VN news (July 7)

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

Japan wants Malaysia, Vietnam to help Cambodian peace 
Vietnam seeks US compensation over Agent Orange 
Taiwanese found dead in Vietnam after "mafia-style execution"
Vietnam Closes Cambodia Border to Foreign Journalists 
Vietnamese Communist Party Leader to Visit China 
Vietnam "Deeply Preoccupied" by Cambodia Fighting 
Vietnam downplays visit by Cambodia's Hun Sen 
Secrets of firing squad unveiled in Vietnam 
Upgrading of trans-Asian highway to start in Vietnam next year
Taiwan to import workers from Vietnam, North Korea, Latin America
Labour Strikes Rise 30 Percent in Vietnam: Report 
Asian Automotive Report --- Dream Machine: Honda
Vietnam Jan-June Rice Shipments Up 53% On Yr At 1.74M Tons 

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Japan wants Malaysia, Vietnam to help Cambodian peace 

Japan Economic Newswire
07/07/97

TOKYO, July 7 --

Japan wants Malaysia and Vietnam to take actions to help end the conflict
between forces of Cambodia's feuding co-premiers, Chief Cabinet Secretary
Seiroku Kajiyama said Monday.

"We have instructed our ambassador (to Cambodia Shohei Naito) to ask
Malaysia and Vietnam, which have influence with Second Prime Minister
Hun Sen, for actions that will help calm the situation," Kajiyama said.

Japan is also asking for cooperation from the Group of Seven industrialized
nations, Russia and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
to urge Cambodian leaders to end the conflict peacefully, Kajiyama said.

The government has jointly prepared an appeal with France to First Prime
Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who is now in Paris, and is also asking
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, who is in Beijing, to use his influence
with the factions, he said.

Kajiyama said it is necessary to continue carefully watching developments
even though the situation is calming down.

Ambassador Naito has already asked persons concerned, including National
Assembly Chairman Chea Sim and Hun Sen, to bring about a peaceful resolution
to the conflict, Kajiyama said.

Earlier in the day, the government issued a warning against entering
Cambodia because of the deteriorating situation there.

"We want (Japanese nationals) to refrain from visiting the country for
the time being," Kajiyama said.

The warning replaced an earlier one issued Sunday against going to Cambodia
for sightseeing.

Kajiyama expressed condolences for Japanese consulting company engineer
Takamasa Okajima, 38, who died in a Phnom Penh hospital Sunday after
sustaining injuries in a firefight between the forces of Cambodia's rival
co-premiers Saturday.

Asked about the possible evacuation of some 300 Japanese residents and
travelers in the country, Kajiyama said the government is studying the
situation.

"The situation does not allow our special government plane to land at
(Phnom Penh's) international airport, which is closed. (But) we are checking
which aircraft will be available when we ask to open the airport in an
emergency and whether it is possible to transport them by helicopter
to other airports nearby," Kajiyama said.

The top government spokesman expressed hope the situation would not deteriorate
further amid reports that Cambodian co-premiers are set to agree on a
temporary cease-fire.

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Vietnam seeks US compensation over Agent Orange 

By Sergeui Blagov

Hanoi (dpa) - The Hanoi government ordered Vietnam's scientists to speed
up the research into the adverse effects of the toxic defoliants used
by the US military during the war, in order to claim compensation from
Washington, an official of Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's press and information
department confirmed Monday.

According to local press, Vietnam's deputy Prime Minister Phan Van Khai
last week reportedly ordered several government agencies to accelerate
the studies of the consequences of Agent Orange.

The aim was to ask the United States to compensate the victims and to
help Vietnam to deal with environmental damage. The report on Agent Orange's
effects is to be approved by Vietnam's Prime Minister and the Politburo
of the country's ruling Communist party.

The research is expected to be completed by the end of 1997, an official
of Vietnam's national committee for research into Agent Orange, also
known as the 10-80 committee, said Monday.

In June Hoang Dinh Cau, chairman of the 10-80 committee, for the first
time publicly raised the issue of claiming compensation from the U.S.
government.

He also admitted that it was Hanoi's mistake to try to conceal the consequences
of spraying, fearful of adversely affecting the country's growing agricultural
exports.

It would take a long time to clarify the exact consequences of Agent
Orange, Douglas "Pete" Peterson, the first US ambassador to Hanoi,
was quoted as saying by the local press in June.

The media described his remarks as "discouraging". In recent weeks
Vietnamese newspapers have run scores of articles highlighting the maladies
of Vietnamese war veterans exposed to defoliants and the appalling deformities
of their children.

