VN news (Apr 17-18)

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

April 19: Vietnam adopts new measures to control growing juvenile delinquency
April 18: Vietnamese refugee fails exam to practice medicine 
April 18: Mass grave found in central Vietnam province 
April 18: Vietnam moves to block "theft of national secrets" via Internet 
April 18: Norwegian aid minister to visit Vietnam, Laos 
April 18: Hanoi, Havana join forces to smash subversion
April 18: Vietnam Disco Burns; No Injuries 
April 18: Vietnam, U.S. to Establish Pact On Copyrights to Curb Piracy 
April 17: Vietnamese Newspaper Highlights - April 17, 1997 
April 17: Vietnam's Southern Province Boosts Aquaculture
April 17: Vietnam To Put 10,000 Hectares Under COCOA By 2000 
April 17: Six Viet boatpeople stage breakout from HK camp
April 17: Red Wolves Kill 400 Cows in Vietnam 


Vietnam adopts new measures to control growing juvenile
delinquency

Hanoi (dpa) - Vietnam has issued new regulations governing reform
schools to deal with a growing menace of juvenile deliquency,
according to an official report Saturday.

Juvenile ``inmates'' at a series of reducation centres run by police
will have literacy classes, undergo vocational training and perform
manual training, said the report.

The new regulations, said to be in conformity with the 1990 UN
convention on protecting the rights of children, was signed this past
Monday, the official Vietnam News reported.

Youth offenders wil be divided into three categories beginning with
those 12 years and older who ``show signs of serious crime'', said the
report. They can be held there for up to two years, it added.

The report said the problem of juvenile deliquency has been growing
since the introduction of market reforms ten years ago but it did not
say how many are currently being held for reeducation.

Reform camps for youth have exissed in the past and it was not
immediately clear how the new regulations would differ from past
practices.

Three social workers in southern Ho Chi Minh City have been suspended
pending an investigation of a street kid, who died under suspicious
circumstances recently afer he jumped or was pushed from a truck that
was taking him to a reeducation camp.
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Vietnamese refugee fails exam to practice medicine

Japan Economic Newswire

AKITA, Japan -- The first Vietnamese refugee to take the Japanese
state exam for medical practitioners has failed in his first attempt
to be allowed to practice medicine in Japan.

"I'll try again next year to pass the exam so that I can work as a
doctor in Japan," said Bui Quang Sam, 35, who fled from Vietnam in
1982 when he was a third-year student at Saigon University's medical
department.

Bui graduated from Akita University's medical department last month,
becoming the first Vietnamese refugee to gain a degree in medicine
from a state university in Japan.
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Mass grave found in central Vietnam province 

HANOI (AFP) - A mass grave of nearly 40 Vietnamese soldiers who died
during the Vietnam war has been found in a central Vietnamese
province, a report said Friday.

The grave was discovered earlier this week by a woman as she digging
for scrap metal in Kon Tum province, the Lao Dong newspaper reported.

The remains believed to be of 39 Vietnamese communist soldiers had
been buried with several objects including rubber sandals, lighters,
ropes, knives and watches.

The remains were to be taken to the provincial soldiers' cemetery for
reburial, the report said.
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Vietnam moves to block "theft of national secrets" via
Internet 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam's communist party politburo has issued a new
directive requiring tight control over the use of Internet in Vietnam
in a bid to avoid possible leak of "national secrets," a report said
Friday.

According to a document issued by Vietnam's most powerful body,
Internet services can be abused for "spreading fabricated information
and unhealthy cultures and lifestyles and theft of national secrets",
the Saigon Giaiphong daily reported.

The politburo ordered party cells at all levels, local authorities and
state bodies in charge of managing Internet use to frequently
supervise Internet services and hold them responsible for any
violations, the newspaper said.

Earlier this year the government set up a national Internet
coordinating board responsible for developing and supervising all
services. Its directors include a representative from the Interior
Ministry, which is charged with internal security.

All users must apply for permission to open an Internet account and
all information on the net must conform to press and publication laws.

The government announced its intention to set up a direct internet
link last year but concern over the security risk from allowing users
unfettered access to the net has delayed progress.

Hanoi is particularly keen to prevent access to information
distributed by overseas Vietnamese groups which disseminate views the
government considers subversive.

Vietnam currently offers limited domestic on-line services and
electronic mail service to the rest of the world.

It is still not clear when full Internet access will be made available
or who will operate the service.

