

Zeitreise: MS "Helgoland" als schwimmendes Lazarett

21.08.2016 (NDR) - Es ist eine politisch schwierige Situation Ende 1965. Die Amerikaner fordern von Bundeskanzler Ludwig Erhard militärische Unterstützung im Vietnamkrieg - unter dem Dach der NATO, versteht sich. Doch die noch junge Bundesrepublik scheut sich, Soldaten nach Südostasien zu schicken. Sie löst die Anfrage mit diplomatischem Geschick, einer Helgolandfähre und zwei Lübecker Krankenschwestern. Die Idee: humanitäre Hilfe statt eines militärischen Einsatzes.

Statt Soldaten entsendet Bonn ein umgebautes Bäderschiff: die MS "Helgoland". Sie ist bis dato für die Hadag-Reederei auf der Linie Cuxhaven-Helgoland im Einsatz. An Bord des schwimmenden Rot-Kreuz-Hospitals: deutsche Ärzte und Krankenschwestern. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam PM set to direct investigation into killing of local leaders

18.08.2016 By Tan Qiuyi (Channel NewsAsia) - YEN BAI, Vietnam: A forestry official has gunned down two local leaders before shooting himself, in an unprecedented killing at the provincial government office of Vietnam’s northern Yen Bai province, state media reports said on Thursday (Aug 18).

The head of the local Forest Protection Agency, Đỗ Cường Minh, allegedly shot Yen Bai province's Communist Party Secretary Pham Duy Cuong and Chairman of the People’s Council Ngo Ngoc Tuan in their offices before shooting himself.

Both victims as well as the alleged gunman have died from their injuries, according to authorities. Yen Bai’s health protection department said the victims were shot multiple times in the head, chest and abdomen. [read more]

Kommunistische Staatspartei in Vietnam: Provinzpolitiker erschießt öffentlich zwei Genossen

18.08.2016 (n-tv) - Staatsmedien zufolge sind in der Provinz Yên Bái zwei örtliche Spitzenfunktionäre der kommunistischen Staatspartei Vietnams vor Hunderten von Menschen von einem Genossen erschossen worden. Der Leiter der Forstbehörde von Yên Bái habe kurz vor einer Sitzung von Provinzfunktionären auf die Männer gefeuert und sich dann in den Kopf geschossen, berichtete die Online-Zeitung "Thanh Nien". [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam: deux responsables du Parti communiste tués

18.08.2016 (Le Figaro) - Deux hauts responsables communistes ont été abattus par un collègue dans leurs bureaux dans le nord du Vietnam, ont rapporté jeudi les médias gouvernementaux, un fait rare dans ce pays où le contrôle des armes à feu est important.

Pham Duy Cuong, chef du Parti communiste dans la province de Yen Bai (nord), et Ngo Ngoc Tuan, chef du conseil du peuple (assemblée) de la province, ont été abattus par un garde-forestier, Do Cuong Minh, a précisé le journal Tuoi Tre.

Selon l'agence officielle Vietnam News Agency, le tireur s'est ensuite suicidé avec son arme. [en savoir plus]

Mueren dos altos cargos comunistas a tiros de un funcionario en Vietnam

18.08.2016 (terra) - Dos altos cargos del Partido Comunista de Vietnam, el único legal en el país, murieron hoy tras ser tiroteados por un responsable forestal, que se quitó la vida, antes de una reunión de un comité provincial en el norte del país, informó la prensa estatal.

El suceso ocurrió por la mañana en la sede del partido en la provincia de Yen Bai, a unos 120 kilómetros al noroeste de Hanoi, según el portal Thanh Nien.

Los dos altos cargos muertos son el jefe provincial y miembro del comité central del partido, Pham Duy Cuong, de 58 años, y el presidente del consejo provincial, Ngo Ngoc Tuan, de 52. [seguir leyendo]

From the bookshelf: the defeated South Vietnamese army

18.08.2016 Peter Edwards (ASPI The Strategist) - Historians still argue about the winners and losers of the Vietnam War, but there were two undoubted losers: the Republic of Vietnam—commonly known as South Vietnam—and its army, generally known as ARVN. The soldiers of ARVN not only suffered defeat on the battlefield, but they were also treated extremely harshly by the victorious Vietnamese communists, received little respect from their allies, and have largely been written out of historical accounts of the war.

South Vietnamese Soldiers, by Monash University academic Nathalie Huynh Chau Nguyen, is therefore an unusual and welcome addition to the burgeoning literature on the war. Dr. Nguyen’s father was the last RVN Ambassador to Japan: he and his family were among the few South Vietnamese who were given refuge in Australia immediately after the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Much of this book is based on interviews with the South Vietnamese veterans, men and women who arrived later, often as boat people.

...  A recurring theme in these interviews is the frustration of the South Vietnamese forces when the US Congress cut support in 1974, while the north continued to receive massive support from the Soviet Union and China. The South Vietnamese forces had arms but no ammunition, equipment but no spare parts. When ARVN soldiers were reduced to three rounds per day, defeat was inevitable. [read more]

Indonesia to destroy 71 boats, including Chinese, in display of maritime sovereignty

16.08.2016 (The Japan Times) - SYDNEY – Indonesia will cap Wednesday’s Independence Day celebrations by scuttling as many as 71 impounded foreign vessels — mostly Vietnamese but also a handful of Chinese — to signal its determination to protect its sovereignty over lucrative fishing grounds in the South China Sea.

The destruction of the boats comes amid simmering regional tensions over territorial disputes in the water. Former Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the main challenge facing the country was to ensure the message wasn’t misinterpreted.

Since the end of 2014, Indonesia has destroyed more than 170 foreign vessels from various nations as it has tried to fend off Chinese claims that waters surrounding the Natuna Islands are part of traditional Chinese fishing grounds.

In June, President Joko Widodo held a cabinet meeting on the KRI Imam Bonjol, a warship that patrols the waters, and last month Indonesia’s popular Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said she wanted to “celebrate Independence Day this year in Natuna, where I will witness the sinking of many foreign vessels,” later declaring that only Indonesians “can catch fish in Indonesia.” [read more]

Die Spannung eskaliert – Krieg im Südchinesischem Meer – wir sagen warum 14.08.2016 (Phil-Forum) - Eskaliert der seit Jahren herrschende erbitterte Streit um die Inselgruppen im südchinesischen Meer? Der Territorialkonflikt zwischen China und seinen Nachbarstaaten Japan, Indien, Vietnam und den Philippinen betrifft auch andere Länder. Wer nicht für China ist, wird bedroht und zum „Feind“ erklärt, das muss auch Australien erfahren. Die Spannung eskaliert: Japan und China und China hat den militärischen Vorstoß Vietnams auf den Nansha-Inseln scharf kritisiert und reagiert. China ruft zum Boykott aller Waren von sogenannten „Feinden“ und rüstet weiterhin im Südchinesischem Meer auf. Während sich die Medien mit den derzeitigen Krisen Syrien und Ukraine beschäftigen, bereiten sich im Südchinesischem Meer Länder auf einen Krieg vor. Auch Deutschland könnte von diesem „Krieg“ mitgerissen werden. In Itzehoe, Schleswig-Holstein, wird ein großes China Logistic Center gebaut. Mittlerweile wurden schon viele Unternehmen in Deutschland von China aufgekauft. Siehe Chinas Kampfansage an die großen Konzerne der Welt – nach Pirelli nun KraussMaffei – Wird Europa ausverkauft? [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam's Growing Protest Culture

Vietnam’s population is increasingly vocal about economic, political, and social issues, to the government’s dismay

12.08.2016 By Arthur Beaufort (The Diplomat) - The Formosa scandal in Vietnam has recently made international headlines and offered the international community a rare glimpse into the fringe, but steadily growing, culture of protest and activism in the authoritarian state. The ecological catastrophe, which saw millions of fish die in central Vietnam due to improper waste disposal by a Taiwanese-wned steel factory, triggered demonstrations around the country — an unusual occurrence in Vietnam.

The Formosa affair caused the latest and largest ecologically-driven protest wave to hit the country, but over the course of the past few years, citizens have increasingly mobilized to voice their grievances on a range of issues.

The ecological cause has been particularly prominent. In late 2015 citizens in Hanoi rallied to prevent the city council from chopping down an estimated 6,700 trees. Eventually, local authorities did drop the project. In 2009, residents of the Central Highlands region also repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, opposed Chinese-backed bauxite mining projects. [read more]

Russland liefert Schiffsabwehrkomplexe Bastion-P an Vietnam

12.08.2016 (Sputnik) - Russland hat eine Partie von Schiffsabwehrkomplexen des Typs Bastion-P an Vietnam geliefert. Wie russische Medien am Freitag berichteten, wurde ein Vertrag darüber 2005 unterzeichnet. Bislang bezog Vietnam zwei Systeme dieser Art.

Die an Vietnam gelieferte Modifikation basiert auf dem Fahrgestell MZKT-7930, die Besatzung ist drei Mann stark. [Weiterlesen]

Boating accidents and atoll militarisation raising tensions in Asia-Pacific seas

11.08.2016 (AsiaNews) - Beijing – A Chinese fishing boat sank shortly after colliding with a Greek cargo ship in the East China Sea, the Japan Coast Guard said.

The incident occurred near the disputed Senkaku group of islets, (Diaoyu for China),  following increased activities in recent days by Chinese ships in the waters close to the Japan-controlled, China-claimed territory.

A coast guard patrol ship rescued six crew members of the fishing boat and searched for other missing crew following the boat’s dawn collision with the freighter Anangel Courage about 65 kilometres off the largest of the Senkaku. The Chinese government thanked Japan for its timely action.

Some to 300 Chinese fishing boats were spotted sailing in the so-called contiguous zone just outside territorial waters, with some entering Japanese waters, prompting Tokyo to lodge repeated protests with Beijing.

China’s ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, said on Wednesday that recent large-scale sailings of Chinese fishing and government vessels around disputed islands in the East China Sea were due to a “big catch of fish” seen in the area. [read more]

Vietnam’s rocket launchers may prompt China to declare Air Defense Zone

11.08.2016 By Harry Kazianis (Asia Times) - It was inevitable, but nations in the South China Sea that have overlapping claims with the People’s Republic of China are now beginning to push back–and this time we are not talking about Lawfare or my beloved Shamefare, but are now finally enhancing their own military capabilities.

Yesterday, Reuters reported that Vietnam “has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route,” citing unnamed western officials.

The weapons in question that Vietnam chose to deploy also make a big statement. Interestingly enough, they are not some second-tier platform from 20 years ago, but the EXTRA rocket artillery system made in Israel — a great platform for attacking invading soldiers landing on island beaches.

While Vietnam’s move is merely a reaction to China’s much, much larger militarization of its own South China Sea islands, Beijing will very likely use this action by Vietnam to respond — and possibly even increase its military lead over rival claims substantially. [read more]

Militarisierung im Südchinesischen Meer

11.08.2016 Rodion Ebbighausen (DW) - Gerade veröffentlichte Satellitenbilder von den Spratly-Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer zeigen, dass die Volksrepublik China dort Flugzeughangars und sechseckige Gebäude errichtet hat, deren Funktion nicht klar ist. Experten gehen davon aus, dass China in absehbarer Zeit bis zu 80 Kampfflugzeuge in der umstrittenen Region stationieren könnte.

Carl Thayer, emeritierter Politologe der australischen Universität in New South Wales, glaubt, dass die dauerhafte Stationierung von Kampfflugzeugen die regionale Sicherheit zuküftig aus dem Gleichgewicht bringen könnte, weist aber zugleich darauf hin, dass es momentan auf diesen Inseln noch an Treibstofftanks fehlt. Zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt könnten die Inseln nur als Zwischenstation für Patrouillen dienen.

Nach einem exklusiven Bericht von Greg Torode für die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters soll Vietnam einige der umstrittenen, aber von Hanoi kontrollierten Spratly-Inseln mit modernen Raketenwerfern ausgestattet haben.

Das vietnamesische Außenministerium wies den Bericht als unrichtig zurück, ohne genauer darauf einzugehen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam mueve lanzacohetes hacia el mar de China Meridional

11.08.2016 (HispanTV) - Vietnam ha desplegado lanzacohetes móviles en varias islas del mar de China Meridional, según un informe.

De acuerdo con funcionarios occidentales, Vietnam ha fortificado discretamente varias islas, situadas en el disputado mar de China Meridional, con nuevos lanzacohetes móviles, capaces de alcanzar pistas e instalaciones militares a través de la ruta comercial.

Diplomáticos y altos mandos militares han confirmado a la agencia británica de noticias Reuters que informes de Inteligencia muestra que Vietnam ha trasladado en barco los lanzacohetes desde su suelo y los ha ubicado en cinco bases de las islas Spratly en los últimos meses, una medida que podría elevar la tensión con China. [seguir leyendo]

"La fille de la photo" : l'incroyable destin de Kim Phuc, la survivante du napalm

10.08.2016 Cyril Bonnet (Le Nouvel Observateur) - Le cliché pris par Nick Ut nous plonge dans l'enfer de la guerre du Vietnam. Ce 8 juin 1972, dans le village de Trang Bang, une effroyable bavure est commise par l'aviation sud-vietnamienne, qui lutte avec les États-Unis contre les forces communistes du Nord. Mal renseignés, les bombardiers Skyraider se trompent de cible. Ils larguent des bombes au napalm sur un temple qui abrite non pas des combattants vietcongs, mais leurs propres soldats et des civils.

Kim Phuc, neuf ans, figure parmi les victimes de cette erreur dramatique. Alertés par le passage préalable d'un avion de reconnaissance, "Phuc" (c'est son prénom principal, qui signifie "joie") et sa famille voient s'abattre sur eux les bombes incendiaires, sans avoir le temps de fuir. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam moves new rocket launchers into disputed South China Sea - sources

10.08.2016 By Greg Torode (Reuters) - Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials.

Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing.

Military analysts say it is the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades. [read more]

Hanoi verlegt heimlich Raketenanlagen in umstrittenes Seegebiet – Medien

10.08.2016 (Sputnik) - Vietnam hat heimlich seine Raketenanlagen auf die umstrittenen Inseln des Spratly-Archipels im Südchinesischen Meer gebracht, meldet Reuters unter Verweis auf diplomatische und militärische Kreise.

Medienberichten zufolge sollen diese Waffen auf fünf Basen der Inseln stationiert sein. Laut Reuters sind diese Anlagen dazu fähig, Schläge gegen Militärobjekte in China auszuführen.

Obwohl die Raketenanlagen zurzeit von der Luft aus nicht zu bemerken und vorliegenden Angaben zufolge noch nicht mit Raketen ausgestattet seien, könnten sie innerhalb von zwei bis drei Tagen in Kampfbereitschaft versetzt werden. [Weiterlesen]

China amplía la construcción en islas disputadas a pesar del dictamen de La Haya

09.08.2016  Xavier Fontdeglòria (El País) - Nuevas fotografías muestran que China sigue acelerando el ritmo de construcción en varios arrecifes del archipiélago de las Spratly, unas islas cuya soberanía se disputa con cinco países, a pesar del reciente fallo de La Haya que desestimaba los argumentos de Pekín para atribuirse ese territorio y las aguas contiguas. Las instantáneas, tomadas a finales de julio y publicadas por el Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), muestran como en poco tiempo se han erigido varios hangares cerca de las pistas de aterrizaje.

Las imágenes de este centro de estudios con sede en Washington son de los arrecifes Fiery Cross, Subi y Mischief, situados en las Spratly y cercanos a la costa filipina. En ellos se observan hangares de distintos tamaños, algunos de los cuales son lo suficientemente grandes como para albergar aviones de las fuerzas aéreas chinas. [seguir leyendo]

Chinas langer Arm ins Meer

07.08.2016 Christian Vits aus Phnom Penh (derStandard) - Der Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer spitzt sich kontinuierlich zu – China spricht bereits offen von Krieg Militärisches Säbelrasseln und Kriegsrhetorik – kaum ein Tag vergeht, an dem der Konflikt um Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer in Asien ohne Schlagzeilen bleibt. Der Streit drohe zu einer "Wiege des Krieges" zu werden, warnte etwa der chinesische Vizeaußenminister Liu Zhenmin Mitte Juli. - derstandard.at/2000042430681/Chinas-langer-Arm-ins-Meer.

Hintergrund der drastischen Worte war eine krachende Niederlage Chinas vor dem Ständigen Schiedsgericht in Den Haag. Dieses hat Chinas historisch abgeleiteten Gebietsansprüchen in den rund 3,5 Millionen Quadratkilometer großen Gewässern eine Absage erteilt und geurteilt, das Land verletze unter anderem Ansprüche der Philippinen.

Zusätzlich kompliziert wird die Lage auch dadurch, dass die USA zunehmend als Konfliktpartei auftreten. Einerseits wegen des Militärbündnisses mit den Philippinen, andererseits, weil Staaten wie Vietnam aus Furcht vor chinesischer Dominanz enger an die USA heranrücken. Letztere sehen zudem ihre strategischen Interessen im Pazifik durch das wachsende Selbstbewusstsein Chinas bedroht, das die Gewässer als seinen Hinterhof betrachtet. [Weiterlesen]

Japan protests China's vessels around disputed islands

06.08.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - Japan summoned Chinese diplomats Saturday to protest after six Chinese coast guard vessels approached disputed East China Sea islands accompanying a fleet of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it filed the protest after Japan's coast guard spotted the vessels Saturday along with a fleet of 230 Chinese fishing boats swarming around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. China also claims the islands, calling them the Diaoyu.

Japan is demanding the ships leave the area. Three of the Chinese coast guard vessels were armed with what appeared to be gun batteries, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. [read more]

China’s Air Force Flies Combat Patrol Over Disputed Islands

06.08.2016 (Epoch Times) - BEIJING—China’s air force said Saturday that it has conducted a combat air patrol over disputed areas of the South China Sea to improve its fighting ability.

The announcement comes after Beijing said it wanted to tamp down tensions following its strong rejection of an international tribunal that ruled that its claim to virtually all of the South China Sea has no legal basis.

Air force spokesman Senior Col. Shen Jinke said in an online statement that the patrol was “to enhance combat capabilities to deal with various security threats” and to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. [read more]

Vietnamese Fishing Association Dismisses China’s Threat to Jail Fishermen

04.08.2016 (RFA) - A threat issued this week by China to jail foreign fishermen who enter disputed areas of the South China Sea prompted the head of an influential Vietnamese fishing organization on Thursday to dismiss the move and assert that fishermen will continue to work in those waters, with his country taking measures against China if necessary.

“Vietnamese fishermen will continue fishing in the area as usual,” said Phan Huy Hoang, chairman of Quang Ngai Province Fishery Association. “If China should take any action [against the fishermen], the government of Vietnam will apply measures to deal with it.”

“This statement is just like other statements they [the Chinese] have made in the past to ban any fishing activities in the South China Sea within a certain area and time period,” he said. “Those statements that ban fishing activities within their nine-dash line are illegitimate, and nobody should acknowledge them.” [read more]

Zutritt verboten: Vietnamesisches Restaurant bedient keine Chinesen

04.08.2016 (Sputnik) - Im Restaurant „Ngoc Quy“ in der vietnamesischen Stadt Da Nang ist Chinesen der Zutritt verweigert worden, wie „The Shanghaiist“ am Mittwoch berichtet.

An der Restaurant-Tür befestigte der Besitzer ein Schild: „An Chinesen wird nichts verkauft“. Die lokalen Behörden forderten den Restaurantbesitzer auf, die Tafel zu entfernen, allerdings sagte der Besitzer, dass die Chinesen nicht nur viele Probleme schaffen würden, sondern auch andere Kunden störten.

Früher habe er chinesische Gäste willkommen geheißen, er sprach mit ihnen sogar auf Englisch, doch sie taten immer so, als ob sie die Sprache nicht verstünden und verhielten sich zügellos. Oft sollen sie versucht haben, mit Yuan zu bezahlen, was per Gesetz verboten ist. Mit jedem Mittel versuchten sie, eine Ermäßigung zu erwirken. Vor zwei Wochen erklärte eine Touristengruppe, dass ein gebrachtes Gericht nicht bestellt wurde und weigerte sich, komplett dafür zu zahlen.

Allerdings wurden die Erklärungen des Restaurantbesitzers von den Behörden nicht akzeptiert, er musste das Schild entfernen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Restaurant Puts Up Signs Banning Chinese People From Entering

03.08.2016 (NextShark) - Chinese tourists aren’t exactly known for their polite manners and courteous behavior when traveling overseas.

They’ve built up quite a reputation in the past and on more recent incidents involving the harassment of a Vietnamese banana vendor. Though the Vietnamese government has threatened to expel unruly visitors from the country following the abuse, one restaurant owner doesn’t seem to think that’s enough.

The owner of Ngoc Quy, a restaurant in Da Nang, Vietnam, has posted signs that state: “Won’t sell goods Chinese people.”

Apparently, Chinese customers have been a lot of trouble for him and disruptive to other diners at the restaurant. According to Shanghaiist, the owner says that he has welcomed Chinese guests into his business in the past and usually puts his customers first.

However, when he tried to communicate with his Chinese customers, they consistently pretend they don’t understand English. They also insist on paying in another currency, RMB, which is illegal in Vietnam. In some cases, his guests offer up excuses to lower the price of their bills. [read more]

Chinese Military: We Should Give South China Sea Rivals a ‘Bloody Nose’

01.08.2016 by Frances Martel (Breitbart) - Chinese military officials speaking to Reuters under condition of anonymity say they are hoping to encourage Beijing to allow them to give a “bloody nose” to Vietnam, the Philippines, and other states claiming territory in the South China Sea, where China claims most of the resource-rich waters.

The report comes as the Global Times, a state-run nationalist newspaper, derides Australia for supporting rival claims in the region as a “paper cat” with no stake in the dispute.

“We should go in and give them a bloody nose like Deng Xiaoping did to Vietnam in 1979,” a “source with ties to the military” in China told Reuters, suggesting that China should respond to losing an international law case at the Hague with military action. [read more]

Sol, playa y patriotismo en China

El gigante asiático impulsa el turismo y los cruceros por las disputadas aguas del mar de China Meridional

01.08.2016 Isidre Ambrós (La Vanguardia) - ¿Se muere de ganas por bucear o hacer surf? Tenemos el lugar ideal. ¿Quiere casarse en una isla remota, con un paisaje romántico? Disponemos del sitio perfecto”. Estas sugerencias, propias de una agencia de viajes, las plantea Xiao Jie, el alcalde de Sansha y responsable en China de las islas Paracelso, un archipiélago del mar de China Meridional que se disputan Vietnam y China. Una oferta que convierte a los turistas chinos en un pacífico ejército de ocupación para justificar las reivindicaciones de soberanía de Pequín sobre estas aguas, que recientemente ha negado el Tribunal Permanente de Arbitraje de La Haya.

Para los estrategas del gigante asiático todo cuadra. La emergente clase media china está ávida de viajar y conocer sitios nuevos y las reclamadas Paracelso “son un grupo de islas perfectas para el turismo, los deportes acuáticos y las bodas románticas”, ha dicho recientemente Xiao Jie al diario China Daily, quien añadió que “vamos a desarrollar algunas islas y arrecifes para dar cabida a un número selecto de turistas”. Proyecto que prevé que haya hasta ocho barcos ofreciendo cruceros por este agua en el 2020.

Un punto final a un viaje que una pasajera señala como “más una gira política que un lugar para el ocio”. [seguir leyendo]

Your next flight is to Glorious China, Owners Of All South China Sea

Vietnamese airports hacked by propaganda-spouting ninnies

01.08.2016 John Leyden (The Register) - Flight information screens at Vietnam's two main airports were hacked over the weekend to spout pro-Chinese propaganda.

AP reported that the public address system of Hanoi's Noi Bai airport and the Tan Son Nhat airport, which serves Ho Chi Minh City, were also hacked on Friday evening.

The hackers used the systems to make digs against Vietnam and the Philippines over a long-running territorial dispute against China involving disputed regions of the South China Sea. Authorities took the hacked systems offline. [read more]

Cyberangriff auf Vietnams Flughäfen schürt Grenzkonflikt

01.08.2016 (Futurezone) - Durch einen Cyberangriff wurden Chinas Gebietsansprüche im südchinesischen Meer auf Flughafen-Anzeigen und auf der Webseite der Vietnam Airlines verteidigt.

Ein Cyberangriff in Vietnam heizt die schlechte Stimmung in Südostasien rund um unterschiedliche Gebietsansprüche im südchinesischen Meer weiter an. Auf Anzeigetafeln in den Flughäfen von Hanoi und Ho Chi Minh City tauchten am Freitag, 29. Juli, Botschaften auf, die Vietnam und die Philippinen für ihre Positionen im Grenzkonflikt schelten. Ähnliche Botschaften wurden auch auf der Webseite der Vietnam Airlines verbreitet. Vietnamesische Medien berichteten, eine chinesische Hackergruppe namens "1937CN" werde für die Vorfälle verantwortlich gemacht. [Weiterlesen]

'Give them a bloody nose': Xi pressed for stronger South China Sea response

01.08.2016 By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim (Reuters) - BEIJING – China’s leadership is resisting pressure from elements within the military for a more forceful response to an international court ruling against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, sources said, wary of provoking a clash with the United States.

China refused to participate in the case overseen by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

So far, Beijing has not shown any sign of wanting to take stronger action. Instead, it has called for a peaceful resolution through talks at the same time as promising to defend Chinese territory.

But some elements within China’s increasingly confident military are pushing for a stronger – potentially armed – response aimed at the United States and its regional allies, according to interviews with four sources with close military and leadership ties.

“The People’s Liberation Army is ready,” one source with ties to the military told Reuters.

"We should go in and give them a bloody nose like Deng Xiaoping did to Vietnam in 1979," the source said, referring to China's brief invasion of Vietnam to punish Hanoi for forcing Beijing's ally the Khmer Rouge from power in Cambodia. [read more]

China's nuclear power ambitions sailing into troubled waters

31.07.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - BEIJING--China's ambitions to become a pioneer in nuclear energy are sailing into troubled waters.

In China's case, the achievement would be tempered by concern its reactors might be sent into harm's way to support oil exploration in the South China Sea, where Beijing faces conflicting territorial claims by neighbors including Vietnam and the Philippines. Chinese news reports say plans call for deploying 20 reactors there, though neither developer has mentioned the area.

"The security concerns are clear: such reactors would be tempting targets for military or terrorist attacks," Edwin Lyman, a nuclear specialist for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said in an email. "Maintaining the full contingent of security officers necessary to effectively deter attack would not be feasible."

Other perils include stormy seas--the South China Sea is buffeted by powerful seasonal typhoons--and the need to exchange radioactive fuel at distant sites. [read more]

Chinese Hacktivists Attack Vietnamese Airports

Around 21 airports had serious problems with their systems

30.07.2016 (Softpedia) - A group of Chinese hacktivists named China 1937CN Team have delayed operations at 21 Vietnamese airports and defaced the website of state-owned Vietnam Airlines.

The cyber-attacks started Friday afternoon, on July 29, and were initially detected at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hackers have breached the airport's sound and video systems to broadcast and display offensive messages towards Vietnam and the Philippines, along with politically incorrect information about the East Vietnam Sea, claiming to be a territory under China's rule.

The broadcasted audio message was in English, and a copy is available via the Vietnamese media.

Previously, Chinese hacktivists have been relatively quiet. They become very active all of a sudden after the July 12 court ruling against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, who ruled in favor of the Philippines in a dispute over the South China Sea.

Right after the court ruling, Chinese hacktivists have defaced two Philippines government websites, and later carried out massive DDoS attacks against several government institutions. [read more]

Hackers target flight info screens at Vietnam's airports

29.07.2016 (DW) - The hackers displayed images supportive of Beijing's claims in the South China Sea on flight information screens. Vietnam's flagship carrier said their website had also been targeted by the cyberattack. 

Pro-Beijing hackers on Friday defaced the website of Vietnam Airlines and flight information screens at two major airports in Ho Chi Minh City and the capital, Hanoi, displaying messages of supportive China's maritime claims in the South China Sea.

Airline operators briefly suspended electronic check-ins when their systems were attacked, Vietnam's civil aviation authority said. [read more]

El aeropuerto de Vietnam, atacado por 'hackers' por las disputas territoriales sobre el mar Meridional

29.07.2016 (Europa Press) - La web de la aerolínea nacional de Vietnam, Vietnam Airlines, y las pantallas de información de los dos aeropuertos más grandes del país han sido pirateadas y mostraban informaciones que criticaban las demandas territoriales de Vietnam y Filipinas en relación con el mar Meridional de China.

Los operadores de los aeropuertos de Hanoi y de la ciudad de Ho Chi Minh tuvieron que detener el sistema de facturación electrónica debido a los ataques cibernéticos que han sufrido este viernes. La página de Vietnam Airlines también ha sido atacada, y al acceder los buscadores de Internet redirigían a los usuarios a lo que han descrito las autoridades de la aerolínea como "páginas web extranjeras malas". [seguir leyendo]

China wird immer unbliebter

29.07.2016 Von Mathias Peer (8MRD) - das Gekritzel eines Grenzbeamten hat normalerweise nicht die Brisanz, um einen diplomatischen Eklat auszulösen. In der aufgeheizten Stimmung zwischen China und seinen Nachbarländern sieht die Sache anders aus: Ein vietnamesischer Beamter soll in den Pass einer Chinesin die Wörter „Fuck you“ geschrieben haben, berichten chinesische Staatsmedien. Die uncharmante Begrüßung soll sich auf der im Pass eingezeichneten Landkarte genau über dem umstrittenen Südchinesischen Meer befinden. Chinas Regierung fordert nun von Vietnam eine offizielle Erklärung für den angeblichen Zwischenfall.

Die inoffizielle Erklärung ist offensichtlich: Anti-chinesische Stimmung breitet sich in Südostasien immer weiter aus. [Weiterlesen]

Südchinesisches Meer: Kriegsdrohung in neun Punkten

29.07.2016 Johnny Erling aus Peking (derStandard) - Seit dem Schiedsspruch von Den Haag verschärfen Vietnam und die Philippinen ihren Reisepassstreit mit China Urlauber aus der Volksrepublik China halten an Vietnams internationalem Grenzübergang Mong Cai den Betrieb auf. Bis zu 3.000 Chinesen kommen hier täglich durch. Doch seit kurzem durchforsten Grenzbeamte ihre Pässe dahingehend, ob darin ein Visum eines vietnamesischen Konsulats klebt. Das wäre fatal, wenn es sich um einen der neuen Reiseausweise der Volksrepublik handelt, die seit Mai 2012 im Umlauf sind. Die Beamten müssten es ungültig stempeln. Nur wenn das Visum auf einem Extrablatt ausgestellt ist, lassen sie den Besucher einreisen. Das dauert. - derstandard.at/2000041968641/Suedchinesisches-Meer-Kriegsdrohung-in-neun-Punkten [Weiterlesen]

China's dismissal of maritime ruling could accelerate Asia's arms race

28.07.2016 Ryosuke Hanafusa (Nikkei Asian Review) - FARNBOROUGH, U.K. Territorial friction between China and its neighbors has been driving an Asiawide arms buildup. Given Beijing's firm rejection of the U.N. arbitral tribunal's recent ruling against its South China Sea claims, the race is likely to only accelerate.

Japan, which is locked in a dispute with China over islets in the East China Sea, took another step toward upgrading its arsenal at the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. in mid-July. [read more]

Amid Rising China Tensions, It's Vietnamese for Trump (or Clinton) 

28.07.2016 Trung Nguyen (VOA) - It might sound odd, but observers say Vietnamese nationals are smitten by the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, and that, just like their former American foes, many Vietnamese find themselves torn over whom to root for.

On one side is Republican nominee Donald Trump, whose scathing anti-China tirades have convinced many Vietnamese of the former reality TV star's ability to curb Beijing’s ambitions to dominate the disputed waters of the South China Sea. On the other, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is beloved by Southeast Asians who fondly recall her husband’s normalization of relations with Hanoi, which paved the way for the two former enemies to turn the page. [read more]

Chinese woman claims Vietnamese border staff scribbled ‘F word’ on her passport

27.07.2016 (Asian Correspondent) - THE alleged scribbling of offensive words on a Chinese woman’s passport by Vietnamese border staff has caught the attention of the Chinese government.

Beijing is raising the issue with Vietnam to seek an explanation as to why the immigration official wrote the ‘F word’ on two pages of the woman’s passport.

The offensive words were apparently written over the faint imprint of the nine dash-line which marks China’s territorial claim on the South China Sea. [read more]

Fear and caution in Hanoi

26.07.2016 Helen Clark (ASPI The Strategist) - The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Arbitral Tribunal ruling against China in the South China Sea is no boon for Hanoi, at least so far.

This has been an interesting year for those of us who watch Vietnam. There’s a new government following the 12th National Congress, when powerhouse Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was ousted after he lost in his bid to become General Secretary. That begs the question as to whether economic reform will continue and, importantly, what form the USChina balancing act will now take?

Then in April came the Formosa fish kill scandal. Taiwanese firm Formosa’s steel plant in Ha Tinh province, south of Hanoi, poisoned the ocean with a massive pollution dump, leading to the death of some 100 tonnes of fish. Unusually, protests drew in even ordinary citizens and much of the fury was over government inaction. The matter was resolved only recently.

Now, after a shaky year there’s been what should be a bright spot for those in power in Hanoi: China’s defeat in The Hague after the Arbitral Tribunal ruled against it and its ‘nine-dash line’. For Vietnam, now the ‘nine-dash line’ is legally void it has an unimpeded 22-nautical-mile EEZ. But China respecting that is another matter; [read more] 

Vietnam says it prefers bilateral talks with China on SCS

26.07.2016 By Vijay Joshi (Washington Post) - VIENTIANE, Laos — Vietnam aims to settle its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiations even though it doesn’t rule out applying international laws, as the Philippines did in its recent arbitration victory, the deputy foreign minister said Tuesday.

“Our consistent policy is to settle disputes through peaceful means in accordance with national laws and United Nations (conventions and laws), and we attach quite (a lot of) importance to bilateral negotiations,” Le Hoai Trung told The Associated Press. [read more]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/vietnam-says-it-prefers-bilateral-talks-with-china-on-scs/2016/07/26/4fe1720a-532b-11e6-b652-315ae5d4d4dd_story.html

Taiwan's Fishy New Move To Reassert Its Contested South China Sea Claim

26.07.2016 (Forbes) - Taiwan has become something of a pariah claimant to the heavily contested, resource-laden South China Sea. In a dispute dominated by China, Vietnam and the Philippines, diplomatically isolated Taiwan normally just pushes out pro forma foreign ministry statements, saying hey the sea is ours too, or appeals for cooperation across claimants. It lost new ground when the world Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague said July 12 that tiny land forms in the sea don’t qualify as islands worthy of a 200-nautical-mile (370-km) exclusive economic zone. That meant Taiwan could not use its long held Taiping Island, also called Itu Aba, as a basis for one of those zones. Taiping is 1,400 km long and 400 wide, supporting an airstrip, a clinic, a solar project and a local water source.

China got stung hardest by the arbitration court ruling because the case targeted its militarization, reclamation and patrols extending to potentially 95% of the 3.5-million square-kilometer sea packed with valued oil, gas and fish. Now Beijing and the other claimants are talking about talks instead of ramping up conflict. But Taiwan and China use similar claims, and no one listens to Taiwan’s talk. [read more]

“La Niña del Napalm” ora por una Cuba libre

25.07.2016 (Marti Noticias) - Kim Phuc, protagonista de la famosa fotografía de la guerra de Vietnam donde aparece sufriendo los efectos del ataque de una bomba de napalm habló con TV Martí sobre sus anhelos para el pueblo de Cuba.

Cuando las fuerzas comunistas del norte tomaron el control de Vietnam del Sur, la niña quemada por el napalm comenzó a ser usada como objeto de propaganda por parte del régimen marxista: se le hacía participar en encuentros con periodistas extranjeros y se le indicaba qué debía declarar.

En 1982 viajó a Alemania Occidental para recibir atención médica con ayuda de un periodista extranjero. Luego, el primer ministro de Vietnam hizo los arreglos para que estudiara en la Cuba comunista. Allí conoció a un joven vietnamita decidieron casarse en 1992 e irse de luna de miel a Moscú. [seguir leyendo]

Reversing China’s South China Sea grab

25.07.2016 By Kevin Smith (The Washington Times) - The South China Sea (SCS) is currently the focus of a dispute between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The PRC has preemptively deployed military personnel and equipment to enforce their claims to a trumped-up, self-identified but unrecognized “nine-dash line,” an imagined boundary that is inconsistent with international law and commonly accepted international behavior.

The PRC has diverted significant dollar equivalents of capital from its faltering economy that would have been better invested in educating and providing health care to Chinese citizens, to build approximately 3,000 acres of military bases on a variety of dredged coral reefs hosting 9,800-foot-long runways, combat aircraft, surface-to-air missiles and other weaponry. Why would the Chinese military conduct these preparations unless they were preparing for battle? [read more]

Nach internationalem Schiedsspruch - Südchinesisches Meer: USA fordern China auf, Urteil anzuerkennen

25.07.2016 (Solinger Tageblatt) - Vientiane - Kann Asien beim Konfliktherd Südchinesisches Meer die Wogen glätten? Außenminister sehen den Frieden in Gefahr, China verspricht friedliche Lösungen. US-Außenminister Kerry will auch mitreden.

Die Außenminister der südostasiatischen Staatengemeinschaft (Asean) äußerten vor einem Treffen mit ihrem chinesischen Kollegen Wang Yi in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane ihre Sorge um die Stabilität der Region. China war erbost über den internationalen Schiedsgerichtshof in Den Haag, der seine weitreichenden Hoheitsansprüche vor zwei Wochen abgewiesen hatte- und reagierte mit zusätzlichen Militärmanövern.

Auch US-Außenminister John Kerry war in Vientiane. Er sprach das Thema zum Auftakt einer Gesprächsrunde mit den Asean-Ministern nur durch die Blume an: "Wir sind stolz, ein Partner Aseans zu sein, weil Sie sich alle für ein internationales System stark machen, das auf Regeln basiert und die Rechte von Nationen schützt", sagte Kerry. Die US-Regierung hat China aufgefordert, das Urteil anzuerkennen. Kerry reist anschließend auf die Philippinen, die das Schiedshof-Urteil mit einer Beschwerde ins Rollen gebracht hatten. [Weiterlesen]

After Days of Deadlock, ASEAN Releases Statement on South China Sea Dispute

25.07.2016 Charlie Campbell / Beijing (Time) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released a watered-down joint statement regarding territorial disputes in the South China Sea on Monday, neglecting to refer to a recent court ruling against Beijing, following pressure from China.

Foreign ministers from the 10-member bloc met in Laos — the first time of such meeting since the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled emphatically in favor of a complaint launched by the Philippines against Beijing. [read more]

China spaltet Südostasien

25.07.2016 von Manfred Rist (NZZ) - Der Streit um die Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer entzweit die südostasiatische Staatengruppe (Asean) mehr denn je. Die Aussenminister der zehn Länder, die sich am Sonntag in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane trafen, konnten sich nicht einmal auf eine gemeinsame Wortwahl zum Territorialkonflikt einigen. Der Grund: Kambodscha als Verbündeter Pekings stellte sich gemäss diplomatischen Kreisen gegen jede Erwähnung des Urteils.

Es handelt sich um das erste hochrangige Asean-Treffen nach dem Urteil des Den Haager Schiedsgerichts zum Streit zwischen den Philippinen und China. Erneut hat sich Kambodscha als treuer Verbündeter der Machthaber in Peking erwiesen.

Bei den vier Asean-Staaten, die mit China maritime Grenzstreitigkeiten ausfechten, handelt es sich um Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei und die Philippinen; das grösste Asean-Land, Indonesien, wehrt sich hauptsächlich gegen das Vordringen chinesischer Fischkutter. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam's rubber-stamp assembly re-elects Quang as president

25.07.2016 (Business Standard ) - Tran Dai Quang was sworn in as Vietnam's president for the second time in four months after being re-elected today by the country's rubber-stamp National Assembly.

Quang, who was first elected president in early April by the outgoing assembly, won 485 votes from the 494 deputies of the Communist Party-dominated assembly, the government said on its website. 

Vietnam's top leaders include the Communist Party chief, the president and the prime minister, though the position of president is more ceremonial than the other two. [read more]

ASEAN deadlocked on South China Sea, Cambodia blocks statement

24.07.2016 By Manuel Mogato and Michael Martina (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations failed to agree on maritime disputes in the South China Sea on Sunday after Cambodia blocked any mention to an international court ruling against Beijing in their statement, diplomats said.

Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met for the first time since the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration handed an emphatic legal victory to the Philippines in the dispute this month.

The ruling by the court in The Hague denied China's sweeping claims in the strategic seaway, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes each year.

China claims most of the sea, but ASEAN members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all have rival claims. Beijing says the ruling has no bearing on its rights in the sea, and described the case as a farce. [read more]

Asean in Haltung zu Streit um Südchinesisches Meer gespalten

24.07.2016 (Business Panorama) - Nach einem historischen Gerichtsurteil zum Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer spaltet der Konflikt den Verband der Südostasiatischen Nationen (Asean): Bei einem Treffen in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane gelang es den Außenministern der zehn Mitgliedstaaten am Sonntag nicht, sich auf eine Haltung zu dem Territorialkonflikt zu einigen, in dem sich China und die Philippinen, Malaysia, Vietnam und Brunei gegenüberstehen.

"Wir müssen Ordnung in unserem Haus schaffen", sagte ein Diplomat der Nachrichtenagentur AFP. "Wir haben uns noch immer auf nichts geeinigt." Ein Entwurf für eine gemeinsame Erklärung der Asean-Staaten, den AFP am Sonntag einsehen konnte, enthielt im Abschnitt Südchinesisches Meer bisher keinen Inhalt. [Weiterlesen]

Camboya veta una declaración de la ASEAN por el contencioso del mar de China Meridional

24.07.2016 (Europa Press) - VIENTIÁN (Reuters/EP) - Camboya ha impedido una declaración conjunta de la Asociación de Naciones del Sureste Asiático (ASEAN, por sus siglas en inglés) por las disputas sobre la soberanía sobre un amplio sector del mar de China Meridional. Nom Pen exigía que no se incluyera en el texto mención alguna a una reciente sentencia del Tribunal Permanente de Arbitraje que da la razón a Filipinas y sostiene que China no tiene motivos "históricos" para reclamar soberanía.

Los ministros de Exteriores de los diez miembros de la ASEAN se han reunido por primera vez desde el dictamen del tribunal de La Haya del 12 de julio y por eso Filipinas y Vietnam querían que la declaración final pidiese respetar el Derecho Internacional. Sin embargo, Camboya, aliada de China, se ha negado a incluir esta mención y las declaraciones deben ser aprobadas por unanimidad. [seguir leyendo]

La Chine continue à développer des îles en Mer de Chine du Sud

21.07.2016 Patrick Neuville (reinformation) - Li Jie, un expert naval de Pékin, vient d’expliquer au Global Times, média officiel chinois, que la Chine envisage de poursuivre la construction de zones habitables sur certaines îles de la Mer de Chine du Sud, à une échelle correspondant au niveau de « menaces » qu’elle dit subir dans la région. « Les constructions civiles vont augmenter. Des aéroports seront déployés, des pistes d’atterrissage rallongées. Beaucoup de ces constructions seront dédiées aux efforts de recherche et de sauvetage, pour porter secours et vivres aux vaisseaux en détresse », a dit l’expert, qui a ajouté : « La Chine peut aussi accroître le nombre d’armes défensives sur les îles, en fonction du niveau de menace. »

Sur les sept îlots habités des îles Nansha, ceux de Meiji, Zhubi et Yongshu sont les plus grands et les mieux équipés. Selon des experts du CSIS (Centre d’études internationales et stratégiques) américain, le récif de Meiji fait environ 6 km carrés et Zhubi et Yongshu 4 et 3 respectivement. [en savoir plus]

PN wants Muscat to answer over sacking of Vietnamese MP as Labour calls Busuttil out on good governance

21.07.2016 (MaltaToday) - The Nationalist Party has insisted that it is up to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to explain how a Vietnamese MP was given Maltese citizenship, even though Vietnamese citizens are prohibited from having dual citizenship.

Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong, 46, was unanimously found guilty of breaking the Law on Vietnamese Nationality, which prohibits Vietnamese citizens from having dual citizenship.

It was unclear why Huong had dual citizenship although the dtinews portal reported that Nguyet Huong’s entire family had dual Maltese citizenship.

“A Maltese passport was sold to a person who not only breached the law of her country but is also a politically exposed person,” the PN said. [read more]

Chinas Ansprüche sind auf Sand gebaut

20.07.2016 von Matthias Naß (Zeit Online) - Das Völkerrecht gilt auch für China. Aber wie kann dessen Führung im Inselstreit zum Einlenken bewegt werden? Europa kann in diesem Streit nicht neutral bleiben. 

Hinter all den Schreckensmeldungen der vergangenen Tage aus Nizza, Istanbul und Baton Rouge ist ein geostrategischer Großkonflikt fast in Vergessenheit geraten: der Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer. Unbedeutender und ungefährlicher wird er dadurch nicht.

Der Anspruch Chinas auf rund 90 Prozent des Südchinesischen Meers ist von den anderen Anrainerstaaten – Vietnam, den Philippinen, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesien – immer bestritten worden. Im Konflikt mit China haben sie sich politisch und militärisch an die Vereinigten Staaten angelehnt, die stärkste Seemacht im Pazifik. Selbst der einstige Kriegsgegner Vietnam führt mit den USA inzwischen gemeinsame Manöver durch.

Auch wenn Europa gleichermaßen gute Beziehungen zu China wie zu den südostasiatischen Ländern hat, so kann es in diesem Streit nicht neutral sein. Es muss die Verletzung des Völkerrechts durch Peking klar benennen und verurteilen. Das ist schlicht eine Frage der Glaubwürdigkeit. So wie die Europäer von ihren asiatischen Partnern in der Auseinandersetzung mit Russland um die Ukraine Solidarität verlangt haben, so müssen sie sich im Streit mit Peking auf deren Seite stellen. [Weiterlesen]

Südchinesisches Meer - China startet neue Manöver

19.07.2016 (FAZ) - Die Regierung in Peking sperrt einen Teil des Südchinesischen Meers für die Schifffahrt und warnt vor „militärischen Provokationen“. In dem umstrittenen Gebiet kommen künftig chinesische Bomber zum Einsatz. 

China startet neue Militärmanöver im Südchinesischen Meer. Eine Woche nach dem Urteil des internationalen Schiedsgerichts, wonach die weitreichenden chinesischen Ansprüche in dem Seegebiet ohne rechtliche Grundlage seien, wurde ab Dienstag ein Sektor östlich der Südspitze der südchinesischen Insel Hainan bis Donnerstag jeweils am Tage für die Schifffahrt gesperrt. Die Einfahrt sei während der genannten Zeit der Übungen „verboten“, berichtete die staatliche Meeresverwaltung. Die Art und der Umfang der Manöver blieben unklar. [Weiterlesen]

Manila rejects Beijing offer of dialogue on S. China Sea dispute

19.07.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - MANILA--The Philippines has turned down a Chinese proposal to start bilateral talks, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, because of Beijing's precondition of not discussing a court ruling that nullified most of its South China Sea claims.

Perfecto Yasay said he had met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders on the weekend and after raising the topic of last week's ruling, it became clear that was a no-go area.

China has angrily rejected the verdict by the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the initial case as illegal and farcical. It has repeatedly said it will not change its approach or its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.

"They said if you will insist on the ruling, discussing it along those lines, then we might be headed for a confrontation," Yasay said during an interview with the news channel of broadcaster ABS-CBN.

Yasay said Yi had proposed bilateral talks but only on issues "outside, or (in) disregard of, the arbitral ruling," which he declined because it was not in the Philippines' national interests. [read more]

Just Where Exactly Did China Get the South China Sea Nine-Dash Line From?

19.07.2016 Hannah Beech / Shanghai (Time) - China's territorial claims in the South China Sea are made on the basis of a nine-dash line now ruled spurious by an international court. But where did the line originate from and why is Beijing so sensitive about it?

First the dotted line on Chinese maps lost two of its hyphens in 1952, when, in a moment of socialist bonhomie with Vietnam, Chairman Mao Zedong abandoned Chinese claims to the Gulf of Tonkin. Then, on July 12, 2016, an international tribunal ruled that the now nine-dash demarcation could not be used by Beijing to make historic claims to the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by six governments. The line, first inscribed on a Chinese map in 1947, had “no legal basis” for maritime claims, deemed the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. Beijing reacted with outrage to the judgment, which delegitimized China’s maritime ambitions according to international law. [read more]

Hanói, decenas de activistas arrestados por protestar contra el imperialismo chino en los mares

18.07.2016 Thanh Nhan (AsiaNews) - Hanói - Las fuerzas de seguridad vietnamitas detuvieron a decenas de activistas por haber organizado manifestaciones anti-chinas en las plazas de la capital y en la Ciudad de Ho Chi Minh, la metrópolis del sur del país. Detrás de las protestas promovidas ayer por grupos nacionalistas y patriotas vietnamitas, está la decisión de Beijing de no respetar la sentencia de la Corte permanente de arbitraje (CPA) sobre el Derecho del Mar. Las autoridades de Hanói temen que las manifestaciones contra China podrían dar lugar a movimientos de protesta contra el gobierno comunista vietnamita, por estar todavía ligada a doble mano con su hermano mayor chino.

La semana pasada, los jueces del Tribunal de La Haya han establecido que China "no tiene derecho" a la soberanía sobre los territorios en disputa en el Pacífico asiático. Sin embargo, el gobierno de Beijing ha anunciado en varias ocasiones que no quiere acatar la sentencia de arbitraje promovido por Filipinas, debido a que son dictadas por un tribunal “fracasado”. [seguir leyendo]

Le Vietnam empêche des manifestations antichinoises

17.07.2016 (spa) - Hanoï - Des dizaines de manifestants ont été arrêtés dimanche à Hanoi où ils voulaient protester contre le rejet par Pékin d'un jugement international qui invalide ses prétentions en mer de Chine méridionale.

L'hostilité envers Pékin est un sentiment répandu au Vietnam mais le régime autoritaire de ce pays communiste est prompt à réprimer les manifestations de colère, de peur qu'elles ne finissent par viser le pouvoir.

Les protestataires s'étaient servis des réseaux sociaux pour appeler à manifester dimanche à Hanoi après le jugement de la Cour permanente d'arbitrage (CPA) de la Haye qui a dit que les revendications chinoises sur l'essentiel de cette mer stratégique était "sans aucun fondement". [en savoir plus]

Philippines wins trial of the century

17.07.2016 By Richard Javad Heydarian (Al Jazeera) - The Hague ruling is binding and final, so China can comply or be branded as an outlaw in the region - "Nothing but truth in here and it was unfair," lamented Aglaya Ivanovna, one of Dostoyevsky's protagonists in The Idiot. This was essentially China's response to a major legal setback, when an arbitration body at The Hague ruled against the Asian giant's expansive claims and assertive manoeuvres in the South China Sea.

The arbitration case was brought forward by the Philippines, which has been locked in a bitter territorial dispute with China in recent years. 

With key traditional allies like the US unwilling to commit any tangible assistance, former Philippine President Benigno Aquino decided to take China to international court.

The verdict is binding, but enforcement is a huge concern. The Philippines has the option of releasing a strong statement calling for China, an aspiring regional leader, to comply or be branded as an outlaw. [read more]

‘Down with China invasion!’ Vietnam detains activists after South China Sea ruling

17.07.2016 (SCMP) - Scores of activists were detained in Vietnam’s capital Sunday as they gathered to protest against China after it rejected a recent international ruling that dismissed its claims to much of the South China Sea.Anti-Chinese sentiment runs deep in communist Vietnam but the country’s authoritarian rulers move swiftly to tamp down expressions of public anger, fearful that allowing such protests might embolden criticism of their rule.Activists had used social media to call for protests in Hanoi on Sunday in the wake of this week’s ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague which found there was no legal basis for Beijing’s claims to vast swathes of the South China Sea. [read more]Vietnam: policía arresta a docenas en protesta contra China

17.07.2016 (20minutos) - La policía de Vietnam detuvo en el centro de Hanoi a docenas de personas que participaban en una protesta contra China y en apoyo del fallo de un tribunal internacional que rechazó los reclamos territoriales de Beijing en el mar del Sur de la China. Agentes retiraron a alrededor de dos docenas de personas de las inmediaciones del conocido lago Hoan Kiem de la capital vietnamita antes incluso del inicio de la protesta.

La manifestación estaba organizada por un grupo que se opone a los expansivos reclamos de China en el mar del Sur de la China. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam detains anti-China activists over South China Sea dispute

17.07.2016 (DW) - Vietnam has detained dozens of activists at a rally protesting China's refusal to abide by an international tribunal's ruling. Vietnam and China have been locked in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea. At least 30 activists were swiftly bundled onto waiting buses and into cars by security forces Sunday after they gathered to hold a protest near Hanoi's Hoan Kiem lake, a common spot for demonstrations.Some of the protesters chanted "Down with China invasion!" as they were led away to detention. The rally had been organized by the No-U group in Hanoi, which opposes China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. [read more]Vietnam removes protesters gathered for anti-China rally in Hanoi

17.07.2016 (The Guardian) - About two dozen people are bused away even before they begin their protest against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea

Dozens of Vietnamese who gathered for an anti-China protest in central Hanoi were taken away by authorities on Sunday as they tried to rally support for an international tribunal’s ruling rejecting Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.

About two dozen people were bused away from around the landmark Hoan Kiem Lake in the capital even before they began their protest. There was heavy police presence around the lake with cars briefly banned from around it.

The rally was organised by No-U group in Hanoi, which opposes China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. It came after the Hague-based permanent court of arbitration last week issued the ruling in a case initiated by the Philippines, which together with Vietnam is one of the claimants in the disputed waters. [read more]

China has moral binding to accept the Hague court verdict: Philippines and Vietnam

15.07.2016 By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury (The Economic Times) - NEW DELHI: Envoys of two key Southeast Asian nations Philippines and Vietnam having claims in the South China Sea (SCS) region on Friday emphasized that China has moral binding to accept the Hague court verdict as a signatory to UNCLOS amid Beijing's attempts to up the ante by issuing warning to various countries and threatening actions.

Even as Philippines which won the case after three years called for restraint and peaceful means to resolve the territorial disputes Beijing appeared to be on collision course warning Japan and Australia to stay out of SCS region. This approach, however, is uncalled for according to Ambassadors of Vietnam and Philippines to India as they pointed out that India, another major power in the region, has urged all the parties to adhere to international rules and order by upholding UNCLOS [read more]

China’s problem with the rule of law

15.07.2016 (Livemint) - The weak legal standing of Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea has never been in any doubt outside China’s borders. The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA’s) ruling on Tuesday rebutting Beijing’s claims vis-a-vis the Philippines is thus unsurprising, even if its sweeping nature exceeded analysts’ expectations. The course Beijing charts now will have implications far beyond the South China Sea. And the initial signs are not positive.

The fierceness of its response—President Xi Jinping has said that China “will never accept any claim or action based on these awards” while state media has raged long and hard—makes it clear that backing down is not an option in the immediate future. Much of the commentary exhorting it to do so is viewing the issue through the prism of the rule-based international order. This is indeed a grave consideration. [read more]

Streit um Südchinesisches Meer belastet Asien-Europa-Gipfel

14.07.2016 (Süddeutsche Zeitung) - Ulan Bator (dpa) - Der Territorialstreit um das Südchinesische Meer überschattet den Asien-Europa-Gipfel (Asem) in Ulan Bator. Die Philippinen und Japan wollen China bei dem Treffen drängen, die Entscheidung des internationalen Schiedsgerichts gegen die chinesischen Gebietsansprüche zu respektieren.

Nach Informationen der Deutschen Presse-Agentur ringt die Europäische Union schon seit Mittwoch um eine gemeinsame Position zu dem Urteil. Doch übe China "massiv Druck" auf kleinere EU-Mitgliedsstaaten wie Griechenland, Zypern und Kroatien aus, um eine europäische Erklärung zu verhindern, hieß es aus europäischen Kreisen in Brüssel. Ihnen habe China mit wirtschaftlichen Konsequenzen gedroht.

Japans Regierungschef Shinzo Abe will sich nicht einschüchtern lassen. "Ich werde die Bedeutung der Rechtsstaatlichkeit und einer friedlichen Lösung unterstreichen", sagte Abe, der ein Treffen mit Chinas Premier in Ulan Bator sucht. [Weiterlesen]

Südchinesisches Meer - Nationalismus auf hoher See 

14.07.2016 Bernd Ludermann (Welt-Sichten) - In Den Haag ist ein brisantes Urteil gefällt worden: Ein Tribunal beim Internationalen Schiedshof hat den Philippinen im Streit über ein Seegebiet vor seinen Küsten Recht gegeben – gegen die Volksrepublik China. Doch die wird ihre Ansprüche bestenfalls mäßigen.

China beansprucht seit langem die Hoheit über vier Fünftel des Südchinesischen Meeres – auch über Gebiete, die nach dem Seerechtsübereinkommen (SRÜ) von 1982 in die Wirtschaftszonen der Philippinen, Vietnams, Malaysias, Indonesiens und Bruneis fallen. Seinen Anspruch hat Peking zuletzt aggressiv vertreten. Seine Marine hat philippinische Boote gehindert, bei den Spratly-Inseln zu fischen, und baut menschenleere Atolle zu Militärbasen aus. Die Philippinen haben daher den Internationalen Schiedshof klären lassen, ob Chinas Vorgehen dem SRÜ entspricht. [Weiterlesen]

These 5 Facts Explain China’s Coming Challenges

14.07.2016 Ian Bremmer (Time) - A ruling from an international tribunal this week—that China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea (SCS) have no legal standing—dealt President Xi Jinping a minor setback and generated headlines around the world. But it’s inside China’s borders where Xi’s considerable strength will be tested. These five facts explain the challenges ahead for China and its formidable president.

For decades, the source of China’s economic strength has been its breakneck manufacturing pace. Between 2011 and 2013, China used more cement than the U.S. did in the entire 20th century. Impressive—but wholly unsustainable, since there is only so much cement a country actually needs. So China’s leadership decided to shift its economy away from an investment- and export orientation to a consumption-based one to ensure growth can continue at a more sustainable rate. [read more]

Pekín inaugura dos aeropuertos en arrecifes de mar de China Meridional

14.07.2016 (El Tiempo) - China inauguró dos aeropuertos situados en arrecifes de las islas Spratly del Mar de China Meridional, después que un tribunal internacional diera la razón a Filipinas en la disputa territorial entre ambos países por esa zona marítima.

El diario oficial chino Global Times anunció este jueves en su cuenta de Twitter la inauguración de estos dos aeropuertos, situados en los arrecifes de Meiji y Zhubi, y que se suman al inaugurado en enero en el arrecife Yongshu.

Con esta acción China mantiene una postura de continuidad en su política sobre el Mar de China Meridional, a pesar de que la Corte Permanente de Arbitraje de La Haya (CPA) dio el martes la razón a Filipinas en sus reclamaciones territoriales, que incluyen parte de las islas Spratly, entre ellas estos arrecifes con aeropuertos. [seguir leyendo]

De l’utilisation des croyances et des religions à des fins politiques au Vietnam – l’analyse de deux universitaires de Hanoi

13.07.2016 (Églises d'Asie) - L’interview sur la religion que l’on lira ci-dessous a été recueillie par Gia Minh, journaliste à Radio Free Asia (RFA - émissions en vietnamien), auprès de deux spécialistes vietnamiens de la question religieuse, présentés par lui comme appartenant au Centre d’études Asie-Pacifique de l’Université nationale de Hanoi. Il s’agit de deux chercheurs, Nguyên Van Chinh et Nguyên Quang Hung, tous les deux visiblement spécialisés dans ... l’analyse et l’histoire de la gestion du phénomène religieux dans son rapport à la politique.

Ce type de document théorique relativement courant il y a une vingtaine d’années est devenu très rare. Les deux spécialistes reflètent, sans nul doute, le point de vue du Parti communiste vietnamien et, plus particulièrement, celui du Bureau des Affaires religieuses sur les manifestations religieuses dans la société d’aujourd’hui. Les réponses des deux spécialistes donnent en particulier des explications intéressantes sur la distinction entre « religion » et « croyances », distinction qui a pris une grande importance au Vietnam depuis la parution de l’Ordonnance sur les croyances et la religion, mise en vigueur en 2004. [en savoir plus]

Nach Schiedsspruch: China droht im Inselstreit mit Luftverteidigungszone

13.07.2016 (Spiegel Online) - Die chinesische Regierung will das Den Haager Urteil im Inselstreit nicht akzeptieren - und verschärft die Rhetorik: "Macht das Südchinesische Meer nicht zu einer Wiege des Krieges".

Nach dem Schiedsspruch zum Südchinesischen Meer droht China mit der Ausrufung einer Luftverteidigungszone in dem Seegebiet. Die chinesische Regierung habe "das Recht", eine Luftverteidigungszone auszurufen, sagte der Vizeaußenminister Liu Zhenmin. Ob eine solche Zone im Südchinesischen Meer errichtet werden müsse, hänge "vom Bedrohungsniveau ab, dem wir ausgesetzt sind".

Drohungen dieser Art gab es von China schon häufiger im Inselstreit. Doch klar ist, dass Peking den Schiedsspruch nicht akzeptiert und seine Rhetorik verschärft: "Macht das Südchinesische Meer nicht zu einer Wiege des Krieges", warnte Liu. China wolle es "zu einem Meer des Friedens, der Freundschaft und der Zusammenarbeit" machen. [Weiterlesen]

China sank fishing boat in the disputed region: Vietnam

12.07.2016 (The Hindu) - Vietnam has accused the Chinese coastguard of sinking a fishing boat near a disputed island chain, authorities said on Tuesday.

Two Vietnamese boats were chased by a pair of Chinese coastguard ships on Saturday afternoon off Vietnam’s Quang Ngai province, the Vietnam Fisheries Society (Vinafis) said in a statement.

One ship was boarded by Chinese coastguards who forced the crew overboard, Vinafis said, while a second vessel was prevented from reaching the stranded fishermen. [read more]

Pékin furieux après avoir été désavoué par la CPA sur la mer de Chine méridionale

12.07.2016 (Le Nouvel Observateur) - La Haye (AFP) - Pékin a réagi avec colère mardi après qu'une cour internationale à La Haye a donné raison aux Philippines en statuant que les revendications chinoises en mer de Chine méridionale n'avaient "aucun fondement juridique", au risque d'exacerber encore les tensions dans la région.

Dans sa décision de 479 pages, la Cour permanente d'arbitrage (CPA) a également conclu que la Chine avait "violé les droits souverains des Philippines", que des navires chinois avaient commis des "actes illicites" et que certaines zones revendiquées par Pékin étaient "comprises" dans les eaux territoriales philippines. [en savoir plus]

China vs. Philippinen: Insel oder Felsen? Worum es beim Streit im Südchinesischen Meer geht

12.07.2016 Von Vanessa Steinmetz (Spiegel Online) - Im Streit um Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer hat ein Gericht in Den Haag zugunsten der Philippinen entschieden. Befriedet das den Konflikt mit Peking? Oder steht ein neues Wettrüsten bevor?

Handelt es sich bei Erhebungen im Südchinesischen Meer um Inseln oder nicht?

Die Frage klingt banal - die Antwort hat aber große Auswirkungen. Darüber zu entscheiden hatte ein Schiedsgericht in Den Haag. Die Richter urteilten damit als erste internationale Instanz über den seit Jahrzehnten schwelenden Konflikt um die Vormachtstellung im Asien-Pazifik-Raum.

Die Verhandlungen dazu wurden seit 2013 in den Niederlanden unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit geführt. Die Philippinen hatten das Gericht angerufen und China vorgeworfen, ihre Wirtschaftszone zu verletzen. Die Volksrepublik boykottierte die Verhandlungen von Beginn an.

Worum geht es genau? [Weiterlesen]

Hague Tribunal Rejects China’s Historic Claims to South China Sea

12.07.2016 Mike Corder and Jim Gomez (Time) - (THE HAGUE, Netherlands) — An international tribunal ruled unanimously Tuesday that there is no legal basis for China’s “nine-dash line” claiming rights to much of the South China Sea.

The panel of legal experts in The Hague said that any historic rights to resources that China may have had were wiped out if they are incompatible with exclusive economic zones established under a U.N. treaty.

The Philippines, which brought the arbitration case against China, welcomed the ruling. Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay called it a “milestone decision” and pledged to pursue a peaceful resolution of its territorial disputes with China. [read more]

Mer de Chine: la Haye donne raison à Manille contre Pékin

12.07.2016 (Libération) - Une cour internationale a donné raison mardi à Manille contre Pékin, en affirmant que les revendications chinoises en mer de Chine méridionale, une zone stratégique, n’avaient pas de «fondements juridiques», une décision qui pourrait exacerber les tensions déjà vives dans la région.

Dans sa décision de 479 pages, la Cour permanente d’arbitrage (CPA) de La Haye a conclu également que Pékin «a violé les droits souverains des Philippines», que les navires chinois ont commis des «actes illicites» et que certaines zones revendiquées par Pékin «sont comprises» dans les eaux philippines.

Pékin, qui avait boycotté les audiences, «n’accepte pas, ni ne reconnaît» l’arbitrage de la CPA, a réagi l’agence d’Etat Chine nouvelle. La Chine a indiqué de multiples fois que cette instance appuyée par l’ONU «avait été saisie unilatéralement par le (précédent) gouvernement philippin et n’avait aucune juridiction» en la matière. [en savoir plus]

Den Haag weist Chinas Gebietsansprüche zurück

12.07.2016 (Die Welt) - Seit Jahren gibt es politische Auseinandersetzungen zu den Hoheitsrechten im Südchinesischen Meer. Nun hat das internationale Schiedsgericht in Den Haag entschieden: China hat keinen Anspruch.

Im Streit über das rohstoffreiche Südchinesische Meer hat ein internationales Schiedsgericht die weitreichenden Gebietsansprüche Chinas zurückgewiesen. Die Volksrepublik habe keine "historischen Ansprüche" in den Gewässern, urteilte der Ständige Schiedshof am Dienstag in Den Haag. China hatte bereits erklärt, das Gericht sei nicht zuständig, und will den Richterspruch ignorieren. Die Entscheidung könnte zu neuen Spannungen in der Region führen.

Die fünf Schiedsrichter gaben damit nach mehrjähriger Verhandlung einer Klage der Philippinen recht. Das Land hatte das Gericht angerufen, um unter anderem die Ausbeutung von Bodenschätzen im Südchinesischen Meer durch die Volksrepublik zu verhindern. Die Führung in Peking beansprucht einen drei Millionen Quadratkilometer großen Teil des Seegebiets für sich und hat mehrere Riffe zu künstlichen Inseln ausgebaut. China stützt sich bei seinen Forderungen auf eine Karte aus den 40er-Jahren. 

Die Volksrepublik beansprucht seit Langem die Region allein für sich und hat es auch in Kauf genommen, Konflikte mit Anrainerstaaten zu provozieren. Immer wieder war es in den vergangenen Monaten zu Zwischenfällen gekommen. Erst am Wochenende war ein vietnamesisches Fischerboot von chinesischen Schiffen gerammt und zum Sinken gebracht worden. [Weiterlesen]

Corte de La Haya rechaza reclamos de China y da la razón a Filipinas

12.07.2016 (terra) - Después de tres años, el Tribunal Permanente de Arbitraje determinó que el gigante asiático no tiene soberanía en el mar de China Meridional. 

En un fallo histórico, la corte internacional de La Haya rechazó los reclamos de soberanía de China sobre una serie de islas en el mar de China Meridional. El proceso judicial duro en total tres años, en los que los filipinos reclamaron constantemente la salida de China de las islas en disputa y en los que los roces entre ambas naciones se mantuvo, incluso con presencia de fuerzas del Ejercito.

Entre ayer y hoy (12.07.2016) cientos de filipinos se manifestaron frente al consulado de China en Manila. La protesta liderada por el grupo sindical Bayan Muna y la formación de defensa de derechos humanos GABRIELA, exigían a las autoridades chinas que abandonaran los territorios en disputa en lo que fue el preludio de la resolución final del arbitraje. 

Los cinco jueces internacionales del tribunal dieron la razón a gran parte de los argumentos presentados por Filipinas, que llevó el caso a los tribunales. China reclamaba su soberanía sobre más del 80 por ciento del mar de la China Meridional, una región rica en materias primas. [seguir leyendo]

Urteil zum Südchinesischen Meer: China hat keine historischen Ansprüche

12.07.2016 (tagesschau.de) - Wem gehört das rohstoffreiche Gebiet im Südchinesischen Meer? Chinas Ansprüche sind nicht rechtmäßig, hat das Schiedsgericht in Den Haag entschieden. Die philippinischen Fischer hätten hingegen dort historisch gewachsene Rechte. China erkennt das Gericht allerdings nicht an.

Im Streit um Gebietsansprüche auf das Südchinesische Meer hat der Ständige Schiedsgerichtshof in Den Haag ein Urteil gesprochen: China habe nicht das Recht, historische Rechte auf das Gebiet und die darin enthaltenen Rohstoffe zu erheben.

Das Gericht kritisiert die chinesische Seite deutlich: Das Land habe dem Korallenriff-Ökosystem der Spratly-Inseln irreparablen Schaden zugefügt. Chinas Ansprüche widersprächen der UN-Konvention, so der Schiedsgerichtshof.

Chinas staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua bezeichnete den Gerichtshof als "gesetzes-mißbrauchendes Tribunal" und den Richterspruch als "krankhaft". [Weiterlesen]

Die schlummernde Weltkrise

11.07.2016 von Helmut Hetzel  (Die Presse) - In Asien schwelen brisante Territorialstreitigkeiten, die sich zum Konflikt zwischen China und den USA auswachsen könnten. Am Dienstag entscheidet der Internationale Gerichtshof in Den Haag.

China beansprucht das gesamte Südchinesische Meer für sich, baut dort sogar neue künstliche Inseln mit Militärstützpunkten und will auch den gesamten Luftraum in der Region für sich reklamieren. Vietnam, die Philippinen, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, aber auch die USA akzeptieren das nicht.

Nun haben die Philippinen China vor dem UN-Arbitrage-Tribunal des Internationalen Gerichtshofes in Den Haag geklagt, weil sich nach Meinung der Philippinen China das Meer in der Region widerrechtlich aneignen will. Die Philippinen haben 15 Klagen beim UN-Arbitrage-Tribunal eingereicht. Das UN-Tribunal will nun am Dienstag darüber entscheiden.

Kurz vor dem Spruch des Internationalen Gerichtshofs hat Vietnam erneut schwere Vorwürfe gegen Peking erhoben: Chinesische Schiffe sollen am Samstag bei den Paracel-Inseln ein vietnamesisches Fischerboot gerammt und versenkt haben. Anschließend hätten die Chinesen sogar die Rettung der Fischer behindert, meldeten die vietnamesischen Behörden am Montag. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam wirft China Versenkung eines Fischerboots vor

11.07.2016 (derStandard) - Vor Urteil des Haager Schiedshofs über Territorialansprüche Hanoi – Einen Tag vor dem richtungsweisenden Urteil über Pekings umstrittene Territorialansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer hat Vietnam erneut schwere Vorwürfe gegen China erhoben. Chinesische Schiffe hätten nahe von beiden Ländern beanspruchten Paracel-Inseln ein vietnamesisches Fischerboot gerammt und zum Sinken gebracht. [Weiterlesen]

Streitigkeiten im Südchinesischen Meer - Chinas Fischer fürs Grobe

11.07.2016 Von Marc Leonhard (tagesschau.de) - Sie sehen aus wie normale Fischer, aber einige chinesische Kutter im Südchinesischen Meer sind im militärischen Auftrag unterwegs. Die Führung in Peking vertraut bei den Gebietsstreitigkeiten auf Fischereimilizen - dies musste nicht nur die US-Marine erfahren.

Moderne Lenkwaffenkreuzer, eigenständig entwickelte Flugzeugträger, U-Boote mit Nuklearantrieb - dies ist eine Seite der maritimen Aufrüstung Chinas, die in den USA und vielen asiatischen Staaten mit Sorge und Aufmerksamkeit verfolgt wird. Weitgehend unbeachtet sind bisher hingegen Fischereimilizen geblieben. Dabei spielen diese irregulären Verbände vor allem im international umstrittenen Südchinesischen Meer eine bedeutende Rolle. Dort setzen sie chinesische Interessen mit teils rabiaten Methoden durch.

Diese maritimen Milizen werden in Küstenorten unter Fischern rekrutiert, teilweise dienen aber auch ehemalige Marineangehörige dort. Genaue Zahlen über die Anzahl und Größe dieser Milizen sind nicht bekannt - vor allem, weil die Behörden dazu keine offiziellen Angaben machen.

Der größte politische Vorteil der Fischereimilizen ist der zivile Anschein. Sie seien weniger konfrontativ im Auftreten, könnten aber ebenso wirksam wie die Küstenwache zum Schutz chinesischer maritimer Interessen beitragen, sagte SWP-Analyst Michael Paul zu tagesschau.de. Zudem untermauerten "normale Tätigkeiten" wie die Fischerei am besten Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer. [Weiterlesen]

China hält Seemanöver im Südchinesischen Meer ab

10.07.2016 (Die Welt) - Peking - Vor der Entscheidung des internationalen Schiedshofes über den Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer hat Chinas Militär in den Seegebieten umfangreiche Manöver mit Schießübungen abgehalten.

Chinas Staatsmedien sprachen von «jährlichen Routinemanövern», doch sind die Marineübungen vor dem Schiedsspruch der vorläufige Höhepunkt der chinesischen Propagandakampagne, um seine Ansprüche in den umstrittenen Seegebieten zu bekräftigen.

Mit Spannung wird am Dienstag die Entscheidung des Ständigen Schiedshofes in Den Haag erwartet, das die Philippinen angerufen hatten. Der im Jahre 1900 eingerichtete Schiedshof ist kein Gericht, das Urteile durchsetzen kann, sondern ein Organ zur friedlichen Beilegung internationaler Konflikte. China hat ihn für nicht zuständig erklärt und will seine Entscheidung nicht anerkennen. [Weiterlesen]

With UN court verdict, Asean can make stand on sea dispute

10.07.2016 By: Estrella Torres (Philippine Daily Inquirer) - International Criminal Court (ICC) Justice Raul Pangalangan on Friday said members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) could use this week’s ruling by an international court to make a stand on the South China Sea territorial disputes without hurting China.

With four members—the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia—having conflicting claims with China in the  South China Sea and other members leaning toward China because of economic interests,  Asean faces serious divisions over the ruling to be handed down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday.

Most legal experts expect the ruling to go against China, depriving it of a basis for its claims to almost all of the South China Sea. [read more]

China demonstriert Stärke in umstrittenem Seegebiet

09.07.2016 (DW) - Im Südchinesischen Meer wird seit Jahren über Gebietsansprüche gestritten. Der internationale Schiedshof entscheidet in wenigen Tagen. China will das Urteil aber nicht anerkennen und hält demonstrativ ein Seemanöver ab. 

Wie chinesische Staatsmedien berichten, startete die Marine des Landes die Gefechtsübungen und setzte dabei auch scharfe Raketen ein. Die Übungen fanden zwischen der chinesischen Insel Hainan und den Paracel-Inseln statt.

Die Paracel-Inseln, die zwischen Vietnam und den Philippinen liegen, sind kaum besiedelte Korallen-Atolle, die aber Landemöglichkeiten für chinesische Militärjets bieten. Beim Ständigen Schiedshof in Den Haag ist eine Klage der Philippinen gegen die weiträumigen Gebietsansprüche Chinas in der Region anhängig. Am Dienstag kommender Woche will das Gericht seine Entscheidung verkünden. [Weiterlesen]

China dismisses US appeal to accept tribunal verdict on South China Sea

09.07.2016 (The Economic Times) - BEIJING: Dismissing the US appeal to accept the verdict of the international tribunal on the disputed South China Sea as "delusional", China today said it can not be forced to accept the July 12 ruling.

"It can only be a delusion of relevant parties to impose the ruling on China through diplomatic pressurising and negative publicity campaign. We advise them to give up such futile attempts," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Abraham Denmark has appealed to China to accept the tribunal verdict to be delivered on July 12. [read more]

China führt im Konfliktgebiet im Südchinesischen Meer Manöver durch

09.07.2016 (Blick) - Peking – Wenige Tage vor einem Urteil des Internationalen Schiedsgerichts in Den Haag zu Territorialstreitigkeiten im Südchinesischen Meer hat China im Gebiet Manöver abgehalten. Wie chinesische Staatsmedien am Samstag berichteten, startete die Marine die Gefechtsübungen. [Weiterlesen]

Marina china realiza simulacro de combate en aguas próximas islas en disputa

09.07.2016 (wradio) - Pekín, (EFE).- La Marina china llevó a cabo un simulacro de combate en las aguas próximas al sur de la isla china de Hainan y del archipiélago Paracel (Xisha según Pekín), situadas en el mar de China Meridional y reclamadas por Vietnam y Taiwán, en medio de un aumento de las tensiones territoriales en la región.

El simulacro se produjo el viernes y fue realizado por las flotas Nanhai y algunos barcos de las flotas Beihai y Donghai, señaló hoy la agencia oficial Xinhua, que dijo que forma parte de los ejercicios anuales rutinarios del Ejército de Liberación Popular (ELP) chino. [seguir leyendo]

Philippine envoy calls on UN to support rule of law in arbitration

08.07.2016 (The Philippine Star) - MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines's permanent representative to the United Nations called on the union's member countries to support the rule of law in the upcoming decision of its arbitral tribunal in connection with the South China Sea dispute.

Ambassador Lourdes Yparraguirre informed the Department of Foreign Affairs that state parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) have been updated of the developments in the arbitration proceedings since their last meeting in June 2015.

Yparraguirre stressed that the upcoming award of the international tribunal would be the rule of law on the dispute.

The UN tribunal is set to issue its ruling on the Philippines's case against China's nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea on July 12.

"The rule of law is a just and peaceful means of resolving disputes. The Philippines will fully respect the tribunal’s award as an affirmation of the Convention," the Philippine envoy said. [read more]

South China Sea ruling pivotal for rule of law in Asia, says US official

08.07.2016 (Asian Correspondent) - A TOP U.S. official says next week’s international ruling on a challenge to China’s claims in the South China Sea could determine whether the region is ruled by law or “raw calculations of power”.

Abraham Denmark, a senior defense official for East Asia, was testifying Thursday at a congressional hearing.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration will rule next Tuesday in a case brought by the Philippines, a U.S. ally. China is boycotting the case in the Hague-based court and says it will not accept the verdict. [read more]

What happens if China ignores South China Sea arbitration?

07.07.2016 by Jonathan Ripley-Evans (BusinessDay bdlive) - INTERNATIONAL arbitration is the most widely accepted method for resolving international disputes. But what happens when one of the disputants refuses to acknowledge and respect an international arbitral tribunal’s award?

Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Second Thomas Shoal, Subi Reef, Gaven Reef and McKennan Reef are but a few of the inconspicuous and (previously) uninhabitable natural reefs located in the South China Sea, currently at the centre of an international tug-of-war, the result of which may very well change the political landscape of the region.

The current dispute has arisen out of the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS is binding upon, at least, China, Malaysia and the Philippines. In accordance with the provisions of UNCLOS, only a naturally formed island that can support human or economic life can justify a claim to an "exclusive economic zone" (EEZ). [read more]

Vietnamese fishermen versus China

06.07.2016 Ben Kerkvliet (New Mandala) - Tensions in troubled waters see more and more attacks and the undermining of precarious livelihoods. 

In early March, 59-year-old Trần Sinh and his crew were retrieving fishing nets when a Chinese coast guard boat steamed rapidly toward his boat.

When very near to his wooden craft, Sinh later told a journalist, men in the much larger steel-hulled vessel shouted something in Chinese, which he didn’t understand. Then, in stilted Vietnamese, a Chinese sailor screamed: “these waters belong to China; you and all Vietnamese boats must leave immediately.”

As Sinh and his crew accelerated their efforts to bring in their nets, Chinese sailors opened fired, riddling his vessel with bullets and injuring one of his men. Sinh then throttled his boat’s engine to leave as speedily as possible. Hours later, he and his crew reached port in his badly damaged boat. [read more]

Streit über Gebiete im Südchinesischen Meer - China will "bittere Pille" nicht schlucken

06.07.2016 Von Axel Dorloff, ARD-Studio Peking (ARD) - Militärisches Manöver, Propaganda in Zeitungen und online, ein Expertenreigen auf YouTube: China zieht alle Register, um seine Ansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer zu untermauern. Eine Entscheidung des Ständigen Schiedshofs steht an. China schert das nicht.

"Südchinesisches Meer - die öffentliche Kampagne schaltet einen Gang höher", lautet die Schlagzeile in Chinas nationalistischem Parteiblatt "Global Times". Die Kampagne für Chinas Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer läuft auf allen Kanälen. Die Parteizeitung "People's Daily" hat zehn Videos auf der Plattform YouTube veröffentlicht.

Täglich äußern sich in Peking derzeit Experten und Politiker wie Ouyang Yujing. Er ist Direktor im Außenministerium für Grenz- und Ozeanangelegenheiten. Und alle machen eins klar: China wird die Entscheidung des Ständigen Schiedshofs in Den Haag kommende Woche nicht anerkennen. [Weiterlesen]

Le Vietnam et la Chine se disputent la mer de Chine

06.07.2016 (francetvinfo) - En Asie, la guerre des nerfs redouble entre la Chine et le Vietnam à cause des appétits territoriaux chinois.

La Chine affiche son ambition de prendre le contrôle de 90% de la mer de Chine. Car la région regorge d'hydrocarbures et de poissons. Pékin montre donc les muscles, et battit des îles artificielles sur une demi-douzaine de sites. [en savoir plus]

Delhi and Hanoi Get Serious About the Supersonic BrahMos Missile (And More)

06.07.2016 By Harsh V. Pant (The Diplomat) - As India plans a more robust presence in the greater Asia-Pacific, it is in the process of enhancing its defense ties with Vietnam. India seems now ready to sell the supersonic BrahMos missile, a product of an Indo-Russian joint venture, to Vietnam after dilly dallying on Hanoi’s request for this sale since 2011. Though India’s ties with Vietnam have been growing over the last few years, this sale was seen as a step too far that would antagonize China. But now the Modi government in India has directed BrahMos Aerospace, which produces the missiles, to expedite this sale to Vietnam along with four other countries, including Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Brazil. [read more]

Le Vietnam et la Chine se disputent la mer de Chine

06.07.2016 (France Télévisions) - Apparemment calme, la mer de Chine est en réalité très agitée. Les Chinois repoussent les bateaux à pavillon vietnamien au large des îles Paracels.

La Chine affiche son ambition de prendre le contrôle de 90% de la mer de Chine. Car la région regorge d'hydrocarbures et de poissons. Pékin montre donc les muscles, et battit des îles artificielles sur une demi-douzaine de sites. [en savoir plus]

Peking heizt Konfrontation im Südchinesischen Meer an

05.07.2016 (FAZ) - Zu Beginn eines Militärmanövers in umstrittenen Gewässern im Südchinesischen Meer haben Chinas Staatsmedien die Territorialstreitigkeiten weiter angeheizt. Die Zeitung „Global Times“ forderte Peking am Dienstag auf, die Verteidigungsmöglichkeiten der Streitkräfte zu stärken und sie auf eine „militärische Konfrontation“ vorzubereiten. China müsse in der Lage sein, die Vereinigten Staaten „einen zu teuren Preis“ zahlen zu lassen, sollten sie „gewaltsam“ in den Territorialstreit eingreifen, hieß es in dem Leitartikel.

Die chinesische Marine hatte am Dienstag mit einem einwöchigen Manöver in umstrittenen Gebieten des Südchinesischen Meers begonnen. In dem Seegebiet liegen auch die Paracel-Inseln. Die Inseln, die zwischen Vietnam und den Philippinen liegen, sind kaum besiedelte Korallen-Atolle mit Landemöglichkeiten für Militärjets. Während des Manövers dürfen Schiffe aus anderen Ländern die Gewässer um die Inseln nicht befahren. [Weiterlesen]

America Has a Chance to Beat Back China's South China Sea Strategy

05.07.2016 Tuan N. Pham (The National Interest) - Ahead of the looming International Tribunal ruling on the Philippine-initiated arbitration case against China’s contested maritime sovereignty claims in the South China Sea (SCS), Chinese diplomats and government officials are conducting an aggressive PR campaign throughout the region and across the globe to influence world opinion and present China and its legal and political positions as correct, through the publication of various comments by sympathetic world leaders, legal scholars and international relations experts.

They want to highlight the positive aspects of Beijing’s maritime security comportment and accentuate the benevolent features of its growing presence in the SCS, while peddling the same familiar public-diplomacy themes—the United States as the destabilizing aggressor; China as the virtuous but hapless victim; and the source of all regional trouble as Washington’s arm-twisting of its allies and partners in Manila, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur—and steadily messaging that it does not recognize the jurisdiction and authority of the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague to rule in this case. [read more]

Prepare for conflict over South China Sea, says Chinese media

05.07.2016 Clifford Coonan in Beijing (The Irish Times) - China’s powerful state newspaper Global Times has urged the country’s military to prepare for military confrontation ahead of an international arbitration ruling on a dispute with the Philippines over the South China Sea.

The calls came as China began a week of military manoeuvres around the disputed Paracel Islands on Tuesday and tensions in the region were running high, with Vietnam complaining about the naval drills.

The Global Times accused the US of trying to bully China on its doorstep and threatened to levy “an unbearable cost” if Washington continued to interfere in the South China Sea. [read more]

Medien: Peking muss sich auf "militärische Konfrontation" vorbereiten

05.07.2016 (derStandard) - Peking – Zu Beginn eines Militärmanövers in umstrittenen Gewässern im Südchinesischen Meer haben Chinas Staatsmedien die Territorialstreitigkeiten weiter angeheizt. Die Zeitung "Global Times" forderte Peking am Dienstag auf, die Verteidigungsmöglichkeiten der Streitkräfte zu stärken und sie auf eine "militärische Konfrontation" vorzubereiten. China müsse in der Lage sein, die USA "einen zu teuren Preis" zahlen zu lassen, sollten sie "gewaltsam" in den Territorialstreit eingreifen, hieß es in dem Leitartikel. Die chinesische Marine hatte am Dienstag mit einem einwöchigen Manöver in umstrittenen Gebieten des Südchinesischen Meers begonnen. In dem Seegebiet liegen auch die Paracel-Inseln. Die Inseln, die zwischen Vietnam und den Philippinen liegen, sind kaum besiedelte Korallen-Atolle mit Landemöglichkeiten für Militärjets. Während des Manövers dürfen Schiffe aus anderen Ländern die Gewässer um die Inseln nicht befahren. - derstandard.at/2000040427657/Medien-Peking-muss-sich-auf-militaerische-Konfrontation-vorbereiten [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam protestiert gegen Manöver Chinas

05.07.2016 (Handelsblatt) - Hanoi - Im Territorialstreit um Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer hat Vietnam scharf gegen eine Militärübung Chinas in umstrittenen Gewässern protestiert. Die Manöver sollten am Dienstag beginnen und bis zum 11. Juli dauern. Einen Tag später entscheidet das Schiedsgericht in Den Haag im Territorialstreit zwischen den Philippinen und China im Südchinesischen Meer.

Die Manöver rund um die sowohl von Vietnam als auch von China beanspruchten Paracel-Inseln bedrohten die Sicherheit und trügen zur Eskalation der Spannungen bei, sagte der Sprecher des vietnamesischen Außenministeriums am Montagabend in Hanoi. [Weiterlesen]

China veta acceso a zona del mar de China Meridional por maniobras militares

04.07.2016 (terra) - China prohibirá el acceso a las aguas alrededor de las islas Paracel, controladas por Pekín y reclamadas también por Vietnam y Taiwán, entre este martes y el próximo lunes 11 de julio mientras lleva a cabo unas maniobras militares.

Estos ejercicios, anunciados a última hora del domingo por la Administración de Seguridad Marítima en un comunicado, comienzan una semana antes de que la Corte Permanente de Arbitraje de La Haya falle, el día 12, sobre el contencioso planteado por Filipinas sobre la disputa con China por la soberanía del cercano archipiélago Spratly. 

China tomó el control de las Paracel en 1974, tras vencer en una batalla naval al entonces denominado Vietnam del Sur, pero el archipiélago, formado por unas 40 islas, es reclamado especialmente por el Gobierno del actual Vietnam. [seguir leyendo]

China to hold drills in South China Sea ahead of court ruling

03.07.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - BEIJING--China will hold military drills around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the maritime safety administration said on Sunday, ahead of a decision by an international court in a dispute between China and the Philippines.

Tensions have been rising ahead of a July 12 ruling by an arbitration court hearing the dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea in the Dutch city of The Hague.

China's maritime safety administration said the drills would take place from July 5-11, and gave coordinates for the drills that cover an area from the east of China's Hainan island down to and including the Paracels. Other ships are prohibited from entering those waters during that time, it said, without further elaboration. 

The Paracels are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. [read more]

Le contentieux maritime explosif en mer de Chine méridionale

01.07.2016 Dorian Malovic (La Croix) - La Cour permanente d’arbitrage basée à La Haye va prononcer son verdict final le 12 juillet sur le contentieux territorial en mer de Chine méridionale entre les Philippines et la Chine.

Pékin considère comme son territoire national la quasi-totalité de cette mer, revendiquée également par le Vietnam, la Malaisie, Brunei ou Taïwan, un dossier à risques.

Tant que la Chine n’était pas militairement dangereuse, le dossier n’inquiétait personne. Avec la montée en puissance militaire chinoise, depuis une quinzaine d’années, ces contentieux ont considérablement aggravé les tensions régionales. De fait, les Philippines, le Vietnam, la Malaisie, Brunei ou Taïwan revendiquent eux aussi plusieurs archipels de cette mer, notamment les îles Spratleys et les Paracels. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam’s ‘Soft Diplomacy’ in the South China Sea

29.06.2016 By James Borton (The Diplomat) - ... Due to China’s repeated confiscation of Ly Sơn’s fishing vessels and harassment of their nearly 3,000 fishermen, this volcanic island has become an historic symbol for “defending the nation’s sovereignty” and a destination for local (Vietnamese) tourists eager to show their solidarity with the islanders who bore the brunt of the defense of the nation’s historic sovereignty battles.

China’s unilateral sovereignty claims on more than 80 percent of the international sea and massive military build-up on artificial islands over the past two years has sparked a sea change in Vietnam’s identity, from a Red River delta rice producing culture to a maritime nation. These shifts in the nation’s narrative are now marked by stories about Vietnam’s ancestral fishing grounds and its identity as a sea-oriented country.

Vietnam’s S-shaped long coral reef surrounded coastline runs along the eastern border down to the south, stretching more than 3,500 kilometers. About 80 percent of the population lives by the shore. [read more]

Eyes on China, Indonesia approves higher defense spending

29.06.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - JAKARTA--Indonesian lawmakers on Tuesday approved higher defense spending this year to fund, among other things, major upgrades to military facilities in the Natuna Islands, whose nearby waters Beijing says are subject to "overlapping claims."

Parliament's approval came just days after President Joko Widodo visited the remote island chain to assert sovereignty over the area, in what Indonesian officials described as the strongest message that has been given to China.

China's increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea, which are worrying Southeast Asian countries, are fueling an increase in security spending in the region.

"(Natuna) needs to be guarded and to do that the military needs to have proper facilities, they need additional funds," said Johnny Plate, a member of parliament's budget committee.

China claims almost the entire waters, where about $5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. [read more]

Angst vor dem Schiedsspruch

28.06.2016 von Christoph Hein (FAZ) - In Den Haag entscheiden Richter über das Vorpreschen Chinas im Südchinesischen Meer. Peking will sich dem Schiedsspruch nicht beugen. Wie aber wird Amerika darauf antworten?

China gibt bekannt, es sei für seine Marine überhaupt kein Problem, ein philippinisches Kriegsschiff von einem Atoll der Spratley Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer zu schleppen. Die Filipinos hatte das alte amerikanische Landungsboot dort 1999 stranden lassen, um ihre Gebietsansprüche zu markieren. Es ist mit gut einem Dutzend Soldaten besetzt. Versorgt werden sie meist aus der Luft, weil China die Zugangswege blockiert. „Um der Stabilität im Südchinesischen Meer willen beweist China Geduld und hat sich immer zurückgehalten“, verkündet nun die Staatszeitung People’s Daily. Das aber muss nicht so bleiben.

14 Flugstunden vom umstrittenen Seegebiet entfernt werden die Richter über eine Klage der Philippinen aus dem Jahr 2013, die seit 2014 von Vietnam unterstützt wird, gegen das Vordringen Chinas entscheiden [Weiterlesen]

China holds firm ahead of UN's South China Sea ruling

27.06.2016 Ching Yee Choo (Nikkei Asian Review) - KUALA LUMPUR -- The ambassadors of China and the Philippines have crossed pens in a local newspaper ahead of a ruling this week by the United Nations' court of arbitration at The Hague in the Netherlands over a simmering territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Huang Huikang, China's ambassador made a 2,000-word contribution to The Star that was both a history of regional relations and an outline of China's present perspective. He described the dispute as "hyped up" because of "high-profile interference and the manipulation by some powers outside the region".

China has already made it clear that it does not recognize the UN court's jurisdiction and will not participate in its arbitration efforts. Huang labeled the Philippine petition to The Hague as a unilateral move -- "illegal arbitration" -- and advocated "amicable consultations" as the appropriate solution.

Huang's contribution elicited a flurry of responses, including an 1,100-word letter from J. Eduardo Malaya, the Philippine ambassador. [read more]

Top Chinese envoy in Vietnam amid rising tension before court ruling in South China Sea dispute

27.06.2016 By Nandini Krishnamoorthy (IBT) - A top diplomat from China is meeting Vietnamese officials today (27 June) to strengthen ties between the countries, just as the Asian giant is engaged in a quarrel with the Philippines over its claims in the South China Sea.

The visit of China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Vietnam has come just days before the international tribunal is said to pronounce its verdict over China's stake on the disputed waters. Philippines had filed a case against Beijing, and ever since China has opined that it would neither take part in the proceedings nor accept the Hague Court's arbitral judgment.

Meanwhile, Philippines, which launched the bold challenge against China at The Hague Court has decided not to make any public statement until the court comes out with its judgement. Manila has also received pressure from China urging it to withdraw the case. [read more]

La Chine veut ériger sa Grande muraille sous-marine

25.06.2016 (Sputnik) - Selon des journalistes, la Chine veut ériger, en se servant de drones et de robots, une Grande muraille sous-marine dont la mission principale serait de détecter la présence de sous-marins d'adversaires potentiels.

Selon la revue Live Science, Pékin a auparavant annoncé la construction d'une base sous-marine dans la mer de Chine méridionale, officiellement destinée à la prospection et l'extraction de ressources minérales sous-marines.

La base devrait être construite à une profondeur de 3.000 m (la profondeur maximale de la mer étant de 5.500 m) et serait habitée en permanence. Toutefois, la mer de Chine méridionale est une région de litiges territoriaux permanents, étant une pomme de discorde entre la Chine et ses voisins, dont le Vietnam et les Philippines. [en savoir plus]

Post-Obama America's 'rebalance' to Asia

24.06.2016 Thitinan Pongsudhirak (Bangkok Post) - As the United States' presidential election kicks into higher gear with the upcoming nominations of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the Democratic and Republican party candidates vying for top office, Asian countries, and Asean in particular, are concerned about what will happen to outgoing President Barack Obama's "rebalance" (also known as the "pivot") strategy to Asia. The "rebalance" is likely to be a lasting legacy of President Obama's foreign policy accomplishments. It has provided Asian countries from Myanmar and Vietnam to the Philippines with a counterbalance to China's increasing regional footprints. But the future of the rebalance hangs in the balance.

In this context, the prospect of a Hillary Clinton victory appears more appealing than that of her Republican opponent. [read more]

China will zu umstrittenen Inseln kreuzen

22.06.2016 (kurier.at) - Ungeachtet von Territorialstreitigkeiten will China laut einem Zeitungsbericht Touristen zu einer umstrittenen Inselgruppe im Südchinesischen Meer bringen. Wie die Regierungszeitung China Daily am Mittwoch berichtete, sollen Kreuzfahrtschiffe ab 2020 die Spratly-Inseln ansteuern.

Die Zeitung zitierte aus einem offiziellen Dokument der Behörden in der südchinesischen Inselprovinz Hainan, von wo aus die Kreuzfahrtschiffe in See stechen würden.

Chinesische Touristen dürfen seit 2013 an Schiffsreisen in die entmilitarisierte Zone im Südchinesischen Meer teilnehmen, Inhaber ausländischer Pässe aber nicht. [Weiterlesen]

South China Sea: The mystery of missing books and maritime claims

20.06.2016 By John Sudworth (BBC) - We came to the fishing port of Tanmen, on Hainan's east coast, because of recent state media reports about the existence of an extraordinary document - a 600-year-old book containing evidence of vital, national importance.

The book, in the possession of a retired fisherman called Su Chengfen, is said to record the precise navigational instructions by which his long-distant forefathers could reach the scattered rocks and reefs of the far-flung Spratly islands, many hundreds of nautical miles away.

China's insistence that these features are Chinese territory rests largely on a "we were there first" argument. So 81-year-old Mr Su's book, "cherished" and "wrapped in layers of paper" is apparently a kind of maritime Holy Grail.

So we went to meet Mr Su and found him busily building a model boat in his front yard, a short walk from the beach.

When I ask to see the document - the existence of which was, just a few weeks ago, being so widely reported in China and beyond - there's a surprising development.

Mr Su tells me it doesn't exist. "Although the book was important, I threw it away because it was broken," he says. [read more]

Vietnam: 1.000 streiken in Textilfabrik

17.06.2016 (Rote Fahne News) - 1.000 Arbeiterinnen und Arbeiter der Formosa Textile Industry, einer Firma mit taiwanesischem Eigentümer, streikten gegen überlange Arbeitszeiten, für besseres Essen in der Kantine und Lohnerhöhung für qualifizierte Arbeit. Nach zwei Tagen Streik billigte die Geschäftsleitung einige Forderungen, nicht aber die Lohnerhöhung. Eine unbekannte Zahl der Kolleginnen und Kollegen streikt daher weiter, weil sie mit dem Lohn in Höhe von ca. 140 Euro nicht einverstanden sind.

Chinese Building Island Forts in the South China Sea

17.06.2016 By Callum Wood (The Trumpet) - Tensions and anxieties are once again on the rise in Southeast Asia as nations make power grabs for territory, wealth and influence. Currently at least six nations are fighting over the hotly disputed South China Sea: China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Some want a small slice, others want more. Of the six, China is claiming the most, and is aggressively working to safeguard that claim.

China is building up a scattering of islands and reefs in the sea. These dumping and dredging projects in the Spratly Islands are creating island fortresses for the Chinese military. [read more]

Malaysia defends release of S. China Sea statement that roils China

17.06.2016 (Kyodo News) - Malaysia on Friday defended releasing the controversial statement on South China Sea after a meeting between Southeast Asian foreign ministers and their Chinese counterpart on Tuesday that exposed the deep discord among the parties involved.

After keeping silent for three days over the release-and-then-retract fiasco, the Foreign Ministry's Secretary General Othman Hashim said in a statement that the 10 ministers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had "unanimously agreed" to issue the joint statement at the end of their meeting with China.

However, just hours later, a Malaysian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman notified the media that the ASEAN secretariat wanted the statement to be retracted for "urgent amendments." No amended statement came. [read more]

China's pressure blocks progress as ASEAN talks hit milestone

13.06.2016 Tamaki Kyozuka (Nikkei Asian Review) - BANGKOK -- The meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers late last month in Vientiane occasioned lavish ceremonies to highlight a decade of the annual talks. Yet the atmosphere was far from celebratory as attendees remained deadlocked on the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

The ASEAN alliance envisions gradual integration not just economically, but politically and on the security front as well. As such, it needs to present a unified opinion on the South China Sea. The ministers meeting should be the ideal forum to strengthen defense cooperation. But constant pressure from China has kept discussion from getting off the ground. [read more]

Wahlen in Vietnam: 96 Prozent der Abgeordneten KP-Mitglieder

10.06.2016 (Tiroler Tageszeitung) - Hanoi (dpa) – Vietnam hat das Ergebnis seiner Parlamentswahl verkündet: 21 Abgeordnete oder vier Prozent der neuen Volksvertreter gehören demnach nicht der Kommunistischen Partei (KP) an.

Es handelt sich um unabhängige Kandidaten, die aber von der KP abgesegnet wurden. [Weiterlesen]

Dürre und Kommunismus bremsen Tigerstaat

10.06.2016 Jörg von Rohland (Bayernkurier) - Der Süden Vietnams kämpft mit der schlimmsten Dürre seit 90 Jahren. Doch während im Mekong-Delta die Pflanzen vertrocknen und Reisbauern um ihre Existenz fürchten, nimmt der Wohlstand in weiten Teilen des kommunistisch regierten Landes zu. Die Delegierten der Deutschen Wirtschaft rechnen mit einem weiteren soliden Wachstum, sehen aber auch Risiken – vor allem politischer Art.

Die aktuelle Dürre sorgte dafür, dass das BIP in Vietnam im ersten Quartal des Jahres „nur“ um 5,5 gegenüber dem Vorjahresquartal gestiegen ist, im vierten Quartal des Vorjahres war es noch um 7,2 Prozent nach oben gegangen. „Wachstumslokomotive bleibt die Industrie, getragen von ausländischen Direktinvestitionen im verarbeitenden Gewerbe“, heißt es dazu von GTAI.

Der größte Unsicherheitsfaktor ist und bleibt aber die Politik des Landes, die sich in diesem Jahr neu aufgestellt hat (der Bayernkurier berichtete). In der sogenannten SWOT-Analyse (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities und Threats) für Vietnam werden ebenso viele Schwächen und Risiken genannt wie Stärken und Chancen. [Weiterlesen]

Denkmal für einen Diktator?

10.06.2016 Von Sven Görner (Sächsische Zeitung) - Vor fast 60 Jahren besuchte Vietnams Präsident Ho Chi Minh in Moritzburg lebende Kinder seines Landes. Der Gedenkort an dieses Ereignis soll erneuert werden. Das sorgt für Protest.

Im Gespräch mit dem Bürgermeister und dem Verwaltungsleiter des Diakonenhauses hatte der in Berlin lebende Geschäftsmann Vo Van Long dann auch den Wunsch geäußert, den Gedenkort nicht nur langfristig zu pachten, sondern auch erweitern zu wollen. Zum Beispiel mit einem Miniatur-Pfahlhaus von Onkel Ho, in dem auch Dokumente vom Aufenthalt der vietnamesischen Kinder in Moritzburg gezeigt werden könnten.

Dass diese Idee möglicherweise Widerspruch hervorrufen würde, war zu erwarten. Schließlich sind unter den in der Bundesrepublik lebenden Vietnamesen auch viele Flüchtlinge.

In einem der Redaktion vorliegenden Brief an die Gemeinde Moritzburg schreibt Dr. Hong-An Duong, Koordinator des Forums Vietnam 21: „Während die Sächsische Zeitung (Auf den Spuren von Onkel Ho, vom 19.05.2016) lediglich vom Wunsch des vietnamesischen Botschafters und des Berliner Geschäftsmannes Vo Van Long berichtete, den Gedenkort für die Moritzburger Kinder aus Vietnam auf dem Gelände des Diakonenhauses in Moritzburg wiederherzustellen und zu erweitern, sprachen die vietnamesische Internetzeitung nguoiviet.de und zahlreiche andere vietnamesische Internetseiten bereits zwei Tage später von dem Projekt Gedenkstätte für Onkel Ho wird in Moritzburg gebaut.“ Dabei sei der Eindruck entstanden, dass die Einrichtung einer Gedenkstätte für Ho Chi Minh in Moritzburg schon eine beschlossene Sache sei. [Weiterlesen]

China asks the Philippines to quit UN arbitration, talk

09.06.2016 (The Hindu) - China’s claims of all most all of SCS and asserts that it has held the area from ancient times. The claims are contested by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

China has asked the Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw the arbitration at a UN tribunal and return to bilateral dialogue to settle the territorial disputes over the strategic South China Sea.

The Philippines should stop its arbitral proceedings and return to the right track of settling relevant disputes in the South China Sea (SCS) through bilateral negotiation with China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Wednesday. The Ministry also issued a statement saying the dispute over the SCS should be settled through negotiations. The door is always open to bilateral negotiation, the statement said and asked Manila to stop turning its back on its agreement to settle disputes through negotiation and end the arbitral proceedings it had initiated against China.

The Chinese comments came as the Philippines has brought a case at an international tribunal constituted under the UN Convention on Law of Seas (UNCLOS) at The Hague contesting China’s claims over almost all of the South China Sea.

China boycotted the tribunal, likely to deliver verdict this month, saying it will not recognise the judgement. [read more]

El partido comunista de Vietnam refuerza su hegemonía en el Parlamento

09.06.2016 (Terra) - El Partido Comunista de Vietnam, el único legal en el país, logró el 96 de los votos en las elecciones de mayo pasado, lo que refuerza su control del Parlamento, donde se reduce el número de diputados independientes, informó hoy la prensa local.

Unos 67 millones de votantes, el 99,5 por ciento del censo, participaron en la votación del 22 de mayo para elegir a los 500 miembros del legislativo, que se renueva cada cinco años.

Sobre el papel, la Constitución permite a cualquier vietnamita de más de 21 años presentar su candidatura, pero es el Partido Comunista quien decide si la persona es adecuada o no. [seguir leyendo]

China, Vietnam stick to their guns on South China Sea

06.06.2016 Veeramalla Anjaiah (The Jakarta Post) - The decades-old South China Sea ( SCS ) issue, North Korea and terrorism were the main focus of this year’s Shnagri-La Dialogue, which ended on Sunday. Primary SCS claimants — China and Vietnam — strongly defended their claims, while the US stepped up pressure on China to stop what it says are illegal activities and militarization of the disputed waters.

Indonesia and other ASEAN countries called for a peaceful solution to the dispute and asked all claimant countries not to resort to provocative actions that escalated tensions in the region.

After receiving strong criticism from Vietnam, the US, Japan, India, France, UK, the Philippines and Australia, China reiterated its position that it respected international law but would strongly defend its sovereignty in the SCS at the gathering of global military chiefs and security analysts in Singapore. [read more]

How Vietnam Can Stop the South China Sea ADIZ

06.06.2016 Alexander Vuving (The National Interest) - What is China’s next big move in the South China Sea? Ask the experts this question and tally their predictions. The action that will get the most votes is likely to be the imposition of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Indeed, a widespread view among the South China Sea watchers is that China will sooner or later declare an ADIZ in this semi-closed maritime domain, where it has reclaimed thousands of acres of land to build long airstrips, high-frequency radars, stationed combat aircraft and long-range missiles.

This view is undergirded by two assumptions. The first is that Beijing is willing to accept high costs, while an ADIZ will bring enormous benefits to China. The second assumption is that there will be a moment when circumstances raise either the costs for China’s rivals to retaliate, the benefits for China to impose an ADIZ, or both. Consequently, declaring an ADIZ is a matter of timing, as China is waiting for the opportunity that maximizes the cost-benefit ratio of this action. [read more]

Diplomatic tag as nations find new ways of standing up to China

06.06.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - SINGAPORE--When U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter spoke at a key Asian summit at the weekend, he used the word "principled" 38 times, floating his vision of a U.S.-backed "security network" of countries in the region.

Several delegations were quick to respond to the idea at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, but it seemed to evolve into a form of diplomatic tag-team wrestling as a loose coalition of nations lined up to criticize China.

Nations including Japan, India, France and Vietnam joined calls for greater respect for international law to resolve worsening tensions over the South China Sea, a dig at Beijing which has said it will not accept any ruling by a U.N.-backed court on the dispute. [read more]

Asia's defence spending rises in China's shadow

06.06.2016 By David Tweed (nzherald) - Global defence contractors are circling for business in Asia, with countries from Australia to Vietnam upgrading and adding everything from submarines to fighter jets as China expands its military reach.

Defence budgets will keep rising, according to IHS Jane's, which forecasts spending in the Asia-Pacific region will climb 23 per cent to US$533 billion annually by 2020.

"There is a wide-ranging need for modernisation across most of the armed forces in the region," said Dan Enstedt, chief executive officer of Saab Asia Pacific, whose products include submarines, missiles, radars and fighter jets. [read more]

Taiwan says it won’t recognize China’s ADIZ over S. China Sea

06.06.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - TAIPEI--Taiwan's new defense minister said on Monday the island would not recognize any air defense identification zone (ADIZ) declared by China over the South China Sea, as the island's top security agency warned such a move could usher in a wave of regional tension.

"We will not recognize any ADIZ by China," Taiwan defense minister Feng Shih-kuan told lawmakers in a parliamentary session.

The comments come after Taiwan's new government of President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, was sworn in last month. Tsai's election victory overturned eight years of China-friendly Nationalist rule on the island. [read more]

Inselstreit erschwert Dialog zwischen USA und China

06.06.2016 (Blick) - Peking – Der Streit um die Machtansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer überschattet den strategischen und wirtschaftlichen Dialog zwischen China und den USA. Chinas Staats- und Parteichef Xi Jinping eröffnete am Montag die zweitägigen Gespräche in Peking.

Nebst dem Inselstreit zwischen China und seinen Nachbarn stehen die Spannungen mit Nordkorea sowie die Wirtschaftskooperation zwischen den beiden weltgrössten Volkswirtschaften im Mittelpunkt der jährlichen Gesprächsrunde. Für die USA sind Aussenminister John Kerry und Finanzminister Jack Lew nach China gereist.

Die chinesische Seite erwartet einen freimütigen Austausch. Es dürfe aber nicht zugelassen werden, dass der Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer den Dialog zwischen den wichtigsten Wirtschaftsnationen vom Kurs abbringe, schrieb die Staatsagentur Xinhua in einem Kommentar. [Weiterlesen]

US Arms Sales to Vietnam: A Military Analysis

06.06.2016 By Franz-Stefan Gady (The Diplomat) - With the recent announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama that the United States will lift a decades-old embargo on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam, the question arises—given that the president’s decision is partially seen as a move to counterbalance China’s growing military power in the region—in what way a U.S.-Vietnamese weapons deal could potentially influence the military balance in the region, and in particular, the South China Sea.

Russia remains Vietnam’s most important “long-time partner in the field of bilateral military-technical cooperation, although the relationship is not entirely frictionless,” as I noted previously. The military hardware Russia has provided Vietnam, in comparison to U.S. systems, is more capable and has fewer strings attached to it than Washington’s offers. Vietnam also has experience in handling Russian-made equipment for the past decades, whereas it has none with U.S. military hardware. [read more]

Keine Angst vor Ärger

05.06.2016 von Till Fähnders (FAZ) - Die Vereinigten Staaten warnen China vor dem Bau einer neuen „Großen Mauer“. Sollten in Asien weitere Riffe aufgeschüttet werden, würde Amerika handeln.

nter den zahlreichen Konfliktherden auf der Welt gehört der Gebietsstreit im Südchinesischen Meer zu den potentiell gefährlichsten. Denn in dem Meeresgebiet im westlichen Teil des Pazifiks stehen sich zwei der militärisch stärksten Mächte gegenüber. Die Rivalität zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und China in Asien bestimmte deshalb auch die Diskussionen am vergangenen Wochenende in Singapur. Dort trafen sich Minister, Generäle und Wissenschaftler zum 15. Shangri-La-Dialog, der wichtigsten asiatischen Sicherheitskonferenz.

Pentagon-Chef Ashton Carter sprach diesmal sogar fast ausschließlich über die Sicherheitslage im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese general says first purchase of U.S. weapons some way off

04.06.2016 By Greg Torode (Reuters) - The recent lifting of the U.S. arms embargo against Vietnam boosted trust between the former enemies, but significant weapons purchases are some way off, a senior Vietnamese military official said on Saturday.

Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh told Reuters possible weapons buys were part of a long-planned strengthening of Vietnamese-U.S. relations across economic, political, cultural and security fronts.

"We are not sure what we can buy from the U.S. or what we want to buy," Vinh said in some of the first public comments from a Vietnamese defence official since U.S. President Barack Obama lifted the embargo in Hanoi last month.

"It is at a very, very first step, I should stress," he said. [read more]

Aggressive China triggers Asia arms race

03.06.2016 (The Times Of India) - Global defence contractors are circling for business in Asia, with countries from Australia to Vietnam upgrading and adding everything from submarines to fighter jets as China expands its military reach.

According to consultancy IHS Jane's report, the combined defence budgets in the Asia-Pacific region will grow from $435 billion last year to $533 billion in 2020, furthering a shift in global military spending away from Western Europe and North America toward emerging markets, especially in Asia. The figure will put Asia-Pacific on par with North America, which is expected to account for a third of global defence spending by then, from almost half now.

Much of the spending comes off a low base. The Philippines spent 1.3% of GDP last year, up from 1.1% in 2014, according to Sipri, while Vietnam was largely flat at 2.3% of GDP. China's outlays were 1.9% of its economy, well below US expenditure last year of 3.3% of its economy.

Thailand may be one growth center this year. Defence spending will increase 7.3% and account for 7.6% of the overall budget, the Bangkok Post reported last month. [read more]

Shared concerns about China bring Vietnam and Japan closer

02.06.2016 Author: Nguyen Manh Hung, George Mason University (East Asia Forum) - Three weeks after assuming office, on 22 April 2016, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang was quoted as saying that Japan is ‘one of Vietnam’s most important cooperative partners’. The importance given to the Vietnam–Japan relationship, on both sides, has increased with the changing power configuration in Asia.

The basis for the extensive and growing security cooperation between Vietnam and Japan is a shared concern over Chinese territorial ambitions. [read more]

Vietnam After Obama

30.05.2016 (Asia Sentinel) - When Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Vietnam last November, he was welcomed with a 21-gun salute by his hosts and protests by activists. The Vietnamese did not line the streets to get a glimpse of the China leader and there were no reports of Vietnam’s young people clamoring to take selfies with Xi.

On his visit to Vietnam this month, Barack Obama was not afforded the same ceremonial flourishes that Xi received, but the American president was enthusiastically greeted by thousands of Vietnamese wherever he went.

Vietnam is where American soft power has triumphed. Public opinion surveys consistently note the extent to which the Vietnamese “street” holds a favorable view of the US. In one online survey of Vietnamese Facebook users, 92 percent of respondents expressed a wish to ally with the United States while only 1 percent said the same about China. [read more]

China ‘may need a rethink’ as Vietnam moves closer to US

30.05.2016 (SCMP) - The stepped-up military ties ­between Vietnam and the United States is a worrying sign to Beijing, even though Hanoi is unlikely to acquire advanced American weapons, analysts say.

Some added that Beijing had not anticipated Vietnam would strike such a partnership with Washington, and called on Beijing to adjust its posturing in the South China Sea.

Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said Vietnam was unlikely to become a US ally, but Beijing was worried about where the deepening defence ties ­between the two countries – and between other partners and Washington – might lead. [read more]

Vietnamese Communist Leader Says US Anti-War Activists Helped Their Victory

29.05.2016 Richard Pollock (The Daily Caller) - In the weeks leading up to Memorial Day and President Barack Obama’s scheduled trip to Vietnam, a prominent Vietcong communist leader privately thanked American anti-war activists for helping defeat the U.S.-allied government in Vietnam in the 1970s, saying protest demonstrations throughout the United States were “extremely important in contributing to Vietnam’s victory.”

For Vietnamese guerrilla leader Madam Nguyen Thi Binh, who sent the private letter from Hanoi dated April 20, “victory” meant the communist takeover of South Vietnam. The letter addressed veteran American anti-war activists who gathered in Washington, D.C., at a May 3 reunion of radical “May Day” anti-war leaders.

The war temporarily ended in 1973 when the Paris Peace Treaty was signed that imposed a ceasefire on all parties.

That ceasefire was abruptly broken in 1975, however, when the North Vietnamese forces launched a surprise “Spring Offensive.”

Leading the offensive were hundreds of T-54 and T-55 heavy Russian tanks that left secret sanctuaries in neighboring Cambodia and flooded into South Vietnam.

By the time the Russian tanks were about to drive into Saigon, a liberal Congress filled with anti-war lawmakers already had hamstrung their South Vietnamese allies. Congress cut military aid to Saigon by 50 percent and handcuffed the South Vietnamese military facing the communist onslaught by barring any U.S. air support or other meaningful military assistance to the government. [read more]

G7 fordert 'friedliche' Beilegung von Inselstreitigkeiten

27.05.2016 (finanztreff.de) - Trotz der Drohungen Chinas haben sich die sieben großen Industrienationen in den Territorialstreit im Süd- und Ostchinesischen Meer eingemischt und eine "friedliche" Beilegung angemahnt. In dem Kommuniqué des G7-Gipfels im japanischen Ise-Shima forderten die Staats- und Regierungschefs am Freitag, alle Ansprüche nach internationalem Recht klären zu lassen.

Alle Parteien sollten von "einseitigen Maßnahmen" absehen.

Peking hatte die G7 noch am Donnerstag aufgefordert, sich aus dem Konflikt herauszuhalten. [Weiterlesen]

Why Obama blinked on rights in Vietnam

26.05.2016 by Shawn W. Crispin (The Diplomat) - BANGKOK – The administration has rewarded one the region’s least democratic regimes without much progress on rights to show for it.

When U.S. President Barack Obama met with Vietnamese civil society members during his recently concluded official visit to the Communist Party-led country, half of the chairs at the appointed venue were empty. Hours before the scheduled meeting staged to symbolically show U.S. solidarity with the country’s grass-roots democrats, security officials pre-emptively detained three of the invited participants, including a blogger, a journalist and an aspiring opposition politician.

While Obama claimed the former battlefield adversaries had buried “ideological differences” by ending the ban on lethal weaponry sales, the reality is that his administration chose to reward one of Asia’s least democratic regimes, with one of the region’s worst rights records, without notable progress on freedoms and liberties.

While Vietnam relies largely on Russia for its armaments, including a recent $3.2 billion purchase of six Kilo-class submarines, U.S. surveillance technology and equipment would significantly improve its deterrent capabilities vis-a-vis China.

Some sense that Obama, a lame duck leader in an election year, sought an Asian success story to shore up his foreign policy legacy amid the mire of unresolved conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Obama’s so-called pivot policy, also known as the “rebalance,” had aimed to put Asia at the center of U.S. foreign policy and establish the Hawaii-born and Indonesia-schooled leader as America’s first “Pacific President.” [read more]

Beijing Is Angering Its Only Friend In The Disputed South China Sea

26.05.2016 Ralph Jennings (Forbes) - China has upset Asian neighbors from Japan to Vietnam by flexing harder than the rest on its claims to vast swathes of disputed oceans. But Asia’s third largest country, Indonesia, usually tolerates its brushes with Beijing to keep up prized economic ties.

Now China is pushing its only friend in the disputed oceans of East Asia to decide how much more it can take. China and Indonesia dispute sovereignty over a tract of water near the 272 Natuna Islands northwest of Borneo as they fall under Beijing’s nine-dash line claim for almost the entire 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea. The Philippines takes such issue with that line that it appealed to a U.N. arbitration court, which is due any time to make a ruling.

But over the past four years the Southeast Asian archipelago of 13,000 islands has reluctantly stepped up its vigil against Chinese fishing vessels. The two entered a standoff in March when Indonesian authorities tried to make an arrest but a Chinese coast guard vessel intervened. The same month Indonesia said China had officially included waters near the Natuna Islands on a territorial map, a move that the local Antara news service quoted chief security minister for defense Fahru Zaini as creating a “large impact on the security” of that tract of ocean.

Indonesia was already zooming in more on protection of marine resources because of shipping piracy and illegal fishing. [read more]

Erneuerter Gedenkort für einen Massenmörder?

26.05.2016 Vera Lengsfeld (Vera Lengsfeld Blog) - Völkerverständigung ist eine gute Sache, aber man sollte dabei niemals vergessen, mit wem man verhandelt und mit welchen Regimen man es zu tun hat. In einem aktuellen Fall in Sachsen könnte dies leider im Falle des neuen Botschafter Vietnams Doan Xuan Hung und der deutsch-vietnamesischen Zusammenarbeit passiert sein. Denn offenbar wird ernsthaft erwogen einen DDR-Erinnerungsort mit staatsvietnamesischer Hilfe geschichtspolitisch einseitig neu aufzubauen. Neben der Erinnerung an die Ausbildung von vietnamesischen Kindern in der DDR würde hier, wenn es denn so umgesetzt werden würde, offenbar ein völlig unkritisches Bild eines Massenmörders demokratisch geadelt.

Und so geht die Geschichte, die man in der Sächsischen Zeitung nachlesen kann.

