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VNSA-L digest 290
VNSA-L Digest 290
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Ba'o VN: Tra` Giang ta.i LH Phim DDo^ng Nam A' I
by AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>
2) Ba'o VN: Thi HS Gio?i Quo^'c Gia 96-97
by AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>
3) Ba'o VN: Tua^`n dda^`u tie^n gia?i VD Bo'ng DDa' VN
by AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>
4) Math problems
by Quang Le Minh <n1465236@student.fit.qut.edu.au>
5) VN News (mar. 19-20, 1997)
by Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic No. 1
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 14:49:23 -0800 (PST)
From: AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>
To: vnsa-l@csd.uwm.edu
Subject: Ba'o VN: Tra` Giang ta.i LH Phim DDo^ng Nam A' I
Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.3.91.970320144752.1846Q-100000@peony.cs.washington.edu>
NSND Tra` Giang ddu+o+.c mo+`i va`o BGK LHP Ddo^ng Nam a' la^`n thu+' I.
V.V
Ba'o Sa`i Go`n gia?i pho'ng So^' 7068 (14/3/1997)
LHP Ddo^ng Nam a' la^`n thu+' nha^'t se~ ddu+o+.c to^? chu+'c ta.i Phno^m
Pe^nh (Campuchia) tu+` nga`y 29.3 dde^'n 5.4 vo+'i su+. tham gia cu?a
khoa?ng 12 nu+o+'c. Ddoa`n dda.i bie^?u Vie^.t Nam co' 5 ngu+o+`i la` ca'c
die^~n vie^n Tra` Giang, Le^ Va^n, Thuy' Hu+o+`ng, nha` quay phim Nguye^~n
Hu+~u Tua^'n, nha` ba'o Ddinh Tro.ng Tua^'n (ta.p chi' Nghe^. thua^.t thu+'
ba?y).
Dda(.c bie^.t Tra` Giang ddu+o+.c mo+`i va`o BGK LHP. Die^~n vie^n ddie^.n
a?nh no^?i tie^'ng cu?a Pha'p Alain Delon cu~ng se~ co' ma(.t ta.i LH va` se~
mang theo mo^.t so^' phim anh tham gia die^~n xua^'t.
------------------------------
Topic No. 2
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 14:50:51 -0800 (PST)
From: AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>
To: vnsa-l@csd.uwm.edu
Subject: Ba'o VN: Thi HS Gio?i Quo^'c Gia 96-97
Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.3.91.970320144928.1846R-100000@peony.cs.washington.edu>
215 ho.c sinh tha`nh pho^' du+. ky` thi ho.c sinh gio?i quo^'c gia na(m ho.c
96 - 97
K.P
Sa`i Go`n gia?i pho'ng So^' 7068 (14/3/1997)
(SGGP) - Trong hai nga`y 14 va` 15/3, ta.i Tru+o+`ng PTTH chuye^n Le^ Ho^`ng
Phong, 215 ho.c sinh tha`nh pho^' tham du+. ky` thi ho.c sinh gio?i quo^'c
gia na(m ho.c 1996 - 1997. Ho.c sinh tie^?u ho.c thi 2 mo^n va(n va` toa'n ;
ho.c sinh THCS thi ca'c mo^n : va(n, toa'n, ly', Anh, Pha'p ; ho.c sinh PTTH
thi mo^n : va(n, toa'n, ly',hoa', sinh, su+?, Anh, Pha'p, tin ho.c. Dda^y la`
na(m dda^`u tie^n Bo^. GD-DdT ddu+a mo^n li.ch su+? va`o ky` thi ho.c sinh
gio?i quo^'c gia (tha`nh pho^' co' 10 ho.c sinh lo+'p 12 du+. thi).
So vo+'i na(m ho.c tru+o+'c, so^' thi' sinh du+. thi na(m nay ddo^ng ho+n
ra^'t nhie^`u. Lo+'p na(ng khie^'u cu?a Dda.i ho.c Quo^'c gia cu~ng co' 10
thi' sinh du+. thi mo^n toa'n va` 15 thi' sinh thi mo^n tin ho.c. Gia'm thi.
ho^.i ddo^`ng thi, ngoa`i gia'o vie^n cu?a tha`nh pho^' co`n co' gia'o vie^n
ca'c ti?nh Thu+`a Thie^n - Hue va` An Giang.
------------------------------
Topic No. 3
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 14:52:06 -0800 (PST)
From: AnHai Doan <anhai@cs.washington.edu>
To: vnsa-l@csd.uwm.edu
Subject: Ba'o VN: Tua^`n dda^`u tie^n gia?i VD Bo'ng DDa' VN
Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.3.91.970320145055.1846S-100000@peony.cs.washington.edu>
So^? Tay
Ghi nha^.n qua tua^`n thi dda^'u dda^`u tie^n Gia?i vo^ ddi.ch bo'ng dda'
ha.ng nha^'t VN
Quang Tuye^'n
Ba'o Thanh nie^n So^' 42 (15/3/1997)
12 tra^.n mo+? dda^`u cu?a Gia?i vo^ ddi.ch ca'c ddo^.i ha.ng nha^'t quo^'c
gia mu`a na`y dda~ tro^i qua. Nhie^`u tra^.n kho^ng ta.o ddu+o+.c su+'c hu't
cu?a ngu+o+`i xem bo+?i cha^'t lu+o+.ng chuye^n mo^n tha^'p ; song dda~ co'
nhu+~ng va^'n dde^` lo+'n ddo`i ho?i BTC pha?i co' bie^.n pha'p cu?ng co^'
va` xu+? ly' sao cho thi'ch dda'ng. Tru+o+'c he^'t la` tra^.n ba.o lu+.c
tre^n sa^n Co^.t Co+` (Ha` No^.i) chie^`u 12/3 ddu+o+.c truye^`n hi`nh tru+.c
tie^'p dde^'n ha`ng trie^.u kha'n gia?. Dda~ co' 2 the? ddo? cho CAHN va`
ha`ng loa.t lo^~i tho^ ba.o kha'c cu?a ca? 2 ddo^.i vo+'i 3 the? va`ng nu+~a.
2 the? ddo? cho CAHN la` hoa`n toa`n ddu'ng dda('n khi Ddu+'c Thi.nh (17)
bo? bo'ng dda.p va`o ngu+o+`i Dda(.ng Phu+o+ng Nam, va` Tie^'n Du~ng (5)
du`ng cu`i cho? dda'nh te't ni' ma('t ca^`u thu? To^ Va(n An cu?a CLBQDd.
Ha`nh ddo^.ng sau ddo' cu?a 2 ca^`u thu? na`y co`n dda'ng phe^ pha'n ho+n khi
Ddu+'c Thi.nh vu+`a bu+o+'c ra kho?i sa^n dda~ ngang nhie^n co+?i a'o va('t
le^n vai. Dda~ the^', ca^`u thu? Tie^'n Du~ng co`n co' bie^?u hie^.n ddi.nh
ha`nh hung tro.ng ta`i. Nhu+~ng ha`nh vi phi the^? thao na`y nha^'t ddi.nh
pha?i ddu+o+.c nghie^m tri.. Theo ddie^`u le^., ngoa`i the? ddo?, ca^`u thu?
ddi.nh ha`nh hung tro.ng ta`i se~ bi. ca^'m thi dda^'u the^m 3 tra^.n. Lie^.u
BTC co' kie^n quye^'t xu+? ly' vu. vie^.c ?
Va^'n dde^` lo+'n kha'c dda(.t ra cho BTC la` sa^n Vi~nh Long kho^ng ddu?
tie^u chua^?n thi dda^'u va` dda?m ba?o an ninh dda~ ddu+o+.c chi'nh la~nh
dda.o CATP.HCM va` mo^.t so^' ddo^.i than phie^`n. Ma(.t sa^n lo^`i lo~m,
chi? ro^.ng 65m, chu+a ddu? tie^u chua^?n cu?a mo^.t sa^n ca^'p 1 (80) ne^n
vie^.c pho^'i ho+.p chie^'n thua^.t tre^n sa^n ra^'t kho' kha(n, nha^'t la`
vo+'i ca'c ddu+o+`ng chuye^`n bo^?ng va` da`i. Ca'ch sa^n chi? co' 2m la`
ha`ng ra`o ba(`ng lu+o+'i B40 du+.ng ta.m dde^? nga(n kha'n gia?. Ma(.c du`
kha'n gia? sa^n Vi~nh Long ra^'t co' y' thu+'c, co^ng ta'c ba?o ve^. o+?
dda^y co' nhie^`u co^' ga('ng nhu+ng kho^ng the^? chu? quan ve^` ddo^. an
toa`n cu?a ca'c tra^.n dda^'u. Theo chu'ng to^i ddu+o+.c bie^'t, trong
ddie^`u le^. o+? Mu.c 5-5-2 (ve^` sa^n thi dda^'u), BTC gia?i co' quy ddi.nh
: tru+o+`ng ho+.p sa^n chi'nh kho^ng ddu? tie^u chua^?n, pha?i lie^n he^.
sa^n kha'c. Ca^`n bie^'t the^m, sa^n Vi~nh Long na(m 95 tranh VCK A1 toa`n
quo^'c cu~ng kho^ng dda?m ba?o tie^u chua^?n ne^n ca'c tra^.n dda^'u va` sau
ddo' mo^.t so^' tra^.n dda~ ddu+o+.c do+`i ve^` Long An.
Mo^.t va^'n dde^` kha'c la`m cho nhie^`u ddo^.i bo'ng a^u lo la` co' hay
kho^ng chi'nh kie^'n cu?a gia'm sa't ve^` mo^.t tra^.n dda^'u ? Thu+o+`ng
gia'm sa't ra^'t "a(n ro+" vo+'i tro.ng ta`i ne^n nhu+~ng lo^~i la^`m cu?a
tro.ng ta`i dde^`u ddu+o+.c bo? qua. Cha(?ng ha.n qua? pha.t dde^`n ro~
mu+o+`i mu+o+i ma` nhie^`u ngu+o+`i xem la.i ba(ng ghi hi`nh dda~ kha(?ng
ddi.nh tro.ng ta`i Kha'nh Hu+ng dda~ co^' y' bo? qua lo^~i cho Ha?i Quan,
kho^ng cho CSG ddu+o+.c hu+o+?ng, ta.i sao gia'm sa't kho^ng co' y' kie^'n ?
Ne^'u tha^.t su+. gia'm sa't co^ng minh thi` pha bo'ng ddo' ca^`n pha?i ghi
va`o bie^n ba?n nha^.n xe't cu?a mi`nh. Nhu+~ng ddie^?m ne^u tre^n ca^`n
ddu+o+.c xem xe't, kha('c phu.c dde^? cha^'t lu+o+.ng gia?i nga`y ca`ng
thuye^'t phu.c ho+n.
-------------------------
------------------------------
Topic No. 4
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 10:57:47 +1000 (EST)
From: Quang Le Minh <n1465236@student.fit.qut.edu.au>
To: Vietnamese Student Association <vnsa-l@csd.uwm.edu>
Subject: Math problems
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.94.970321104047.1593C-100000@droid.fit.qut.edu.au>
Hi guys,
I am very interested in solving math problems. So I have here some
classical math problems for you:
* Prove the existance a number of the form: 19961996...1996 (This number
contains (2n+1) "1996"s) such that this number is divisible by 1997
* Find a 1-1 relation (with appropriate assumptions) that maps all the
points in a circle (including those points on the circle) to all the
points on a half plane (including its boundary). In other words, if
consider S is a set of all the point in and on a circle, R is a set of the
plane then
#S = #R
* Prove that in all sort of shapes that have constant "chu vi", the circle
has the maximum area.
------------------------------
Topic No. 5
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 11:21:08 +0900
From: Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>
To: viet-khsv@is.aist-nara.ac.jp, vnsa-l@csd.uwm.edu
Subject: VN News (mar. 19-20, 1997)
Message-ID: <9703210219.AA00724@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>
Mar 20: Vietnam bolsters claims to offshore area being drilled by China
Mar 20: US Pacific Command chief arrives in Hanoi
Mar 20: Vietnam briefs ASEAN ambassadors over China oil dispute
Mar 20: Chinese State Councillor Visits Vietnam
Mar 20: Vietnam seeks international support in China row
Mar 20: Economics and geopolitics fuel Vietnam, China row
Mar 20: Vietnam launches press watchdog team
Mar 20: Vietnam Prime Minister Urges Better Law Observance:Report
Mar 19: Unauthorized Internet Users Face Penalties in Vietnam
Mar 19: Nike contractor probed by Viet authorities
Mar 19: Invasion of Vietnam '90s-Style -- U.S. College Grads Flock to Land ..
Mar 19: Hanoi to clear 1,400 job-seekers from city streets: report
Mar 19: Vietnamese man jailed for seven years over three grams of drugs
Mar 19: Fire leaves hundreds homeless in Ho Chi Minh City
Mar 19: Posturing Off Vietnam Coast Steers Battle for Asian Waters
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Vietnam bolsters claims to offshore area being drilled by China
HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam on Thursday bolstered its
claims to a contested offshore area being drilled by China,
with a foreign ministry spokesman saying it had been
carrying out seismic testing there since 1983.
"Since 1983 Vietnam has conducted seismic testing in this
area and when it is necessary Vietnam will, on its own or
with foreign partners, carry out exploration in its
exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf," Tran
Xuan Thuy, deputy director of the press department of the
foreign ministry said.
A senior official from the Marine Affairs Department of the
National Border Committee of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs told AFP the area had rich potential.
"PetroVietnam has carried out work in that block which is
on our continental shelf and under plans of our oil
industry. It is believed there is some gas at about 80 to
90 metres (256 to 288 feet)," he said.
The official noted that the block is close to the Ya Cheng
gas field south of Hainan Island where China is building a
pipeline to supply the mainland and Hong Kong.
Thuy reiterated Vietnam's demand that China immediately
withdraw from area around its rig in the Kantan -03 area,
which is 64.5 nautical miles (119 kilometres) from
Vietnam's coast and 71 kilometres from China's Hainan
Island.
"We advocate resolving the dispute through diplomatic
channels and have done so this time demanding the Chinese
immediately withdraw the Kantan-O3 out of the area in which
it is currently operating," he said.
China and Vietnam also jointly claim the Paracel Islands,
an archipeligo some 164 nautical miles (298 kilometres)
south east of Kantan-03.
The the spokesman stressed Vietnam's desire to find a
peaceful resolution to the area dispute.
"It is our desire that for the strength of the friendship
between our two countries and the atmosphere of peace and
cooperation in the region, our legitimate demands will be
positively met and will receive the consent of the region
and the world," he said.
China began exploring for oil and gas in the block on March
7, drawing a sharply worded reaction from the Vietnamese
foreign ministry.
However the well is the third in Kantan-O3, and one of many
cases where China has done exploratory drilling in waters
claimed by Vietnam.
Both Vietnam and China are signatories to the United
Nations International Convention on the Law of the Sea.
However areas of water in which two countries have
overlapping claims must be settled bilaterally.
The contested area, which Vietnamese seismic maps list as
block 113, falls about 54 nautical miles (98 kilometres)
beyond the southernmost boundary of the Gulf of Tonkin, an
area where China and Vietnam are negotiating their
boundaries.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
US Pacific Command chief arrives in Hanoi
HANOI (AFP) - Admiral Joseph Prueher, Commander
in Chief of the Pacific Command, (CINCPAC) arrived in Hanoi
early Thursday for high-level talks with the Vietnamese
military, a US military official said.
Prueher, who is the first CINCPAC to visit Vietnam since
the United States opened an embassy in August 1995, will
meet with Defence Minister Doan Khue and Foreign Minister
Nguyen Manh Cam on Friday.
The military official did not disclose the agenda but said
"a face-to-face meeting" with Vietnam's military chief was
significant.
Observers noted that Prueher's meeting comes only a few
weeks after the first ever mission of five Vietnamese
colonels visited US military facilities in Hawaii and
Washington.
Asked if Prueher's visit signalled a desire for closer
military cooperation with Vietnam, the source said "that
would be a premature conclusion."
Prueher's visit also coincides with renewed tensions
between Vietnam and China over oil claims in the South
China Sea (Eastern Sea).
Earlier this week the Vietnamese foreign ministry issued a
statement to Beijing insisting that China stop drilling on
a site 65 nautical miles (96 kilometers) from the
Vietnamese coast.
Stationed in Hawaii, Prueher is chief of the largest US
command comprising of 304,000 military personnel. He is
also US chief of the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting
(JTFFA) with Vietnam, a body established in 1992 to account
for US servicemen missing in action (MIA).
Prueher was expected to fly by helicopter to an MIA
excavation site north of Hanoi now being worked by a JTFFA
team, where the last US airforce B-52 bomber was shot down
in December 1972, the official said.
Prueher, who took over the Pacific Command in January 1996,
is the third CINPAC to visit Vietnam. His predecessor,
Admiral Mackey visited in June 1995, before the opening of
the embassy.
There are still 1,589 US MIAs in Vietnam, of which 583
cases are considered "extremely unlikely to ever be
recovered" the official said.
Since the task force was launched in 1992 only 239 sets of
remains have been recovered, of which 72 have been
identified.
By contrast, there are 81,000 unsolved MIA cases from the
Korean War and 78,000 from the Second World War, the
official said.
There are some 300,000 Vietnamese MIAs.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Vietnam briefs ASEAN ambassadors over China oil dispute
HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam briefed the ambassadors of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Thursday
in a bid to court support for its claims against drilling
by China in what it considers its territorial waters, an
ambassador said.
Late Thursday the ambassadors of Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand were given a
30-minute briefing by Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Khoan,
Djafar Asegaff told AFP.
"They distributed maps of the area and gave us copies of a
photo taken of the rig," he said, referring to a barge rig
installed by China 64.5 nautical miles (119 kilometers) off
Vietnam's coast in the South China Sea.
"They didn't openly ask for our support. They just
explained why they had protested. But you can understand
that they would like ASEAN to stand behind them," he said.
Vietnam's foreign ministry in Hanoi Sunday issued a protest
over oil exploration by China's Kantan-O3 platform and two
tugboats off Vietnam's central coast.
"Vietnam demands that the Chinese side immediately stops
the operation of the Kantan-03 oil rig and withdraws it
from the exclusive zone and the continental shelf of
Vietnam," the protest note said.
The platform and two tugboats were reportedly moved into
the Vietnamese continental shelf on March 7 to start oil
drilling some 64 nautical miles off the Vietnamese coast
and 71 nautical miles off the Chinese island of Hainan.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Chinese State Councillor Visits Vietnam
HANOI (Xinhua News) - China is ready to work with Vietnam to
expand bilateral trade and to develop ties in a healthy, stable and
pragmatic way, Chinese State Councillor Luo Gan said here on Wednesday.
During a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, Luo, who
arrived here on Monday for a four-day visit, said that the good
neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between China
and Vietnam have made great strides forward since the two countries
normalized diplomatic relations in 1991.
Briefing Kiet on China's domestic situation, Luo said that China's
political and social situation has been stable since the death of
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping on February 19.
He said China recently successfully held the fifth session of the
Eighth National People's Congress and the Eighth National Committee of
the People's Political Consultative Conference.
Luo said that the Chinese government and the Chinese people will rally
around the Communist Party Central Committee with Jiang Zemin at the
core to firmly advance the causes of reform and opening as well as
socialist modernization construction.
Vo Van Kiet said China and Vietnam should continue their good
neighborly friendship, which is not only in the interests of the two
countries' development but also conducive to regional peace and
stability.
The Vietnamese prime minister said China's development has an important
influence on regional peace, stability and development.
Luo will leave Hanoi for Vietnam's southern Hou Chi Minh city on
Thursday.
On Wednesday Luo met Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam for
talks on bilateral relations.
Vietnam is the first leg of Luo's five-nation trip which will also take
him to Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Vietnam seeks international support in China row
Hanoi (Reuter) - Vietnam turned up the volume on Thursday in a David versus
Goliath
dispute with Beijing over gas exploration in the South China Sea, calling for
international support to drive China to the negotiating table.
As Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) ambassadors were being briefed
on the row by government officials in Hanoi, foreign journalists were told of
Vietnam's determination to resolve the issue through peaceful means.
``As we have clearly stated, the area where the Kan Tan 111 rig is operating
completely lies within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental
shelf,'' a foreign ministry spokesman told a news conference.
``Vietnam advocates solving all disputes through negotiations,'' he added.
``Parties concerned should exercise self-restraint, doing nothing to further
complicate the situation or resort to the use of force or threats.''
The official added that for the sake of friendship between Vietnam and
China, as well as peace and cooperation in the region, Hanoi was hoping
for a positive response from Beijing as well as support from regional
and world opinion.
ASEAN ambassadors in Hanoi said earlier they had been called by the Foreign
Ministry to an urgent briefing on the issue, but details of that meeting
were not available late on Thursday.
Vietnam joined ASEAN in July 1995. At the time the move was interpreted as
being motivated by economic and strategic factors, both of which might
strengthen Hanoi's hand in possible disputes with Beijing.
But one ambassador told Reuters on Thursday that ASEAN countries were likely
to see the latest row as a bilateral issue to which the association would
not add its voice.
``We don't want to have a general ASEAN reaction,'' he said. ``It's better
left to the two countries.''
Territorial and border differences have festered between Vietnam and China for
years. The latest dispute erupted last weekend when Hanoi announced it was
protesting to China over the positioning of the exploration rig off its central
coast.
It said coastguards had repeatedly sent warnings after the rig and accompanying
vessels arrived on March 7 in an area Hanoi calls Block 113, some 64.5 nautical
miles from mainland Vietnam. However, drilling operations had continued.
Beijing responded that the drilling rig was in Chinese waters and that its
activities were above reproach.
The two nations have competing claims on areas along their land border, on
parts of the Tonkin Gulf and on the Paracel Island chain, which lies east
of the latest area of dispute.
They are also among six regional claimants to the Spratly Islands, which are
further to the south.
Analysts said the latest row was being fuelled by both geopolitical ambitions
on China's part and economic necessity on both sides.
Relations between Beijing and Hanoi -- two of the world's surviving communist
states -- are generally seen as having improved in recent years.
A local foreign affairs analyst said China clearly felt confident this was a
gamble it could win because other regional countries would balk at taking
sides in a bilateral wrangle.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Economics and geopolitics fuel Vietnam, China row
Hanoi (Reuter) - A row between Hanoi and Beijing over sovereignty of a
potentially gas-rich area in the South China Sea underscores the growing
hunger of both countries for energy resources, analysts said on Thursday.
``This is simply the reflection of a foreign policy being driven by economic
necessity,'' a veteran diplomat in Hanoi said, when asked why China had put
warming relations with Vietnam at risk by drilling a well just 64.5 nautical
miles off its coast.
However, analysts also said the latest move by Beijing dovetailed with wider
geopolitical ambitions it was now testing in the waters of international
opinion.
In a rare display of megaphone diplomacy, Vietnam said last weekend that it
had formally protested to China, and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the
Kan Tan III drilling rig and accompanying vessels.
Beijing responded that the rig was in Chinese waters and its activities were
above reproach.
The two nations have competing claims on areas along their 1,306-km
(816-mile) land border, on parts of the Tonkin Gulf and on the Paracel
Island chain, which lies to the east of the latest area of dispute.
Vietnam and China are also among six regional claimants to the Spratly
Islands, which lie further south.
China, once a net exporter of crude oil, has become a net importer due to
rapid economic growth that has stimulated demand for energy. Its power
market is growing at 10 percent a year.
Industry analysts reckon China will face an import bill for 28-30 million
tonnes of crude oil this year compared to 22 million tonnes in 1996.
``We are exploring in this area because we believe it is rich in energy
resources,'' a Chinese energy industry official said. ``We've already
drilled one well in the area and we are countinuing our exploration
activities.''
Hanoi, which has run into some disappointments in offshore oilfields in
recent years, is equally anxious to tap potential gas reserves for its
burgeoning domestic market and export earnings.
The state oil and gas firm Petrovietnam says it carried out a seismic survey
in 1996 in the disputed area, which it calls Block 113, and had been
planning to explore there at a later stage.
According to Vietnam's government Border Committee, China has drilled in
Block 113 at various times since 1993.
One local foreign affairs analyst said the timing of the latest exploration
foray and defiance of calls to withdraw could be seen as regional muscle
flexing by Beijing following the death of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.
``This belongs to the post-Deng era. They want to show foreign policy has
not changed,'' he said, adding that it was an important test by China of the
regional response to its long-term territorial ambitions in east Asia.
He said China clearly felt confident that this was a gamble it could win
because other regional countries would balk at taking sides in a bilateral
wrangle.
Vietnam has moved to raise the international profile of the issue, first by
going public with its protest to Beijing.
Foreign journalists were offered unusual access to officials this week for a
rundown on Hanoi's position and ambassadors from the seven-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were called in to the foreign
ministry for a briefing.
Vietnam joined the formerly non-communist ASEAN forum in July 1995, a move
which analysts said could strengthen its hand in sovereignty disputes with
China.
However, one ASEAN country ambassador said the group did not want to get
drawn into a bilateral dispute. Officials in Hanoi say they want to win
international support for their case, but accept that they will probably
have to tackle mighty China on their own.
ASEAN's members, apart from Vietnam, are Singapore, Thailand, Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Vietnam launches press watchdog team
Hanoi (Reuter) - Vietnam said on Thursday it had established a special
taskforce
to ensure the communist country's domestic media was complying with provisions
of a press law.
An official at the Ministry of Culture and Information told Reuters the
body, set up last month, had already uncovered a number of violations of
regulations governing media advertising over the Tet lunar new year holiday.
``The law is too broad-ranging, so we have not yet been able to check all
the aspects involved,'' he said.
He added that the ministry had not yet decided whether to punish the
newspapers involved.
Vietnam's press law sets out strict state control over the domestic media,
whose primary role is defined by the ruling communist party as a tool of
ideological propaganda.
Thursday's official Nhan Dan (The People) newspaper said the Culture
Ministry taskforce would visit newsrooms across the country to check on
financial and personnel records and review reporting activities over the
past two years.
Complaints against newspapers would also be scrutinised by the body as part
of the process of bolstering state management of the press, it said.
Media watchers say Hanoi has moved in recent months to tighten controls on
press freedoms, both in its domestic and foreign press corps.
The U.S. State Department expressed concern in its annual human rights
report earlier this year over the expulsion of a resident American
journalist last November.
Hanoi has countered foreign criticism of its press freedom record by
pointing to an increase in the numbers of newspapers and magazines since
economic reforms were launched in the late 1980s.
The culture ministry official said the watchdog team would operate on a
periodic rather than full-time basis.