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Norwegian aid minister to visit Vietnam, Laos

OSLO (AFP) - Norwegian Aid Minister Kari Nordheim Larsen will begin a
week-long visit to Vietnam and Laos on Saturday to meet with officials
and sign trade agreements, the foreign ministry said Friday.

In Vietnam, Larsen will meet with Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam,
Planning Minister Tran Xuan Gia and Deputy Prime Minister Phan Van
Khai.

While in Hanoi, Larsen will sign a trade and economic cooperation
agreement with Vietnamese officials.

She will also visit the Ninh Binh province, where officials are
looking into the possibility of supporting a development programme, in
addition to opening a center for the blind in Hanoi.

On April 23, the Norwegian minister will travel to Laos for talks with
Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, speaker of parliament Samane
Vignaket and the president of the Laotian Women's Union, Onechanh
Thammavong.

During her stay, she will sign four project agreements including two
on hydroelectric power and waste management.

Norway accorded both Vietnam and Laos some 27 million kroner (3.85
million dollars) in aid in 1996.
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Hanoi, Havana join forces to smash subversion

Hanoi (Reuter) -- Socialist allies Vietnam and Cuba pledged on Friday
to join forces in a battle to smash subversion.

The official Vietnam News Agency carried details of a meeting between
Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet and Cuba's visiting Interior Minister
Abelardo Colome Ibarra at which the two agreed to work together to
stamp out threats to their governments.

``Vietnam and Cuba should cooperate in the struggle against all
schemes and acts of sabotage by hostile forces,'' Kiet was quoted as
saying.

``Vietnam has attached importance to Cuba's experience in looking for
proper solutions to stand firm and develop in the face of hostile
forces' fierce attacks,'' the agency added.

Cuba and Vietnam are longstanding and close ideological allies.

In a separate message on Friday Vietnam's Communist Party chief Do
Muoi described the two countries as ``fraternal brothers sharing the
same combat trench and strategy and determination to successfully
build socialism.''

Havana and Hanoi survived the collapse of communism in Soviet-bloc
countries during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but both say they are
facing continued threats to their existence through peaceful evolution
plots.

The Cuban Interior minister began a week-long visit to Vietnam on
Tuesday.
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Vietnam Disco Burns; No Injuries 

HANOI (AP) -- A fire destroyed one of Ho Chi Minh City's most popular
dance clubs, official media reported today.

Nobody was hurt in the blaze that began Wednesday afternoon at the DD
Discotheque, hours before it would have been packed with hundreds of
young couples and party-goers.

The 17-hour fire was triggered by an electrical short at the club, the
state-run Saigon Newsreader reported.

The disco, which is run by a local cultural center, is one of the most
popular spots among young Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly
Saigon.
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Vietnam, U.S. to Establish Pact On Copyrights to Curb Piracy 

Hanoi (WSJ) -- Vietnam and the U.S. agreed to establish bilateral
copyright relations. But U.S. copyright owners and lawyers doubt the
pact will do much to curb rampant piracy in Vietnam -- at least in the
short term.

Still, the deal struck Wednesday night is a step toward normalized
trade relations between the two former enemies. "This historic
agreement creates, for the first time, a legal framework to protect
the artistic, musical, literary, cinematic, choreographic, computer
software, and other works of both countries from copyright
infringement," the U.S. Information Service said. It will go into
effect six months after signing, expected to take place soon when both
sides have approved Vietnamese and English texts.

First Step

But forging such a deal is only a beginning. "It's not like the
agreement has any real teeth in it ... though it's a step in the right
direction." said Harold Fiske, a partner in the Hanoi branch of legal
firm Russin & Vecchi.

Indeed, after this agreement is signed, yet another pact -- on
enforcement -- will then have to be worked out.

Martin Brown, finance director of software producer Oracle Vietnam
Pte., agrees. "There are plenty of laws in Vietnam that are supposed
to protect us that aren't actually enforceable," he said.
"Implementing [the agreement] will be a problem."

Oracle Vietnam, which is affiliated with U.S.-based Oracle Corp.,
hasn't suffered as much from piracy as other software houses in
Vietnam, he said, because its business systems software requires more
technical support than other programs. Nonetheless, he's seen illegal
copies of some of his company's personal-computer database software
for sale on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City for "a few dollars."

That isn't an isolated case. Vendors on the streets of Hanoi openly
sell pirated copies of compact disks, books and software. A copied CD
of Swedish group Abba's hits, a local favorite, costs just $2 at a
local stationery shop. A pirated CD-ROM collection of Microsoft
software costs $10. A photocopy of a Sidney Sheldon novel, translated
into Vietnamese, sells on a Hanoi street corner for $3.