„Fast ehrfürchtig“, so schreibt Sven Görner in der SZ am 19. Mai, hielt der vietnamesische Botschafter eine Bronzetafel mit Patina in den Händen, die an ein Ereignis von vor fast 70 Jahren erinnert. Im Sommer 1957 weilte der spätere Präsident Nordvietnams Ho Chi Minh in Moritzburg bei Dresden zu Gast. Er besuchte vietnamesische Kinder, die im damaligen Käthe-Kollwitz- Heim, heute wieder das Diakonenhaus, lebten, um in der DDR ausgebildet zu werden. Viele dieser Kinder waren später hochrangige kommunistische Funktionäre in ihrer Heimat. In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wurde der Ort immer mal wieder von Vietnamesen besucht, die sich selbst noch heute „Moritzburger“ nennen. Zu DDR-Zeiten erinnerte eine Tafel an den Besuch von „Onkel Ho“, wie der Diktator, so beteuert die SZ, auch heute noch „liebevoll“ genannt werde. Nach der Vereinigung geriet der „Gedenkort“ in Vergessenheit. Als Besonderheit in Moritzburg wurden in jüngerer Vergangenheit Schritte unternommen, den Ort attraktiver zu gestalten.

Ho Chi Minh, Mitautor einer 1928 in Moskau erschienenen Anleitung für kommunistische Aufstände, als deren Erscheinungsort Zürich angegeben wurde, ist maßgeblich verantwortlich für die grausamen Verbrechen, die von seiner Befreiungsarmee an der südvietnamesischen Bevölkerung verübt wurden und für die Unterdrückung Andersdenkender in seinem Land. Die vietnamesischen Lager standen in ihrer Brutalität ihrem Urbild im Gulag nichts nach. Bis heute werden Andersdenkende in Vietnam weggesperrt. Fraktionskollegen von Lämmel haben Patenschaften für in Vietnam eingesperrte Blogger, für deren Entlassung sie sich einsetzen, übernommen.

Uwe Siemon-Netto, der als Kriegsberichterstatter die Einnahme der Kaiserstadt Hué während der Tet- Offensive 1968 als Zeuge miterlebte, zeichnet ein ungeschöntes Bild der Kriegsführung von ‚Onkel Ho’s Truppen.  [Weiterlesen]

Obama fordert in Vietnam Meinungsfreiheit

25.05.2016 (Luzerner Zeitung) US-Präsident Barack Obama hat seinen Besuch in Vietnam mit einem Plädoyer für Kunst- und Meinungsfreiheit abgeschlossen. "Regierungen sind manchmal nervös wegen der Kunst. Aber wenn man die Kunst unterdrückt, unterdrückt man die Träume und Hoffnungen des Volkes".

Das sagte Obama am Mittwoch in dem von der kommunistischen Partei streng reglementierten Land. Er hatte schon am Dienstag gemahnt, ein Land könne sein Potenzial nur ausschöpfen, wenn Menschen sich frei ausdrücken dürften. In Vietnam ist es verboten, den Alleinherrschaftsanspruch der kommunistischen Partei in Frage zu stellen.

Viele Dissidenten sind in Haft. Sicherheitskräfte hinderten mindestens einen, der noch auf freiem Fuss ist, daran, Obama zu treffen. Es gibt überall Zensur. "Man muss den Leuten die Chance geben, sich auszudrücken. Darum geht es doch in einer modernen Kultur des 21. Jahrhunderts", meinte Obama. [Weiterlesen]

China will den Westpazifik für sich

25.05.2016 Von Steffen Richter (Die Zeit) ... Die USA verkaufen Hanoi jetzt Militärtechnik, denn die Vietnamesen haben Angst. Vor China.

Diese Angst ist nicht neu, es gibt sie seit Jahrhunderten. Das Kaiserreich im Norden war meist stark und ließ den kleinen Nachbarn Tribut zollen. Was die vietnamesische Regierung heute gruselt, ist Chinas Expansion ins Südchinesische Meer. Seit 2012 beansprucht Peking rund 80 Prozent dessen für sich. Das erzeugt Ärger und Ängste – und neue Kooperationen.

Das umstrittene Seegebiet ist nicht irgendeines. Der Westpazifik ist eine der wichtigsten Routen des Welthandels, er ist voller essbarer Fische und verfügt wahrscheinlich über relevante Gas- und Ölvorkommen.

Territorialansprüche stellen außer China auch die Philippinen, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan und Malaysia. Um die Fischgründe gibt es unter den Anrainern ein ständiges Gedrängel und Geschubse. Am meisten jedoch fühlen sich die Staaten vom inzwischen expansiven China bedrängt. [Weiterlesen]

taz-Kommentar von Sven Hansen über das Ende des US-Waffenembargos gegen Vietnam

23.05.2016 Sven Hansen (FinanzNachrichten) - Berlin - Bei der Entscheidung über das US-Waffenembargo gegen Vietnam musste Barack Obama abwägen: zwischen strategischen und wirtschaftlichen Interessen einerseits und dem Schutz der Menschenrechte andererseits. Bisher hatten die USA das Embargo mit Hanois autoritärer Einparteienpolitik begründet, die für mindestens hundert politische Gefangene verantwortlich ist. Indem er das Embargo nun aufhebt, hat Obama gegen die Menschenrechte gestimmt - auch wenn er das rhetorisch zu verkleistern sucht.

Die Kader in Hanoi haben längst kapiert, dass Washingtons Einsatz für Menschenrechte taktisch ist. Auch deshalb geben sie kaum nach. Das haben sie nur einmal gemacht: Bei den Verhandlungen über das Freihandelsabkommen TPP hat Hanoi die Zulassung unabhängiger Gewerkschaften zugesagt. Ob dies nur taktisch war, werden wir wohl nie erfahren. Denn mit Hillary Clinton und Donald Trump sind ausgerechnet die beiden wahrscheinlichen US-Präsidentschaftskandidaten gegen TPP, das demnach vielleicht nie in Kraft treten wird. [Weiterlesen]

China Says Lifting Of US Arms Embargo On Vietnam Aimed At Provoking Hanoi To Confront Beijing Over South China Sea

23.05.2016 By Duncan Hewitt (IBT) - SHANGHAI — The U.S. decision to lift its arms sales embargo on Vietnam will concern China, analysts said Monday, as President Barack Obama began his official visit to Hanoi with a landmark announcement to lift a ban that had been in place since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Beijing has repeatedly expressed anxiety about the U.S. rapprochement with Hanoi, which last year signed President Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty. It has accused Washington of effectively trying to bribe Vietnam to stir up trouble in the South China Sea, where tensions are high following China’s reclamation of land on islands and reefs in disputed waters claimed by a number of countries, including Vietnam.

And on the eve of Obama’s visit, China’s official news agency warned Vietnam against what it called the U.S.’s “insincere agenda” — while an official newspaper expressed the hope that ideological disputes would mean that Hanoi ultimately remained closer to socialist China than to the U.S., which has been highly critical of Vietnam’s human rights record. [read more]

Obama hebt Waffenembargo gegen Vietnam auf

23.05.2016 (SZ) - US-Präsident Barack Obama hebt überraschend das jahrzehntelang geltende Waffenexportverbot nach Vietnam auf. Das gab er in Hanoi zu Beginn seines ersten Besuchs in dem kommunistischen Land bekannt. Auf diese Weise wollten die USA die Beziehungen zu dem ehemaligen Kriegsgegner normalisieren und die "Überreste des Kalten Krieges" beseitigen. Der vietnamesische Präsident Tran Dai Quang dankte Obama für die Aufhebung des Embargos. Teilweise hatte Washington dieses bereits 2014 aufgehoben.

Menschenrechtsorganisationen hatten im Vorfeld eine mögliche Aufhebung des Embargos kritisiert. Man dürfe keine Waffen an eine Regierung liefern, die Grundrechte missachte, teilte Human Rights Watch mit. "Menschenrechtsaktivisten werden verfolgt und gefoltert. Die freie Meinungsäußerung wird mit Füßen getreten." [Weiterlesen]

Obama anuncia el levantamiento del embargo militar a Vietnam

23.05.2016 Eric San Juan, Hanoi (La Razon) - El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, anunció hoy en Hanoi el levantamiento del embargo militar a Vietnam, una decisión que supone la "completa normalización" de las relaciones entre dos antiguos países enemigos.

"Estados Unidos levanta completamente la prohibición de venta de equipamiento militar a Vietnam", confirmó Obama durante una rueda de prensa junto a su homólogo vietnamita Tran Dai Quang, en el primero de los tres días de su visita oficial en el país asiático.

La Casa Blanca se había resistido hasta ahora a levantar el embargo debido a la mayor desavenencia entre ambos países: el respeto de los derechos humanos.

Aunque Obama destacó los "progresos modestos" de Vietnam en ese apartado, la organización Human Rights Watch (HRW) denunció hoy el arresto de la periodista disidente Doan Trang y otros activistas y blogueros vietnamitas.

Phil Robertson, subdirector de HRW en Asia, criticó que con el levantamiento del embargo EEUU entrega su única arma de presión ante el régimen vietnamita y denunció en un comunicado que "Obama ha dado a Vietnam una recompensa que no merece". [seguir leyendo]

U.S. lifts arms ban on old foe Vietnam as regional tensions simmer

23.05.2016 By Matt Spetalnick (Reuters) - The United States announced an end to its embargo on sales of lethal arms to Vietnam on Monday, an historic step that draws a line under the two countries' old enmity and underscores their shared concerns about Beijing's growing military clout.

The move came during President Barack Obama's first visit to Hanoi, which his welcoming hosts described as the arrival of a warm spring and a new chapter in relations between two countries that were at war four decades ago.

The sale of arms, Obama said, would depend on Vietnam's human rights commitments, which would be made on a case-by-case basis.

Obama told the news conference with President Quang that Washington would continue to speak out for human rights, including citizens' right to organize through civil society.

Quang, who actually announced the U.S. embargo lift before Obama could do so, was until recently minister of public security, which activists say harasses and arrests dissidents. [read more]

Les Etats-Unis lèvent l'embargo sur les armes à destination du Vietnam

23.05.2016 (France Soir) - Le président des Etats-Unis Barack Obama a annoncé ce lundi la levée de l'embargo sur les ventes d'armes américaines au Vietnam, l'un des derniers vestiges de la guerre entre les deux pays qui s'est achevée en 1975.

Au premier jour de sa visite à Hanoï, M. Obama a pourtant assuré que ce n'était pas une réponse directe à l'attitude de la Chine.

M. Obama est resté relativement évasif sur les droits de l'homme, se bornant à rappeler les "différences" existant entre Washington et Hanoï. Le président vietnamien a lui évoqué rapidement la question, en assurant que le régime visait à "protéger et respecter les droits de l'Homme", sans cependant évoquer les emprisonnements de dissidents.

"Le président Obama a abandonné le seul élément qui restait aux Etats-Unis pour faire pression sur le Vietnam en matière de droits de l’Homme", a déploré Phil Robertson de l'organisation Human Rights Watch. "Il a tout simplement donné au Vietnam une récompense qu’il ne méritait pas", a-t-il ajouté, dénonçant les lois répressives en place dans le pays. [en savoir plus]

Obama: Washington hebt Waffenembargo gegen Vietnam auf

23.05.2016 (Sputnik) - Die USA heben das jahrzehntelange Exportverbot für letale Waffen gegen Hanoi auf, wie die Agentur AP unter Berufung auf US-Präsident Barack Obama meldet.

„In der gegenwärtigen Etappe haben die beiden Seiten ein besonderes Niveau von Vertrauen und Zusammenarbeit erreicht“, sagte Obama auf einer Pressekonferenz mit seinem vietnamesischen Amtskollegen Vietnams Präsident Trần Đại Quang in Hanoi.

Derzeit kauft Vietnam aktiv russische Waffen, darunter U-Boote, Fregatten und Kampfjets. Der russische Vietnam-Experte Ilja Ussow prognostiziert: „Kurzfristig werden die USA Russland vom vietnamesischen Waffenmarkt nicht verdrängen können. Militärtechnik in Vietnam ist zu rund 80 Prozent aus sowjetischer und russischer Produktion. Die meisten ranghohen Militärs haben in der Sowjetunion studiert. Die Regierung in Hanoi will allerdings ihre Waffenimporte diversifizieren.“ [Weiterlesen]

How to make U.S.-Vietnam relations great again

23.05.2016 by Curtis S. Chin and Jose B. Collazo (The Japan Times) - It is an incredible transformation that U.S. President Obama will see during his visit to this country prior to his journey on to Japan for the latest G-7 summit.

But, as economic and geopolitical interests draw the United States and Vietnam together, much unfinished business remains that must be addressed. This includes Vietnam’s failing human rights record and incomplete transition to a true market economy.

In a few months, the U.S. will elect a new president. That president, whoever he or she might be, would be well-served by making clear that America’s enduring commitment to Asia includes not just defense ties but also support for human rights, religious and press freedoms, and commercial engagement. Such an effort would be the benefit of both the peoples of the U.S. and of Asia and the Pacific. [read more]

Ruhige Parlamentswahl vor Ankunft Obamas in Vietnam

22.05.2016 (Blick) - Hanoi – Einen Tag vor Ankunft von US-Präsident Barack Obama waren als 60 Millionen Vietnamesen zur Parlamentswahl aufgerufen. Von Wahlkampfstimmung war allerdings keine Rede: in dem Einparteienstaat dürfen nur Kandidaten antreten, die die Kommunistische Partei abgesegnet hat.

Es bewarben sich zwar 870 Kandidaten für die 500 Sitze, aber bis auf elf unabhängige Bewerber wurden alle von der Kommunistischen Partei aufgestellt. Das zwei Mal im Jahr tagende Parlament nickt in der Regel lediglich die Vorgaben der Partei ab.

Dennoch stimmen nach offiziellen Angaben oft mehr als 90 Prozent der Wähler ab. KP-Komitees setzen Bürger in jeder Ortschaft unter Druck, Parteivorgaben für eine hohe Wahlbeteiligung zu erfüllen. Das Ergebnis wird am 11. Juni verkündet.

Die Vormachtstellung der KP in Frage zu stellen ist nicht erlaubt. Zahlreiche Dissidenten sind in Haft. Kurz vor der Ankunft Obamas in der Nacht auf Montag (Ortszeit) wurde nach Kirchenangaben ein prominenter Regimekritiker freigelassen. [Weiterlesen]

As Obama visits, Vietnam activists fear U.S. strategy on China may trump rights crackdown

22.05.2016 (The Japan Times) - HANOI/WASHINGTON – At a secret gig in a Hanoi house, a clutch of democracy activists listen intently to the words of a bluesy ballad, a small act of defiance by critics of Vietnam’s communist regime who hope a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama will open rather than cramp their space to operate.

“Hey you, hey my sister,” ends the mournful lament by pop-star-turned-activist Mai Khoi, “Are we free, are we really free?”

It’s a question Vietnam’s dissidents are asking themselves as the United States embraces their country’s authoritarian leaders who still ruthlessly crackdown on protests, jail dissidents and ban trade unions. [read more]

Obama spricht mit Ex-Feind Vietnam über Waffen und Menschenrechte

22.05.2016 (Börse-online) - HANOI (dpa-AFX) - Auf dem Weg zum G7-Gipfel macht US-Präsident Barack Obama einen Zwischenstopp in Vietnam. Es gibt offenbar viel Redebedarf mit dem einstigen Kriegsgegner und rasant wachsenden Handelspartner. Obama nimmt sich für seinen ersten - und wohl letzten - Besuch seiner Amtszeit in dem kommunistischen Einparteienstaat drei Tage Zeit. Die wichtigsten Themen:

SÜDCHINESISCHES MEER: Die Spannungen in der rohstoffreichen Meeresregion wachsen. Gerade erst zwangen chinesische Piloten eine US-Militärmaschine dort zu einem riskanten Ausweichmanöver. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam’s LadyGaga urges Barack Obama to listen to dissidents at secret gig to as he visits foe-turned-ally

22.05.2016 By Philip Sherwell (The Telegraph) - A singer known as the Lady Gaga of Vietnam has pleaded with President Barack Obama to put pressure on the Vietnamese government over human rights during his upcoming trip.

Mai Khoi, known for her flamboyant style, staged a secret gig at a private house in Hanoi for fellow pro-democracy dissidents in the tightly-controlled one-party state.

Ms Mai Khoi once hoped to be running as an independent candidate in the communist state’s showpiece elections on Sunday, but was barred from ballot paper by the arcane rules of apparatchiks.

Human rights groups note that the repression on freedom has exacerbated since a conservative faction emerged triumphant in at January’s party congress.

Social media bloggers are routinely harassed and detained on vaguely-defined charges of spreading propaganda against state. [read more]

Der Feind meines Feindes

21.05.2016 von Till Fähnders, Singapur (FAZ) - Die früheren Kriegsgegner Vietnam und Amerika rücken im Konflikt mit China immer enger zusammen. Bei seinem Besuch in Hanoi wird Präsident Obama am Sonntag als Partner empfangen.

Besucher Vietnams kennen den Strom motorisierter Zweiräder, der sich durch die Straßen von Hanoi und Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt schlängelt. Das scheinbar chaotische, aber offenbar einer unsichtbaren Ordnung folgende Fließen wirkt wie ein Symbol der nach vorne gerichteten Einstellung der Vietnamesen, einer Nation im Aufbruch, die sich ihren kleinen Wohlstand hart erarbeitet hat und ihn auf den Sätteln ihrer Mopeds, Roller und Motorräder genießt.

„Vietnam, ein früherer Gegner, ist heute ein Partner, mit dem wir zunehmend warme, persönliche und nationale Verbindungen geknüpft haben“, hatte der amerikanische Außenminister John Kerry, selbst ein ehemaliger Vietnamsoldat, kürzlich bei einer Veteranenfeier gesagt.

Nach der Normalisierung der Beziehungen im Jahr 1995 und den Reisen Bill Clintons im Jahr 2000 und George W. Bushs im Jahr 2006 ist es erst das dritte Mal seit Kriegsende, dass ein amtierender Präsident der kapitalistischen Weltmacht das „sozialistische“ Vietnam besucht. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam celebra elecciones parlamentarias sin señales de apertura democrática

20.05.2016 (terra) -  Vietnam celebra este fin de semana unas elecciones legislativas en las que las expectativas de una ligera apertura democrática se han visto frustradas por el veto a candidatos independientes del hegemónico Partido Comunista.

Aunque más de un centenar de candidatos ajenos a la formación presentaron su candidatura, muchos de ellos intelectuales críticos con el sistema de partido único, solo once pasaron el filtro arbitrario del Comité Electoral para optar a alguno de los 500 escaños de la Asamblea Nacional.

"Creemos que los once candidatos independientes no son en realidad críticos, sino próximos al partido", dice a Efe en una cafetería de Ho Chi Minh (antigua Saigón) la cantante pop Mai Khoi, una de las candidatas vetadas.

Sobre el papel, la Constitución permite a cualquier vietnamita de más de 21 años presentar su candidatura, pero es el Partido Comunista quien decide si la persona es adecuada o no. [seguir leyendo]

Tote Fische stören Wahlen in Vietnam

19.05.2016 Rodion Ebbighausen (DW) - Die Vietnamesen sind aufgerufen am Wochenende die Abgeordneten für die Nationalversammlung, also das Parlament, und die Volksräte zu wählen. Die Nationalversammlung hat in den letzten Jahren an Einfluss gewonnen. Im Gegensatz zum chinesischen Pendant treffen sich die Abgeordneten regelmäßig und diskutieren Gesetze. Sie ist demnach als Institution relevant.

Bei den Wahlen handelt es sich allerdings nicht um eine ernsthafte Befragung des Wählerwillens, wie der jüngste Länderbericht der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung aus Vietnam resümiert. "Die Wahlen dienen der Bestätigung der Beschlüsse der Partei durch das Volk." Die einzige Aufgabe der Gewählten sei es, die Politik der Partei in die Bevölkerung zu tragen und die Macht der regierenden politischen Elite zu festigen, so Marion Fischer und Peter Girke in ihrem Report.

Seit Anfang April sind hunderttausende tote Fische an die zentralvietnamesische Küste angespült worden. Fischfarmen in der Region haben ihre gesamte Ernte verloren. Die Lebensgrundlage von tausenden Fischern ist bedroht.

Die Regierung hat sehr spät reagiert. Sie bestätigte zwar, dass es eine schwere Katastrophe gab, versprach auch Aufklärung, aber bis heute gibt es von offizieller Seite keine Antworten. [Weiterlesen]

Unexplained fish deaths disrupt Vietnamese vote

19.05.2016 Rodion Ebbighausen / shs (DW) - Vietnamese voters will elect members of the National Assembly over the weekend, but an environmental disaster linked to the appearance of tons of dead fish has dampened the political mood.

Despite Vietnam being a Communist country, the upcoming vote to elect members of the National Assembly and the people's council is still deemed crucial. Unlike its neighbor China, Vietnamese parliamentarians meet regularly and discuss leglislation.

This weekend's elections are expected to open up more space for the National Assembly to make independent decisions, said Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Vietnam, in its recent country report. But whatever the result, elected members are still there to mostly carry forward the party agenda and consolidate the power of the ruling elite, it said.

 Since early April, hundreds of thousands of dead fish have been washed up on the central Vietnamese coast, damaging the livelihood of the fishermen and local communities.

The government responded to the disaster very late. While it admitted that the fish kill was a major catastrophe, and promised to take action, to date the authorities have not explained why the calamity took place. [read more]

Arms embargo, human rights confront Obama in Vietnam

19.05.2016 Thomas Maresca (USA TODAY)  - Pressure to lift a decades-long arms embargo and complaints about continued human rights violations will confront President Obama when he makes his first visit to Vietnam on Monday, 41 years after the end of one of the most divisive wars in American history.

The Vietnamese government is eager for Obama to lift an arms embargo in place since the 1980s, arguing it is necessary to counter an ever-more-assertive China on its border and in the South China Sea, where the two countries have overlapping territorial claims in the resource-rich sea.The United States eased the embargo in 2014 by lifting a ban on maritime defense items.

The political moment may be right for Obama to lift the embargo as his presidency ends and he focuses on his legacy, said Carlyle Thayer, a Southeast Asia defense and security expert at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra. "I'm looking at this in a much broader perspective of what Obama's done towards Cuba and Iran," Thayer said. [read more]

Why Might Vietnam Let U.S. Military Return? China

19.05.2016 By Jane Perlez (The New York Times) - CAM RANH BAY, Vietnam — The ghosts of the Vietnam War have finally faded at the strategic port of Cam Ranh Bay. More than 40 years ago, United States forces left this massive base where Marines landed, B-52s loaded up for bombing raids, and wounded American soldiers were treated.

Now, some Vietnamese say they are yearning for the American military to return.

“On Facebook, there was a question recently: What do you want from President Obama’s visit?” said Vo Van Tao, 63, who fought as a young North Vietnamese infantry soldier against the United States. “Some people said they wanted democracy. I said I wanted the Americans to come back to Cam Ranh Bay. A lot of people agreed with me.”

Mr. Obama is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam on Sunday, the third visit by an American president since the war ended. The big question he is expected to answer is whether Washington will lift a partial arms embargo and allow Vietnam to buy lethal weapons from the United States. The Communist government has long asked for the ban to be revoked, and American access to Cam Ranh Bay could be part of the payoff.

For the White House, the decision on lifting the embargo has come down to a debate over trying to improve Vietnam’s poor human rights record versus enabling Vietnam to better defend itself against an increasing threat from China in the South China Sea.

Washington has for years made lifting the ban contingent on Vietnam’s improving human rights for its people, and has prodded Vietnam to allow more freedom of speech and to release political prisoners. But as tensions with China have escalated in the South China Sea, the sentiment in the Obama administration has shifted toward lifting the ban, American officials familiar with the discussions said. [read more]

China und USA geraten in der Luft aneinander

19.05.2016 (ARD) - Ein US-Jet ist über dem Südchinesischen Meer von zwei Kampfflugzeugen aus China bedrängt worden. Laut Pentagon war dies ein "unsicheres Manöver" während eines "Routineflugs" im internationalen Luftraum.

Der Streit um Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer spitzt sich erneut zu: Zwei chinesische Flugzeuge sollen laut Pentagon einen US-Jet bedrängt haben. Aus einem Statement des Verteidigungsministeriums in Washington ging jedoch nicht hervor, wie der Zwischenfall am 17. Mai genau abgelaufen sein soll.

Im Südchinesischen Meer streitet sich China mit den Philippinen, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam und Taiwan um die rohstoffreichen Gewässer, durch die strategisch wichtige Schifffahrtsstraßen gehen. Peking ließ unter anderem künstliche Inseln in der Region aufschütten und Flugplätze anlegen, um über diese Außenposten seine Ansprüche zu untermauern. [Weiterlesen]

Neuer Zwischenfall im Südchinesischen Meer

19.05.2016 Von Roland Kreisel (NeoPresse) - Der Streit zwischen China und den USA über Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesische Meer hat sich wieder zugespitzt. Am 17. Mai 2016 gab es einen erneuten Zwischenfall in der Region. Der Vorfall ereignete sich im internationalen Luftraum über dem Südchinesischen Meer. Dabei sollen laut Angaben des US-Pentagon zwei chinesische Flugzeuge einen US-Jet bedrängt und abgefangen haben. Die USA werfen China vor, dass durch dieses aggressives Verhalten und Landnahme der internationale Seewege bedroht werden.

Gleich mehrere Anrainerstaaten erben im Südchinesischen Meer Gebietsansprüche. China streitet sich mit den Philippinen, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam und Taiwan um die rohstoffreichen Gewässer, durch die strategisch wichtige Schifffahrtsstraßen führen. Auch die Aufschüttung künstlicher Inseln durch die Chinesen, auf denen dann Flugplätze errichtet werden sorgt für immer mehr Unruhe in der Region. Über diese Außenposten möchte China seine Gebietsansprüche untermauern. [Weiterlesen]

China fängt amerikanisches Flugzeug ab

19.05.2016 (NZZ) - Chinas Luftwaffe hat über dem Südchinesischen Meer ein amerikanisches Flugzeug bedrängt. Dies teilte das Pentagon mit. Demnach hat sich der Zwischenfall bereits am 17. Mai ereignet.

Es habe sich um ein «unsicheres Manöver» in internationalem Luftraum gehandelt, bei dem sich die beiden chinesischen Maschinen dem amerikanischen Flugzeug auf bis zu 15 Meter angenähert hätten.

Aus Peking hiess es am Donnerstag, die Einzelheiten des Vorfalls würden derzeit untersucht. Man habe Berichte zur Kenntnis genommen, wonach der Zwischenfall wahrscheinlich auf die Überwachung Chinas durch das amerikanische Flugzeug zurückzuführen sei, hiess es in einer Stellungnahme. [Weiterlesen]

South China Sea, risk of collision between Chinese and US planes

19.05.2016 (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Beijing - Two Chinese military aviation aircraft have intercepted a US spy plane, flying over the South China Sea. According to the Pentagon, the incident occurred in international airspace on May 17 last, while the US Marine reconnaissance jet was carrying out a routine patrol operation in the area.

The clash is a further confirmation of the growing tension in the Asia-Pacific region, with Beijing and Washington trading accusations over each other’s military activities in the area.

Several nations have conflicting interests in the area believed to be rich in natural gas and oil.

The Chinese government claims most of the sea (almost 85 per cent), including sovereignty over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands, in opposition to Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia. [read more]

Good Morning Vietnam! Why the Russian Navy is Returning to Cam Ranh Bay

18.05.2016 (Sputnik) - Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Nguyen Thanh Sean says that his country is not opposed to the Russian Navy returning to the base in Cam Ranh Bay, on the condition that its presence is not directed against any third country. Will Russia take the opportunity to regain a foothold in Southeast Asia? Svobodnaya Pressa journalist Anton Mardasov explores.

"It's worth recalling," the columnist wrote, "that in 1979, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam provided the naval facilities at the Cam Ranh Bay port to the Soviet Union 25 years rent-free. The Soviet military rebuilt and expanded the base. Modestly called a 'Material-Technical Support Point', the facility was actually a powerful base for the 17th Operational Squadron of the Soviet Navy."

"At any one time, the facility simultaneously hosted 8-10 surface ships, 4-8 submarines, and supply vessels. The Cam Ranh base allowed the Pacific Fleet to control the southern Pacific, and the entire Indian Ocean. In 2001, the Russian government made the decision not to renew the lease with Vietnam and to evacuate the base ahead of schedule."

The latest development, Mardasov noted, occurred in November 2014, when "it was reported that during his visit to Russia, Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong signed an agreement on the simplification of the procedure for Russian ships to make port calls to Cam Ranh." From that moment, Russian vessels would only have to notify Vietnamese authorities ahead of time to enter the port. [read more]

Amid Protests, Vietnamese Look to Obama's Visit

Vietnam’s people hope Obama will voice support for their calls to remedy an environmental disaster

18.05.2016 By Duyen Bui (The Diplomat) Vietnamese officials and the Vietnamese people are waiting in anticipation to welcome U.S. President Barack Obama in about a week. But each have very different reasons for awaiting Obama’s visit.

The Vietnamese government will be laying out the red carpet for the leader of its former enemy, with whom it now seeks alliances with in order to improve its troubled economy and hedge security threats from neighboring China. Vietnam’s people, meanwhile, hope the leader of the United States can throw his weight behind concerns about government accountability and basic freedoms.

The ecological crisis in the central coast of Vietnam is the latest instance testing the legitimacy of the government. Vietnamese officials have been slow to react even as people are getting sick, with one person dying. They have taken decisive action, however, against protesters. Heavy-handed suppression of peaceful demonstrators calling for a clean ocean and government have left many angry and questioning the intentions of the current authority. Is the Vietnamese Communist Party leading a government that is for the people, or for its own short-term gain?

The Vietnamese people hope Obama will stand with them in asking this question, even as the United States and Vietnam strengthens their comprehensive partnership. [read more]

Obama's Vietnam embargo conundrum

18.05.2016 By Huong Le Thu (Nikkei Asian Review) - Obama's trip to Vietnam, which takes place between May 23 and May 25, will make him the third U.S. head of state to visit since the normalization of ties in 1995; he was preceded by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and President George W. Bush in 2006; Bush went for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting in Hanoi.

Many Vietnamese have shared their enthusiasm on private blogs and in social media; the level of excitement can only be compared with Clinton's trip, and exceeds by far the buzz surrounding Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit in November 2015.

Among the key questions is whether the U.S. administration will fully abandon a 40-year-old lethal weapons embargo on Vietnam, which was partially lifted soon after the oil rig crisis. For Hanoi, which wants to diversify its weapons supplies, the lifting of the embargo is of crucial importance. Vietnam sources its submarines, fighter aircraft and surface ships predominantly from Russia; amid Chinese militarization of the South China Sea it needs modernization of both equipment, particularly surveillance-related, and training. [read more]

Vietnam open to Russian return to Cam Ranh Bay

18.05.2016  Alex Snegov (RBTH) - Vietnam is open to the idea of the Russian Navy returning to its former military base in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Nguyen Thanh Sean told RIA Novosti on May 17.

He added, “Although currently in the Eastern (South China) sea, there are many problems that need to be addressed, the ASEAN countries have common views that disputes must be resolved based on international principles, in particular the Convention of the United Nations Law of the Sea (UNLOS), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), avoiding threats and the use of force, while diversifying relations, based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.” [read more]

Botschafter: Vietnam nicht gegen Russlands Rückkehr auf Marinebasis Cam Ranh

17.05.2016 (Sputnik) - Vietnam ist nicht gegen eine Rückkehr Russlands auf den Militärstützpunkt in Cam Ranh, doch diese Zusammenarbeit darf sich nicht gegen Drittländer richten, wie der vietnamesische Botschafter in der Russischen Föderation, Nguyen Than Son, in einem Interview mit der Agentur RIA Novosti in Moskau erklärte.

Wie er sagte, „gibt es gegenwärtig im Östlichen (Südchinesischen) Meer zwar viele Probleme, die geregelt werden müssen, doch die  Länder der ASEAN besitzen gemeinsame Ansichten, Streitigkeiten strickt gestützt auf die internationalen Prinzipien beizulegen.“

Der Stützpunkt Cam Ranh befindet sich im Süden Vietnams an der Küste des Südchinesischen Meeres, in der Bucht Cam Ranh. Die sowjetische Marine besaß früher Stützpunkte in Vietnam (Cam Ranh). [Weiterlesen]

Obama Asia Trip 2016: President Obama’s Vietnam Visit Signals Tighter Economic Ties With Former Wartime Foe

17.05.2016 By Maria Gallucci (IBT) - President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Vietnam next week for the first time in his two-term administration. The trip offers the latest sign of tightening economic and security ties between the U.S. and Vietnam — one of Asia’s fastest growing economies and an increasingly pivotal player in regional politics.

Obama will arrive just months after the U.S., Vietnam and 10 other nations signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive international trade pact designed in part to give American companies more access to Asia-Pacific markets. The president’s trip also comes as Vietnamese leaders seek to improve U.S. relations as a hedge against China’s more assertive foreign policy.

Tensions with Beijing have helped push Vietnam toward the United States, its former wartime foe, at the same time that Obama has strived to expand U.S. influence in the region. The White House is likely to end a ban on arms sales to Vietnam ahead of Obama’s visit, Foreign Policy reported last week. The move would allow Hanoi to buy sophisticated American military hardware, such as radar or surveillance aircraft, to monitor contested waters in the South China Sea. [read more]

Vietnam TV says 'reactionary forces' at work in environmental protest

16.05.2016 (Channel NewsAsia) - HANOI: Vietnam's state television issued a warning to the public on Sunday to shun calls by "reactionary forces" to join protests over an environmental disaster it said was being exploited to try to overthrow the government.

An 11-minute prime-time report on Vietnam Television (VTV) disclosed names and images of well-known dissidents and bloggers it said were trying to dupe the public and violently undermine the government, with support and funding from overseas groups.

Although communist Vietnam has long sought to silence and discredit its critics the warning by the country's biggest broadcaster of possible seditious activity was highly detailed and of an unusually long duration. It was carried by several other major state-run channels.

Tight security in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City prevented major rallies taking place, however, although some social media postings showed small groups of demonstrators gathering. [read more]

Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer: Dämpfer droht - China verschärft Rhetorik

16.05.2016 Von Sebastian Hesse, ARD-Studio Shanghai (ARD-aktuell/tagesschau) - China beansprucht einen gewaltigen Teil des Südchinesischen Meers aggressiv für sich. Die Philippinen zogen deswegen vor den Internationalen Gerichtshof - und werden dort wohl Recht bekommen. Aber China gibt sich unbeeindruckt.

Wenige Wochen noch - dann dürfte das Urteil des Internationalen Gerichtshofes zum Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer vorliegen. Die Führung in Peking rechnet offenbar fest damit, dass ihre Gebietsansprüche zurückgewiesen werden. Und hat entsprechend ihre Rhetorik verschärft: "Wer soll diese Showveranstaltung für den Laufsteg ernst nehmen?", fragt Xu Hong auf einer Pressekonferenz in Peking. Er ist der Direktor der Rechtsabteilung im chinesischen Außenministerium.

Gemeint ist das Verfahren in Den Haag. Die Philippinen hatten im März 2014 vor dem Internationalen Gerichtshof Klage gegen China eingereicht. Peking konterte stets damit, dass es Entscheidungen der internationalen Justiz nicht anerkennen wird.  [Weiterlesen]

As fishing protests turn violent, Vietnam's new government faces its first test

13.05.2016 Helen Clark (Interpreter) - Almost every worry in modern-day Vietnam is represented in the fish kill saga. The test for the government is not just in how to respond to protests over pollution, but how to manage many of the deeper problems these protests reflect. Cracking heads at demonstrations has little long term viability.

Even in a one-party nation, unexpected political landmines can wrongfoot a government, as the ca chet (dead fish) protests in Vietnam show. Public concern and anger have been growing since mid-April when tonnes of dead fish began washing up on beaches. Government inaction prompted large protests in major cities, which in turn resulted in a predictable government reaction: arrests and violence.

Internet-organised activism is growing in Vietnam and is no longer restricted to educated dissidents. Last year there were large protests against Hanoi's tree kill, when many of the city's beautiful rare wood trees were marked for the chainsaw.

Protests in Vietnam are more common than the casual watcher may appreciate; however, the majority that take place outside of the major cities are inspired not by politics but everyday problems: corruption, land grabs, police violence. [read more]

Vietnam’s mass fish kill isn’t simply an environmental disaster

13.05.2016 By Xuan Loc Doan (Asia Times) - In the mass fish die-off on the country’s central coastal region, the Vietnamese government is faced with not only Vietnam’s worst ever environmental disaster but also widespread social unrest.

Millions of dead fish have washed up across some 200 km of the coast of Vietnam’s four central provinces since early last month.

According to a figure given by an official on May 5, the disaster had killed at least 100 tons of fish. This was based on the reports from the four affected provinces, namely Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue, and excluded dead fish that remained in the water.

Many believe the Formosa steel plant, which has a 1.5 km-long waste pipe running into the sea, is the source of the disaster even though the authorities have so far said there is no direct link between its discharged waste water and the fish die-off.

Another issue is that their government has failed to find out what or who caused this catastrophe. For many among them, including several experts, the authorities already knew the cause and the culprit of the disaster but did not want to let the Vietnamese people know.

The country’s increasingly severe environmental degradation will not be effectively dealt with unless its political system is cleaned up. This only occurs if the hierarchy within the ruling Communist Party is willing to undertake major political reforms, allowing its 90 million population to have a greater say and role in the policies and matters that directly affect their life, society and country. [read more]

Vietnam’s New Leadership Tested by Environment Protests

12.05.2016 By Gary Sands (The Diplomat) - The public is increasingly angry about reports of mass fish deaths.

On May 1, Vietnamese woke up on this traditional Labor Day, or International Workers’ Day, energized to take to the streets in protest, turning out in their hundreds in Hanoi and thousands in Ho Chi Minh City. They were marching in protest over reports that tons of fish started turning up dead along the country’s coastline in early April, along the shores of the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. Videos featured on Facebook and YouTube showed several protesters being beaten and driven away by vehicles in Ho Chi Minh City.

Many of the protesters were angry – convinced the dead fish were the result of wastewater discharged from the nearby $10.6 billion coastal steel plant owned by a subsidiary of the Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Corporation.

Yet the new leadership is drawing strong criticism online after their response to recent demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City last weekend. When the demonstrations threatened to spiral out of control, several protesters were roughed up by uniformed and plainclothes police and hauled away in buses and unmarked cars in both cities. The detainments came the day before Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, was scheduled to arrive in Vietnam. [read more]

China slams nearby passage of US warship in South China Sea

10.05.2016 Bruce Konviser (DW) - China is angry about a US warship passing near a reef that lies more than 750 miles from the Chinese mainland. The US says such claims are excessive and violate international agreements.

A US navy warship's passage within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-occupied Fiery Cross Reef has reignited tensions in the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the US vessel illegally entered Chinese waters and was tracked and warned.

But the US and southeast Asian countries consider China's territorial claims excessive – the Fiery Cross Reef lies more than 750 miles (1,200 km) from mainland China. The reef, a spit of land little more than one square mile is much closer to Vietnam and the Philippines, both of whom lay claim to the disputed island. [read more]

Political Prisoners in Vietnam

10.05.2016 (C-SPAN) - Vu Minh Khanh, wife of imprisoned human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai, testified at a hearing on political prisoners in Vietnam. Nguyen Van Dai was detained by the Vietnamese government in December 2015 on charges of “conducting propaganda against the state.” [video]

Presidente estadounidense Barack Obama visitará Vietnam

11.05.2016 (Agencia Peruana de Noticias) -  Hanoi - El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, realizará una visita oficial a Vietnam del 22 al 25 próximos, con una agenda que incluye actividades en esta capital y Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, informó hoy la Cancillería local.

Obama y las autoridades anfitrionas dialogarán sobre vías para impulsar la cooperación en economía, seguridad, derechos humanos, contactos pueblo a pueblo y temas globales.

El presidente estadounidense se reunirá además con representantes de la sociedad civil y empresarios, entre otros, como parte de su décimo recorrido por Asia, que concluirá en Japón el 28 de mayo, señala Prensa Latina. [seguir leyendo]

This Vietnamese Base Will Decide the South China Sea's Fate

08.05.2016 Yevgen Sautin (The National Interest) - Tensions are running higher in the South China Sea as it becomes increasingly evident that China’s land reclamation and military buildup represents a concerted policy by Beijing to carve out a large exclusive economic and strategic domain for itself. The situation could further deteriorate if Beijing decides that with the United States absorbed by a presidential race for the ages, the time is right to further consolidate its hold on the disputed territories. No matter what China’s next steps are, it is important for U.S. policymakers to have an accurate understanding of what Southeast Asian states are willing and not willing to do in solving their territorial disputes with China. This is particularly true in the case of Vietnam.

Vietnam is also home to the Cam Ranh Bay naval base, which is considered one of the best deep-water ports in all of Southeast Asia. The port’s strategic value is further enhanced by an adjacent airport suitable for landing heavy transport planes and strategic bombers. [read more]

¿Tigre asiático o 'lindo gatito'? Viaje al país del "Mac Guevara" y del "Che Donalds"

06.05.2016 Daniel Wizenberg (RT) - Parecen "Mac Guevara o Che Donalds" dice una canción del argentino Kevin Johansen. En eso se piensa cuando uno pasa por Vietnam estos días en que se cumplen 41 años del fin de la guerra contra los Estados Unidos. Es que dos cosas son evidentes: todo está cambiando aceleradamente y las consecuencias de la guerra aún se sienten. Se nota en la cantidad de jóvenes, el 60% de la población es menor de 40 años de edad. Se puede sentir en los locales de McDonald's que tienen en la puerta una bandera roja con la hoz y el martillo.

Vietnam pasó de ser el emblema de la victoria heroica sobre el capitalismo a comprarle armas a Estados Unidos e incluso a firmar tratados de libre comercio con el gobierno de Barack Obama.

Una campaña de 'norterización' durante la primera década posterior a la independencia incluyó una política de colectivización de la tierra y llevó a más de 400.000 personas a asistir a campos de 'reeducación laboral'. Muchos intentaron resistir el nuevo sistema, decenas de miles murieron y más de cien mil huyeron en botes. Se instauró el comunismo en el sur. Luego de la caída de la URSS a finales de la década de los 80 se terminó de decantar una feroz crisis económica que dejó a gran parte de la población subsumida en el hambre: una trágica anomalía en un país históricamente rico en la producción de alimentos.

Hoy en día y desde hace una década se da una progresiva 'suderización' del Norte. [seguir leyendo]

Won't accept UN court verdict on South China Sea, says China

06.05.2016 IANS (Business Standard ) - China on Friday said it will continue to exercise its sovereignty over the South China Sea regardless of the outcome of the ongoing case in a UN-appointed tribunal, which is widely expected to deliver its verdict favouring the Philippines.

"No matter what the outcome is, China will not recognise the award. It is a political farce," said Ouyang Yujing, a top Chinese foreign ministry official.

"It will not waver China's determination to uphold its sovereignty and claims," said Ouyang, the director-general of Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, in an interaction with foreign media here. [read more]

Philippine fishermen favor strong president to end China's blockade

05.05.2016 By Roli Ng and Manuel Mogato (Reuters) - A 30-foot trawler named "Marvin" lies beached on a grass bank overlooking the South China Sea, idle since China's coastguard began driving away Philippine fishermen after a fierce standoff four years ago.

Its 10-man crew once made their living off the abundant fish stocks of the disputed Scarborough Shoal some 124 nautical miles away. But since Beijing's patrol boats moved in, the fishermen of the west coast town of Masinloc said they had been forced to do odd jobs ashore, or become motorcycle taxi drivers.

The crews yearn to get back into their boats and hope that the Philippine election on May 9 will bring a new president bold enough to stand up to China's assertiveness in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. [read more

Vietnam's Political Transition: Economic Implications

30.04.2016 By Jack Wagner (The Diplomat) - With the business-friendly PM Nguyen Tan Dung out of office, what’s next for Vietnam’s economy?

Although Vietnam is still set to enjoy 6.5-7 percent growth and maintain strong rates of FDI, particularly in manufacturing, the rising influence of Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong could usher in a period of more conservative economic reform. Trong and new Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc have both committed to changes required for TPP membership but the pace of reform witnessed in recent years could slow, especially if seen to test particular vested interests in the country.

The liberalization of Vietnam’s union laws is a fundamental TPP requirement, which the country’s new leaders have pledged to fulfill. However, labor leaders in Vietnam believe such reforms are only likely to be superficially implemented as they threaten to undermine the state’s control on its workforce. One major international law firm’s partner in Hanoi has said to the New York Times that it is likely the requirements will be abided by on paper, but in reality unions will continue to be informally controlled by the confederation. The TPP has no enforcement mechanism for a member state’s commitments to labor or environmental requirements. [read more]

Südchinesisches Meer: Russland verteidigt China im Inselstreit

29.04.2016 (Spiegel Online) - Russland unterstützt China im Streit um die Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer. Außenminister Sergej Lawrow und sein chinesischer Kollege Wang Yi waren sich bei einem Treffen einig, dass Peking darüber nur mit den beteiligten Nachbarstaaten wie Vietnam und den Philippinen verhandeln solle.

"Außenstehende Parteien" sollten sich dagegen heraushalten, sagte Lawrow - und spielte damit auf die Rolle der USA an. Washington hatte China mehrfach dazu aufgefordert, die Militarisierung der Region zu stoppen. Außerdem hatten sich US-Kriegsschiffe mehrfach demonstrativ Inseln genähert, die von Peking künstlich aufgeschüttet worden waren.

Chinas Ansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer sorgen seit längerem für Spannungen mit den Philippinen, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam und Taiwan.

Peking ließ bereits künstliche Inseln aufschütten sowie militärische Anlagen und Landebahnen bauen, um über diese Außenposten seine Ansprüche zu untermauern. [Weiterlesen]

Montagnard-Kämpfer in den USA - Verraten und entwurzelt

29.04.2016 von Martin Woker (NZZ) - Die USA nutzen im Vietnamkrieg ihre Tapferkeit, liessen sie im Stich und hiessen sie schliesslich in ihrer Suburbia willkommen: die Montagnards aus dem südlichen Hochland in Vietnam.

Greensboro, North Carolina, 26. November 1986. Vier Tage vor Thanksgiving drängt sich eine freudig erregte Menge in die mit Fahnen geschmückte Ankunftshalle auf dem örtlichen Flughafen. Mit dabei sind zahlreiche Medienleute und Veteranen des Vietnamkriegs. Grund der Aufregung ist ein soeben von Los Angeles her eingetroffener Charter-Jet mit 213 Flüchtlingen an Bord; nicht irgendwelche Flüchtlinge, sondern Montagnards aus dem südlichen Hochland von Vietnam.

Das südvietnamesische Hochland blieb nach dem militärischen Sieg Nordvietnams fremden Besuchern lange verschlossen. Dass sich dort die indigene Bevölkerung gegen Landraub und die forcierte Ansiedelung von Vietnamesen aus der Küstenregion verzweifelt wehrte und eine schlagkräftige Guerilla periodisch Armeeposten angriff, wurde international kaum wahrgenommen. [Weiterlesen]

Die Montagnards - Ein verlorener Kampf um Autonomie

29.04.2016 von Martin Woker (NZZ) - Im Zweiten Weltkrieg schlugen sich die Montagnards zeitweise aufseiten der Alliierten gegen die japanischen Besatzer. Im Juli 1950 unterstellte Frankreich «le Pays Montagnard du Sud» per Dekret der Verantwortung des vietnamesischen Kaisers Bao Dai. Zuvor waren den Montagnards politische und kulturelle Autonomie sowie Landrechte garantiert worden, woran sich der Kaiser aber nicht hielt. Am Krieg der französischen Kolonialmacht gegen die Truppen Ho Chi Minhs, der 1954 mit Vietnams Teilung endete, beteiligten sich die Montagnards mit eigenen Truppen. [Weiterlesen]

Xi Jinping says only nations directly involved can discuss South China Sea disputes

28.04.2016 (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Beijing - Territorial disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved by the countries directly involved in the dispute, not by outside forces, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping.  He has also warned against a military escalation on the Korean peninsula and an international crisis for possible (new) nuclear tests by Pyongyang.  His government is in favor of the "denuclearization," of the nation to be achieved through dialogue and civil confrontation.

Beijing’s leaders stated that the differences of opinion must be addressed "with negotiations between the States concerned". The words of the Chinese president came on the eve of the verdict of the international court at The Hague, called to decide on Beijing's territorial claims in the seas of the Asia-Pacific region.

The dispute was dragged before the courts by the Philippines, who have long opposed the "imperialist" and expansionist politics of the Land of the Dragon. China has refused to take part in the arbitration, claiming that the court has no jurisdiction. [read more]

Exclusive: US May Lift Vietnam Arms Embargo For Obama Visit

27.04.2016 By Prashanth Parameswaran (The Diplomat) - Sources say the historic move is under discussion between the two sides.

In a historic move, the United States may consider lifting an arms embargo on Vietnam in line with U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the country next month, The Diplomat understands from U.S. and Vietnamese sources.

U.S.-Vietnam relations have taken off under the Obama administration, with ties between the two former adversaries elevated to a comprehensive partnership in July 2013. But though the defense side has witnessed some notable developments, including easing a lethal arms embargo in October 2014 and the signing of a new framework for defense ties in 2015, a full lifting of the embargo has thus far proven elusive despite repeated requests by Vietnam.

As Obama prepares to visit Vietnam as part of a broader trip to Asia next month, the lifting of the embargo is “under discussion” by both sides, a Vietnamese source told The Diplomat. [read more]

China spaltet Südostasien - Mit Charme zum Dissens

26.04.2016 von Manfred Rist, Singapur (NZZ) - China hat eine grundsätzliche Übereinkunft mit Laos, Kambodscha und Brunei erzielt, wonach territoriale und maritime Streitigkeiten auf dem Konsultationsweg und im Rahmen bilateraler Gespräche beigelegt werden sollen. Laut den Erläuterungen des chinesischen Aussenministers Wang Yi in der laotischen Hauptstadt Vientiane betrifft der Konsens insbesondere umstrittene Inseln und Riffe im Südchinesischen Meer. Die divergierenden Ansprüche, die derzeit besonders das Verhältnis zwischen China und Vietnam beziehungsweise den Philippinen betreffen, sollten demnach nicht Gegenstand der Beziehungen zwischen Peking und der Asean als Staatengemeinschaft sein.

Der Wortlaut der Absprache ist unverdächtig, und die betreffenden drei Staaten sind wirtschaftlich wie politisch Leichtgewichte in der Asean. Doch die Stossrichtung ist offensichtlich: Die zehn Länder umfassende Assoziation südostasiatischer Staaten soll daran gehindert werden, in Territorialfragen gegenüber China als Block aufzutreten. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam thwarts dissidents, pop star election bid, highlighting country’s ‘facade of democracy’

26.04.2016 (Bangkok Post) - Vietnam has blocked a motley crew of independent candidates from running for seats in its rubber stamp parliament, activists said on Tuesday, a move they say highlights the communist country’s “facade of democracy”.

In an unprecedented showing this year, more than 100 independent candidates – including dissidents, a taxi driver and a pop star – tried to run for Vietnam’s National Assembly.

But authorities refused to approve their candidacies, regardless of the support they attracted at local voter meetings.

“All the real independent candidates have been disqualified,” activist Doan Trang said.

On paper, Vietnam has an admirably democratic constitution, which allows any person over 21 to seek election to parliament. But the reality is quite different. [read more]

Vietnam: dissidents et pop star écartés des élections législatives

26.04.2016 (RTBF) - Le Vietnam a rejeté les candidatures d'un groupe d'indépendants - des dissidents, une pop star, des avocats - qui souhaitaient se présenter pour les prochaines législatives, ont affirmé ce mardi ces derniers, qui évoquent une "démocratie de façade".

Pour les élections du 22 mai, quelque 100 candidats indépendants avaient déposé un dossier, du jamais vu dans le pays. Mais les autorités viennent d'invalider leurs candidatures, officiellement en raison du peu de soutien populaire de leur candidature. "Tous les vrais candidats indépendants ont été disqualifiés", a déclaré à l'AFP la militante Doan Trang.

Sur le papier, le Vietnam communiste - contrairement à son voisin chinois - a une Constitution démocratique, qui permet à toute personne de plus de 21 ans de se présenter pour les législatives. Mais en réalité, la quasi totalité des quelque 500 députés sont des hommes, membres du Parti communiste. [en savoir plus]

Asia’s troubled water

26.04.2016 (Korea JoongAng Daily) - NEW DELHI — Asia’s water woes are worsening. Already the world’s driest continent in per capita terms, Asia now faces a severe drought that has parched a vast region extending from southern Vietnam to central India. This has exacerbated political tensions, because it has highlighted the impact of China’s dam-building policy on the environment and on water flows to the dozen countries located downstream.

Today’s drought in parts of Southeast and South Asia is the worst in decades. Among the hardest-hit areas are Vietnam’s Mekong Delta (a rice bowl of Asia) and central highlands; 27 of Thailand’s 76 provinces; parts of Cambodia; Myanmar’s largest cities, Yangon and Mandalay; and areas of India that are home to over a quarter of the country’s massive population. [read more]

Japan says China's maritime expansion making the world 'greatly worried

25.04.2016 (Today) - TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking ahead of a visit to Beijing, said on Monday China was making the world "worried" with its military buildup and maritime expansion in the East and South China Seas. Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have long been plagued by a territorial dispute, regional rivalry and the legacy of Japan's World War Two aggression. China and Japan dispute sovereignty over a group of uninhabited East China Sea islets, while in the South China Sea, Beijing is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims. [read more]Hello Gambia! Beijing is searching far and wide for allies to back its grab of the South China Sea 25.04.2016 Steve Mollman (Quartz) - China has a habit of making improbably grouped friends. When it held a World War 2 victory parade last year, key attendees included officials from East Timor, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and North Korea. Today Beijing is cobbling together a similarly incongruous group of nations in support of its position on the South China Sea—ahead of an upcoming ruling in an international court that isn’t likely to go China’s way.

China says nearly all of the South China Sea is its territory, basing its claim partly on a nine-dash line drawn after the end of World War 2—a line that conflicts with the claims of other nations in the area, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The Philippines is legally challenging the validity of that line, saying it violates agreements about exclusive economic zones and territorial seas established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration under the United Nations will issue a ruling, likely in late May or early June. [read more]

Fischereistreit mit Sprengkraft

25.04.2016 von Till Fähnders, Jakarta (FAZ) - Susi Pudjiastuti weiß, wie man ein Spektakel inszeniert. Regelmäßig lässt die indonesische Fischereiministerin zur Abschreckung ausländische Fischkutter mit Dynamit in die Luft jagen. Die Ministerin wirft den fremden Fischern vor, illegal in indonesischen Gewässern zu wildern. Seit ihrem Amtsantritt ließ sie schon 176 Schiffe auf diese Art versenken. Zuletzt sprengten die Behörden Anfang April zehn Boote aus Malaysia und 13 aus Vietnam in die Luft.

Allerdings wurde der Kampf der Ministerin gegen die Raubfischerei nun aus ganz anderen Gründen zum Thema. Das Problem vermengte sich mit den Gebietskonflikten im Südchinesischen Meer, als eine indonesische Patrouille versuchte, einen chinesischen Kutter festzusetzen. Sie wurde auf ziemlich rabiate Weise durch ein Boot der chinesischen Küstenwache daran gehindert. [Weiterlesen]

Diplomatic chess in Cam Ranh Bay highlights Vietnam's dilemma

25.04.2016 Atsushi Tomiyama (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- On April 12, two Japanese destroyers sailed into Cam Ranh Bay in southern Vietnam. It was the first time a Japanese Self-Defense Force vessel had ever appeared in the bay, a strategically important point only about 550km from the contested Spratly and Paracel island chains in the South China Sea. For Vietnam, the visit posed something of a dilemma. On one hand, it served as a warning to China, which has been building a military base in the controversial waters. On the other, it had the potential to raise the ire of its massive neighbor, with which it has deep economic and political ties.

So Hanoi chose to play it down the middle. It ensured that when the two vessels -- the Ariake and Setogiri -- pulled into the bay, they were not accompanied by the Oyashio training submarine, which had accompanied the boats when they called at Subic Bay in the Philippines on April 3. [read more]

US official questions China's intentions in South China Sea

21.04.2016 (AP) - HANOI, Vietnam -- A U.S. official on Thursday questioned China's intentions with its massive land reclamation projects in the South China Sea and urged it to follow international laws.

"The United States and Vietnam share an interest in maintaining peace and stability in the region," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "So does China. But its massive land reclamation project in the South China Sea and increasing militarization of these outposts fuel regional tension and raise serious questions about China's intentions."

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, an area that contains some of the world's busiest sea lanes and is believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits. Its claim is disputed by other countries in the region, including Vietnam and the Philippines. [read more]

In Vietnam, outrage and optimism as party thwarts democratic experiment

20.04.2016 By Martin Petty (Reuters) - Schoolteacher Do Viet Khoa loves dogs, even though a puppy he once owned cost him his chance to run in Communist Vietnam's upcoming parliamentary election.

Khoa was eliminated during the ruling Communist Party's tough vetting process for independent candidates. Most of the 75 constituents hand-picked by the party to attend his public hearing declared him unsuitable to be a lawmaker.

What swayed their vote, Khoa said, was when the party chief of his commune spoke out against his dog.

"He complained about my dog shitting in front of the door of my neighbor's house," he told Reuters. "It's ridiculous." [read more]

Invitation to President Obama

20.04.2016 Mai Khoi (youtube) - I am a singer, songwriter and an independent candidate for Vietnam's National Assembly. On Monday 18 April, I invited President Obama to meet with me and other recently disqualified independent candidates when he travels to Vietnam in May. We have been discriminated against and excluded from participating in politics due to an unfair vetting process that blocks independents like us from getting to the ballot. At a time when the Vietnamese government seeks closer economic and security ties with the United States, President Obama has a unique opportunity to listen to the Vietnamese people and make sure any deals made come with guarantees of meaningful reforms by our government. Please help to spread this message and contact the US Department of State or the US Embassy in Hanoi on +844 3850 5000 to express your support for this meeting.

China dispatches military plane to disputed Spratly man-made island

18.04.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - BEIJING--China's navy dispatched a military plane to one of the country's manmade islands in the disputed South China Sea, the Defense Ministry said, in what is believed to be the first openly acknowledged mission of its kind.

The Global Times newspaper said Sunday's flight marked "the first time a Chinese military plane has openly landed on Yongshujiao," using the Chinese name for Fiery Cross Reef. The speed with which the mission was accomplished was a testament to China's long-term policy of patrolling over the South China Sea, said the paper, a nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.

China completed the runway on Fiery Cross Reef last year and in January flew three commercial jets to the island as a test. [read more]

Australian Intelligence: China Poised to Take 'Decisive and Provocative' Action in the South China Sea

15.04.2016 By Carl Thayer (The Diplomat) - U.S. and Australian intelligence agencies voice concern about China’s recent moves in the South China Sea.

Two recent developments suggest that China is preparing to take preemptive action in the South China Sea in advance of the ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Count of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague on claims against it brought by the Philippines. (That ruling is expected in late-May or June.)

Satellite imagery taken on April 7 revealed that China recently deployed two additional Shenyang J-11 multirole jet fighters and the Active Electronically Scanned Array or AESA system to Woody Island. Pentagon officials estimate that China has about ten military aircraft stationed there, including J-11s and Xian JH-7s. The J-11 is an air superiority fighter, similar to the Russian Su-27, with a range of 3,530 km, according to the journal Air Force Technology. The JH-7 is a fighter bomber. [read more]

China pide a EEUU que cumpla su palabra tras anuncio de Carter en Filipinas

15.04.2016 (terra) - China pidió hoy a EEUU que "corresponda sus palabras con acciones", después de que el secretario de Defensa de ese país, Ashton Carter, abogara desde Filipinas por preservar de forma pacífica la prosperidad del mar de China Meridional y anunciara una visita a un portaaviones estadounidense en esa zona.

Lu se refería a unas declaraciones realizadas el jueves por Carter desde Manila, donde expresó el compromiso de EEUU con la prosperidad de la región Asia-Pacífico, y anunció que hoy visitaría el buque USS John C. Stennis, situado en una zona que se disputan China, Taiwán, Vietnam y Filipinas. [seguir leyendo]

South China Sea: Philippines, Vietnam draw closer to counter China

14.04.2016 Lindsay Murdoch (The Sydney Morning Herald) - Former Cold War adversaries the Philippines and Vietnam have agreed to deepen security ties in response to China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

The countries have signalled joint war games and navy patrols amid a flurry of moves across Asia aimed at countering China amid high tensions over the flashpoint waters.

Defence officials met in Manila on Thursday to discuss a six year "action plan" that is expected to lead to joint maritime exercises within 12 months.

Japan, which is locked in a bitter dispute with China over eight uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, has moved to step-up security ties with south-east Asia nations in recent months. [read more]

G-7-Erklärung über Inselstreit ärgert China

12.04.2016 (DiePresse) - Die G-7-Gruppe fordert eine "friedliche Lösung" im Inselstreit mit Japan. China wird in der Erklärung nicht erwähnt und fühlt sich dennoch provoziert.

Aus Protest gegen ihre Erklärung zum Territorialstreit im Süd- und Ostchinesischen Meer hat China den Botschafter Japans und die Gesandten der anderen sieben großen Industrienationen (G-7) ins Außenministerium bestellt. Das erfuhr die Deutsche Presse-Agentur am Dienstag aus diplomatischen Kreisen in Peking. Ihnen sei jeweils ein "formeller Protest" übermittelt worden.

Die G-7-Außenminister hatten sich zum Abschluss ihrer Beratungen am Montag im japanischen Hiroshima besorgt über die Spannungen gezeigt und eine "friedliche" Lösung angemahnt. Ohne China namentlich zu erwähnen, lehnten die G-7-Minister entschieden jegliche "einschüchternden, zwangsweisen oder provokativen einseitigen Maßnahmen" ab, die den Status quo verändern könnten. [Weiterlesen]

Wegen ein paar kleiner Inseln?

12.04.2016 Von Steffen Richter (Zeit Online) - Die G-7-Staaten haben eine friedliche Lösung der Territorialstreits im Westpazifik angemahnt. China sieht das als Einmischung in eigene Angelegenheiten. Warum eigentlich?

Es war ein Statement, in dem China gar nicht erwähnt wurde – von dem Peking sich aber direkt angesprochen fühlte: Die Außenminister der G 7 erklärten im japanischen Hiroshima, dass die seit Jahren anhaltenden Territorialstreitigkeiten im Süd- und Ostchinesischen Meer friedlich zu lösen seien und dass die G-7-Staaten jegliche "einschüchternden, zwangsweisen oder provokativen einseitigen Maßnahmen", die den Status quo verändern könnten, ablehnen würden.

Pekings Reaktion: Die G-7-Staaten sollten "unverantwortliche Bemerkungen und Taten" lassen und ihre Zusage einhalten, sich im Inselstreit nicht auf eine Seite zu stellen. Damit nicht genug, ließ man in Peking den Botschafter Japans, das gerade der G-7-Gruppe vorsteht, ins chinesische Außenministerium vorladen. Die übrigen G-7-Gesandten aus den USA, Deutschland, Kanada, Großbritannien, Frankreich und Italien wurden einbestellt. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam says no bold reforms for new PM

08.04.2016 (USA Today) - With the confirmation of Nguyen Xuan Phuc as its new prime minister by the country’s rubber stamp parliament on Thursday, Vietnam is replacing a bold and charismatic leader with a slow-and-steady technocrat.

That means Hanoi is betting on stability, rather than boldness, amid soaring public debt, a severe budget deficit and an economic slowdown due to low oil prices and a drought in the Mekong Delta rice bowl. And that’s before taking into account the escalating tension with Beijing over disputed territory in the South China Sea. [read more]

Neuer Ministerpräsident in Vietnam bestätigt und vereidigt

08.04.2016 (Der Farang) - Hanoi (dpa) - Das vietnamesische Parlament hat am Donnerstag den designierten Ministerpräsidenten Nguyen Xuan Phuc bestätigt.

Der 61-Jährige wurde anschließend für eine fünfjährige Amtszeit vereidigt. Ein Parteitag der allein herrschenden Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams hatte sich bereits im Januar auf die Personalie geeinigt, das Votum vom Donnerstag war reine Formsache. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam Approves New Prime Minister to Complete Leadership Trio

07.04.2016 (Time) - Vietnam’s parliament approved a new Prime Minister on Thursday, marking the completion of a reshuffle of the country’s Communist Party leadership.

A former provincial governor and the previous Deputy Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc was voted in by 446 out of 490 members of the National Assembly, the Associated Press reports. He joins newly elected President Tran Dai Quang — the former Public Security Minister — and the party’s powerful incumbent general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, to complete the trio of top positions. [read more]

Vietnam: entrée en fonction du nouveau Premier ministre

07.04.2016 (L'Express) - Hanoï - Le nouveau Premier ministre vietnamien Nguyen Xuan Phuc est officiellement entré en fonction jeudi pour cinq ans, après un vote de l'Assemblée qui a entériné les changements décidés par le congrès national du Parti communiste en janvier.

Toutes les plus importantes décisions du régime autoritaire sont prises par les 19 membres du puissant Bureau politique du PCV, la plus haute instance dirigeante du pays. [en savoir plus]

"Vietnam macht keinen Rückzieher"

04.04.2016 Rodion Ebbighausen (DW) - Die vietnamesische Küstenwache gab bekannt, dass sie bereits am Donnerstag voriger Woche ein chinesisches Schiff aufgebracht hat. Bill Hayton ordnet den Vorfall für die Deutsche Welle ein.

Das chinesische Schiff war am Donnerstag (31.03.2016) nach Angaben der vietnamesischen Küstenwache in der Nähe der Inesl Bach Long Vi beschlagnamt, die Besatzung verhaftet und in die vietnamesische Hafenstadt Haiphong gebracht worden. Es soll etwa 100.000 Diesel-Treibstoff geladen haben und damit als eine Art Tankstelle für chinesische Fischer fungiert haben.

Deutsche Welle: Warum hat die vietnamesische Regierung fünf Tage gewartet, bevor sie die Festsetzung des chinesischen Schiffes bekanntgegeben hat?  [Weiterlesen]

Hardliner wird neuer Präsident in Vietnam

02.04.2016 (ARD) - Schon lange hoffen Reformer auf eine politische Öffnung in Vietnam, doch die Macht der kommunistischen Partei ist offenbar ungebrochen: Nun wurde mit dem Ex-Minister Quang erneut ein Hardliner in das Amt des Präsidenten gewählt.

In Vietnam tritt mit Tran Dai Quang ein Ex-Minister mit langer Geheimdienstkarriere das Amt des Präsidenten an. Das Parlament bestätigte den 59-Jährigen in Hanoi. Er war der einzige Kandidat der allein herrschenden kommunistischen Partei. Das Votum war deshalb reine Formsache. [Weiterlesen]

China's muscle-flexing provokes a surge in military spending in Asia

31.03.2016 Hamish McDonald (Nikkei Asian Review) - Canberra -- ... Vietnam now has four Russian-built Kilo-class submarines patrolling its coastline from its Cam Ranh Bay base, with two more shortly to join them. The boats are updated versions of similar submarines sold to China, a maritime adversary, in previous years. As for the Klub land-attack missile, Russia has not sold it to the Chinese navy, which relies on a possibly less reliable domestically made copy.

Bigger defense budgets are fueling this high-technology arms race. Asian defense spending rose to $340 billion in 2015, a rise in real terms of 5.6% according to the London-based Institute of International and Strategic Studies. [read more]

India teams up with Vietnam in South China Sea territorial row

29.03.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - India plans to set up a satellite data transmission station in southern Vietnam in a bid to counter China’s maritime advances in the South China Sea.

The station will provide Southeast Asian countries with data obtained by Indian Earth observation satellites.

India, which has disputes with China over an undecided border stretching 3,000 kilometers, will construct a center to process satellite data in Ho Chi Minh City and a data reception and transmission facility in the city’s outskirts, senior Indian Ministry of External Affairs officials said.

India will shoulder all the construction costs and operational budget over the initial five years, which are estimated to total about $22 million (2.5 billion yen). [read more]

South China Sea Controversy: Beijing Urges Vietnam To Deepen Defense Ties Amid Territorial Dispute

29.03.2016 By Suman Varandani (IBT) - China’s defense minister has urged his country’s military to deepen ties with Vietnam amid the ongoing territorial dispute in the South China Sea. Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan’s comments came Monday during a visit to Hanoi, Reuters reported.

During his meeting with Vietnam Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, Chang reportedly said that both sides should work toward maintaining close ties with their exchanges, communication and friendship.

Although China made no direct mention about the tensions over the South China Sea, the ministry reportedly said that the commander of China's South China Sea fleet, Shen Jinlong, attended the meeting. [read more]

In the South China Sea, China’s gaze moves south

28.03.2016 (The Manila Times) - China’s activities in the eastern part of the South China Sea have garnered a lot of attention. Around the Paracel and Spratly islands, the United States, Japan and regional partners (primarily Vietnam and the Philippines) are expanding security cooperation to counter China’s growing naval presence. But in the sea’s south, China’s relationships with Indonesia and Malaysia have largely been unexplored. Though not as dramatic as maneuvers in the east, developments in the south offer a more holistic picture of the maritime trade, energy flows and resource use — especially fishing — that define disputes in the South China Sea.

Two Chinese vessels prevented an Indonesian patrol boat from impounding a Chinese fishing vessel near the Natuna Islands on March 19. Indonesia claims the vessel was trespassing in its exclusive economic zone, but China asserts that the area is its traditional fishing ground. Though Indonesian authorities failed to impound the ship, they did arrest the fishermen. Officials also threatened to appeal to an international court of arbitration and respond to future incidents with larger vessels.

In a similar event March 25, about 100 Chinese fishing boats were detected allegedly encroaching on waters near the Luconia Shoals, which Malaysia administers but China claims. Two Chinese coast guard vessels were reportedly guarding the fishing boats. Malaysia’s navy monitored the situation, threatening legal action if the boats trespassed into its exclusive economic zone. But China’s Foreign Ministry again reiterated Chinese fishing boats’ rights to operate in the area. [read more]

Une centaine de bateaux chinois pénètrent dans les eaux malaisiennes

25.03.2016 (Sputnik) - Une centaine de navires de pêche enregistrés en Chine sont entrés dans les eaux territoriales de la Malaisie en mer de Chine méridionale, a annoncé le premier ministre malaisien Shahidan Kassim.

Le premier ministre malaysien a également indiqué que Kuala Lumpur avait déjà pris des mesures de rétorsion et envoyé plusieurs navires de guerre pour surveiller la situation en mer de Chine méridionale.

"Si les navires ne sortent pas de nos eaux dans un proche avenir, nous serons forcés de prendre des mesures adéquates afin de régler légalement l'incident", a déclaré Shahidan Kassim, cité par Associated Press.

Pékin revendique des droits de souveraineté sur la quasi-totalité de la mer de Chine méridionale et y mène d'énormes opérations de remblaiement d'îlots, transformant des récifs coralliens en ports, pistes d'atterrissage et infrastructures diverses

Néanmoins, les pays riverains, à savoir le Vietnam, les Philippines, Brunei, la Malaisie et Taïwan, réclament également des portions de cet espace stratégique. [en savoir plus]

South China Sea: 100 Chinese boats encroach Malaysian waters, minister says

25.03.2016 (ABC) - About 100 Chinese-registered boats have been detected encroaching in Malaysia's waters in the disputed South China Sea, Malaysia's state news agency says.

The reported encroachment is the latest action by Chinese vessels to raise concern in South-East Asia, where four countries object to China's claim to virtually the whole of the South China Sea.

Malaysia's national security minister Shahidan Kassim said assets from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the navy had been sent to the area near the Luconia Shoals to monitor the situation, the Bernama news agency reported.

Mr Shahidan said Malaysia would take legal action if the ships were found to have trespassed into its exclusive economic zone, Bernama cited him as saying.

This week, Indonesia protested to China about an incident involving an Indonesian patrol boat and a Chinese coastguard vessel and fishing boat in what Indonesia said was its waters. [read more]

Are Vietnam’s elections becoming more democratic?

23.03.2016 Author: Hai Hong Nguyen, UQ (East Asia Forum) - Vietnam will hold its parliamentary election in May 2016. The three key positions of president, prime minister and chairperson of the National Assembly will all be elected. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this election is the emerging group of self-nominated candidates. This election, around 30 civil society activists are running for the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) controlled National Assembly.

Self-nominated candidates have come under overt attacks by the state media. The online People’s Army Newspaper, managed by the Ministry of Defense, has warned citizens to be alert of ‘tactics to impair elections’ and ‘plots that abuse self-nomination to disseminate distorted views, to oppose and demolish the Party and the state’. And CPV Secretary General Nguyễn Phú Trọng was quoted as stating that ‘troublesome citizens should not be allowed to be elected to the highest authorities of the Party and the state’. Although, it is unclear whom Trong was referring to, this could be seen as a caution against self-nominated candidates.  [read more]

Gatecrashers

19.03.2016 (The Economist) - By running for parliament, political outsiders challenge one-party rule. One of Vietnam’s political gadflies, Nguyen Quang A, posted a letter this week to the chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly. Mr Quang A wrote that he had collected 5,000 signatures from among the public, including from famous writers, senior Communist Party officials and a retired general, and that he was now putting himself forward as a candidate for the rubber-stamp parliament. The odds of his bid succeeding, Mr Quang A acknowledges, are “nearly zero”. The assembly has a candidate-vetting process known as the “five gates” to keep out undesirables like him who “self-nominate”. Still, he is happy that his protest candidacy is a rare challenge to the party. [read more]

Celebrity election bids stir rare political enthusiasm in Vietnam

19.03.2016 (asiaone) - Stand-up comedian Nguyen Cong Vuong wants to shake up Vietnam's notoriously dull politics, and says images of lawmakers snoozing in televised debates is no laughing matter.

It's a view shared by Mai Khoi, a sassy, pink-haired singer who says politics should not be the exclusive domain of the ruling Communist Party.

They are not political activists but among an unprecedented number of ordinary Vietnamese who want to run as independents in a parliamentary election to unseat the war veterans and graying bureaucrats they say are out of touch with a young, fast-changing country.

The party now has the tricky task of deciding how open it is prepared to be. Some independents say they're experiencing friction. [read more]

Vietnam's Parliament to Vote on Prime Minister Dung's Dismissal

18.03.2016 By John Boudreau & Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen  (Bloomberg) - Vietnamese legislators will vote in the coming weeks on whether to dismiss Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung two months after he failed in his bid to become the Communist Party’s chief.

The National Assembly previously had been scheduled to meet during the summer to complete the nation’s once-in-five-year political transition. Lawmakers will also vote on dismissing President Truong Tan Sang and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung during meetings to be held March 31 to April 12, Nguyen Hanh Phuc, general secretary of National Assembly, said at a briefing in Hanoi.

The move, being characterized as procedural by legislators, is unusual. [read more]

Vietnam’s Communists Try to Keep ‘Selfie Orgasm’ Pop Star from Running for Congress

18.03.2016 (Breitbart) - A pop star known for her pink hair and controversial outfit choices is the biggest name on a long list of independent legislative candidates in Vietnam, hoping, through sheer numbers, to force the Communist Party to accept dissidence in the National Assembly.

Mai Khoi announced her candidacy this week on a pro-free speech, pro-women’s rights, pro-LGBT platform. Her message runs directly against much of what the Communist Party represents and, while she can count on name recognition, she tells Agence France-Presse she expects many to struggle taking her politics seriously because of her artistic past.

In addition to Mai Khoi, the election has attracted a host of artists and academics, including stand-up comedian Nguyen Cong Vuong and Dr. Nguyen Quang A, a freelance journalist and tech expert. [read more]

La “Lady Gaga de Vietnam” anuncia será candidata al Parlamento pese a la crítica que su último tema “Selfie Orgasm” aún provoca

18.03.2016 (LaRed 21) - Es una de las cantantes más polémicas, pero también más populares y con mayor éxito de ventas en su país y en el este de Asia: Mai Khoi, más conocida como la “Lady Gaga de Vietnam”, acaba de anunciar que será candidata al Parlamento, pese a que su último disco “Selfie Orgasm” ha estado a punto de llevarla a la cárcel.

Al gobierno comunista vietnamita, para nada le agradan las actitudes contestatarias de la cantante, que tiene detrás a cientos de miles de jóvenes, fascinados por sus atuendos harto audaces, y que combinan el exotismo asiático con lo más desenfadado de Occidente. A sus 32 años Mai Khoi, es famosa no solamente por su atuendo y sus canciones, sino por promover los derechos de los homosexuales y también participar de campañas contra la violencia doméstica.

Mai Khoi, aparece en el escenario de la política vietnamita como una nueva disidente, en un país cuyo gobierno comunista acepta el voto democrático y candidatos independientes al Partido Comunista. Las elecciones afirmó recientemente que “grupos extranjeros reaccionarios” financian y apoyan a ciertos candidatos. [seguir leyendo]

Deterring China: US Army to Stockpile Equipment in Cambodia and Vietnam

18.03.2016 By Franz-Stefan Gady (The Diplomat) - The U.S. Army plans to set up equipment depots–so-called equipment activity sets–in a number of Asian countries, including Cambodia and Vietnam, the top officer of the U.S. Army’s Materiel Command said at a conference, Defense News reports.

General Dennis Via, speaking at this year’s Association of the United States Global Force Symposium and Exposition, said that the Army plans to set up eight equipment activity sets around the globe.  However, Asia-Pacific equipment activity sets will differ from other equipment caches that the Army maintains in, for example, Europe, the general notes.

The equipment activity sets in Cambodia and Vietnam will contain lighter equipment primarily for humanitarian and disaster relief operations, according to Via. “Throughout the Pacific Rim, these will be humanitarian assistance/disaster relief-type equipment and material, so that when you have typhoons and other types of natural disaster U.S. Army Pacific Command can respond more quickly,” Via said, according to Breaking Defense. “We are looking, for example, at in Cambodia placing a combat support hospital.” [read more]

Pop star et dissidents testent la démocratie à la vietnamienne

17.03.2016 (L'Express) - Hanoï - Surnommée la Lady Gaga du Vietnam pour ses tenues osées, Mai Khoi, pop star aux cheveux roses, a trouvé une nouvelle façon de choquer les dirigeants communistes: elle a décidé de rejoindre les dissidents et de se présenter aux législatives.

Cette flamboyante chanteuse a l'habitude des polémiques: sa chanson "Selfie Orgasm" a provoqué une tempête de critiques dans le pays et ses choix vestimentaires font souvent bondir les médias d'Etat.

Mais cette fois-ci, elle a changé de terrain et vient de rejoindre une équipe hétéroclite d'avocats, de journalistes et de dissidents politiques, qui ont décidé de défier le régime autoritaire vietnamien en se lançant collectivement à l'assaut de l'Assemblée.

Sur le papier, le Vietnam communiste - contrairement à son voisin chinois - a une Constitution démocratique, qui permet à toute personne de plus de 21 ans de se présenter pour les législatives, explique Nguyen Quang A, un professeur d'université lui aussi candidat.

Mais en réalité, plus de 90% des quelque 500 députés sont des hommes, membres du Parti communiste et souvent des hommes d'affaires qui cherchent à défendre leurs intérêts, ajoute-t-il. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam’s ‘Lady Gaga’ aims for switch from pop to politics in challenge to staid communist rule

17.03.2016 By Philip Sherwell (The Telegraph) -  Mai Khoi has already pushed the boundaries of artistic licence as a pop star in her communist homeland where her dyed hair, revealing outfits and flamboyant style have earned her the soubriquet Vietnam’s Lady Gaga.

But now she wants to make the transition from pop to politics as one of 100 independent candidate testing the limits of freedom by registering to compete in May’s National Assembly elections.

Lawyers, journalists, and even political dissidents have filed papers in unprecedented numbers to run for parliament in Vietnam against members of the ruling communist party.

The government of the one-party state has not commented on the slew of independents. But officials have already started to throw up paperwork demands to try to block them while the national election committee said that "foreign reactionary groups" were funding and supporting some candidates. [read more]

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Vietnam's 'Lady Gaga' joins groups of dissidents and activists running for parliament

17.03.2016 (ABC) - Pop star Mai Khoi, dubbed "Vietnam's Lady Gaga" for her risqué outfits, is running for parliament along with a motley crew of dissidents and activists testing the limits in the authoritarian nation.

Now the 32-year-old has joined an array of lawyers, journalists and political dissidents posing a challenge to the communist leadership by running for elected office in the National Assembly.

"The media discussion has centred on whether my views, lifestyle and dress sense are suitable for a member of the National Assembly," Khoi said.

Academic Nguyen Quang A, another candidate, explained that in reality however, more than 90 per cent of the 500-strong legislative body are members of the ruling Communist Party, with the remaining lawmakers mostly wealthy businesspeople seeking to advance their interests.

After the March 13 deadline, about 100 independent candidates had applied to run for office in the polls to be held on May 22. [read more]

La "lady Gaga" de Vietnam prueba suerte en la política

17.03.2016 (Diario UNO) - Mai Khoi, llamada la Lady Gaga de Vietnam por sus osados atuendos, ha descubierto una nueva forma de provocar a los dirigentes comunistas: unirse a la disidencia y presentarse a las elecciones legislativas.

Esta llamativa cantante suele crear polémicas y su canción "Selfie Orgasm" provocó una oleada de críticas en ese país.

Pero esta vez Mai Khoi se aventura en otro terreno y acaba de unirse a un variados grupo de abogados, periodistas y disidentes políticos que desafían al autoritario régimen vietnamita presentándose colectivamente al parlamento.

El 13 de marzo, la fecha límite para presentar candidaturas a estas elecciones que se celebran el 22 de mayo, había inscritos 100 candidatos independendientes. Algo nunca visto. [seguir leyendo]

Pop star among dissidents testing Vietnam's 'democracy' limits

17.03.2016 Cat Barton (AFP News) - Pink-haired pop star Mai Khoi, dubbed Vietnam's Lady Gaga for her risqué outfits, has found a new way to shock: running for parliament along with a motley crew of dissidents and activists testing the limits in the authoritarian nation.

Now the 32-year-old has joined an array of lawyers, journalists, and political dissidents posing a challenge to the communist leadership by running for elected office in the National Assembly.

"The media discussion has centred on whether my views, lifestyle and dress sense are suitable for a member of the National Assembly," Mai Khoi told AFP.

"I am who I am. Ultimately, I hope people will judge me on the strength of my ideas, not the colour of my hair," she said, adding that she would work to promote gay rights and fight violence against women if elected.

On paper, Vietnam -- unlike its northern neighbour China -- has an admirably democratic constitution, which allows any person over 21 years to seek election to parliament, said academic Nguyen Quang A, another candidate.

In reality however, more than 90 percent of the some 500-strong legislative body are members of the ruling Communist Party, with the remaining lawmakers mostly wealthy businesspeople seeking to advance their interests, he said. [read more]

Chinese muscle-flexing in South China Sea: India must operate closely with Vietnam

17.03.2016 By Maj. Gen. P. K. Chakravorty (South Asia Monitor) - The South China Sea has become an important concern for China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei. China claims the entire South China Sea and unilaterally occupied the Paracel islands from the erstwhile South Vietnamese regime in 1974. Ever since, China has been claiming the entire group of Spratly islands which are in the Southern portion of the region as its own. During the last two years, China has been focussing on improving its military capability in these islands. This is being done with the aim of controlling the entire area so as to ensure that the navigation and the air-space are fully under Chinese domination. It is important to view what the Chinese have done, so as to understand the military implications that emerge from it.

In recent months, China’s reclamation of islands has grown dramatically. It has reclaimed 2900 acres of landmass across a string of islands in the Spratly Group. The construction is focussed on Gaven Reef, Johnson South Reef, Fiery Cross Reef and Hughes Reef. The islands are big enough to erect buildings, house equipment and have a big runway on Fiery Cross Reef. At some sites, China has excavated deep channels and has built new berthing areas to allow access for larger ships that could be used to assert territorial claims. It is reported by the Wall Street Journal in May 2015 that China has placed two mobile artillery units on Johnson Reef. [read more]

China podría atraer accidentalmente a la India a las disputas de las aguas marítimas meridionales

16.03.2016 Por Joshua Philipp (La Gran Época) - Según los informes, las tropas chinas se han visto en los puestos de avanzada a lo largo de La Línea de Control, por el lado pakistaní de Cachemira, y esto hizo sonar las alarmas en la India.

Estratégicamente, el momento no podría haber sido peor. Esto ocurrió justo en el momento que líderes de la India están considerando la posibilidad de unirse a la disputa contra las reclamaciones territoriales de China en el Mar de China Meridional.

Los esfuerzos chinos están causando un gran revuelo en la India, al mismo tiempo que ésta se encuentra considerando las ofertas de Japón y Vietnam para colaborar en los esfuerzos para contrarrestar la toma del Mar de China Meridional por parte de China. [seguir leyendo]

Streit mit chinesischen Fischern - Argentinien macht kurzen Prozess

16.03.2016 Von wjm. dpa (NZZ) - Die argentinische Küstenwache hat im Südatlantik ein 66 Meter langes chinesisches Fischerboot versenkt. Dieses hatte laut der Regierung illegal in argentinischen Gewässern gefischt.

Die argentinische Küstenwache hat nach eigenen Angaben ein chinesisches Fischfang-Schiff im Südatlantik innerhalb der 200-Meilen-Zone versenkt. Die Besatzung sei gerettet worden, teilte die Küstenwache am Dienstag mit. Das 66 Meter lange Schiff «Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10» sei am Sonntag von einem Schiff der argentinischen Küstenwache beim illegalen Fischfang vor der Küste Patagoniens erwischt worden und habe mehreren Anweisungen zum Beidrehen nicht Folge geleistet.

Die chinesische Regierung drückte am Mittwoch ihre schwere Besorgnis über den Vorfall aus. [Weiterlesen]

China May Have Accidentally Drawn India Into Maritime Disputes

15.03.2016 By Joshua Philipp (La Gran Época) - China may have just shot itself in the foot with its efforts to seize new territory. Its recent actions may draw India into the conflict, which could act as an essential piece to sway the situation against China’s interests.

Chinese troops have reportedly been seen at forward outposts along the Line of Control, along Pakistani side of Kashmir—and this has sounded alarms in India.

Strategically, the timing couldn’t have been worse. This happened right as India’s leaders are considering whether to join the dispute against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. [read more]

These 5 Facts Explain the Increasingly Tense Geopolitics in Asia

14.03.2016 Ian Bremmer (Time) - The Middle East gets all the attention, but Asia is a major security concern for the U.S. And the situation is getting more tense.

While the geopolitics of Asia look relatively stable in 2016—especially compared to other hot spots—there’s no shortage of conflicts simmering beneath the surface. These five facts detail what you need to know about Asia’s fluid security situation:

U.S.

It’s a very large ocean away, but the U.S. is still Asia’s dominant military presence. According to the Department of Defense, the U.S. currently has a total of 150,560 military personnel stationed around the world.

With the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on the horizon, the U.S. will have even more incentive to maintain a strong military presence in the region.

China

As its economy has soared in recent decades, so has its military spending. Over the past two decades, Beijing’s military budget has increased by double-digit percentages virtually every year. China is currently the world’s second-largest military spender (in absolute spending terms) [read more]

Vietnam’s anti-China activists mark anniversary of ‘long forgotten’ Gac Ma Island battle that left 64 soldiers dead

14.03.2016 (SCMP) - Vietnam’s communist leadership’s handling of its delicate relationship with China is a frequent flashpoint for domestic criticism of Vietnam’s authoritarian government.

Activists chanted anti-China slogans in the Vietnamese capital on Monday to mark the anniversary of a 1988 battle in the Spratly Islands, a rare act of protest over an issue that has come to dog relations between Hanoi and Beijing.

The two neighbours are locked in long-standing territorial disputes over the Spratly and Paracel Islands, which both countries claim.

One-party Vietnam clamps down on public protest. But anti-Chinese demonstrations have become increasingly commonplace, particularly around the March 14 anniversary of a skirmish between China and Vietnam. [read more]

Vietnamese activists remember 1988 Spratly Islands clash with China

14.03.2016 (DW) - About 150 people gathered in central Hanoi on Monday to remember the 64 Vietnamese soldiers killed in the 1988 skirmishes with the Chinese navy. The demonstrators lit incense and laid wreathes, before marching around the landmark Hoan Kiem Lake chanting "down with Communist China's aggression." The protest was small, but significant given that Vietnamese authorities usually break up any unauthorized demonstrations. Anti-China sentiment is strong among the Vietnamese population, and Beijing's increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea in recent years have sparked public anger and protests. [read more] Anti-China sentiment flares up in Vietnam 14.03.2016 (Al Jazeera) - Demonstrators marched in Vietnam's capital on Monday to mark the 28th anniversary of a bloody naval battle with China and to denounce China's growing assertiveness in the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea.

About 150 people wearing headbands and carrying large banners circled the busy streets around Hanoi's Hoan Kiem lake chanting "Down with invasive China".

They laid wreaths for 64 Vietnamese sailors who died in a 1988 clash with Chinese forces in the Spratly islands.

The protest was small but significant given Vietnam's history of preventing or breaking up demonstrations. While anti-China sentiment is strong among the public, it is a sensitive issue for the ruling Communist Party. [read more]

Vietnam activists chant anti-China slogans at rally

14.03.2016 (The Star) - HANOI: Activists chanted anti-China slogans in the Vietnamese capital to mark the anniversary of a 1988 battle in the Spratly Islands, a rare act of protest over an issue that has come to dog relations between Hanoi and Beijing.

One party Vietnam clamps down on public protest. But anti-Chinese demonstrations have become increasingly commonplace, particularly around the March 14 anniversary of a skirmish between China and Vietnam.

In 1988 China launched an attack on Gac Ma Island – one of the larger Spratly Islands which was formerly under Vietnamese military control– killing 64 Vietnamese soldiers in the last violent conflict between them. [read more]

Vietnam Unveils New Port Facility For Foreign Warships in Cam Ranh Bay

10.03.2016 By Prashanth Parameswaran (The Diplomat) - Hanoi inaugurates a much-awaited international port facility along the South China Sea

On Tuesday, Vietnam inaugurated an international port facility capable of receiving foreign warships at Cam Ranh Bay along the South China Sea.

An opening ceremony was held to mark the completion of the first construction phase of the facility, called Cam Ranh International Port, located in Cam Ranh Bay, a deep-water harbor in central Vietnam along the South China Sea. The ceremony was attended by Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang along with several high-ranking military leaders.

The much-anticipated move, which was initially approved by Vietnam’s defense ministry back in September 2014, is part of an ongoing effort by Hanoi to build a new dual-use facility that can accommodate and service foreign ships. The port facility would allow Vietnam to both boost its commercial attractiveness as a hub for ships as well as increase naval engagements with foreign countries amid China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. [read more]

China says it should control the South China Sea because it 'discovered' it first

08.03.2016 Ben Blanchard (Business Insider) - BEIJING (Reuters) - The South China Sea is one of the world's freest and safest shipping lanes, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, arguing that Beijing's control over the disputed waters was justified because it was the first to "discover" them.

China has come under fire from the United States and its allies in recent months over its land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually.

The U.S. Navy has carried out freedom of navigation exercises, sailing near disputed islands to underscore its rights to operate in the seas.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims. [read more]

Vietnam wirft Chinesen Überfall auf Fischer vor

08.03.2016 (T-Online) - Der vietnamnesischen Küstenwache zufolge haben Chinesen mit Waffengewalt Fischern aus Vietnam über eine Tonne Fisch abgenommen. Drei chinesische Schiffe hätten die Fischer nahe der umstrittenen Paracel-Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer gestoppt, teilte die Küstenwache mit.

Die Chinesen seien an Bord gekommen und hätten die Fischer nach deren Angaben mit Elektroschockern bedroht. "Die Fischer trauten sich nicht, Widerstand zu leisten", sagte ein Mitarbeiter der Küstenwache. [Weiterlesen]

Japanese submarine to visit Philippines: sources

07.03.2016 (Reuters) - A Japanese submarine will visit the Philippines for the first time in 15 years, along with two warships that will then sail on to Vietnam, in a show of support for nations opposed to Beijing's ambitions in the South China Sea, a person familiar with the matter said.

The Japanese submarine, which is used for training, and the destroyers will arrive in the Philippines in April. The escort vessels will later sail to Vietnam's strategic Cam Ranh Bay base on the South China Sea, the source said.

"It sends a message. It is important for Japan to show its presence," the person with knowledge of the plan said on Monday. He asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media. [read more]

Los estudios de marxismo no atraen a los jóvenes vietnamitas

07.03.2016 Eric San Juan (El Dia) - Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), EFE - Los estudios de marxismo-leninismo no consiguen atraer a los universitarios vietnamitas, pese a los esfuerzos del régimen comunista de Hanoi, que ofrece matriculaciones gratuitas y prioriza la contratación de funcionarios con esta especialización.

Mientras carreras relacionadas con los negocios, el turismo o la comunicación seducen a cada vez más jóvenes en facultades de todo el país, los estudios de marxismo, encuadrados dentro de la carrera de filosofía, no despiertan el interés de una juventud consumista y cada vez más ajena las enseñanzas de Marx, Lenin o el héroe nacional, Ho Chi Minh.

Ngoc Chau, una maestra de escuela de 33 años, recuerda que en su época de estudiante las asignaturas de marxismo ya eran muy impopulares.

Antigua integrante de las juventudes comunistas, se atreve a señalar otra causa para el desencanto de la sociedad con las teorías marxistas: la corrupción. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam's Communists put to the test as dissidents bid for parliament

03.03.2016 By Martin Petty (Reuters) -  Former IT entrepreneur and banker Nguyen Quang A is running a disciplined campaign to be elected to Vietnam's parliament, declaring his assets, securing voter endorsements and appearing in a slick online video.

He is not, however, a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam nor the kind of candidate that the monolithic ruling party wants in its rubber-stamp legislature.

Quang A is one of its biggest critics and among 19 dissidents trying to run as independents in a May election to the assembly, determined to test the sincerity of promises made by the party to strengthen democracy.

"They tell us we have rights and say the regime is democratic," he said in an interview. "Let's see them turn rhetoric into reality." [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Chinese ships at another disputed isle: Philippine official

02.03.2016 (The Japan Times) - MANILA – A Philippine official said Wednesday that he recently spotted five suspected Chinese coast guard and navy ships at a disputed atoll in the South China Sea and fears Beijing will take control of another area frequented by Filipino, Vietnamese and Malaysian fishermen.

Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon Jr., who heads a Philippine-claimed region in the disputed Spratly Islands, said he saw the Chinese ships at the Jackson Atoll for two straight days last week while flying in a plane over the area. [read more]

China, Vietnam share ‘common destiny’, says Xi Jinping in bid to calm waters amid heightened tensions over rival claims in South China Sea

01.03.2016 Reuters in Beijing (SCMP) - China and Vietnam share a common destiny, President Xi Jinping told a visiting Vietnamese envoy, as the two continue to repair ties damaged by their competing claims in the disputed South China Sea.

The two communist led states claims in the South China Sea came to a head two years ago when Beijing placed an oil rig in waters off the Vietnamese coast, leading to anti-China riots.

“China and Vietnam share a common destiny, so do the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of Vietnam,” Xi told Hoang Binh Quan, a special envoy of Vietnam’s communist party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, the state news agency Xinhua said late on Monday.

Tensions heightened between the two nations last month over territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea after Taiwan and US officials said Beijing had placed surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island, part of the Paracel archipelago which China controls. [read more]

Self-nominated Candidates Seek Seats in Vietnam’s Parliament

29.02.2016 (RFA) - More self-nominated candidates, including those not associated with the Vietnamese Communist Party, are expected to run for seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections than in past elections, despite control of the candidate selection process by the ruling Communist Party.

Some non-party candidates said they have nominated themselves because they want to exercise their rights and test the truthfulness of a remark by party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the end of the 12th Party Congress in late January that Vietnam’s elections are democratic.

So far, more than 20 non-party candidates have nominated themselves for seats in the National Parliament, a number that is expected to increase between now and the application deadline on March 13, according to Vietnamese social media sites.

Nguyen Quang A, former director of the now-defunct Institute of Development Studies (IDS) think tank and a well-known activist in Vietnam, was the first self-nominated candidate to announce his candidacy for the upcoming 14th National Assembly. [read more]

Forscher wollen Millionen Toten Namen geben

29.02.2016 Von Claudia Sewig (Die Welt) - Hamburger Wissenschaftler unterstützen Vietnam bei der Identifizierung der unzähligen Kriegstoten aus dem Vietnamkrieg. Nicht nur das Klima stellt die Forscher 40 Jahre nach Kriegsende dabei vor Herausforderungen.

Zwanzig Jahre Krieg kosteten mindestens zwei Millionen, eventuell sogar mehr als fünf Millionen Vietnamesen das Leben. 63.500 US- und verbündete Soldaten starben auf der Gegenseite. Die Geschehnisse des Vietnamkrieges, der von etwa 1955 bis 1975 in und um Vietnam geführt wurde, mögen lange her sein. Vergessen sind sie nicht. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam will Hunderttausende Leichen identifizieren

29.02.2016 (Deutschlandfunk) - Viele Zivilisten, die während des Vietnamkrieges starben, wurden in Massengräbern verscharrt. 40 Jahre nach Kriegsende will die vietnamesische Regierung den Toten endlich Namen geben - mithilfe eines Mammut-Projektes zur genetischen Identifizierung der Kriegsopfer. Daran sind auch deutsche DNA-Forensiker beteiligt.

"Bei diesem sogenannten Project 150 sollen Hunderttausende Opfer des Vietnamkrieges zunächst exhumiert werden. Anschließend soll deren Identität zweifelsfrei mithilfe gentechnischer Methoden bestimmt werden", erklärte Wissenschaftjournalist Michael Stang im Deutschlandfunk. [Weiterlesen]

Japan to supply Philippines with military equipment

28.02.2016 (The Japan Times) - MANILA – Japan will sign an accord with the Philippines to allow Tokyo to supply military equipment to Manila, the first such Japanese defense pact in a region where both have expressed alarm over China’s island-building and other aggressive acts in disputed waters.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Saturday that the agreement he will sign on Monday with the Japanese ambassador in Manila is not directed against any country but aims to address gaps in the underfunded Philippine military’s capabilities. [read more]

ASEAN foreign ministers raise concerns over South China Sea

28.02.2016 (The Asahi Shimbun) - VIENTIANE--Foreign ministers from the 10 countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations said Saturday that they were “seriously concerned” by recent developments in the disputed South China Sea region and will seek a meeting over the issue with China.

At the end of their annual retreat, held this year in the Lao capital of Vientiane, they noted their worries and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability in the area.

The strategically important South China Sea is at the center of a territorial dispute involving China on one side and a number of ASEAN countries on the other, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. [read more]

China sends Combat Aircraft to Paracels

26.02.2016 By Jacky Chia (Defence Talk) - The People’s Republic of China has yet again pushed forth their militarisation of the South China Sea despite much objection from the United States and the countries involved, this time by sending fighter jets to a lengthened airfield on the contested Woody Island. This development comes amid rising tensions after China set up eight HQ-9 advanced Surface-to-Air-Missile (SAM) systems on the Island last week, along with High-Frequency (HF) radar antennae on a reclaimed Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly chain on Monday.

U.S. intelligence via satellite imagery has identified the aircraft deployed on Woody Island to be J-11 Flanker B single-seat fighters, and JH-7 Flounder twin-seat fighter-bombers from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). [read more]

Asia will be divided if India decides to join South China Sea patrolling: Chinese daily

26.02.2016 (The Economic Times) - BEIJING: Any move by India to join the US Navy for jointly patrolling the disputed South China Sea will be against its national interest, would divide Asian countries and further escalate regional tensions, a state-run Chinese daily said today.

Chinese media's reaction came after it was reported last month that the US and India had talked about launching joint naval patrols in the South China Sea for safeguarding freedom of navigation. [read more]

Activists Rally for Election in Vietnam, Challenging Communist Rule

25.02.2016  Doan Trang (New America Media) - A campaign to challenge the Communist party in upcoming legislative elections is gathering momentum despite signs that the police are closely monitoring potential independent candidates.

Ten civil society activists in Hanoi have joined the veteran pro-democracy campaigner, Dr Nguyen Quang A, announcing they will also stand for seats on the National Assembly in May.

The initiative reflects the growing confidence of activists as they seek to rally popular support for an open challenge to the Communist party’s monopoly on power.

Dr A’s campaign has emerged as a rallying point for government critics, who see an opportunity to test recent statements by Communist party leaders that Vietnam practices a high degree of democracy. [read more]

Territorialstreit im Südchinesischen Meer: Die wichtigsten Fakten

25.02.2016 (The Huffington Post) - Der Konflikt zählt zu den brisantesten weltweit, trotzdem findet er nur wenig öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit: der Territorialstreit im südchinesischen Meer.

Gleich mehrere Großmächte und mehrere kleine Statten liegen dort im Clinch. Eine Eskalation hätte also immense Folgen.

An diesem Donnerstag Australien angekündigt, unter anderem deswegen sein Militär massiv aufzurüsten und zu modernisieren. In den nächsten 20 Jahren will das Land 195 Milliarden Australischen Dollar (126 Milliarden Euro) ausgeben, etwa für zwölf neue U-Boote, neue Fregatten und Raketen.

Das Südchinesische Meer, Teil des Pazifiks, liegt südlich von China zwischen Vietnam, Malaysia und den Philippinen. Es umfasst etwa 3,5 Millionen Quadratmeter. [read more]

Region will face closer scrutiny as US boosts ties

24.02.2016 Ken Koyanagi (Nikkei Asian Review) - U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the leaders of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the entrance to the historic Sunnylands retreat on Feb. 15, for the first U.S.-ASEAN summit on American soil.

A couple of kilometers away, at the closest intersection where ordinary traffic was allowed, several hundred people gathered and demonstrated against their president's hosting the summit, protesting human rights violations in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and other places.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, expressed similar concerns in a statement. "The risk is that the Sunnylands summit will empower and embolden ASEAN leaders who have been responsible for jailing journalists, cracking down on peaceful protesters, and dismantling democratic institutions after coups," the statement said. [read more]

China Deploys Fighter Jets to Contentious South China Sea Island

24.02.2016 Rishi Iyengar (Time) - China has reportedly sent fighter jets to a disputed island in the South China Sea, seemingly bolstering the surface-to-air missile batteries spotted there earlier this month.

Multiple Chinese warplanes comprising Shenyang J-11 and Xian JH-7 jets were seen by U.S. intelligence on Woody Island this week, according to Fox News.

A U.S. official told Fox that the jets appeared to be in single digits, placing the number at “under ten.” [read more]

China despliega aviones de combate en una isla que también reclaman Taiwán y Vietnam

24.02.2016 (20minutos) - China ha desplegado aviones de combate en una de las islas que se disputa con otras naciones del sudeste asiático en el Mar de China Meridional, ha informado este martes la cadena estadounidense Fox News, que consideró que este movimiento aumentará la tensiones en una región ya de por sí muy inestable.

Fuentes cercanas señalan la información de dos altos funcionarios de EE UU según los cuales el gigante asiático dispone de aviones J-11 y JH-7 en la isla Woody, parte de las islas Paracel, cuya soberanía se disputan China, Taiwán y Vietnam. [seguir leyendo]

China verlegt Kampfjets auf umstrittene Insel

24.02.2016 (Zeit Online) - China hat nach US-Angaben auch Kampfflugzeuge auf einer Insel des Paracel-Archipels im Südchinesischen Meer stationiert. Die Maschinen seien auf der von Peking beanspruchten Woody-Insel, meldete der Sender Fox News am Dienstag unter Berufung auf zwei nicht genannte Regierungsvertreter am Dienstag. Ein Sprecher des US-Pazifikkommandos bestätigte den Bericht, betonte aber, dass chinesische Kampfjets auch schon früher auf der Insel gewesen seien, auf die Taiwan und Vietnam Anspruch erheben.

Das Verhältnis zwischen den USA und China ist wegen Pekings Gebietsansprüchen im Südchinesischen Meer angespannt. Peking vertritt die Ansicht, China habe Hoheitsrechte über nahezu das gesamte Südchinesische Meer einschließlich der Küstengewässer anderer Staaten – darunter Inseln und Riffe, die mehr als 800 Kilometer von der chinesischen, aber nur etwa 220 Kilometer von der philippinischen Küste entfernt liegen. [Weiterlesen]

U.S. mulls selling weapons to Vietnam to stave off Chinese ‘hegemony’

23.02.2016 By Guy Taylor (The Washington Times)  - The top admiral in charge of U.S. military operations in Asia says Washington should drop its remaining restrictions on weapons sales to Vietnam in order to better defend against China’s military buildup in the South China Sea.

Navy Adm. Harry Harris Jr., the head of U.S. Pacific Command, told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that they’d have to believe the world was flat to think Beijing is not trying to militarily dominate the region.

“I believe China seeks hegemony in East Asia — simple as that,” he said in remarks likely to further inflame tensions that have risen between Washington and Beijing during recent days. [read more]

Im Südchinesischen Meer rüsten alle auf

22.02.2016 By Johnny Erling aus Peking (derStandard) - Stockholmer Institut für Friedenssicherung: China, Indien, Vietnam und Japan erhöhen ihre Militärausgaben drastisch China und die USA beschuldigen einander nach der Aufstellung chinesischer Boden-Luft -Raketen auf einer von China kontrollierten Xisha-Insel (Paracel), das territorial umstrittene Südchinesische Meer immer weiter zu militarisieren. Die Vorwürfe der USA nennt die offizielle Nachrichtenagentur Xin - derstandard.at/2000031528573/Im-suedchinesischen-Meer-ruesten-alle-auf.

Seit China mit seiner militärischen Modernisierung und seinem anmaßenden Vorpreschen im Süd- und Ostchinesischen Meer ein Wettrüsten in Gang gesetzt habe, drehe sich die Spirale besonders im Südchinesischen Meer immer höher. [Weiterlesen]

Asien trägt größten Anteil am Waffenhandel

22.02.2016 Gabriel Dominguez (DW) - Sechs der zehn größten Waffenimporteure der Welt liegen in Asien. Das belegt der jüngste SIPRI-Bericht zum Waffenhandel. Der Trend wird sich nach Expertenmeinung weiter fortsetzen.

Der Handel mit Rüstungsgütern hat laut einer neuen Studie des Stockholmer Friedensforschungsinstituts SIPRI in den vergangenen Jahren weltweit zugenommen. SIPRI berichtete am Montag, dass der Rüstungsverkauf zwischen 2011 und 2015 im Vergleich zum Zeitraum von 2006 bis 2010 um 14 Prozent gestiegen ist.

Vietnam ist beispielsweise von Platz 43 in den Jahren 2006 bis 2010 auf Platz acht zwischen 2011 und 2015 gesprungen. [Weiterlesen]

China stationiert Raketen auf freien Spratly Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer

21.02.2016 (Berlin Journal) - Chinas Staatschef Xi Jinping hatte noch im September 2015 während seines USA-Besuchs betont, man wolle die künstlichen Inseln nicht für militärische Zwecke nutzen. Vielmehr heisst es aus Peking immer wieder, diese sollten der Meeresforschung, der Seenotrettung und dem Katastrophenschutz, die Leuchttürme als Navigationshilfen dienen.

Doch die Wahrheit sieht wohl anders aus:

Mit der Verlegung von Raketen auf Woody Island, eine Insel der Paracel-Gruppe, sendet Peking eine klare Nachricht nach Washington, wo sich gerade ASEAN-Anrainerstaaten getroffen haben und eine Erklärung für freie Navigation und eine friedliche Streitbeilegung unterzeichnet haben.

Die ASEAN-Länder setzen zwar auf amerikanische Schützenhilfe, bemühen sich aber gleichzeitig mehr oder weniger demutsvoll um gute wirtschaftliche und politische Beziehungen zu Peking. [Weiterlesen]

China's aggressive posture in South China Sea

21.02.2016 By Richard Javad Heydarian (Al Jazeera) - The South China Sea disputes are rapidly descending into a quagmire, with potentially explosive ramifications. Shortly after United States President Barack Obama concluded a high-profile summit with Southeast Asian leaders, China reportedly deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to the Paracel chain of islands, which is also claimed by Vietnam.

Regional powers such as Japan, which heavily relies on the South China Sea for the shipment of its energy imports, have also pitched in. Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani condemned the alleged "unilateral move by China to change the status quo," adding that it "cannot be overlooked".

Yet, there is growing fear that Beijing is determined to fully dominate its adjacent waters at the expense of freedom of navigation and overflight in arguably the world's most important waterway. [read more]

Why the Spratly Islands Dispute Matters

20.02.2016 By Derek DeLuca (American Thinker) - Starting in 2013, China began a concerted effort to establish large, artificial islands throughout the Spratly Island archipelago in the South China Sea (China claims the entire sea and archipelago). The undeniable purpose of such efforts is for China to control the archipelago, and therefore control the unquestionably important region.

The problem with the People’s Republic of China laying claim to the entire region is that five other nations (Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam) also lay claim to certain areas of the Spratly Islands, making one of the world’s most heavily militarized regions even more volatile.

n addition to the above-named countries, any potential conflict in Southeast Asia could eventually draw in the United States to protect its interests and allies.

Most importantly, the United States and the Philippines have at least three treaties that would lead to a defense of the latter by China. [read more]

Vietnam’s stalled reform agenda

19.02.2016 Author: Loc Doan, Global Policy Institute (East Asia Forum) - The Doi Moi (renovation) policy initiated by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in 1986 transformed Vietnam’s economy at the time. But the 30-year-old Doi Moi policies have long run out of steam. If Vietnam wants to catch up with other more advanced countries in Southeast Asia, it must embark on another Doi Moi aimed at liberalising the country’s political, as well as economic, structures.

The CPV’s 12th Party Congress, which took place from 20–28 January 2016, would have been a timely moment for the Party to introduce a cutting-edge reform program. But the Congress ended with the CPV showing no willingness to undertake the much-needed political restructuring.

It seems that Vietnam will continue to wait for much-needed political and economic reforms — or a ‘Doi Moi 2’ — for at least another five years. [read more]

Filipinas acusa a Pekín de agravar la situación en el mar del Sur de China

19.02.2016 (W Radio) - Manila (EFE).- El Gobierno de Filipinas acusó hoy al de Pekín de empeorar la "ya tensa situación" que se vive en el mar de China Meridional con el despliegue de misiles tierra-aire en una isla cuya soberanía reclama Vietnam.

"Este tipo de acciones erosionan todavía más la seguridad y la confianza" entre los países con contenciosos territoriales en el mar del Sur de China, dijo el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Filipinas en un comunicado de prensa.

Exteriores señaló que está "profundamente preocupado" por las instalaciones defensivas que "incumplen el compromiso de China de no militarizar" la zona, como se recoge en la Declaración de Conducta de las Partes del Mar del Sur de China firmada en 2002 por Pekín y todos los países miembros de la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN). [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam protesta por "violación seria" de su soberanía por parte de China

19.02.2016 (Reuters)  - HANÓI - Vietnam presentó una protesta formal contra China y el secretario general de Naciones Unidas el viernes, diciendo que el aparente despliegue de misiles chinos en una isla cuya soberanía sigue en disputa supone "una gran preocupación".

"Son serias infracciones de la soberanía de Vietnam sobre las islas Paracelso y amenazan la paz y estabilidad en la región, además de la libertad de navegación y vuelo", dijo el portavoz del Ministerio de Exteriores, Le Hai Binh, en un comunicado. [seguir leyendo]

Japan’s maritime force conducts joint drills with Vietnam’s navy in South China Sea base

18.02.2016 (SCMP) - Kyodo in Tokyo - The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force conducted joint exercises with the Vietnamese navy for three days through Thursday in the Southeast Asian country and nearby waters.

An MSDF team was dispatched to Danang, central Vietnam, along with two P-3C patrol aircraft for the drills aimed at reinforcing defence cooperation between the two countries and keeping a check on China amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Just this week, China’s deployment of an advanced surface-to-air missile system on one of the Paracel Islands came to light. [read more]

Vietnam’s China challenge

18.02.2016 Nguyen Khac Giang, VEPR (East Asia Forum) - ... While Vietnam’s top Party members were busy preparing for the country’s all important 12th Party Congress, China again sent the now infamous Haiyang Shiyou (HD-981) oil rig into contested waters at the end of 2015. China’s motivations were unclear. The move might have been part of Beijing’s grand strategy in relation to its territorial claims, or it might have been intended to create tensions during the VCP’s party elections — similar to China’s activities during the 1996 Taiwanese presidential election.

Regardless of the real motivations behind it, this incident instantly caused problems for Trong. Trong is usually seen as more conservative and pro-China than his outgoing rival, the current Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Amid the rise of anti-China feelings among the Vietnamese public and VCP members, the new party chief is under great pressure to prove otherwise.

Trong’s re-election comes at a time when Vietnam’s relations with China are much more precarious than when he first rose to power five years ago. Beijing now appears more determined to transform their sovereignty claims in the South China Sea into de facto occupation. This has been gradually pursued by the acceleration of island reclamation, rapid naval modernisation, and increased air defences. [read more]

Washington dénonce une « militarisation accrue » de la Mer de Chine par Pékin

18.02.2016 Par Harold Thibault (Le Monde) - Pékin a franchi un pas supplémentaire dans son effort de contrôle de la mer de Chine méridionale en installant des batteries de missiles sol-air sur la principale île de l’archipel des Paracels, dont la souveraineté est contestée. Le déploiement de ces nouvelles capacités militaires sur l’île Woody, nommée Yongxing par les Chinois, a été confirmé de sources américaines, chinoises et taïwanaises.

La Chine s’est saisie de cet archipel lors d’une brève bataille avec le Vietnam, en 1974. Elle a développé ces dernières années une présence plus nourrie dans les Paracels. Le renforcement est d’abord militaire. Des troupes y sont stationnées et des sites web chinois ont diffusé cet automne des photos d’avions de chasse J-11 opérant depuis la piste de Woody.

Politique du fait accompli: Mais il est également civil, afin de légitimer l’argument d’une présence bien établie. L’administration chinoise a donné aux îlots le statut de « préfecture » en 2012. La compagnie Hainan Airlines a même opéré en février un premier vol présenté comme commercial, avec à son bord notamment des familles de soldats, là aussi pour démontrer qu’il s’agit d’une destination normale. [en savoir plus]

ASEAN y EEUU insisten en la cooperación conjunta contra el terrorismo

18.02.2016 (hispantv) - Los 10 países miembros de la Asociación de Naciones de Sudeste Asiático (ASEAN) y EE.UU. han hecho hincapié en la necesidad de combatir el terrorismo

El tráfico humano, tránsitos ilegales, narcotráfico, el terrorismo, pescar ilegalmente y sin coordinación, radicalismo violento, medio ambiente y madera de construcción, fueron algunos temas tratados en estos dos días.

Según los observadores, Estados Unidos se reúne con los 10 países miembros de la ASEAN para dar un paso militar más en contra de China. [seguir leyendo]

China foreign minister downplays reports country has stationed anti-aircraft missiles on island in South China Sea

17.02.2016 (NYDailyNews) -  BEIJING — Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday sought to downplay reports that China had positioned anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island, accusing the media of hyping the issue and saying more attention should be paid to what he called "public goods and services" provided by China's development of its maritime claims.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement it had "grasped that Communist China had deployed" an unspecified number of missiles on Woody Island in the Paracel group. The Philippines said the development increased regional tensions.

Analysts say China's military moves in the South China Sea are primarily aimed at intimidating the Philippines and Vietnam, while solidifying its hold on the islands and boosting its ability to project force. [read more]

Peking verlagert Raketen auf umstrittene Insel

17.02.2016 (Frankfurter Rundschau) - China dehnt mit neuem Kriegsgerät auf der Insel Yongxing seinen Einfluss im südchinesischen Meer aus. Für die Nachbarstaaten ist das eine deutliche Provokation.

Mit der Verlegung der Raketeneinheit erhöht sich die Temperatur in einem schwelenden Konflikt: Die aufstrebende Großmacht China beansprucht das ganze Südchinesische Meer bis an den Strand der anderen Anrainer für sich.

Mit der Verlegung der Raketeneinheit erhöht sich die Temperatur in einem schwelenden Konflikt: Die aufstrebende Großmacht China beansprucht das ganze Südchinesische Meer bis an den Strand der anderen Anrainer für sich. Peking verleiht nun seinen Forderungen mit der Verlegung von mehr und mehr Kriegsgerät Nachdruck – was bei den Nachbarn entsprechende Nervosität auslöst. [Weiterlesen]

China en el radar

17.02.2016 (ReporteIndigo) - Una imagen satelital, una isla en conflicto y un misterioso sistema de defensa aérea han hecho una explosiva mezcla que aumenta la tensión que se vive en el lado oriental del planeta.

Un portavoz del Ministerio de Defensa taiwanés aseguró que Pekín ha instalado misiles tierra-aire en la isla Woody, la cual es parte de un conjunto de islas que reclaman China, Taiwán y Vietnam.

Sin embargo, el ministro de relaciones exteriores de China, Wang Yi, dijo que la información ha sido inventada por los medios occidentales. [seguir leyendo]

Spannungen in Region verschärfen sich

17.02.2016 (ORF) - China hat einem Medienbericht zufolge ein modernes Raketensystem auf einer auch von Vietnam und Taiwan beanspruchten Insel im Südchinesischen Meer stationiert. Auch eine Radaranlage sei auf Woody Island aufgebaut worden, meldete der US-Sender Fox News am Dienstag unter Berufung auf Satellitenaufnahmen der zivilen Firma ImageSat International.

Die USA suchen im Streit mit China über das Südchinesische Meer den Schulterschluss mit Anrainerstaaten. „Wir werden weiterhin unseren Verbündeten und Partnern dabei helfen, ihre Marinefähigkeiten zu verstärken“, sagte Obama am Dienstag nach dem Ende des ASEAN-Treffens. Konflikte müssten friedlich und nach internationalem Recht beigelegt werden. „Die USA und ASEAN unterstreichen ihr starkes Bekenntnis zu einer regionalen Ordnung, in der internationale Regeln und Normen sowie die Rechte aller Nationen, der kleinen wie der großen, gewahrt werden“, sagte Obama nach Beendigung des Treffens der ASEAN-Länder. Dazu gehöre auch die Freiheit der Handelswege. [Weiterlesen]

Se renuevan las tensiones entre China y los países vecinos

17.02.2016 (El Mundo de Córdoba) - Taipei.- Las tensiones en la región del Mar de Sur de China volvieron a renovarse luego que Taiwán denunció que el ejército chino ha desplegado un sistema avanzado de misiles tierra-aire en la isla de Woody (reclamada por Taipei y Vietnam).

El portavoz del ministerio de Defensa de Taiwán, general David Mín, no quiso dar detalles del despliegue de misiles, pero aseguró que están siguiendo de cerca la situación.

"Las partes interesadas deben trabajar juntos para mantener la paz y la estabilidad en la región del Mar Meridional de China y abstenerse de adoptar medidas unilaterales que incrementarían las tensiones", sostuvo.

Este nuevo despliegue puede aumentar aún más las tensiones en una zona reclamada por China, Vietnam y Taiwán. [seguir leyendo]

China defends actions on disputed island

17.02.2016 (Reuters) - China says deployment of an advanced missile system to a disputed island in the South China Sea would be its right under international law. Julie Noce reports.

Taiwan and the U.S. says China has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system on an island in the South China Sea. Woody Island is technically under Chinese control, but is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. News of the deployment gave Taiwan's president elect pause for concern. Taiwan president-elect, Tsai Ing-Wen, saying: "It is a comparably tense situation. So we call on all sides to stick to the principle of resolving the dispute over the South China Sea in a peaceful manner. Self-restraint is most important." China's playing down the reports suggesting both that it was drummed up by Western media and that it had a right to self defense. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to reporters during a news conference in Beijing. [read more]

China has deployed missiles on contested island in South China Sea

17.02.2016 (Firstpost) - China has deployed long-range anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, a media report said today, even as US President Barack Obama called for "tangible steps" to settle territorial disputes in the resource-rich region.

Satellite images showed two batteries of eight surface-to-air HQ-9 missile launchers as well as a radar system on Woody Island, part of the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea, Fox News reported.

According to the images, a beach on the island was empty on 3 February but the missiles were visible by 14 February. A US official said the imagery showed the HQ-9 air defence system with a range of over 200 kilometres, which would pose a threat to any civilian or military airplane flying close by, the report said. [read more]

China stationierte Raketen auf umstrittener Insel

17.02.2016 (Tiroler Tageszeitung) - Peking/Rancho Mirage - Auch eine Radaranlage sei auf Woody Island aufgebaut worden. Die Insel wird auch von Vietnam und Taiwan beansprucht. China hat im Streit um Gebietsansprüche im Südchinesischen Meer Boden-Luft-Raketen auf einer Insel in der Region stationiert. Das bestätigte am Mittwoch ein Sprecher des taiwanesischen Verteidigungsministeriums der Deutschen Presse-Agentur. Auch das US-Verteidigungsministerium bestätigte die Verlagerung der Raketen, wie der US-Sender Fox News berichtete.

Demnach zeigen Satellitenbilder zwei Raketenbatterien, die auf Woody Island aufgestellt wurden. Bei den Raketen handelt sich um ein System zur Verteidigung gegen Luftangriffe, das eine Reichweite von rund 200 Kilometern hat. Auch eine Radaranlage sei auf Woody Island aufgebaut worden, meldete der US-Sender Fox News am Dienstag unter Berufung auf Satellitenaufnahmen der zivilen Firma ImageSat International. [Weiterlesen]

‘We will never forget’: Anti-China sentiment simmers in Vietnam on anniversary of bloody border war that had no winner

17.02.2016 (SCMP) - Vietnamese activists chanted anti-China slogans in Hanoi Wednesday as they marked the 37th anniversary of a border war with their giant neighbour, in a memorial that followed reports that Beijing has installed missile systems in contested seas. The two communist countries are locked in a long-standing territorial dispute over the Paracel and Spratly islands in the South China Sea. Vietnam’s premier is due to return home Wednesday after attending a summit hosted by the United States aimed at bolstering regional resolve in the face of China’s military muscle-flexing. [read more]Vietnam border war rally denounces China's aggression over disputed islands

17.02.2016 (The Standard) - More than 100 people gathered in Hanoi today to commemorate the anniversary of the start of Vietnam's brief but bloody border war with China.

Thirty seven years ago, 600,000 Chinese troops invaded northern Vietnam to “teach Vietnam a lesson'' for ousting the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. China withdrew its troops after a month.

The residents lit incense and laid flowers at the statue of King Ly Thai To, a Vietnamese hero, in a ceremony that lasted an hour. They chanted “down with the aggressors,'' and “Hoang Sa, Truong Sa,'' the Vietnamese terms for the Paracel and Spratly islands in the South China Sea. [read more]

China stationiert Raketen im Südchinesischen Meer

17.02.2016 (SZ) - Im Streit um Gebiete im Südchinesischen Meer greift Peking zu militärischen Maßnahmen. Auf der Insel Woody Island (Yongxing Island/Yongxing Dao) hat die chinesische Armee Boden-Luft-Raketen stationiert. Das teilten am Mittwoch übereinstimmend die Verteidigungsministerien der USA sowie Taiwans mit.

Satellitenbilder zeigen demnach zwei Raketenbatterien, die auf Woody Island aufgestellt wurden. Es handle sich um ein System zur Verteidigung gegen Luftangriffe, das eine Reichweite von rund 200 Kilometern habe.

Das Südchinesische Meer liegt zwischen China, Vietnam, Malaysia und den Philippinen. Ein Drittel des weltweiten Schiffsverkehrs wird dort abgewickelt. In der Region werden große Öl- und Gasvorkommen vermutet. China beansprucht 90 Prozent des 3,5 Millionen Quadratkilometer großen Gebietes, darunter Inseln und Riffe, die teils mehr als 800 Kilometer von der chinesischen, aber nur etwa 220 Kilometer von der philippinischen Küste entfernt liegen. [Weiterlesen]

Pékin déploie des missiles en mer de Chine

17.02.2016 (Le Matin) - Tension — Dans une zone revendiquée par Pékin, Taïwan et le Vietnam, la Chine a déployé des missiles sol-air qui inquiètent la région.

Intimidation ou réelle menace ? la Chine a déployé une batterie sophistiquée de missiles sol-air sur l'île de Yongxing, dans un secteur de mer de Chine du Sud, ont déclaré mercredi les autorités taïwanaises et américaines.

Cette région est revendiquée à la fois par Pékin, Taïwan et le Vietnam.

L'île de Yongxing, ou Woody Island (île boisée) en anglais, appartient à l'archipel des Paracels. Le déploiement de ces missiles, d'abord annoncé par la chaîne américaine Fox News, a été ensuite confirmé par un responsable du Pentagone et le porte-parole du ministère taïwanais de la Défense, le général David Lo. [en savoir plus]

Obama Will Visit Vietnam in May 2016 to Boost Ties

17.02.2016 By Prashanth Parameswaran (The Diplomat) - U.S. president Barack Obama will visit Vietnam in May during a trip to Asia, the White House said Monday.

Obama will make the trip while in the region for the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan. If he ends up making the trip, he will be the third consecutive U.S. president to visit Vietnam in the post-Vietnam war era, following Bill Clinton in 2000 and George W. Bush in 2006.

The White House made the announcement after Obama met with Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung on the sidelines of the U.S.-ASEAN summit at the Sunnylands retreat with Southeast Asian leaders. According to a White House official, the leaders discussed the continued strengthening of U.S.-Vietnam relations in 2015, which had marked the 20th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations. [read more]

China envía misiles a isla que disputa con Taiwán y Vietnam

16.02.2016 (El Financiero) - Las tensiones en el Mar de de China se incrementan después de que el gobierno chino envío a la isla de Woody misiles tierra-aire, región de tierra que es reclamada también por Taiwán y Vietnam.

El gobierno chino desplegó un sistema avanzado de misiles tierra-aire en una de las islas en disputa que controla en el Mar de China Meridional, según el Ministerio de Defensa de Taiwán y funcionarios estadounidenses, aumentando las tensiones aún después de que el presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, pidió moderación en la región. [seguir leyendo]

Obama se rendra au Vietnam en mai prochain

16.02.2016 (Journal de Montréal)  - RANCHO MIRAGE, Californie, 16 février (Reuters) - Barack Obama se rendra au Vietnam en mai prochain lors d'une tournée en Asie, a annoncé lundi un responsable de la Maison blanche.

Le président américain a accepté une invitation du Premier ministre vietnamien Nguyen Tan Dung. Les deux hommes se sont vus en tête à tête en marge d'un sommet des dirigeants d'Asie du Sud-Est avec Barack Obama en Californie.

Le secrétaire général du Parti communiste vietnamien, Nguyen Phu Trong, a été reçu en juillet dernier à Washington par le président américain, une visite hautement symbolique pour les deux pays dont les relations se sont nettement améliorées ces derniers mois en dépit d'un passé douloureux. [en savoir plus]

Obama visitará por primera vez Vietnam en mayo

16.02.2016 (Ansalatina) - WASHINGTON - El presidente estadounidense, Barack Obama, visitará Vietnam en mayo próximo en ocasión de su viaje a la región por la cumbre del Grupo de los siete (G7) prevista en Japón a finales de ese mes. Lo anunció la Casa Blanca al explicar que el presidente de Estados Unidos aceptó la invitación del primer ministro vietnamita, Nguyen Tan Dung, en una reunión al margen de la cumbre con la Asociación de Naciones de Asia del Sudeste (ASEAN). [seguir leyendo]

South China Sea Controversy Update: At ASEAN Vietnam Urges Greater US Involvement In Spratly Islands

16.02.2016 By Jess McHugh (IBT) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called Tuesday for greater U.S. involvement in the long-running controversy over sovereignty in the South China Sea, Reuters reported. Dung's comments, made at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN conference in California, did not name China directly, as the Vietnamese economy relies heavily on its huge neighbor.

"Prime Minister Dung suggested the United States has a stronger voice and more practical and more efficient actions requesting termination of all activities changing the status quo," Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Vietnamese government. The same statement urged the U.S. to help curb "large-scale construction of artificial islands" and "militarization." [read more]

How Will New Subs Affect Vietnam's South China Sea Strategy?

16.02.2016 By Nam Nguyen (The Diplomat) - New subs might not be enough for Vietnam to defend its South China Sea claims - The fifth Kilo-class submarine procured for the Vietnamese People’s Navy (VPN) arrived at Cam Ranh Bay at the beginning of February. The Russian-built submarine started its journey from St Petersberg on the 16th of December on the Dutch-registered cargo ship Rolldock Star and arrived late in the night on Tuesday, February 2,  according to Thanh Nien News.

There are currently four Vietnamese crews, supported by Russian advisers, for each of the existing Kilo-class Type 636 submarines in service with the VPN. Under Vietnam’s expanded relationship with Russia, a purpose-built submarine support facility was included as part of the deal to procure six conventional submarines for the VPN. [read more]

China Starts Building Artificial Islands in Vietnam’s Paracel Islands

16.02.2016 By Frances Martel (Breitbart) - Satellite images published in The Diplomat indicate that China has begun an extensive construction operation in the South China Sea’s Paracel Islands, following years of work building artificial islands in the Spratly Archipelago. The Diplomat is showcasing images of specific islands in the Paracels, which lie in disputed territory in the body of water. China claims both the Spratly and Paracel Islands for itself, a claim disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Vietnam claims most of the Paracel region China has begun working on. The Diplomat published images showing that the Woody Island military base “is undergoing a major expansion of its runway and airport facilities,” including the installation of a “new concrete runway measuring 2,920 meters in length, accompanied by a new taxiway, expanded runway aprons and adjacent large buildings under construction.” [read more]

Vietnam’s autumn

15.02.2016 David Hutt (New Internationalist) - Capitalism and profiteering are allowed but democracy and freedom are noticeably absent, writes David Hutt.

Two recent events encapsulate Vietnam. On 29 January, the day after the 12th Congress of the Vietnam Communist Party came to an end – the event takes place every five years, where the party’s leaders are selected and policies are determined – a Chinese envoy arrived in the capital, Hanoi, to take stock of what had happened.

Today Vietnam is a country of fabulous economic growth. Yet, economic successes have not been able to yield commensurate social gains. By an account, there are no free or fair elections in Vietnam, with the Communist Party being the only political party allowed in the country, while a few party-sanctioned independent candidates can run at the five-yearly general election, which decides on the makeup of the country’s National Assembly.

Courts lack independence from the Communist party, political activists are regularly imprisoned and independent trade unions don’t exist; torture is mundane, religions are restricted and, as HRW claims, state-run drug rehabilitation centres ‘exploit detainees as labourers making goods for local markets and export’. And as for freedom of speech, newspapers ventriloquize the party’s leaders. In recent years however, social media has provided the Vietnamese with a terrain to air their opinions and share news, becoming the 21st century’s samizdat. [read more]

Le directeur du Bureau des Affaires religieuses est nommé secrétaire d’Etat à la Sécurité publique

12.02.2016 (Églises d'Asie) - De nombreuses nominations et promotions ont accompagné le déroulement du XIIe Congrès du Parti communiste vietnamien (20 au 28 janvier 2016). Le Comité central, le Bureau politique, le Secrétariat ont été renouvelés pour une large partie de leurs membres atteints par la limite d’âge. De nouvelles personnalités destinées à occuper les postes clés de l’Etat ont été désignées. Seul, le secrétaire général du Parti, Nguyên Phu Trong, a été maintenu à son poste malgré ses 72 ans, « pour assurer la continuité », ont expliqué les commentaires officiels.

La fin officielle des débats du Congrès n’a pas mis un terme l’arrivée de nouveaux dirigeants et à la promotion des anciens. On peut retenir comme très significative la décision, prise par le Premier ministre en activité et annoncée le 10 février dernier, élevant au poste de secrétaire d’Etat auprès de la Sécurité publique l’actuel directeur du Bureau gouvernemental des Affaires religieuses, le lieutenant général (deux étoiles) Pham Dung. Il était déjà secrétaire d’Etat au ministère de l’Intérieur, un poste qui lui avait été confié lorsqu’il fut nommé principal responsable des Affaires religieuses du pays en 2012, et cumulera désormais les trois fonctions. [en savoir plus]

No Trade Without Freedom of Information

12.02.2016 Christophe Deloire (Huffington Post) - Sunnylands summit: Hanoi officials must commit to improve freedom of information in exchange for trade agreement.

President Obama is set to host the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Sunnylands, California February 15 and 16. Many countries in attendance, including Vietnam, have signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on February 4. Now that the TPP is sure to be a hot topic at the summit, President Obama must take this opportunity to make clear that the agreement's implementation cannot be successful without serious human rights improvements in the region.

Among the leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries expected to attend the summit is Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The government of Vietnam's freedom of information record is dismal. Hanoi is one of the worst jailers of bloggers and citizen journalists in the world, with at least 15 bloggers currently in prison. The country is ranked 175 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders (RSF)'s press freedom index, scoring just one point higher than China, and only two points higher than Syria. [read more]

80 Percent of Zero: China’s Phantom South China Sea Claims

09.02.2016 By Steven Stashwick (The Diplomat) - Baudelaire said the devil’s best trick was convincing us he did not exist. China’s best trick might be convincing us its claims over the South China Sea do exist. Official rhetoric about its “indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands” certainly sounds like a definitive Chinese position. And, of course, China occupies many islands in the area, its Coast Guard chases off foreign fishing vessels, and massive Chinese land reclamation projects provide new, persistent regional presence. But with the notable exception of the Paracel islands between Hainan Island and Vietnam, China has made no valid legal claim over the South China Sea. Instead, China’s official ambiguity appears carefully calibrated to produce international media coverage that proselytizes far more expansive claims than really exist. That popular narrative (like the perennial “fact” that it claims 80 percent of the South China Sea) helps China legitimate its increasingly assertive activity in the region without having to expand its legal positions in kind. Without those formal legal stakes, China has so far skillfully avoided painting itself into a strategic corner over the South China Sea with no need to militarily defend claims it has not actually made. [read more]

Revealed: America’s ‘Soft’ Operation in the South China Sea

09.02.2016 By Sam Bateman (The National Interest) - The United States has conducted another freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea. On January 30, the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within twelve nautical miles of Triton Island, a naturally formed feature, in the Paracel islands in the South China Sea. That group is claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam but is occupied by China.

The U.S. Defense Department Web site on the Freedom of Navigation (FON) program shows that the United States conducted FONOPs against nineteen countries in 2014, including China. The excessive claims by China that were the target of a FONOP were: “Excessive straight baselines; jurisdiction over airspace above the EEZ; restriction on foreign aircraft flying through an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) without the intent to enter national airspace; domestic law criminalizing survey activity by foreign entities in the EEZ.”

However, despite the reference to Taiwan and Vietnam, the operation was clearly aimed at China, the current occupant of Triton Island, and the major target of U.S. FONOPs in the South China Sea. [read more]

Confronting China in the South China Sea

08.02.2016 By Mira Rapp-Hooper (Foreign Affairs) - On January 29, the USS Curtis Wilbur, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, a Chinese-held islet in the South China Sea that is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. Like the United States’ preceding freedom of navigation operation (FONOP), which took place in October, the Wilbur operation was meant to protest Chinese maritime claims that the United States and a number of Southeast Asian states consider excessive. But unlike the earlier mission, which was carried out by the guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen and which experts widely regarded as bungled, the most recent FONOP sent a clear legal message to Beijing and to the public. It also revealed important signs of support for U.S. freedom of navigation operations on the part of regional states.

By all appearances, in other words, Washington is finding its footing in the South China Sea. The United States can go further to sharpen its messaging and win regional support, though, by publicizing more information on its freedom of navigation activities and by building a multilateral coalition that supports them. [read more]

How southern roots, and perhaps China, dashed Dung's hopes

07.02.2016 Atsushi Tomiyama (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- The Vietnam War ended 41 years ago, but the latest Communist Party leadership contest showed the north-south division is still a factor in the country's politics. And behind the scenes lurked China, which may not have wielded direct influence but clearly had skin in the game.

At its 12th Congress on Jan. 28, the party decided to retain Nguyen Phu Trong as its general secretary -- the nation's top leader -- for another five years. Trong, a doyen of the party's old guard, hails from Hanoi. He successfully blocked the ascent of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, once seen as a powerful contender for general secretary.

There is a widespread notion that North Vietnam liberated South Vietnam. Many Vietnamese think the country owes its current prosperity to northern forces. And it is widely accepted that the offspring of those who served in the North Vietnamese Army should get preferential treatment when it comes to educational and employment opportunities. [read more]

Konservative Kommunisten an der Macht

06.02.2016 Jörg von Rohland (Bayernkurier) - Die Kommunisten Vietnams bleiben sich treu: Nach Jahren der Reformen dürften die Zügel in der sozialistischen Republik nicht weiter gelockert werden. Darauf deuten die Ergebnisse des jüngsten Parteitags der KP hin. Der Regierungschef ist entmachtet, das konservative Lager hat die Oberhand gewonnen. Innenpolitisch bedeutet das vermutlich Stillstand.

Für die Meinungsfreiheit im Land bedeutet die Personalie wohl nichts Gutes, die staatliche Zensur ist unerbittlich.

Auf der Rangliste der Pressefreiheit der Organisation „Reporter ohne Grenzen“ rangierte Vietnam auch 2015 auf Platz 175 von 180. Schlechter schnitten nur noch China (Platz 176), Syrien (177), Turkmenistan (178), Nordkorea (179) und Eritrea (180) ab. Die kommunistische Partei kontrolliere die Medien sehr genau, heißt es von der Organisation, die sich für Informationsfreiheit einsetzt. [Weiterlesen]

Chinas gekaufte Bräute aus Vietnam

05.02.2016 Anemi Wick, Vietnam (DW) - Chinas Ein-Kind-Politik hat einen gewaltigen Männer-Überschuss produziert. Menschenhändler suchen gezielt Frauen in Vietnam. Meist sind die Entführer Vertrauenspersonen. Aufklärung und Schutz der Frauen sind schwierig.

Sapa ist ein Städtchen im nördlichen Hochland Vietnams nahe der chinesischen Grenze. Hinter dieser malerischen Bergkulisse klafft ein Abgrund. Hier verschwinden junge Frauen. Immer wieder. In jedem Bergdorf rund um Sapa erzählen die Mütter, Cousinen, Schwestern und Nachbarn die gleiche Geschichte: Die Mädchen sind weg. In China.

Etliche chinesische Männer finden keine Frau. Insbesondere solche, die wenig Geld haben, haben auf dem Heiratsmarkt schlechte Chancen. Als Folge blühen der Menschenhandel und das Geschäft mit der Zwangsheirat. Aus Vietnam, aber auch aus anderen Nachbarländern. [Weiterlesen]

After the power struggle, what's next for Hanoi's economic reforms?

04.02.2016 Simon Roughneen (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI   Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, kept his post during a weeklong party congress in Hanoi that ended Jan. 28 as he easily fended off a challenge by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who has championed economic reforms.

The country's leaders are not selected by Vietnam's 94 million people, but only by the 4.5 million party members. But despite Vietnam's closed political system and censored media, Internet access is growing, with social media widely used and a proliferation of activist blogs and online comments -- often penned anonymously -- showing that many Vietnamese are keenly interested in politics and want to have a say in how the country is run.

How strong that control will be remains to be seen as Trong's possible midterm resignation could prompt another intraparty power struggle, particularly if Vietnam's rapid economic growth stalls. [read more]

Where to from here for Vietnam?

04.02.2016 Author: Jonathan D. London, City University of Hong Kong (East Asia Forum) - While Vietnam’s 12th Party Congress was billed as a contest for leadership of the party between sitting party secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and sitting prime-minister Nguyen Tan Dung, it might well be remembered as marking the beginning of a generational shift in the party’s top leadership. Yet a generational shift does not necessarily entail major changes. Indeed, for all the excitement and tension that surrounded the congress, the current mood in Vietnam is one of anti-climax.

Within Vietnam’s lively cyberspace, and in the international press, the result of the leadership succession has been seen as a vote for continuity within the Communist Party. This is a reasonable conclusion. After all it is Trong, however doctrinaire and ridiculed, who has prevailed. It is Trong, and not the maverick Dung, who will remain general secretary for at least two years and maybe five. But it is still unclear who would replace Trong after this term. And so the long-term direction and spirit of Vietnam’s elite politics remains an open question. [read more]

Vietnam’s Master Plan for the South China Sea

04.02.2016 By Koh Swee Lean Collin (The Diplomat) - The country’s plan for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance is taking shape.

For many years, Vietnam has been steadily accumulating new military capabilities to reinvigorate its antiquated Cold War arsenal, sourcing from mostly Russia but increasingly from other suppliers too. However, military effectiveness clearly does not depend on only kinetic capabilities; the means of detecting, tracking and guiding weapons against the intended targets constitute another essential element. Cognizant of this, besides continuing to acquire new kinetic capabilities Hanoi has undertaken nascent but nonetheless crucial steps in establishing a comprehensive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) suite.

It is through this context that one may interpret recent revelation about the potential military significance of an Indo-Vietnamese deal to establish a satellite tracking station in Ho Chi Minh City, and an earlier report last year about Vietnam’s new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that will soon patrol the South China Sea (SCS). [read more]

Redemptorists in Saigon: we help veterans, abandoned for 41 years

03.02.2016 Trung Thanh (AsiaNews) - Ho Chi Minh City - In the last three years, the Congregation of the Redemptorists in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) has taken care of more than 3 thousand former soldiers of the Republic of Vietnam, wounded and maimed during the civil war. "We do not help the wounded soldiers out of  a political choice - said Fr. Vincent Pham Trung Thanh - but because of our faith. These maimed soldiers have been abandoned for 41 years [since the end of the Vietnam War, 1975 ed.] In addition, their families and children have been discriminated against by society. Now they are happy because they are treated as human beings. " [read more]

Redentoristas de Saigón: ayudamos a los veteranos, abandonados desde hace cuarenta y un años

03.02.2016 Trung Thanh (AsiaNews) - Ho Chi Minh City - En los últimos tres años, la congregación de los redentoristas de Saigón (ahora Ho Chi Minh City) se ocupó de más de tres mil ex –soldados de la República de Vietnam, heridos y mutilados durante la guerra civil. “No ayudamos a los soldados heridos por una elección política- afirma el p. Vincent Pham Trung Thanh- pero hemos trabajado con ellos a causa de nuestra fe. Estos soldados mutilados fueron abandonados por cuarenta y un años (desde que terminó la guerra de Vietnam, 1975, ndr). Además también sus familiares e hijos los cuales son discriminados por la sociedad. Ahora ellos son tratados como seres humanos”. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam: Streik für vollen Neujahrs-Bonus

03.02.2016 (Rote Fahne News) - Mehr als 900 Arbeiterinnen und Arbeiter in der Textilfabrik YS Vina in der vietnamesischen Provinz Quang Nam traten am Montag in den Streik, weil das Unternehmen (Kapital aus Südkorea) den Neujahrsbonus nur in Raten zahlen will. Vor dem Tet-Fest am 8. Februar sollte es nur 30 Prozent geben, den Rest dann bis April. Damit sind die Arbeiter nicht einverstanden.

Vietnam's fifth 'Kilo'-class submarine arrives home

02.02.2016 Ridzwan Rahmat (IHS) - Vietnam has received its fifth Russian-built 'Kilo'-class diesel-electric submarine. The People's Army of Vietnam Navy is on track to receive all six boats by 2016.

The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Navy's fifth Improved Project 636 'Kilo'-class diesel-electric submarine (SSK) has arrived in country, according to Vietnamese media reports corroborated by ship-tracking data from IHS Maritime on 3 February. [read more]

China Security: In Disputed Waters, China Is The Thief Who Yells ‘Stop Thief’

02.02.2016 Joshua Philipp (Epoch Times) - On Jan. 30, the USS Curtis Wilbur passed within 12 nautical miles of the less than one-square mile Triton Island, which is claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

What’s ironic is that the Chinese regime is calling the incident an act to establish U.S. hegemony, when in fact it was to counter Chinese hegemony already being claimed over the entire region.

China’s response plays perfectly into the ancient Chinese saying: “It’s the thief who yells ‘stop thief.'”

While there are many overlapping claims to the region by the surrounding countries, the Chinese regime lays claim to the entire region—and has taken an aggressive approach to staking this claim. [read more]

Vietnams Reformangst

01.02.2016 Ernst Herb (Finanz und Wirtschaft) - Vietnam hat diese Woche mit einem wichtigen Personalentscheid den Spagat zwischen freier Marktwirtschaft und Kommunismus noch etwas weiter gespreizt. Der langjährige Premierminister Nguyen Tan Dung hat einen parteiinternen Machtkampf mit dem Chef der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams, Nguyen Phu Trong, verloren und dürfte noch im laufenden Jahr von der öffentlichen Bühne abtreten. Dabei war es Dung, der in den vergangenen Jahren die Wirtschaftsreformen in einem ungewöhnlich rasanten Tempo vorangetrieben hat. Trong hingegen, der sein Mandat für eine weitere vierjährige Amtszeit weiterführen wird, gilt als konservativer Apparatschik.

Der Binnenmarkt wird weiter von den schwerfälligen, aber politisch sehr mächtigen, staatlichen Konzernen beherrscht. Sie machen konkurrierenden und innovativen lokalen Privatunternehmen das Leben schwer. Zudem leidet das Investitionsklima unter der mangelnden Rechtssicherheit.[Weiterlesen]

Hanoi proves that appearances can deceive

01.02.2016 Phuong Nguyen (Nikkei Asian Review) - While observers were still busy analyzing the finer points of the new leadership lineup named at the 12th Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the country's leaders saw little time to waste. A special envoy sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping came on Jan. 29, a day after the congress ended, to take stock of the leadership transition and meet senior party officials.

For many Hanoi insiders, the results of the congress were not entirely surprising: current VCP General-Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected to serve another five-year term, while the ambitious prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, one-time contender to succeed Trong, was forced to retire. Some observers say that Dung's defeat will result in a slower pace of reform, while others insist that Trong's re-election will not change the overall direction of the country. [read more]

Beijing takes a gamble on Vietnamese leadership struggle

31.01.2016 By Alistair Denness (Asian Correspondent) - The current General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, successfully secured a second term this week, after a fiercely contested leadership campaign. His main rival in the contest for party leadership was the incumbent Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, but far from being a typical run-of-the-mill leadership challenge, this was a battle which would provide the vision for Vietnam’s future direction: whether as a socialist-cum-capitalist nation firmly ensconced within the heart of Southeast Asia’s efforts to branch out onto the world stage; or as a continuing hard line communist state and vassal of Beijing.

In recent years, the relationship between China and Vietnam has been rather bumpy, and Dung’s courtship of China’s rival is a reflection of this. Tensions over territorial disputes stretch back decades, but have most recently have arisen over what Vietnam considers illegal drilling operations in nearby waters. Beijing made some attempt to pacify the consequent ire, but then, right in the middle of the congress, towed another massive exploration rig right into the middle of disputed territories. No coincidence, many observers claim, in what is an obvious attempt to rattle a few sabers and influence the outcome of the 12th National Congress in favor of Trong’s pro-Chinese faction. [read more]

After Party Congress, Vietnam grapples with fading socialism

31.01.2016 By Tan Qiuyi (Channel NewsAsia) - “Socialism is a beautiful ideal, but over the course of its implementation, people have found it far from reality. It’s impossible,” said sociologist and former National Assembly member Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet.

It is a growing divide leaders recognise. In a Congress opener broadcast live on national television, 71-year-old chief Nguyen Phu Trong said public faith in both state and party has been hit hard by corruption and excesses within their rank and file.

Vietnam ranked 112th out of 168 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2015, which puts it amongst countries where public sector corruption is considered serious and widespread.

More worrying perhaps, Vietnam was placed far behind some of its regional peers and leading competitors for foreign investment such as Malaysia (54th), Indonesia (88th) and the Philippines (95th). [read more]

Four Faces to Watch as Vietnam's New Leadership Takes Shape

31.01.2016 By John Boudreau (Bloomberg) - Vietnam’s leadership for the next five years is taking shape after a Communist Party congress. The biggest development was the re-election of Nguyen Phu Trong as party general secretary, putting him in a position to have a greater say over economic policy plus the country’s ties with former war foe the U.S. and neighbor China.

The picks for prime minister, president and National Assembly chairman are expected to be rubber-stamped by the parliament around mid-year and will serve through 2020.

The new leadership will probably shun bold initiatives and may slow reforms needed to meet the conditions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, such as allowing for independent labor unions, said Tuong Vu, an associate professor of political science at the University of Oregon. [read more]

Vietnamese leadership decision reflects power of faceless collective over charisma

30.01.2016 (The Japan Times) - HANOI – Vietnam’s latest political turnover made one thing abundantly clear: being a strong, charismatic leader with a high domestic and international profile will only lead to your downfall. To be successful in Vietnamese politics, you have to work with consensus — and be, for the most part, faceless.

A contender, reform-minded Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, was cut down to size and ousted from the collective leadership because he was seen by party bosses as having become too big for his boots.

A larger question is about the pervasive corruption, which Dung is accused of promoting through patronage politics. Trong will go after that, and it is possible that corruption will be reduced in the top leadership.

But don’t have too many expectations.

For the vast majority of Vietnam’s 93 million people, one more thing is clear. No matter who is at the helm, they will not have a direct say in electing their leaders as long as the Communist Party maintains its 40-year-old grip on power. [read more]

USA entsenden Zerstörer vor Paracel-Inseln

30.01.2016 (Die Welt) - Seit Jahren streiten sich China, Vietnam und Taiwan um die Paracel-Inseln, eine winzige Inselgruppe im Südchinesischen Meer. Nun entsenden die USA einen Zerstörer zu den Korallenatollen.

Vor dem Hintergrund zunehmender Spannungen mit China hat die US-Marine ein Kriegsschiff in die Zwölf-Meilen-Zone rund um eine von Peking beanspruchte Insel des Paracelarchipels entsandt.

Wie das US-Verteidigungsministerium am späten Freitagabend (Ortszeit) mitteilte, ging es bei dem Einsatz vor der kleinen Tritoninsel um die Verteidigung der "freien Schifffahrt im Südchinesischen Meer". Auf die Insel erheben auch Taiwan und Vietnam Anspruch. [Weiterlesen]

Politics in Vietnam - Reptilian manoeuvres

30.01.2016 (The Economist) - A colourful prime minister goes, as the grey men stay.

WHEN Great Grandfather, a revered turtle which had long paddled around Hanoi’s central lake, was found dead on the eve of the Communist Party’s five-yearly congress, many Vietnamese thought it a bad omen for the ruling party. The animal embodied a legend about a 15th-century Vietnamese warrior who presented his sword to a turtle after vanquishing the Chinese. Some wondered whether the party’s leaders, whose dusty Marxism-Leninism feels increasingly out of step with Vietnam’s youthful population of 93m, were also losing their edge.

As it happens, the congress, which concluded in pomp on January 28th, ended up backing an only slightly more sprightly reptile. After eight days of unusually fierce politicking, party bigwigs forced the charismatic and pro-business prime minister to leave government after his term expires in a few months. Nguyen Tan Dung had hoped to assume the top party post of general secretary. Instead Mr Dung, along with the state president, Truong Tan Sang, failed to get a seat on the party’s new Central Committee, while the septuagenarian incumbent, Nguyen Phu Trong, was asked to carry on as all-important party chief [read more]

Die Zementierung alter Machtverhältnisse

29.01.2016 Su Pham Thi (Freitag) - Hanoi Der 12. Kongress der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams tagt alle fünf Jahre hinter verschlossenen Türen, um über die vier wichtigsten Posten der Regierung abzustimmen.

Eine Konstellation aus Premierminister, Staatspräsident, dem Vorsitzenden der Nationalversammlung und dem Generalsekretär verkörpert den Machtapparat der KPV und bestimmt damit über das weitere Vorgehen der voranschreitenden Markt-Liberalisierung gekoppelt an sozialistische Rhetorik. Die unerwünschte mediale Aufmerksamkeit über den Kongress blieb dieses Mal nicht aus, vielmehr konzentrierten sich hitzige on- und offline Debatten auf folgende Hauptakteure: Nguyen Tan Dung und Nguyen Phu Trong. Zwei alteingesessene KPV-Charaktere, die sich nicht nur ideologisch, sondern auch symbolisch gegenüberstehen.

... Zunehmend brutal niedergeschlagene Demonstrationen z.B. gegen den diplomatischen Besuch des chinesischen Präsidenten Xi Jinping und sein aggressives Vorgehen im Südchinesischen Meer, sowie Landgrabbing durch die Regierung provozierten selten solch ausformulierte Turbulenzen in der vietnamesischen Zivilgesellschaft. Nicht zuletzt ist es die hypokritische Menschenrechts-Rhetorik, die auf Kosten politischer Gefangener zur Umsetzung transnationaler Freihandelsabkommen mit den USA und der EU instrumentalisiert wird. Seit 2013 verschlechtert sich die Menschenrechtslage in Vietnam massiv, auch weil das Regime neben Iran und China mit die meisten politischen Gefangenen hält. Indes entstehen u.a. eine progressive Demokratisierungs- und Menschenrechtsbewegung, die sich augenblicklich online, aber auch im Untergrund zu organisieren weiß. [Weiterlesen]

In Vietnam, where politics and daily life rarely mix

29.01.2016 By Jonathan Head (BBC) - Half an hour's drive away, in a bland hall resembling an airport terminal, Vietnam's political future was being decided by 1,510 delegates, all chosen by the Communist Party, which has a constitutionally-enshrined monopoly on power.

It might have been happening on a different planet.

Of course people knew the party congress was going on; how could they not? Hanoi is festooned with red-and-gold posters celebrating this secretive, five-yearly ritual in the communist calendar in characteristically retro style, all muscular workers and peasants radiating revolutionary joy.

But no-one I spoke to felt any sense of connection to a process from which they are mostly excluded. [read more]

New Vietnamese Leadership Must Urgently Rehabilitate Country's Appalling Human Rights Record

28.01.2016 John Coughlan (Huffington Post) - With the news that incumbent Nguyễn Phú Trong is poised to continue as General Secretary of the Viet Nam Communist Party, following a secretive leadership race with outgoing Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, he must urgently move to rehabilitate the country's longstanding appalling human rights record.

Viet Nam is increasingly trying to project itself as a responsible member of the international community - it holds a seat on the UN Human Rights Council and has recently ratified the Convention against Torture. But you don't have to scratch far beneath the surface for a very different picture to emerge. Human rights violations in the country continue unabated. The reality is, the same secrecy that characterized the leadership race, shields Viet Nam's human rights record from scrutiny and allows the government to avoid the scorn of the international community. [read more]

Communism better than democracy, says Vietnam party boss

28.01.2016 (TODAY) - HANOI — One-party rule in communist Vietnam is a far better alternative to authoritarianism disguised as democracy, the 71-year-old ideologue who was re-elected as party chief and consequently head of the government said today (Jan 28).

Mr Trong was re-elected yesterday as head of the Communist Party and the leader of a 19-member Politburo that will govern Vietnam for the next five years, after squashing a short-lived challenge for the top post by his No 2, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The third most important member elected to the Politburo was Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang, who will be the country’s new president. [read more]

Vietnams alte Garde sichert sich die Macht

28.01.2016 Christian Vits (derStandard) - Hanoi / Phnom Penh – Die Erwartungen waren hoch, und umso erstaunlicher ist es nun für viele, dass in Vietnam wohl auch die nächsten fünf Jahre alles beim Alten bleiben wird. Nguyen Phu Trong, mit 71 Jahren eigentlich über dem parteiinternen Alterslimit, wird die KP weitere fünf Jahre anführen. Dass es letztlich so wenig Bewegung gab, steht im Gegensatz zu den für vietnamesische Verhältnisse offenen Machtkampf um die Führungsposition, den die Partei im Vorfeld des Treffens ausgetragen hatte.

Schärfster Widersacher Trongs war der bisherige Premier Nguyen Tan Dung, der den eher reformorientierten Parteiflügel führt. Er gilt als proamerikanisch und hat enge Kontakte zu den Wirtschaftseliten des Landes. Allerdings hat sich während seiner zwei Amtszeiten die Korruption verstärkt und auch die Probleme mit Krediten, vor allem der staatseigenen Betriebe, sind nicht immer angegangen worden. Als Premier musste er nach den maximal möglichen zwei Amtszeiten abtreten. - derstandard.at/2000029950696/Vietnams-alte-Garde-sichert-sich-die-Macht [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam: congreso comunista cerró con refrendo de líder prochino

28.01.2016 (RPP) - El duodécimo congreso del Partido Comunista de Vietnam terminó en Hanoi tras refrendar como secretario general a Nguyen Phu Trong, visto por los analistas como un político cercano a la política de Pekín.

Trong, de 71 años, fue elegido para un segundo mandato de cinco años como líder de la organización política que rige con puño de hierro el país desde la reunificación en 1976, por "casi el 100% de los votos", comentó el mandatario en rueda de prensa.

Con una población de más de 90 millones de personas y un PIB que alcanzó los 186.200 millones de dólares en 2014, Vietnam lleva años buscando nuevos socios comerciales para reafirmar su autonomía económica y rebajar su dependencia con su vecino chino. [seguir leyendo]

Leader of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party reelected

27.01.2016 (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI (Kyodo) -- Nguyen Phu Trong was on Wednesday reelected general secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party at its 12th National Party Congress, according to party sources.

In an apparent compromise, Trong is expected to serve only half of his five-year term, while Truong Tan Sang, the party's No. 2, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, its No. 3, will step down following May's general election.

Although Trong is regarded as a conservative ideologue and favors close ties with China, the party is expected to continue promoting the wide-ranging package of reforms known as "Doi Moi." However, the departure of Dung, who spearheaded the transition to a market-oriented economy, could lead to a slowdown in the pace of reform. [read more]

Traditionalist zementiert Macht in Kommunistischer Partei Vietnams

27.01.2016 (moz) - Hanoi – Der als pro-chinesisch geltende Chef der Kommunistischen Partei (KP) Vietnams hat sich im Machtkampf mit Reformern durchgesetzt. Das neu formierte Zentralkomitee bestätigte Nguyen Phu Trong am Mittwoch im Amt des Generalsekretärs, wie Staatsmedien berichteten.

Der eher prowestliche Ministerpräsident Nguyen Tan Dung muss nach zwei Amtsperioden abtreten.

Die KP sitzt in den südostasiatischen Land mit 93 Millionen Einwohnern nach wie vor fest im Sattel. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam party retains key policymakers, cabinet posts not guaranteed

26.01.2016 By Martin Petty (Reuters) - Vietnam's Communist Party re-elected to its central committee key policymakers and ministers of the current government on Tuesday, signaling wholesale changes may not ensue after Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's political exit.

The party congress vote also saw re-election to the committee of several politicians considered by experts as allies of Dung, maintaining the possibility of roles in running a fast-growing country that has committed to major trade pacts and economic reforms.

Congress allowed Dung to decline his nomination to the committee on Monday, ending speculation of him contesting a party leadership that has only one candidate, incumbent Nguyen Phu Trong.

Analysts say Dung's ambition may have been his undoing and his omission from the politburo's nominations for four key leadership posts reflected concern among the party's old guard about his growing influence. [read more]

Machtkampf in Vietnam entschieden

26.01.2016 Rodion Ebbighausen (DW) - Vietnams scheidender Premier Nguyen Tan Dung wird sein Ziel, die Parteiführung zu übernehmen, nicht erreichen. Das zeichnet sich kurz vor Ende des 12. Parteitags der KPV ab.

Am Montagabend zeichnete sich ab, dass der noch amtierende Premierminister Dung nicht mehr auf der offiziellen Kandidatenliste des Zentralkomitees stehen würde. Damit war sein Weg an die Spitze der Partei verbaut. Denn aus den Reihen des 180 Mitglieder zählenden Zentralkomitees wird das Politbüro bestimmt, aus dessen Reihen dann der Generalsekretär gewählt wird. Auf ein letztes mögliches Manöver, sich mit Hilfe der 1500 Teilnehmer des 12. Parteikongresses doch noch auf die Liste setzen zu lassen, verzichtete Dung.

Doch in diesem Jahr konnte bis zum Beginn des Parteikongresses keine Einigung darüber erzielt werden, wer auf der endgültigen Kandidatenliste für das einflussreichste Amt im Staat - das des Generalsekretärs - stehen sollte. Grund dafür war der Machtkampf zwischen Amtsinhaber Nguyen Phu Trong und dem Premierminister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Noch ist nicht entschieden, ob der alte Generalsekretär Nguyen Phu Trong tatsächlich auch der neue Generalsekretär sein wird. Seinen Platz im Zentralkomitee konnte er am Mittwoch (27.01.2016) allerdings bereits sichern [Weiterlesen]

Partido Comunista de Vietnam aparta a su líder más reformista

26.01.2016 Eric San Juan (Radio Intereconomia) - Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) - La exclusión del primer ministro vietnamita, Nguyen Tan Dung, de la carrera por el liderazgo en el XII congreso del Partido Comunista dejaba hoy el camino libre al sector más tradicionalista y pro-China encabezado por el actual secretario general, Nguyen Phu Trong.

Dung, impulsor de las medidas liberalizadoras de la economía y del acercamiento a Estados Unidos, competía con Trong para hacerse con la secretaría general del partido, el cargo más influyente por encima del de primer ministro y presidente de la República.

Su salida despeja el principal obstáculo para la reelección de Trong, un hombre del aparato de 71 años que, salvo sorpresa, será reelegido al final del cónclave, previsto para este jueves. [seguir leyendo]

Reformer in Vietnam aus dem Rennen um Parteichef-Posten

25.01.2016 (Der Farang) - Hanoi (dpa) - In der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams hat sich der konservative Flügel gegen mehr prowestliche Kräfte durchgesetzt.

Vier Rivalen des bisherigen pro-chinesischen KP-Generalsekretärs Nguyen Phu Trong (71) hätten ihre Kandidatur für sein Amt zurückgezogen, sagt Generalleutnant Vo Tien Trung, ein Mitglied des Zentralkomitees, der staatlich kontrollierten Presse am Wochenende in Hanoi. Darunter war der prowestliche Ministerpräsident Nguyen Tan Dung (66), der sein Amt nach zwei Amtsperioden aufgeben muss. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam's progressive PM not nominated for party leadership

24.01.2016 By Martin Petty (The Star) - HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's progressive prime minister was among preliminary nominations for the Communist Party's central committee on Sunday, an official said, maintaining the possibility of him contesting the party leadership to be decided this week.

The political future of Nguyen Tan Dung remains uncertain, however, after he was not among leadership candidates agreed by top decision-makers at a recent meeting, a surprise twist that saw the five-yearly congress of the secretive party open on Thursday under a cloud of controversy. [read more]

Vietnam PM among preliminary nominations for party central committee - official

24.01.2016 (Today) - HANOI - Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was among preliminary nominations for the Communist Party's new central committee, an official said on Sunday, maintaining a possibility of him contesting a party leadership to be decided this week.

Dung was among several high-profile politburo members nominated to join the powerful committee, including the current president and the national assembly chairman, Vu Ngoc Hoang, standing Deputy Director of the Central Propaganda Department, told reporters on the sidelines of the party's five-yearly congress. [read more]

The General Secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, will be the only candidate for the post at a party congress, state media repor.

24.01.2016 (BBC) - It means his main rival - reformist PM Nguyen Tan Dung - has little chance of taking the leadership role, they say.

But complicated voting procedures mean another candidate could still be named before the congress ends on Wednesday.

Conservatives, led by Mr Trong, are concerned that Vietnam is abandoning its socialist past under Mr Dung. [read more]

Vietnamese speak about their expectations from new leaders

24.01.2016 (SFGATE) - HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The ruling Communist Party of Vietnam is holding an eight-day congress to choose new set of leaders who will govern for the next five years. Only about 4.5 million of Vietnam's 93 million people are party members, but the party has the constitutional right to rule, and its leaders are chosen in a secretive process in which the general public have no say.

A selection of views on what people expect from the new leaders:

"In countries with a multi-party system, I would have a say in choosing who will lead the country, but in Vietnam, I have no say in choosing our leaders. A bunch of Communist Party officials will choose the country's leaders. Who will be the leaders does not matter much to me, my life will be the same." — Nguyen Van Hung, 55, construction engineer. [read more]

Is China Interfering in Vietnam’s Politics With Its South China Sea Moves?

23.01.2016 By Shawn W. Crispin (The Diplomat) - Some say Beijing is trying to influence the outcome of the Communist Party congress in Vietnam.

Are China’s recent moves in contested maritime areas aimed to influence the outcome of a pivotal Communist Party congress now underway in Vietnam? Beijing’s latest shows of force in the South China Sea have coincided with an unusually pitched and still unresolved struggle for Vietnam’s ruling party’s leadership, pitting Prime Minister Nguyen Van Dung, a two-term premier who has drawn progressively closer to the United States, againt incumbent General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, leader of a more conservative faction ideologically allied to China.

On Tuesday, Vietnam claimed that China had towed a massive oil exploration rig into waters both countries claim in the South China Sea and demanded that Beijing withdraw it from the area. A similar episode in spring 2014 sparked anti-China riots that ransacked Chinese and other foreign-invested factories, killed at least three Chinese nationals, and forced Beijing to evacuate thousands of its fearful nationals. At the time, Dung’s hard and Trong’s soft response to the perceived incursion underscored intra-party divisions that have since deepened over how best to manage China’s rising assertiveness over control of nearby waterways. [read more]

The Ugly Thugs Running Vietnam Aren’t Experimenting With Democracy

22.01.2016 By Thomas A. Bass (Foreign Policy) - It may look like a capitalist frontier, but it’s a police state at heart.

From Jan. 20 to 28, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is holding its 12th quinquennial pig roast known as the National Congress. Some 1,500 party members will gather in Hanoi to adopt a five-year economic plan and approve a recommended slate of candidates for the CPV’s Central Committee, its elite 16-member Politburo, and the party’s general secretary (the chap who sits at the head of the table). Corrupt from top to bottom, bloated by patronage and devoted to crony socialism and rent-seeking, the CPV maintains a hammerlock on Vietnam’s government, military, media, and 93 million people. “Marxism needs a dictator,” Russian refugee and author Vladimir Nabokov said, “and a dictator needs a secret police, and that is the end of the world.”...

And yet, anti-Chinese sentiment has not translated into less Chinese influence in Vietnam. China continues building islands, strip mining the highlands, and doing whatever else is required to keep Little Brother Vietnam securely in the orbit of Big Brother China. So tight is this alliance that a surprisingly large number of Vietnamese — citing something called the Chengdu Agreement — believe that their country is actually owned by China. [read more] - [tiếng Việt]

Inside Hanoi's gated communities: elite enclaves where even the air is cleaner

21.01.2016 By Claire Provost and Matt Kennard in Hanoi (The Guardian) - The rapid growth of Vietnam’s super-rich means multi-billion dollar developments are rising across this ancient city, separating the wealthy with walls and 24-hour private security from street hawkers, congestion and pollution.

The multi-billion dollar Ciputra International City complex, in northwest Hanoi, covers 300 hectares (741 acres) of former farmland with mansions, private schools, a clubhouse and fine wine store. Surrounded by thick concrete walls and guarded gates, it is a private enclave of ostentatious wealth – a paradise for the Vietnamese capital’s expatriate and local elite. Inside the gates, wide roads are flanked by luxury cars, palm trees and giant statues of Greek gods.

Across Vietnam, communities have protested against low levels of compensation given for land that has been taken for large-scale industrial and real-estate developments. “There have been protests, everywhere in the country, in the last few years,” Labbé says.

“They know how much their land is worth,” she adds, and those who lose it are “left with very few opportunities afterwards. They don’t get jobs in these projects. These new urban zones are not planned to generate very much employment besides domestic services, working as maids, which is not what most villagers are hoping for themselves or their children.” [read more]

Tod der Obersten Schildkröte

Vietnams Trauer um ein Kriechtier spiegelt die tiefen Konflikte eines Landes im Umbruch.

21.01.2016 Von Arne Perras, Singapur (SZ) - Eine Schildkröte ist tot. Und ganz Vietnam in Trauer. Ausgeprägte Tierliebe wird den Schmerz nationalen Ausmaßes kaum ausreichend erklären. Das Tier ist diese Woche in Hanoi gestorben. Alle verehrten Cu Rua, den "Urgroßvater", obgleich sich herausstellte, dass der vermeintliche alte Herr eine alte Dame war. An der Bedeutung des Seebewohners änderte das nichts.

So mächtig ist das Symbol der Schildkröte, dass ihr Tod die herrschende Kommunistische Partei in Unruhe versetzt. Es ist ungünstig, dass die Trauer um Cu Rua nun zusammenfällt mit dem KP-Kongress.

So weit ging die Sorge, dass die staatliche Zensur versuchte, die Nachricht über Cu Rua zu unterdrücken: "Um den Parteikongress jubelnd zu begrüßen, sollten Medien erst einmal nicht über den Tod der Schildkröte berichten", hieß es in einer Anweisung. Als das nicht durchzusetzen war, erhielten Reporter den Hinweis, sie sollten "wissenschaftlich" berichten. [Weiterlesen]

Le Vietnam émerge, sous le contrôle de Pékin

21.01.2016 Michel de Grandi (Les Echos) - Le Parti communiste est réuni en congrès. A l’ordre du jour: renouveler les équipes et s’adapter au TPP.

L’événement a lieu tous les cinq ans. Le Parti communiste vietnamien, réuni à Hanoï, doit d’abord désigner les nouveaux dirigeants, le Premier ministre, le secrétaire général du Parti et le président.

C’est un fait: le Congrès du PC vietnamien se déroule bel et bien sous le contrôle de la Chine. D’ailleurs, le voyage du président Xi Jinping à Hanoï début novembre a été perçu par beaucoup d’observateurs comme le sceau de Pékin sur les options du Parti vietnamien. La Chine coache les élites de son voisin.

Différends territoriaux

Ainsi, Pékin a beau être le premier partenaire commercial du Vietnam, les deux pays demeurent en conflit sur les questions territoriales en mer de Chine du Sud . Les partis communistes, chinois et vietnamien, essaient de gérer la situation et fixent des limites à ne pas dépasser. « C’est la raison pour laquelle Hanoï n’a pas emboîté le pas à Manille en déposant un dossier devant le tribunal arbitral de l’ONU car cela aurait trop envenimé les relations avec Pékin. Ce n’est pas leur intérêt », résume Sébastien Colin, chercheur au Centre d’études françaises sur la Chine contemporaine à Hong Kong. [en savoir plus]

Die Zeit der Intrigen in Hanoi

21.01.2016 Von Klaus Huhold (Wiener Zeitung) - Hanoi/Wien. Vietnam trauert um seine berühmteste Schildkröte: 120 Jahre lang hat "Cu Rua", wie das Tier auf Vietnamesisch hieß, seine Runden im Hoan-Kiem-See in der Altstadt von Hanoi gedreht - und laut Volksglauben brachte es Glück, wenn man die Schildkröte erblickte. Doch diese Woche starb sie.

"Der Tod der Schildkröte ist eine schlechte Nachricht für Vietnam", schrieb die Tageszeitung "Thanh Nien". Für manche Vietnamesen ist es kein gutes Omen, dass das Ableben der Schildkröte ausgerechnet in dieselbe Woche fällt, in der ein politisches Ereignis stattfindet, bei dem die Weichen für die Zukunft des Landes gestellt werden: Heute, Donnerstag, beginnt, ebenfalls in der Hauptstadt Hanoi, der XII. Parteikongress der Kommunistischen Partei (KP), der alle fünf Jahre stattfindet.

diesmal lassen, unter dem Schutzmantel der Anonymität, Parteimitglieder die Bevölkerung an ihren Intrigen teilhaben. Interne Memos und denunziatorische Briefe kursieren plötzlich im Netz, es wabern die Gerüchte.

Die KP hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten das Land wirtschaftlich geöffnet, ihm damit einen großen Aufschwung gebracht und die Lebenssituation vieler Bürger verbessert.  Doch der Aufschwung lässt langsam nach, und es gärt in manchen Bevölkerungsteilen. Vor allem die überall präsente Korruption -symbolisiert durch die teuren Autos der Kinder von Parteikadern - sorgt für Wut. [Weiterlesen]

Le congrès du PC s'ouvre au Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung écarté ?

21.01.2016 Par Martin Petty (Yahoo News) - HANOÏ (Reuters) - Alors que s'ouvre ce jeudi au Vietnam le XIIe congrès du Parti communiste, grand-messe qui se tient tous les cinq ans, le nom du Premier ministre Nguyen Tan Dung, artisan de la récente vague de libéralisation économique, ne semble pas devoir être promu à de nouvelles fonctions, fait inattendu qui assombrit l'horizon des réformes.

Selon plusieurs sources au sein du Parti communiste interrogées par Reuters, Nguyen Tan Dung, âgé de 66 ans, est absent des listes de nominations qui doivent être entérinées lors de ce congrès, appelé à durer une semaine.

Une mise à l'écart de Dung, estiment analystes et diplomates ayant des contacts au sein du PC, laisse penser que les conservateurs sont à la manoeuvre, car ils craignent que les ambitions du Premier ministre ne remettent en question le statu quo. [en savoir plus]

Congrès du PC: quelle ligne politique pour l'avenir du Vietnam?

21.01.2016 Frédéric Noir (RFI) - Qui dirigera le Vietnam au cours des cinq prochaines années ? C’est la question à laquelle devra répondre le 12e Congrès national du Parti communiste vietnamien, qui vient de s’ouvrir à Hanoï ce jeudi 21 janvier 2016. Il doit désigner les trois plus hauts dirigeants du pays. D'habitude, tout est conclu des mois à l'avance. Mais cette année, rien ne semble joué.

Ce grand rendez-vous est l'occasion de désigner le secrétaire général du Parti, le président et le Premier ministre. La liberté d’expression étant étroitement surveillée dans le pays, les gens se défoulent sur les réseaux sociaux, où ils n’hésitent pas à afficher leurs pronostics et à relayer des rumeurs. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam committed to more economic reforms, party chief says

21.01.2016 By Bac Pham (dpa) - Hanoi - Vietnam will continue to implement economic reforms with the goal of becoming an industrialized nation by 2020, the country's Communist Party chief said Thursday.

"Our country will ... implement new free trade agreements, and integrate in the international community at a deeper level than in the past," Nguyen Phu Trong said as the 12th national congress in Hanoi got under way.

The eight-day national congress, which is held every five years and is attended this year by 1,500 party delegates, will outline the next socio-economic plan and elect a new Central Committee.

Security was tight in Hanoi as the congress began, with 5,200 soldiers deployed throughout the city, along with helicopters, tanks and other equipment to ensure public order, according to the subcommittee in charge of security during the congress.

Outside the meeting hall, armed riot police were standing guard. Many streets were closed off and reserved for transporting delegates.

"There will be no breakthrough in this party congress because the party still keeps the old (election) system that has been the same for dozens of years," said Nguyen Minh Thuyet, a party member and former vice chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Children. [read more]

Vietnam's Communists set to reinstall conservative as chief

21.01.2016 (nzherald) - BANGKOK (AP) " In a single-party communist state one would expect the process of picking the country's new leaders to be a smooth-sailing affair with no dramas.

Not so this time. Despite the veil of secrecy that the party pulls around its inner workings, it is clear that the Communist Party's eight-day Congress set to open Thursday was the kind of political cliffhanger that would do a democracy proud, as a battle for power hinged on a last-minute procedural question.

After weeklong deliberations, the congress of 1,510 delegates will select a new set of leaders to rule Vietnam for the next five years: the president, the prime minister, the chairman of the National Assembly, and most importantly, the party's general secretary, the de-facto national leader. He is first among equals in the Politburo that runs the country as well as in the party.

No media are allowed to cover the proceedings, and in any case Vietnamese media are controlled by the government. [read more]

Mandarin gegen Kapitalist

20.01.2016 Von Arne Perras, Singapur (SZ) - Alle fünf Jahre bestimmt die Kommunistische Partei Vietnams ihre neue Führung. Das Besondere diesmal: Es steht noch nicht fest, wer den wichtigen Posten des Generalsekretärs erhält. Über ein Land an der Schwelle.

Natürlich wird dieser 12. Kongress der Kommunistischen Partei in Hanoi nicht scheitern, wie könnte er, wo die KP doch über allem steht. Alle fünf Jahre ruft die Führung Vietnams die Delegierten zur großen Versammlung zusammen. Längst haben die Funktionäre alle daran erinnert, was wieder einmal geleistet wurde: "Wenn wir auf die letzte Amtszeit zurückblicken, dann haben die ganze Partei, das Volk, die Armee die großartige nationale Einheit befördert und sich aufgemacht, die Früchte bedeutender Erfolge zu ernten." Schöner kann man es kaum sagen als Pham Cong Kham, Funktionär im Provinzkomitee aus Kieng Giang.

Früher war vorher abgekartet, wer die obersten Posten füllt. Dieses Mal allerdings ist das anders. "Das Rennen ist noch immer offen", sagt Jonathan London, Vietnam-Experte an der City University in Hongkong.

Wer immer sich durchsetzt - mit einem dramatischen Kurswechsel vietnamesischer Politik ist so oder so nicht zu rechnen. [Weiterlesen]

El partido comunista de Vietnam comenzó a debatir el nuevo liderazgo del país

20.01.2016 (télam) - A diferencia de otros congresos, en que los puestos clave estaban decididos de antemano, la incertidumbre es máxima ante las decisiones de la próxima semana, cuando el comité central elegido por 1.541 delegados, que representan a 4,5 millones afiliados, designe los principales cargos de responsabilidad del país.

El día 28 se anunciará la composición del nuevo politburó (órgano político) y el nombre del secretario general del partido, el puesto de mayor poder ejecutivo, por encima del primer ministro, y el presidente de la República.

Prácticamente todos los analistas vaticinan un duelo por el poder entre el actual secretario general, Nguyen Phu Trong, de 71 años y perteneciente al ala más conservadora y pro-China, y el primer ministro, Nguyen Tan Dung, que mañana cumple 66 años y es considerado más aperturista y próximo a Estados Unidos. [seguir leyendo]

Nationalkongress in Vietnam - Mit Handy und Sichel

20.01.2016 von Till Fähnders (FAZ) - In der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams tobt ein Kampf um Pfründe, das Verhältnis zu Amerika und die künftige Wirtschaftspolitik. Reicht das für ein demokratische Wende?

Vor Beginn des Nationalkongresses der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams sprach ein hoher Funktionär eine Warnung aus. Die Menschen sollten nicht die Gerüchte glauben, die derzeit über das Internet verbreitet würden, sagte der stellvertretende Informationsminister Truong Minh Tuan. Er meinte damit die Spekulationen über die künftige Führungsriege in Partei und Staat für die kommenden fünf Jahre.

Die Warnung bezog sich konkret auf Spekulationen über die künftige Besetzung der Posten des Parteigeneralsekretärs, des Ministerpräsidenten, des Staatspräsidenten und des Präsidenten der Nationalversammlung, die nach der jüngsten Sitzung des Zentralkomitees von vergangener Woche in den sozialen Netzwerken aufgetaucht waren. Die Gerüchte weisen darauf hin, dass hinter den Kulissen des Parteitreffens mit 1500 Delegierten ein Machtkampf tobt.

Wie auch immer der vermeintliche Machtkampf ausgeht: Weitreichende politische Reformen zu mehr Freiheit und Demokratie sind wohl auch von den „Progressiven“ nicht zu erwarten. Ein vietnamesischer Gorbatschow sei nicht in Sicht, fasste ein Diplomat vor kurzem das Geschehen zusammen. [Weiterlesen]

South China Sea dispute: Anti-Beijing protesters in Vietnam mark Battle of the Paracel Islands anniversary

19.01.2016 By James Lillywhite (IBTimes) - Dozens of anti-China protesters in Vietnam have marked the anniversary of the Battle of the Paracel Islands amid growing tension between the countries.

The demonstration on 19 January in Hanoi was to mark the 42nd anniversary of the conflict in which China took control of a cluster of around 40 islets, outcrops and reefs in the South China Sea. 74 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the conflict in 1974, and incidents have reoccurred in the area since then.

The protesters in Hanoi held signs and posters reading "the people will never forget" and chanted "down with invasive China" and "Spratly and Paracels belong to Vietnam". Well known propaganda movie actress Nguyen Thi Kim Chi was one of the protesters involved in the rally. [read more]

Viet congress will see fight for top post

19.01.2016 Nirmal Ghosh (The Straits Times) - Vietnam's five-yearly Communist Party Congress opens tomorrow with a fierce contest expected as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung challenges current party chief Nguyen Phu Trong for the top post.

Mr Trong, 71, a conservative with a reputation for being quiet and scholarly, is expected to be re-elected party general secretary, the most powerful post in the country.

Still, not many are willing to write off the popular Mr Dung, 66. He believes in increased trade and economic ties with the West to balance Vietnam's surging trade deficit with China.

The fight in the normally opaque one-party communist state has spilled over into social media. The social media chatter has drawn a warning from the deputy minister of information and communications that the public should be wary of disinformation. [read more]

Vietnam on the boil ahead of communist leadership change

19.01.2016 (Bangkok Post) - HANOI - From Soviet-style letters of denunciation to outlandish rumours of a coup, Hanoi is abuzz with political gossip ahead of a key leadership change this week that has plunged the ruling communist elite into turmoil.

Politics in authoritarian Vietnam rarely attracts public attention. The communists have run the unified country as a one-party state since decades of war ended in 1975.

But in the internet age, bitter factional infighting has transformed the customarily staid Communist Party Congress, which opens on Thursday in Hanoi, into political theatre.

Leaks and counter-leaks of internal memos, letters of denunciation and detailed responses are circulating online. State media has urged people not to read such "poison", but many have made up their own minds. [read more]

El Partido Comunista de Vietnam, entre la continuidad y la renovación

19.01.2016 (Terra) - El Partido Comunista de Vietnam inaugura mañana su decimosegundo congreso nacional en el que se disputan el poder los sectores más tradicionalistas y los partidarios de una mayor apertura y renovación.

Un total de 1.541 delegados, en representación de 4,5 millones de afiliados, participarán en las reuniones que se celebrarán del 20 al 28 de enero en Hanoi y en las que se aprobarán las políticas económicas y sociales para los próximos años y se renovará la directiva de la formación que gobierna el país.

Está previsto que en la última jornada el nuevo comité central, elegido por los congresistas, celebre su primera sesión plenaria y en ella designe el próximo politburó (órgano político) y luego elija, entre los miembros de éste, el próximo secretario general.

Los analistas tampoco esperan mejoras en el apartado de los derechos humanos y creen que proseguirán la campaña de intimidación y arresto contra la disidencia.

Reporteros sin Fronteras situó a Vietnam casi al final, en el puesto 175 de 180, en su lista de 2015 sobre la libertad de expresión en todo el mundo. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam: effervescence avant un congrès du Parti communiste à l'issue incertaine

19.01.2016 (L'Express) - Hanoï - Des lettres de dénonciation qui se multiplient, des rumeurs chaque jour plus farfelues: Hanoï est en pleine effervescence à deux jours de l'ouverture du congrès du Parti communiste, grand-messe quinquennale pour désigner les nouveaux dirigeants du Vietnam.

Dans ce pays autoritaire à parti unique, il est rare que le grand public ait accès aux arcanes politiques et tractations entre dirigeants.

Mais à l'heure d'internet, les luttes intestines qui opposent les différentes factions du Parti communiste au pouvoir depuis la fin de la guerre du Vietnam en 1975 se font jour à la veille de l'ouverture du congrès jeudi. [en savoir plus]

Vietnam Faces Last-Minute Maneuvering for Communist Party Leadership

18.01.2016 By Mike Ives (The New York Times) - On Wednesday, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is to convene its national congress, which meets every five years to select the country’s top leaders. And Mr. Dung, a charismatic prime minister who favors closer ties with the United States, is battling to succeed Nguyen Phu Trong, a conservative apparatchik looking to stay on in the party’s top job of general secretary, according to several analysts, diplomats and business leaders.

The outcome of these congresses is usually settled months in advance, but a protracted spat between factions loyal to Mr. Dung and Mr. Trong has resulted in last-minute maneuvering. Whoever comes out on top could determine the future of Vietnam’s carefully calibrated strategic balance between China, its ideological ally and main trading partner, and the United States, which the party elite increasingly considers an important counterweight against growing Chinese influence in the region. [read more]

Vietnam to pick new leaders as nation balances ties with China, U.S.

18.01.2016 (The Japan Times) - HANOI – When Vietnam starts the process of picking its new leadership this month, the Communist Party is set for a tense behind-the-scenes debate: Opt for officials who want to preserve ties with neighbor China, or for those who would steer the country closer to the United States.

The once-in-five-years political transition comes as the country finds itself balancing its Communist loyalty and economic dependence on China with increasing concern about that nation’s behavior over islands they both claim in the South China Sea. The tension has seen Vietnam gravitate toward the U.S., with the warming of military ties and Vietnam’s involvement in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.

Political jockeying in Vietnam, which occasionally spills onto the Internet as candidates disparage each other via anonymous or surrogate postings, remains largely opaque. [read more]

Weichenstellung in Vietnam

18.01.2016 Rodion Ebbighausen (DW) - In Vietnam steht der 12. Parteitag der Kommunistischen Partei an. Dort werden die Politik der nächsten Jahre und das neue Führungspersonal festgelegt. Das kann Folgen für den Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer haben.

Der Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer zwischen China und den anderen Anrainern scheint sich damit wie in den vergangenen Jahren fortzusetzen, ebenso wie die Großmachtkonkurrenz zwischen den pazifischen Mächten China und den USA.

Doch der 12. Parteitag der Kommunistischen Partei Vietnams (KPV), der vom 21.bis zum 28. Januar in Hanoi stattfindet, könnte die politische Ausrichtung eines entscheidenden Akteurs stark verändern. "Vietnam ist einer der Hauptbeteiligten in dem Konflikt und die Auseinandersetzung zwischen Vietnam und China ist das komplizierteste Element dieses Konflikts", so der Politologe Gerhard Will im Interview mit der Deutschen Welle. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam eager to capitalise on opportunities presented by TPP but ban on trade unions may need to be scrapped as part of reforms

17.01.2016 (SCMP) - Vietnam is projected to see the biggest percentage boost to the economy of any country in the TPP – about 10 per cent by 2030, mostly thanks to textiles and apparel.

After organising communist Vietnam’s first peaceful mass strike at a shoe factory, labour activist Do Thi Minh Hanh was arrested, beaten bloody by police, and jailed for four years.

Authoritarian Vietnam does not allow the millions of workers in its export-orientated factories, which are driving impressive economic growth, to form independent trade unions. But this should change with the coming into force of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a deal that has been touted as a foundation for “21st-century trade” by US President Barack Obama.

The TPP seeks to liberalise commerce in some 40 per cent of the global economy, and if ratified would oblige signatories – be they the US, Japan, Canada or Vietnam – to allow independent trade unions. But activists like Hanh say the one-party state is a long way from concretely committing to that kind of change.

“Vietnam still wants to maintain its monopoly on trade unions,” said Hanh,  [read more]

Vietnam's 'Putin' Steers Country Away From China, Toward U.S.

17.01.2016 by Eric Baculinao (NbcNews) -  BEIJING — Vietnam's prime minister, a former child messenger for the Viet Cong, has spent his 10 years in power standing up to the Chinese and steering his country closer to the U.S.

Tipped as a strong candidate to become the head of Vietnam's Communist Party at next week's National Congress, Nguyen Tan Dung has already been dubbed his country's "Putin."

"No one in Vietnam has done a Vladimir Putin, who has served as prime minister and then president," said Professor Carl Thayer, an expert on Vietnam affairs at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defense Force Academy.

Singing, folk dancing and on-stage toasting marked China and Vietnam's enduring ties at a reception in one of Beijing's luxury hotels on Tuesday. In flawless Mandarin Chinese, Vietnam's ambassador to China extolled "comradeship" during the ceremony commemorating 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two communist countries. [read more]

Who Will Lead Vietnam? The country faces a particularly difficult choice

16.01.2016 By Alexander L. Vuving (The Diplomat) - Between January 20 and 28, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is scheduled to convene its 12th national congress.

In Vietnam, it is the delegates of the National Congress who elect the Central Committee, which then elects the Party general secretary (the country’s supreme leader) and the Politburo members (the country’s collective leadership). But even the congress delegates will have very limited choices. Usually the outgoing Central Committee will select the next Party chief complete with the next Politburo, the next prime minister, the next state president, the next National Assembly chair, and the next cabinet members. The  The outgoing Central Committee also assembles a list of candidates from which the congress can form the next Central Committee. [read more]

EE UU se prepara para vender armamento a la comunista Vietnam

15.01.2016 (Mundiario) - Según informa BBC, Washington está dispuesto a vender armamento a Hanói, capital de Vietnam, a pesar de mantiene en vigor prohibiciones de suministro de armamento a los países comunistas.

EE UU se prepara para vender armamento a Hanói, capital de Vietnam, 40 años después del fin de la guerra que enfrentó a ambos países, según informa BBC, y en la que se calcula que murieron entre un millón y 5,7 millones de personas.

En la actualidad, en Hanói y pese a las reformas económicas aplicadas desde la década de 1980, sigue gobernando el Partido Comunista. Por lo que la venta de armamento por parte de Estados Unidos a un país comunista es un hecho casi inédito, tal y como apunta BBC. [seguir leyendo]

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Likely Won’t Have a Job in New Government

14.01.2016 By James Hookway (wsj) - Vietnam’s prime minister appears to have maneuvered several protégés into key leadership roles as the country’s Communist Party prepares to select a new team to run the quickly growing country, but the reform-minded Nguyen Tan Dung himself looks set to be out of a job.

The party’s conservative secretary-general will continue in his post for at least two years, people familiar with the situation said Thursday, freezing out Mr. Dung, who had been believed to be seeking the role of party chief as term limits end his time as prime minister. The incumbent, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, leads a more conservative power block which takes a more cautious approach to key issues, including market reforms and resisting China’s growing influence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. [read more]

Philippines Files Protest Against China's Test Flights In Disputed Sea

13.01.2016 (ndtv) - MANILA:  The Philippines has filed a protest against China's test flights on an artificial island in the South China Sea, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, describing the actions as "provocative" and a violation of an existing informal code.

"We formally protested on Jan. 8 the recent test flights by China to Kagitingan Reef," Charles Jose told reporters, using the local name for Fiery Cross Reef, saying the foreign ministry summoned China's embassy official to hand over the protest. [read more]

Qué busca EE.UU. al venderle armas a Vietnam, su antiguo enemigo comunista

13.01.2016 Ángel Bermúdez (BBC) - Más de 58.000 soldados de Estados Unidos perdieron la vida durante la guerra de Vietnam. Un conflicto del que Washington se retiró sin haber logrado sus objetivos y que dejó una huella imborrable en la sociedad.

40 años después del fin de esa guerra, Washington se alista para vender armamento a Hanói, donde pese a las reformas económicas aplicadas desde la década de 1980 sigue gobernando el Partido Comunista.

La venta de armamento por parte de Estados Unidos a un país comunista es un hecho casi inédito. [seguir leyendo]

Beaten up by China for going fishing

08.01.2016 By Humphrey Hawksley (BBC) -  Vietnamese fishermen say they are being attacked by China with increasing regularity. Their boats have been rammed, equipment broken and crewmen beaten up. Vietnam accuses Beijing of trying to force them out of waters in the South China Sea where their families have fished for generations.

As the breaking dawn casts a red-orange rim around the horizon of the South China Sea, Vo Van Giau kneels on the front deck of the fishing boat and locks his hands behind his head.

"That is what they made me do," he says, pushing his head hard down. "Then they beat me with steel rods and a hammer like this." He pulls a heavy wooden mallet from a bundle of fishing equipment and strikes himself softly on his shoulders and against his sides. [read more]

China: Neuer Flugplatz in umstrittenem Gebiet

08.01.2016 Johnny Erling (derStandard) - Das Flugfeld liegt auf einem Riff mitten im Südchinesischen Meer. Vietnam und die Philippinen protestieren, USA sind alarmiert Der neue Flugplatz sei "einfach toll, die Landebahn ist exzellent": Das sagte Chefpilot Hu Yueqi der Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua. - Er hatte mit seinem Airbus 319 eine besondere Premiere hinter sich gebracht: Hu brauchte knapp zwei Stunden, um von Hainans Provinzhauptstadt Haikou zur 1.400 Kilometer entfernten Insel "Yongshu-Jiao" (Fiery Cross Island) zu fliegen und dort zu landen.

Xinhua feierte den noch namenlosen Airport als "unseren südlichsten Flughafen". - Die Nachricht löste wütende Proteste vor allem in Vietnam und auf den Philippinen aus. [Weiterlesen]

Philippines urges ASEAN pressure on China for rules on disputed sea

08.01.2016 (Reuters) - Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Friday urged Southeast Asian neighbors to put pressure on China to agree on a binding code of conduct to ease tension in South China Sea following Chinese test flights to an island it has built.

Aquino said the Philippines had done everything it could to push forward discussions on the code - a set of rules setting out how claimant states should behave, and imposing sanctions on countries that violate it, aimed at preventing provocative action, the raising of tension and conflict. [read more]

Forge a united front to keep Chinese expansion in check

08.01.2016 by Brahma Chellaney (The Japan Times) - NEW DELHI – Without incurring any international cost, China belligerently continues to push its borders far out into international waters in a way that no power has done before. Its modus operandi to extend its frontiers in the South China Sea — a global trade and maritime hub — involves creating artificial islands and claiming sovereignty over them and their surrounding waters.

In the South China Sea, the speed and scale of China’s creation of islands and military infrastructure have astounded the world. According to a Pentagon report in August, China in 20 months reclaimed 17 times more land than all the other claimant-states combined over the past four decades. Yet China’s creeping invasion has been met with little international response other than rhetoric. [read more]

Vietnam condena la última prueba aérea de China en las disputadas Spratly

07.01.2016 (Terra) - El Gobierno de Vietnam condenó hoy las pruebas aéreas realizadas ayer por Pekín en unas islas del mar de China Meridional cuya soberanía reclaman varios países y conminó a las autoridades chinas a dejar de amenazar la paz y la seguridad en la región.

"Vietnam, una vez más, condena con firmeza la acción de China. Viola la soberanía de Vietnam, amenaza la paz y la estabilidad en la región y pone en peligro la seguridad y la libertad de navegación y vuelo en el mar (de China Meridional)", dijo el portavoz de Asuntos Exteriores, Le Ha Binh, en un comunicado del Ministerio.

Binh advirtió a las autoridades chinas de que Vietnam defenderá su territorio nacional e instó a Pekín a "respetar la legislación internacional y evitar las acciones que complican los contenciosos" territoriales.

Vietnam, China y Taiwán reclaman la soberanía sobre las islas Paracel o Paracelso. [seguir leyendo]

China landed more planes on a disputed South China Sea runway

07.01.2016 (Business Insider) - China on Wednesday landed two test flights on an island it has built in the South China Sea, four days after it angered Vietnam with a landing on the same runway in the disputed territory, the Xinhua state news agency said.

The two flights are likely to spark further condemnation from Vietnam, which launched a formal diplomatic protest over the weekend, and the Philippines, which said it was planning to do the same.

Both countries have claims to the area that overlap with that of China, which claims almost the whole of the South China Sea.

Xinhua said the two planes landed on an artificial island in the Spratly Islands on Wednesday morning. [read more]

South China Sea: Vietnamese fishermen attacked by Chinese ships

05.01.2016 by Paul N. Hung (AsiaNews) -  "In 2015, in a single year, tens of thousands of fishing families have been victim 'red empire' attacked by para-military vessels flying the flag of China. They have threatened and used violence against Vietnamese fishermen. They have an inhuman and aggressive attitude within the territorial waters of Vietnam", denounce associations and groups of fishermen to AsiaNews. They complain of ongoing violence and abuse at the hands of ships, boats and vessels registered to Beijing, which ply the waters of the South China Sea.

The Chinese government wants to control this disputed territory, - to the detriment of Vietnam, the Philippines and other nations in the region – for its exclusive economic and commercial use.

The last case dates back to the first day of 2016, when the Vietnamese vessel NGQ TS 98459, based in Quang Ngãi province was hit and sunk by a vessel flying the Chinese flag. The incident occurred near the CO Island, less than 40 miles (70 km) from the Vietnamese coast. [read more]

Philippines joins Vietnam in opposing China’s island runway test

04.01.2016 (Japan Times) - MANILA – The Philippine government said Monday that like Vietnam it opposes China’s recent test of a newly completed runway on one of seven islands Beijing has constructed in the disputed South China Sea.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the government was considering protesting China’s action, as Vietnam did, adding that the test at Fiery Cross Reef “adds to tension and uncertainties in the region.”

Vietnam last week protested the test, saying it violated Hanoi’s sovereignty, and demanded that China stop such actions. China rejected Hanoi’s protest and will likely dismiss Manila’s concerns as well. [read more]

Im Südchinesischen Meer droht ein Streit zu eskalieren, der schon fast in Vergessenheit geraten war

03.01.2016 von Elisabeth Kagermeier (The Huffington Post) - Es ist ein lang andauernder Streit, der nun erneut hochkocht: Vietnam wirft China vor, seine Souveränität als Staat verletzt zu haben. Der Auslöser: Die Chinesen landeten erstmals mit einem Flugzeug auf den künstlichen Spratly-Inseln. Auf dieses Gebiet im Südchinesischen Meer erheben sowohl China als auch Vietnam Anspruch.

Die Inseln, die als Flugplätze dienen, wurden von den Chinesen erbaut bzw. vergrößert. China ist der Meinung, dass die gesamte Lagune am Fiery Cross Reef, die etwa 105 Quadratkilometer misst, und fast das ganze restliche Südchinesische Meer unter ihr Herrschaftsgebiet fällt. Das Riff liegt größtenteils unter Wasser, nur fünf Quadratmeter Felsen ragen insgesamt aus dem Wasser.

Mehrer Nationen stellen den Anspruch der Chinesen in Frage. Die chinesische Regierung war sich aber keiner Schuld bewusst und gab offen zu, dass sie mit einem Zivilflugzeug die Landebahn testeten. Der Testflug sei auf chinesischem Territorium durchgeführt worden und China werde die unbegründeten Anschuldigungen von vietnamesischer Seite nicht akzeptieren, heißt es aus Peking. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam nennt Landebahn "illegal"China provoziert mit Flug zu künstlicher Insel

03.01.2016 (n-tv) - Mit der Landung eines Flugzeugs auf den umstrittenen Spratly-Inseln im Südchinesischen Meer hat China den Konflikt mit Vietnam erneut angeheizt. Peking wies Kritik aus Hanoi zurück, nachdem ein chinesisches Flugzeug auf einem Atoll der Inseln, dem Fiery Cross Reef, gelandet war. Dabei habe es sich lediglich um einen "zivilen Testflug" gehandelt, erklärte eine Sprecherin des chinesischen Außenministeriums. Die Aktion habe innerhalb von chinesischem Territorium stattgefunden, hieß es weiter.

Das philippinische Außenministerium kündigte ebenfalls an, sich bei China über den jüngsten Vorfall zu beschweren. Unterdessen kehrte eine Gruppe von knapp 50 jungen Philippinern von der Insel Pag-asa zurück. Diese wird von den Philippinen gehalten, gehört aber ebenfalls zu den umstrittenen Spratly-Inseln. Die Gruppe hatte dort eine Woche lang gegen Chinas Ambitionen auf den größten Teil des Südchinesischen Meeres protestiert. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam y China se enzarzan en una nueva disputa por la soberanía de las islas Spratly

03.01.2016 (El Mundo) - El conflicto sobre la jurisdicción de los islotes que salpican el archipiélago de las Spratly en el mar de China Meridional ya ha sumado su primer capítulo del año. Ayer, Vietnam acusó formalmente a China de haber violado su soberanía nacional cuando un avión chino aterrizó sobre una de las islas artificiales que Pekín ha construido en la zona disputada entre ambos, una denuncia que el gigante asiático rechazó alegando que ese terreno es parte de su territorio.

El incidente se produjo este sábado cuando un avión civil chino aterrizó en el arrecife Fiery Cross, lo que provocó la agria reacción de las autoridades vietnamitas. El portavoz del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Le Hai Binh, declaró que la pista de aterrizaje empleada en la maniobra había sido "construida ilegalmente" y que ese territorio es "parte de las Spratly de Vietnam", por lo que remitió una nota de protesta a la embajada china en la que solicitaban que no se repita esta acción. [seguir leyendo]

Umstrittener Inselausbau: Vietnam erbost über chinesischen Testflug auf die Spratlys

03.01.2016 (Spiegel-Online) - Erstmals ist ein chinesisches Flugzeug auf den Spratly-Inseln gelandet. Auf das Gebiet im südchinesischen Meer erheben einige Staaten Anspruch, prompt verschärften sich die Spannungen zwischen China und Vietnam.

Schon lange beobachtet und kritisiert Vietnam die chinesische Landgewinnung im südchinesischen Meer, zwischen den Anrainern bestehen große Spannungen. Nun ist erstmals eine chinesische Maschine auf dem Flugfeld des dortigen Fiery Cross Reefs gelandet - für einen Testflug. Und Vietnam protestierte umgehend. [Weiterlesen]

China ya utiliza como aeródromo la isla artificial creada en aguas disputadas

03.01.2016 (Terra) - Un avión civil chino aterrizó por primera vez en el arrecife Yongshu Jiao (Fiery Cross) de las disputadas islas Spratly, donde China ha construido una isla artificial pese a las protestas de países como Vietnam, Filipinas y Estados Unidos.

Las disputas entre China y sus vecinos por la soberanía de islas del Mar de China Meridional, como las Spratly o las Paracel, han aumentado en los últimos años, coincidiendo con una mayor intervención de EEUU en un conflicto con décadas de historia en aguas que se cree tienen grandes recursos petrolíferos. [seguir leyendo]