Thursday - Mar 20, 1997
Vietnam Prime Minister Urges Better Law Observance:Report
Hanoi (DJ) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has urged the
government, in particular law enforcement agencies, to improve observance of
the law, according to an official media report Thursday.</p>
In an admission that Vietnam's legal code isn't always respected, Kiet said
'errors and shortcomings of the law enforcement agencies had been identified
many times,' the English-language Vietnam News reported.</p>
He told Justice Minister Nguyen Dinh Lap and other justice ministry
officials at a seminar that some 'outstanding problems' remain in the way
pre-trial investigations, trials and verdict execution are carried out, the
newspaper said.</p>
Prime Minister Kiet reportedly called for 'drastic measures' to identify
individuals involved in improper behavior.</p>
Although Kiet's comments were represented as a call for improved legal
education across the nation and government, they dwelled primarily on the
actions of law-enforcement bodies.</p>
Corruption and other police abuses are reported in official media, but
Kiet's comments were unusual for their candor about problems in law
enforcement and the role of education in potentially changing that.</p>
'By understanding their rights, citizens would help monitor
law-reinforcement agencies,' the newspaper said.</p>
The report also said Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh, on a recent inspection
tour near the Laos border, reminded police of the need to obtain warrants
before making so-called urgent arrests.</p>
Promoting legal education 'would be part of an effort to make Vietnam a
country governed by law,' the newspaper said.</p>
Kiet also called for the establishment of legal centers to provide services
to the poor and for the opening of a school to train judges.</p>
Many Vietnamese judges currently have no or very limited formal legal
training. As Vietnam's economy has developed and reformed in recent years,
more economic disputes - as opposed to criminal ones - have emerged, taxing
the skills of magistrates experienced only in criminal matters or very basic
economic conflicts.</p>
Foreign investors repeatedly cite the incomplete and sometimes contradictory
aspects of Vietnam's legal code as key sources of frustration.
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Unauthorized Internet Users Face Penalties in Vietnam
HANOI (Xinhua News) - Unauthorized Internet users in Vietnam
could be taken to the court under two new government decrees regarding
the use of the worldwide computer network.
Vietnam Investment Review, a weekly newspaper, reported in the latest
issue available today that one of the decrees calls for the
establishment of a watchdog body to monitor the Internet.
The other decree, according to the newspaper report, requires all users
to apply for permission to open a network account.
"It is obvious that not everyone will be allowed to have access to the
Internet and everyone will have to apply for permission," an official
from the Directorate General of Posts and Telecommunications was quoted
as saying.
Violators of the decrees could be "logged off" from the on-line
service
and banned from using the Internet. In more serious cases, they could
be fined or face criminal prosecution, officials said.
So far, while the Internet offers a wide range of services worldwide,
only electronic mail, or E-mail, and limited domestic on-line services
have been available in Vietnam.
However, the government announced last year that Vietnam will
eventually have a direct Internet link.
The new decrees are expected to give the government better oversight
over the flow of electronic information into the country.
<br> <hr width=50%>
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Nike contractor probed by Viet authorities
HANOI (UPI) -- Press reports in the Vietnamese capital say
(Wednesday) that a Taiwanese subcontractor manufacturing Nike athletic
shoes in Vietnam is being investigated by provincial authorities for
possible labor violations.
Vietnamese employees of the Pouchen Shoe Company allege they have
been badly treated by a female Taiwanese floor manager. They claim they
suffer humiliating treatment on a daily basis.
According to a report in the Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper, twelve women
fainted earlier this month when the manager, Hsu Jui Yun, forced a group of
them
to run around the factory compound in the hot tropical sun because of a minor
misdemeanor.
Pouchen, a 100 percent Taiwanese-owned firm, employs 7,000 local
workers and 30 Taiwanese managers at its plant in southern Dong Nai province.
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Invasion of Vietnam '90s-Style -- U.S. College Grads Flock
to Land That Bitterly Divided Their Parents' Generation
By Backpackers, Washington Post
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- For Amy Everitt, the biggest and
best party she has ever known was at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel on
election night, 1992, when the Democrats regained the White House and
all was well in her political world. But the morning after brought a
new headache -- thoughts of finding a job, starting a career, getting
a life.
So she deferred the decision: She came to Vietnam. "I had to
go out and buy a suit and buy a briefcase and high heels and stockings
and get a job," said Everitt, who now works for the local American
Chamber of Commerce. "But instead of buying a briefcase, I bought a
backpack and came here."
It might seem an odd choice, this faraway city in one of the
last avowedly communist countries on Earth, and the place that an
older generation of Americans, including President Clinton, did their
utmost to avoid. But Vietnam -- and particularly this bustling,
freewheeling capitalist city in the south -- has become one of the
hippest destinations of choice for a growing number of
twenty-something American expatriates, many fresh out of college,
brandishing liberal arts degrees and struck with wanderlust.
Some, like Everitt, came as backpackers and decided to stay
on. Many others are Vietnamese-born Americans -- the Viet Kieu, as
they are called here, most of whom left as children just before the
fall of Saigon in 1975 -- and they are coming back to find that
missing piece of themselves. Still others are adventurers who have
already trekked the more worn paths of Southeast Asia, and now find
Vietnam one of the region's few remaining unspoiled spots -- despite
the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors, the new bowling alley, and the
pricey luxury hotels going up each day.
A few come hoping to cash in on the country's headlong rush
to capitalism and make a million -- although they are finding the
going slower than initially expected. Many others come to do good,
working for private organizations and relief agencies. A few dabble in
journalism. And most, it seems, at one point or another, end up like
Everitt did when she first arrived, teaching English to Vietnamese as
the quickest and easiest way to make money and pay the rent.