Trade Losses

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a coalition of
associations representing U.S. copyright-based industries estimates
that piracy of copyrighted material in Vietnam costs U.S. companies
$50 million a year in trade losses. "This piracy problem must be
tackled immediately if U.S.-Vietnam trade relations are ever to grow,"
the group said.

But a U.S. official described that figure as "pure conjecture," based
on the value of pirated products in use; most Vietnamese consumers
simply wouldn't be able to afford to pay for legal copies of
intellectual property if copyright rules were enforced.

Washington and Hanoi resumed diplomatic ties in 1995, but the former
enemies are still a long way from full trade relations. A U.S.
delegation was in Hanoi this week to negotiate a trade agreement with
Vietnam. Joseph Damond, chief negotiator of the mission, said the two
sides made progress, but he couldn't say when a deal was likely to be
made.
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Vietnamese Newspaper Highlights - April 17, 1997 

HANOI (VNA) -- Highlights of Vietnamese newspapers today are as
follows:

NHAN DAN:

- During the 13th working day of the 11th National Assembly session,
the deputies discussed socio-economic development issues in 1997.

- The paper carries an article on anti-flood in the Mekong River delta
this year. In the three past years from 1994-1996 the floods caused
heavy losses for local people, killing nearly 900 people and damaging
amount of property valued at more than VND 6,000 billion.

HANOI MOI:

- The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment has announced
that diversified activities will be held throughout the country to
mark the World Environment Day (June 5).

VIETNAM NEWS:

- Farmers in the Mekong river delta want help with rice stockpile.

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has banned the
import of livestock and meat products from animals with hoofed feet
from Taiwan.
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Vietnam's Southern Province Boosts Aquaculture

Hanoi (AAP) - The southern province of Ben Tre with 65 km of coast
line, four rivers and a network of canals covering a water surface of
36,000 sq.m. sets aqua-produce fishing and raising as its point for
economic development.

Ben Tre has 1,800 vessels with combined capacity of 80,000 horse power
with 70 percent equipped sufficiently for high-sea fishing.

Apart from fishing, the province has put shrimp cultivation in 24,700
ha of water surface, including 11,700 ha for sea shrimp and 1,200 ha
for prawns to facilitate seafood cultivation, four aquatic produce
processing factories built in the province with total capacity of
2,000 tonnes a year and five fish sauce production establishments
capable of turning out 2.8 million litres a year.

Ben Tres seafood export value, however, is low, standing at US$12
million a year due to lack of capital to renew facilities.
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Vietnam To Put 10,000 Hectares Under COCOA By 2000 

Hanoi (VNA) -- By the year 2000, Vietnam will have 10,000 hectares
under cocoa trees mainly in the Central Highlands, southeastern and
central coastal regions, and the Mekong Delta.

Of the figure, 3,000 ha will be in the central province of Quang Ngai.

The target was set at a conference on the prospect of cocoa trees in
Vietnam recently held in Quang Ngai province by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development in coordination with the American
Cocoa Research Institute (ACRI) and the Chocolate Manufacturers
Association (CMA).

At the conference, ACRI and CMA experts presented reports on the
production and sale of cocoa in the world, prospect of cocoa - a
sustainable cash tree, cocoa tree planting and processing, while
Vietnamese managers and scientists delivered reports on the cocoa
plantation and processing in Quang Ngai, soil for cocoa planting in
Vietnam, and plans of action for a national programme on cocoa growing
and processing which will reach the year 2000 and 2010.
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Six Viet boatpeople stage breakout from HK camp

HONG KONG (Reuter) - Six Vietnamese boatpeople staged a breakout from
a Hong Kong detention camp Friday, the British colony's government
said.

Four had been captured by police and two were still missing, a
government information service officer told Reuters.

Police were sweeping the hills around the Whitehead detention center
in Hong Kong's rural New Territories for the two escapees, the officer
said.

She said guards at the center had quickly alerted police about the
breakout.

Last year, the Whitehead camp was the scene of a massive breakout and
rioting.
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Red Wolves Kill 400 Cows in Vietnam 

Xinhua English Newswire

Red wolves forced to leave their forest habitat have killed 400 cows
in Vietnam's central province of Quang Tri alone, the local press
reported today.

Red wolves, now facing extinction due to the destruction of their
habitat, are being driven out from mountainous regions of the
country's low land provinces, a report said.

The rare animals have been discovered in several provinces in northern
and central Vietnam, where they have preyed on many cows and buffalos.
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