Category Archives: Vietnam

Trump-Kim summit proves to be more of a remake than a sequel

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Like most theatrical reboots, the strain in keeping things the same in Vietnam highlighted the small way things changed

Donald Trump vowed that his second meeting with Kim Jong-un would be at least the equal of the first and his Vietnamese hosts tried their utmost to make that happen.

In Hanoi on Wednesday evening, every effort was made in recreating the circumstances and ambience of Singapore, scene last June of the historic first meeting between an incumbent US president and a North Korea leader.

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Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meet for second time – video

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The leaders of the US and North Korea meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, at the start of the second nuclear summit. The pair, who looked pleased to see each other as they shook hands, were to hold a brief discussion on Wednesday before full meetings on Thursday

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Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam: what is on the table?

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From the easing of sanctions to denuclearisation and ending the Korean war, there’s a lot to play for in Hanoi

Donald Trump has said that when he meets Kim Jong-un in Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel on Wednesday evening, the potential for a deal is “awesome”.

Few would argue with that. A move to limit the North Korean arsenal and begin to re-integrate the country back into the international community, would be a significant step away from the brink of nuclear war.

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Kim Jong-un arrives in Hanoi for Vietnam summit with Donald Trump

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North Korean leader to meet US president on Wednesday for dinner after three-day overland trip

Kim Jong-un has arrived in Hanoi, after transferring from train to car for the final leg of his overland trip to Vietnam where the North Korean leader is scheduled to have a private dinner and meeting with Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Kim will meet the US president for a brief one-on-one conversation, followed by a social dinner, at which they will each be accompanied by two guests and interpreters, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

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US negotiating position in disarray ahead of summit with North Korea

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Trump says he would be happy if rogue state continues with nuclear testing ban, handing diplomatic initiative to Kim Jong-un

Donald Trump has said the US will be “happy” if North Korea simply agrees to continue its moratorium on nuclear and missile testing at this week’s summit in Hanoi.

The US president’s remarks on Sunday night represented a lowering of already modest expectations for his second meeting with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, due to begin on Wednesday.

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Workers making clothes for Australian brands can’t afford to eat, Oxfam reports

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Women in Bangladesh and Vietnam working for Big W, Kmart, Target and Cotton On earning 51 cents an hour

Women in Bangladesh and Vietnam making clothes for the $23bn Australian fashion industry are going hungry because of wages as low as 51 cents an hour, an Oxfam report has found.

The aid group interviewed 470 garment workers employed at factories supplying brands such as Big W, Kmart, Target and Cotton On, and found 100% of surveyed workers in Bangladesh and 74% in Vietnam could not make ends meet.

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Vietnam threatens to deport Trump and Kim impersonators before ‘sensitive’ summit

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Authorities unhappy with pair walking the streets of Hanoi and causing a ‘disturbance’

Vietnamese authorities were not amused when an impersonator of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, wandered the streets of Hanoi on Friday, just days before the second summit between Kim Jong-un and the US president, Donald Trump.

Howard X, an Australian, said Vietnamese authorities questioned him and another impersonator dressed as Trump and warned them they could be deported after they had taped an interview at a local TV station. The interview was not aired.

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‘Napalm girl’ Kim Phuc receives German prize for peace work

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Activist honoured decades after she was photographed fleeing naked in Vietnam war

Kim Phuc, known as the “napalm girl” after a well-known photo of her from the Vietnam war, has received an award in Germany for her work for peace.

Organisers of the Dresden prize say the 55-year-old, who lives in Canada, is being honoured for her support of Unesco and children wounded in war, and for speaking out against violence and hatred. She received €10,000 (£8,800).

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Tiger poachers arrested by Thai police were part of Vietnamese gang

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Police investigating discovery of animal’s remains warn of organised crime threat to Thailand’s tiger population

Thai authorities investigating the discovery of the remains of a wild tiger in a taxi have warned that organised crime gangs are behind the capture and slaughter of Thailand’s endangered tiger population.

Police, acting on a tip-off from a cab driver, arrested two men suspected of being members of a Vietnam-based syndicate involved in the trafficking of animal parts. The tiger was found in their luggage along with mobile phones containing photographs of the animal being killed.

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‘Redefine the skyline’: how Ho Chi Minh City is erasing its heritage

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The next 15 megacities #7: More than a third of the Vietnamese city’s historic buildings have been destroyed over the past 20 years. Can it learn from mistakes made by other fast-growing Asian cities before it is too late?

“People don’t realise what they’ve lost,” says Candy Nguyen as she peers through the locked gates of what was until recently the historic Ba Son shipyard. “Many don’t even know what was here before.”

Ho Chi Minh City’s oldest and most important maritime heritage site is hidden from the street by high blue hoardings peppered with slogans such as “Never still” and “Redefine the skylines”.

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Women raped by Korean soldiers during Vietnam war still awaiting apology

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Campaign group urges recognition for women affected by sexual violence of Korean troops and the children born as a result

Tran Thi Ngai was 24 and alone at home in her village in Vietnam’s Phu Yen province when a South Korean soldier forced his way into the house and raped her.

“He pulled me inside the room, closed the door and raped me repeatedly. He had a gun on his body and I was terrified,” said Tran, now almost 80, and still waiting for South Korea to acknowledge sexual violence by its soldiers during the Vietnam war.

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Vietnam criticised for ‘totalitarian’ law banning online criticism of government

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Law forces internet providers to censor content deemed ‘toxic’ by the ruling communist government and hand over user data

Vietnam has introduced a new cybersecurity law, which criminalises criticising the government online and forces internet providers to give authorities’ user data when requested, sparking claims of a “totalitarian” crackdown on dissent.

The law, which mirrors China’s draconian internet rules, came into effect on 1 January and forces internet providers to censor content deemed “toxic” by the ruling communist government. Vietnam’s ministry of public security said it will tackle “hostile and reactionary forces”, but human rights groups said it was authorities’ latest method of silencing free speech.

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Mattis pushes closer ties to Vietnam amid tension with China

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By making a rare second trip this year to Vietnam, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is signaling how intensively the Trump administration is trying to counter China's military assertiveness by cozying up to smaller nations in the region that share American wariness about Chinese intentions. The visit beginning Tuesday also shows how far U.S.-Vietnamese relations have advanced since the tumultuous years of the Vietnam War.

Commentary: Facebook damages freedom of expression in Vietnam

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Last year, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: "Our job at Facebook is to help people make the greatest positive impact while mitigating areas where technology and social media can contribute to divisiveness and isolation." As a Vietnamese musical artist who grew up in a totalitarian society, I can attest to the positive impact Facebook can make.

McCain & American Century struggle to survive

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In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington. A possible U.S. Senate vacancy in Arizona would be temporarily filled by a Republican appointee in the event of the death of Sen. John McCain, who is battling cancer, but it's unclear whether an election would be held in November or 2020.

On this Memorial Day, remember the trauma of 50 years ago

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Senator Robert Kennedy & wife Ethel standing at podium, addressing his constituents & the press at the Ambassador Hotel after his CA primary election victory and just prior to his assassination. In this April 28, 1965 file photo, U.S. Marine infantry stream into a suspected Viet Cong village near Da Nang in Vietnam during the Vietnamese war.

This day in history, March 8, 2018

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On March 8, 1965, the United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang. In 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry made his second landing in Japan; within a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese.