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VN News (May 21, 1997)
May 21: Vietnamese premier's Polish visit centres on economic issues
May 21: Troubled Pacific Airlines cancels Vietnam-Macau route
May 21: All eight sentenced to death in Vietnam's biggest drugs trial
May 21: Thai navy ships call in Vietnam port in new maritime cooperation
May 21: Vietnam's army moves in to clear out illegal slave gold mines
May 21: Internet - The Yahoo Of Vietnam
May 21: Vietnam President Invites Russia's Yeltsin For State Visit
May 20: Saigon Times Daily Articles
May 20: Vietnam Newspaper Highlights - May 20, 1997
May 20: S'pore and Vietnam: Different paths, same aims
May 20: U.N. Hopes To Return Vietnam Refugees Before HK Handover
May 20: Japanese, Vietnamese arrested for shipping stolen Harleys to ...
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
Vietnamese premier's Polish visit centres on economic issues
WARSAW (AFP) - Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet
began a two-day visit to Poland Tuesday concentrating on economic
cooperation and trade between the two countries.<P>He started with talks
with his Polish counterpart Wlodzimierz
Cimoszewicz which would be followed Wednesday by a meeting with
businessmen and parliamentary leaders, and a visit to the Hortex
agricultural plant at Gora Kalwaria.<p>
Trade between Poland and Vietnam amounted to 64.8 million
dollars in 1996 and was slightly in Vietnam's favour. Poland
imported Vietnamese goods, including food products, furniture and
carpets, worth 39.4 million dollars, while exporting items such as
medicines, powdered milk and chemical products worth 25.4 million.<P>Poland
is the first step of a European tour by the Vietnamese
premier which will also take him to the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Officials accompanying him include ministers responsible for
finance, investment, trade, technology and the environment.
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
Troubled Pacific Airlines cancels Vietnam-Macau route
HO CHI MINH CITY (AFP) - Vietnam's Pacific Airlines has
cancelled its Macau-Ho Chi Minh City flights because of
difficulties obtaining aircraft a company executive said Wednesday.
<p>
Duong Nguyen, general director of Pacific Airlines told AFP that
"we are having some difficulties and stopped operating the flight."
<P>Pacific cancelled the twice weekly service last week after the
contract for the wet-lease of two Boeing 737s with Swiss-based TEA
International ended.
<P>The airline, whose majority shareholder is state-owned Vietnam
Airlines, is now reduced to a fleet of just one jet, a Boeing 727
wet-leased from General Innovation of Singapore.
<P>According to one source, the entire TEA team closed up their
Vietnam representative office and flew back to Switzerland earlier
this week.
<P>The Macau-Ho Chi Minh City service was launched just six months
ago, and included a stopover in the coastal city of Danang.
<P>Pacific Airlines is currently exploring other options for
aircraft, and is having discussions with executives from McDonnell
Douglas who are visiting Ho Chi Minh City this week.
<P>However they said not to expect any deals in the near future as
Pacific Airways is undergoing some tough times.
<P>"Things are a bit up in the air for them at the moment," said
McDonnell Douglas director of sales and marketing for Taiwan and
Southeast Asia, James Mumy.
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
All eight sentenced to death in Vietnam's biggest drugs trial
HANOI (AFP) - All eight people sentenced to death last
week in Vietnam's biggest ever drugs trial have appealed their
sentences, a court official said Wednesday.
<p>
Among them is Vu Xuan Truong, a former captain of the anti-crime
unit of the Interior Ministry who helped mastermind a sophisticated
drug smuggling syndicate and had asked during the trial for his
"speedy execution".
<P>Seven out of eight other people sentenced to life in prison for
heroin trafficking also appealed their sentence. A Laotian, Sieng
Kham Chan, who received a life sentence for trafficking 81.2
kilograms (180 pounds) of heroin into Vietnam did not appeal, the
Hanoi People's Court official said.
<P>In all 18 out of 22 people sentenced at the end of the trial
appealed their sentence, a week before their legal right to do so
expires.
<P>The 22 defendants went on a high-profile trial staged between
May 2-14 for their part in the heroin trafficking syndicate
believed to have smuggled 414 kilograms (980 pounds) of heroin into
Vietnam since 1992.
<P>Under a new law passed earlier this month by Vietnam's National
Assembly conviction for possession or trafficking of at least 100
grams, (3.5 ounces) of heroin is punishable by death, replacing a
previous law with a one kilogram (2.2 pound) minimum.
<P>According to the Thanh Nien newspaper Wednesday, the appeal
trial is scheduled to be held in mid-June. But the court official
could not confirm this date.
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
Thai navy ships call in Vietnam port in new maritime cooperation
Hanoi (dpa) - Two Royal Thai Navy ships arrived in Vietnam's southern
Ho Chi Minh City port Wednesday afternoon in another sign of improved
maritime relations between the two countries, officials said.
<P>Details of how to organize joint sea patrols in disputed waters -which
were agreed to in principle last year - are expected to figure
prominently in discussions during the three-day visit, they said.
<p>
Rear Admiral Suthee Buranasin, deputy commander of the Thai Navy's
First Fleet, will lead a delegation to call on various Vietnamese
officials.
<P>These include the deputy commander of Vietnam's Southern Region Navy
and the deputy commander of the Southern Region Border Guard Force,
according to a local press report.
<P>Naval officiers from both countries exchange visits last year but this
is the first time naval vessels have called at the others'ports.
<P>A Thai destroyer and a patrol boat docked at the Khan Hoi port shortly
after lunch, a Thai official in the consulate said.
<P>The Thai delegation will also call on acting chairman of the Ho Chi
Minh City People's Committee, Vo Viet Thanh, effectively the city's
mayor, they added.
<P>A friendly volleyball match between officers of the two navies is
planned for Friday, a local paper reported.
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
Vietnam's army moves in to clear out illegal slave gold mines
Hanoi (dpa) - Vietnamese army units have busted up several illegal
gold mines where gang leaders had virtually enslaved more than 500
labourers, officials said Wednesday.
<P>Five gangleaders, who threatened to shoot dead anyone trying to escape
the remote mining camps, have been turned over to police in central
Quang Nam province.
<p>
Most of the illegal mines have been in operation since a gold rush was
sparked in 1990 when a peasant reportedly stumbled upon a one kilogram
gold rock while plowing his fields.
<P>Since then mines have sprung up in at least 12 sites in the
mountainous Hien district close to the border of Laos.
<P>Provicial officials ordered the raid by army border guards, which took
place over three days earlier this week, because there were increasing
reports of problems there.
<P>``Prostitution and gambling and even killings and robberies were rife
here and that's why provincial authorities forcefully ordered the heavy
crackdown on the illegal operations,'' Hien district police officer
Nguyen Huu Trung said by telephone.
<P>The mines were too small to attract mining companies but to indvidual
miners they were ``rice and clothes,'' Trung explained.
<P>The miners were mostly residents of dirt-poor northern-central
provinces such as Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Thai Binh, who were paid
between 10 and 20 dollars a month for working more than 10 hours a day.
<P>``People were threatened they would be killed if they tried to
escape,'' said Trung, who added he had no idea what the possible
punishment could be for the gangleaders, who apparently had not actually
killed anyone.
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
Internet - The Yahoo Of Vietnam
<br>Newsbytes News Network
<br>(c) Copyright 1997 Newsbytes News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
<p>
TOKYO, JAPAN (NB) -- VietGate says it is the "definitive
guide to all things Vietnamese and on the Net," and wants to be known as
the "Yahoo" for Vietnam. The site has a Yellow Pages, but limited to
Vietnamese related business in the United States, not Vietnam, plus a
section detailing the various mailing lists on the Internet associated
with the country and its culture. There is also details of software for
getting Vietnamese fonts on American computer systems and an online
software archive.<P>World Wide Web: http://www.viet.net<p>
New resources and services on the global Internet are rounded-up and
presented in "Internet Update" everyday on Newsbytes.
Wednesday - May 21, 1997
Vietnam President Invites Russia's Yeltsin For State Visit
Hanoi (AP) -- In an attempt to rebuild lagging relations with its former
communist benefactor, Vietnam has invited Russian President Boris Yeltsin
for a formal state visit, official media reported Wednesday.</p>
<p>Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh extended the invitation to Yeltsin in a
bid to rekindle a close Cold War-era friendship between Moscow and Hanoi.</p>
<p>'President Le Duc Anh stressed his wish to expand and strengthen the
traditional relations and diversify cooperation between Vietnam and Russia,'
the Communist Party's newspaper The People reported.</p>
<p>The move comes as Vietnam looks to its former Eastern European allies for
help. Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet on Tuesday began a week-long tour of three
countries in the former Eastern Bloc.</p>
<p>Kiet is spending a full week focusing on rebuilding ties with Poland, the
Czech Republic and Hungary.</p>
<p>The Vietnamese government is interested in reestablishing relations with
its former allies in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. After the collapse
of communism in Europe, ties with Marxist-Leninist Vietnam were all but
forgotten.</p>
<p>Vietnam was heavily dependent on military and development aid from the
Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies in the 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<p>The People on Wednesday carried a front-page report saying Yeltsin has
'warmly welcomed' Anh's invitation.</p>
<p>'President Yeltsin considered this evidence of the traditionally good and
friendly relations between the two countries,' The People said.</p>
<p>The report did not say whether Yeltsin had accepted the invitation.</p>
<p>Although Russia has abandoned communism, Vietnam still considers Moscow
an old friend. The former Soviet Union served as Vietnam's role model at a
time when communist China was asserting its Maoist interpretation of
socialism.</p>
<p>Russia still views Vietnam as a potential investment partner and hopes to
expand political and economic ties based on commercial relations rather than
ideological bonds.
Tuesday - May 20, 1997
Vietnam Newspaper Highlights - May 20, 1997
Hanoi (VNA) - Highlights of Vietnam's daily newspapers today:
<P>NHAN DAN:<p>
1. Addressing the opening ceremony of the 8th <B>Vietnamese </B>
Women's Conference in Hanoi yesterday, Party General Secretary Do Muoi
says women need to get 'fair share' socio-economic development.
<P>2. Vietnam's Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and his wife today
lead a multi-ministerial delegation on visits to the Republics of
Poland, Czech, Italy and Hungary.
<p>HANOI MOI:<P>
1. The Vietnam Ministry of Education and training has
issued new regulations on the selection of students who wish to stud
higher education in Japan.
<p>VIETNAM NEWS:<P>
1. Japanese investors have started their 10th investment
project in the Bien Hoa Industrial Park.<P>
2. A new industrial park in Thu Duc district has been
approved by the Prime Minister.
Tuesday - May 20, 1997
S'pore and Vietnam: Different paths, same aims
By Chua Lee Hoong <br>
Singapore Straits Times
<p>
Hanoi -- Singapore and Vietnam took different paths to independence
but their basic aims were similar -- to look after their people's
welfare and to assert their integrity as independent nations.
<p>
Making this point yesterday on the first leg of the Young People's
Action Party goodwill trip to Vietnam, Brigadier-General George
Yeo noted that Singapore had been staunchly anti-communist in
the past, and it was thus historically significant for the two
countries to come together in friendship and goodwill.
<p>
In the future, he said, the two countries' paths would converge
more as they became more interdependent economically.
<p>
Noting that Vietnam was now a member of the Asean regional
grouping, he said that while an enlarged Asean would give it
greater bargaining strength against world powers, political
interests alone were not enough to keep member states together:
There must be joint economic interests as well.
<p>
"If it's only politics, we will not hold together. Therefore, there is
a need for economic interdependence," he said.
<p>
The Information and Arts Minister and Young PAP chairman,
made the point during a courtesy call on Vietnamese Politburo
member, Mr Nguyen Tan Dung.
<p>
Accompanied by a 40-strong delegation from the Young Pap and
the Youth Activists of the National Trades Union Congress, BG
Yeo arrived in this northern city of three million people after two
plane flights from Singapore.
<p>
His fourth visit to Vietnam since 1992, he said that not many
Singaporeans realised that it was nearer to fly from Singapore to
Ho Chi Minh City than from the latter to Hanoi.
<p>
As the sun beat down on the bustling city, and temperatures
soared to 37 deg C, BG Yeo also paid courtesy calls on Mr Tran
Luu Hai, National Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist
Youth Union, and Mr Ha Quang Du, the Minister for Sports and
Youth.
<p>
Mr Du was in Singapore two years ago to sign a memorandum of
understanding on youth co-operation with the Republic.
<p>
He told Mr Du : "Although politically and ideologically we were
different for many years, historically we are neighbours in
Southeast Asia. We sense this immediately when we landed in
Vietnam -- the sights, the food remind us of home."
<p>
He added that since economic co-operation between Singapore
and Vietnam was firmly entrenched, the two countries could
expand ties in sports and cultural areas.
<p>
Singapore is the largest investor in Vietnam, with some $6.6
billion in capitalised value of investments. In Hanoi itself, there
are about 50 to 70 Singaporean businessmen stationed here.
<p>
Yesterday, marked the 107th anniversary of the birth of
revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh who led Vietnam to
independence against the French.
<p>
Parks and lakes were lighted up for the occasion while red
banners fluttered above the main thoroughfares in central Hanoi.
<p>
Congratulating his Vietnamese hosts on the occasion, BG Yeo
said: "You have our deepest admiration. History has not always
been kind to you but you have shown indomitable spirit."
<p>
The delegation continues its stay in Hanoi today.
U.N. Hopes To Return Vietnam Refugees Before HK Handover
GENEVA -- The United Nations is searching for countries prepared to take in
hundreds of Vietnamese boat people from Hong Kong before the British colony
is handed over to China on July 1, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Pam O'Toole, of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said
it might be difficult to meet the deadline.</p>
<p>Of the boat people in Hong Kong, 1,300 are recognized as refugees, but
UNHCR has been unable to find countries willing to take them, as some have
criminal records.</p>
<p>O'Toole said the refugee agency was planning a conference in Geneva May
26 to try to find homes for the 260 'most deserving.'</p>
<p>There are 3,300 boat people still in Hong Kong - out of a total 214,000
who fled there in rickety boats after Communists consolidated their hold
over Vietnam in 1975.</p>
<p>The remaining 2,000 boat people are classed as economic migrants. Vietnam
is balking at accepting all of them - saying that several hundred are not
Vietnamese.
Tuesday - May 20, 1997
Japanese, Vietnamese arrested for shipping stolen Harleys to ...
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese police have arrested a Japanese
motorcycle shop owner and a Vietnamese garbage collector suspected
of stealing Harley Davidson motorcycles and shipping them to Hong
Kong, news reports said Tuesday.
<p>
The reports said Shinichi Oto, 33, was arrested after police
raided his shop north of Tokyo and seized up to six stolen bikes
including a Harley allegedly bought from 30-year-old Nguyen Tai
Ngau, who was also arrested.
<P>Between 140 and 150 license plates were also seized from the
shop, the reports said, adding another three Harley Davidsons and
30 other bikes stolen in Tokyo had recently resurfaced in Hong Kong.
<P>The reports, carried by Kyodo News and the evening edition of
the Yomiuri Shimbun, said some 35 Harleys worth 46 million yen
(400,000 dollars) had been reported stolen in Tokyo since the start
of the year.
<P>Police in Saitama prefecture, where the bike shop is located,
confirmed an investigation was under way but said details were not
available as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was in
charge. But a spokesman for the Tokyo police department said he was
unable to comment on the case.
<P>In February, police arrested a 48-year-old Hong Kong man
suspected of stealing a Mercedes Benz and other luxury cars for
shipment to Hong Kong.
<P>Hong Kong police later arrested a 29-year-old man after seizing
20 vehicles believed to have been stolen in Japan. Investigators
said another five men had been arrested in connection with 54 cars
stolen in Japan.
<P>Among Japanese victims of the car thefts have been several local
celebrities including actor Ken Takakura and singer Joji Yamamoto.