They miss being able to go to the movies, they long for good
bagels, and most of the books they get must be shipped in by friends.
Some struggle with the language, many have visa hassles, and power
blackouts and computer viruses torment their desktops. But they stay
because somewhere along the way, they became infected with Vietnam's
pulsating rhythms as the entire country races to catch up with its
more prosperous Asian neighbors. "There's a certain vibrancy, there's
a certain energy here," Everittsaid. "And every day, you're watching
something brand new."
"At Berkeley, it seems like everybody -- whether they're
studying anthropology or linguistics -- wants to go to Vietnam," said
Steve Dahlgren, 27, a 1992 Berkeley grad who recently moved here and
is teaching English. "They like it if you have a [teaching
certificate]. A lot of them like it if you have a white face. And if
you don't act insane, and if you have a tie, it helps."
"There are people here working for NGOs" -- the foreign
nongovernmental aid organizations -- said Bradford Edwards, an artist
from Santa Barbara, Calif., with a studio in Dalat, the mountain
resort town north of here. "There are people here teaching English.
There are people here doing good things. The core group came here as
travelers, and they just fell in love with Vietnam."
With his longish blond hair and wire-rim glasses, Edwards
looks like one who might have been protesting against the war had he
been born in an earlier generation. But his father, a U.S. Marine
Corps colonel, was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, and
Edwards grew up with Vietnam as a part of his own history. He has been
coming here for four years now, spending six months at a stretch,
painting, putting on exhibitions and working with Vietnamese artists.
"I think it's the food, the people -- it all comes together,"
he said.
A well-known watering hole for the
backpacker-turned-English-teacher set is the Zen, a vegetarian
restaurant just off Pham Ngu Lau Street in what has emerged as this
city's unofficial backpacker district. The neighborhood is crowded
with small cafes; guest houses; shops selling used paperbacks, compact
discs and local artifacts; and tourist offices that can arrange side
trips up the Ho Chi Minh Trail or all the way over to Dien Bien Phu,
site of France's major military defeat in 1954.
Adrian Crawford is a Zen regular. When he isn't teaching
English, he's helping out here at Zen. "A few years ago, there was a
limited number of foreigners," said Crawford, 28, from San Jose,
Calif. "And none of the people here knew that much about Vietnam."
Crawford, who was born in 1968, the year of the communists'
Tet offensive against American forces here, also concedes he knew
little about the place before he arrived. He had been looking for jobs
in Japan or Korea when he came across an advertisement in the San Jose
Mercury News for a new school recruiting teachers. "At that point,
there were very few English teachers," he said. "There was this push
for American teachers, because they wanted that American accent."
After two years in Vietnam, Crawford now teaches about 25
hours a week. He still is not sure how long he will stay -- "at least
another year, possibly two" -- but figures that for a liberal arts
major with no business skills, Ho Chi Minh City is now the place to
be.
"The first month there was always something new," Steve
Dahlgren explained at a table near the front of the Zen. The ceiling
fans swirled slowly overhead, and he was oblivious to the constant
assault of shoeshine boys and kids selling old maps, postcards and
copies of Graham Greene's classic Vietnam novel, "The Quiet
American."
"It's always challenging to live here," he said. "It's
difficult. There are always little problems." Among the problems, he
said, is that "there's some low-level bribery. Traffic cops pull over
anybody with an expensive motorcycle."
"There are people here making pretty good money," he said.
"There's a good number of people here to learn about the language, the
culture, the history. A lot of grad students come here to write their
dissertations. They live in little houses in alleyways, they're
learning the language, and they stay away from Pham Ngu Lau Street."
Dahlgren teaches English about four hours each day -- enough,
he said, to pay the bills. He said he has also discovered that he
enjoys his students, and learns a lot about the country and the
culture from his classes.
He became interested in Vietnam because of a Vietnamese
American girlfriend, Lien Tran, an architect from Berkeley. They moved
to Ho Chi Minh City together to live with her relatives, and she
landed a job in an architectural firm.
At one of the outdoor restaurants on busy Thi Sach Street,
Lien Tran settled back in a white plastic chair, sipping on a pint of
Tiger beer and trying to ignore the swarm of cigarette vendors, flower
girls, beggars and a woman selling dried squid. "It was annoying and
frustrating when we first got here," she said. "They don't accept no
for an answer. But that's just their way of life."
Even more annoying, she said, are the frequent insults, the
slights and the put-downs she has to bear living in her ancestral
homeland as a young woman with a Vietnamese face and a Caucasian
boyfriend. "People really look up to him," she said. "I don't know if
it's because of the cash they think he has, or the novelty of white
skin in this country."
She recalled several incidents she described as
"infuriating," such as walking into an office to get information about
a job and being treated rudely by the receptionist -- until Steve
appeared behind her. Or going on vacation to a nearby beach, and
drawing rude comments and dirty looks from local Vietnamese.
"It's funny, but it's really too bad," she said of the
slights. "It's basically saying your own people aren't good enough. .
. . To be treated worse than an American by a Vietnamese in Vietnam is
a little bit insulting."
Lien left in 1975 when she was only 4, and all she remembers
of her escape was being carried onto a helicopter by a burly American
soldier. Now, she said, "I don't see myself living here permanently. I
don't consider it home.
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Hanoi to clear 1,400 job-seekers from city streets: report
HANOI (AFP) - Hanoi plans to tackle its
increasing problem of migrant workers crowding the streets
by relocating an informal labour market out of the city
centre, it was reported here Wednesday.
The Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Service branch
of the Hanoi People's Committee plans to move the informal
job seekers from the central Giang Vo area where as many as
1,400 people gather in search of daily work, the Lao Dong
newspaper said.
The area, which is near the International Exhibition Centre
and the United States embassy, has become a mecca for rural
migrants in search of work.
Hoards of job seekers huddle on sidewalks and traffic
medians in wait for potential employers who hire them at
cheap daily rates.
Fierce competition for scarce jobs often leads to scuffles,
and the large number of people clogging the streets
compounds Hanoi's worsening traffic problems.
The move comes during a concerted effort by the government
to stem the flow of rural workers flooding into the cities.
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Vietnamese man jailed for seven years over three grams of drugs<
HANOI (AFP) - A court in Vietnam's southern Ho
Chi Minh City has sentenced a man to seven years'
imprisonment for possession of less than three grams of
heroin and opium, it was reported here Wednesday.
Pham Ngoc Ha, 55, was arrested after 0.95 grams (less than
0.035 ounce) of heroin and 1.66 grams of opium were found
during a search of his home, the Saigon Giaiphong said.
The court also fined him 400 dollars when handing down his
sentence Tuesday, it added.
Authorities, alarmed by increasing drug use, have called
for harsh penalties for people convicted of possessing or
trafficking drugs.
Drug use among young people, particularly in Ho Chi Minh
City, is notably on the rise.
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Fire leaves hundreds homeless in Ho Chi Minh City
Hanoi (Reuter) - Fire swept through a slum in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City,
killing a five-year-old boy and leaving 555 people homeless, a local
official said on Wednesday.
Monday's blaze, which was started by flames from a kerosene cooker,
destroyed 99 of the Phu Tho district's many dillapidated wooden houses.
The official said many of the homeless were given temporary shelter at a
nearby racecourse, while others had returned to rebuild their homes.
She said the public had donated 42 million dong ($3,600) and seven tonnes
of rice to help the victims.
Wednesday - Mar 19, 1997
Posturing Off Vietnam Coast Steers Battle for Asian Waters
Hanoi (WSJ) -- China's latest sally into waters off the coast of
Vietnam is as much an exercise of political muscle as it is of oil
exploration, industry officials and regional analysts say. And they worry
that it could mark the beginning of renewed tensions in the area.
"It's a setback because it's a sign that nobody has given up the claims
offshore and everybody is exploiting the situation," says Lee Lai To, an
associate professor of political science at the National University of
Singapore.
In the latest of a long-running cat-and-mouse game over maritime
sovereignty in the region, a Chinese oil rig called Kantan-03 and two
tugboats entered the waters Hanoi calls Block 113, off the northern coast
of Vietnam, on March 7.
Vietnam's foreign ministry fired off a protest to the Chinese ambassador
in Hanoi, demanding that China withdraw from the area. China dismissed
Vietnam's objections, claiming that it enjoyed special economic rights to
the mainland's continental shelf under a United Nations convention, and
that "normal exploration operations" by Chinese vessels in the region are
"beyond reproach."
Political Posturing<
But this dispute has just as much to do with political posturing as
economics, oil-industry officials say. The contested patch, which lies
roughly halfway between the central Vietnamese city of Hue and China's
Hainan island, is of limited interest to international oil companies, they
say.
To be sure, large gas deposits have recently been found near Hainan
island. But industry officials say the natural gas near the contested area
is high in carbon dioxides, which lowers the value of the resource. In the
deep waters there, it isn't worth the risk and expense of drilling for such
low-grade fuel, they add. While state-owned Vietnam Oil & Gas Corp. had
plans to drill in Block 113, British Petroleum Co.'s BP Oil Vietnam Ltd.
relinquished exploration rights at a nearby block last year. Royal Dutch/Shell
Group's Shell Overseas Investment BV and IPL also recently pulled out of
the area.
Still, the flag waving isn't likely to stop soon, predicts Mr. Lee, who
specializes in regional security. "Nationalism is on the rise in China,
especially when there's a territorial dispute," he says. With the recent
death of Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping, his successors "can't afford to
be soft," on the question of sovereignty. "They may even find it useful,"
to make claims in the area for political reasons, he says.
The waters in question are much further north than the contested Spratly
Islands, to which six countries -- including Vietnam and China -- lay
claim. Block 113 lies east of the Paracel Islands, another disputed
territory both countries claim. But analysts say this is the first time
tensions have erupted over these northern coastal waters.
Ambiguous Boundaries
Since China and Vietnam normalized relations in 1991, little progress
has been made in border agreements on land or sea, leaving ambiguities in
the boundaries that can be exploited. "One way to make claims and tell the
world it's yours is to have a physical presence," Mr. Lee says. He adds
that the dispute could spread to the Spratlys and other contested border
areas.
"If they can get away with it this time, they will put one or two rigs
in other areas, and the situation will become more intense," he says,
adding, "I wouldn't be surprised the Chinese navy comes down."
Jawhar Hassan, director-general of the Institute of Strategy and
International Studies in Malaysia, doesn't think the situation will
escalate that far. But "if I was an oil company, I would be very careful
unless the borders are very clearly marked," he warns.
Vietnam doesn't have any new oil-exploration blocks scheduled for
licensing in the near future, says an official at one international oil
company. Meanwhile, the industry will be taking a cautious approach to
future bids, "just in case this thing spills over," the official says.
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End of VNSA-L Digest 290
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