Last month Vietnamese officials offered to return documents on the effects
of Agent Orange, seized at Hanoi airport from an American scientist,
Dr Arnold Shecter of the State University of New York.

Two years ago, Shecter published a research which demonstrated that people
in the sprayed areas had dioxin levels up to 50 times higher than normal.

Thirty-six years ago tehn president John F.Kennedy made the decision
to use defoliant chemicals on crops and natural vegetation to deny the
Viet Cong forces supplies and infiltration routes.

For the next ten years various herbicides were sprayed throughout the
countryside below the 17th parallel, although it was known that the herbicide
could cause adverse effects for human being.

As a result more than two million hectares of inland mangrove forest
and agricultural land were affected by the spraying, Vietnamese experts
indicate.

Some 72 million litres of herbicides were sprayed by the U.S. military
forces in Vietnam to clear campsites and defoliate forests to deny cover
to enemy.

Agent Orange was the herbicide used in greatest volume. The estimated
total of 170 kilos of dioxin were sprayed over ten per cent of the territory
of south Vietnam.

According to the Vietnamese experts, the country will need at least a
century in order to overcome the consequences of Agent Orange spraying.

The studies have demonstrated high rate of reproductive abnormalities
in the sprayed areas. Research has also shown the increased rate of liver
cancer and soft tissue sarcoma in those exposed to toxic chemicals during
war time.

The data indicate that not only the direct war-time victims of herbicides
suffer the consequences, but also the post-war generations are likely
to be affected.

The estimates suggest several million people in southern Vietnam have
been affected by Agent Orange, including tens of thousand war veterans
now living in the North.

According to the Vietnamese official statistics, the country's losses
from a war amount to three million people killed and more than two million
people affected by toxic chemicals.

Vietnam's Communist party leader Do Muoi, who met with visiting US Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright June 27, expressed hope that both countries
could cooperate in dealing with the consequences of war, including the
adverse effects of Agent Orange.

Washington was aware of the problem, but the issue had to be tackled
on the basis of scientific facts, not emotions, Albright then told journalists
in Hanoi when asked about adverse consequences of Agent Orange.

Vietnam's claims for compensation came with a background of improving
bilateral relations between Hanoi and Washington, which exchanged ambassadors
for the first time in May 1997.

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Taiwanese found dead in Vietnam after "mafia-style execution"

Hanoi (dpa) - Two Taiwanese nationals were found murdered in Vietnam's
biggest urban center after an apparent mafia-style execution, the Taipei
Cultural and Economic Office in Ho Chi Minh City said Monday.

The victims were identified as Wu Wen Yu and Chang Po Wen, both suspected
criminals wanted by the Taiwanese police, Louis Chang, official of Taipei
Cultural and Economic Office in Ho Chi Minh City told the German Press
Agency

However, he denied local press reports that three other Taiwanese nationals
went missing last week.

Both victims were shot in the head, and their bodies were found ten days
ago in the city's suburbs. The killers left unused cartridges near the
bodies, making it clear that the victims were executed by the Taiwanese
mafia, the official said.

Chang Po Wen was wanted by Taiwanese police for drug trafficking and
Wu Wen Yu was at large for alleged fraud. They apparently were murdered
by other Taiwanese criminals, probably based in Cambodia, Louis Chang
said.

Ho Chi Minh City police reportedly launched a formal investigation, but
police officials declined to disclose details of the investigation.

At the moment at least 60 suspected Taiwanese criminals are hiding in
Vietnam and some 200 Taiwanese fugitives, who are at large, are believed
to be in Cambodia, Louis Chang said.

Roughly 10,000 Taiwanese nationals live in Vietnam, most in the country's
biggest economic hub, formerly known as Saigon, according to Taipei Cultural
and Economic Office in Ho Chi Minh City. Taiwanese found dead in Vietnam
after "mafia-style execution" Hanoi (dpa) - Two Taiwanese nationals
were found murdered in Vietnam's biggest urban center after an apparent
mafia-style execution, the Taipei Cultural and Economic Office in Ho
Chi Minh City said Monday.

The victims were identified as Wu Wen Yu and Chang Po Wen, both suspected
criminals wanted by the Taiwanese police, Louis Chang, official of Taipei
Cultural and Economic Office in Ho Chi Minh City told the German Press
Agency

However, he denied local press reports that three other Taiwanese nationals
went missing last week.

Both victims were shot in the head, and their bodies were found ten days
ago in the city's suburbs. The killers left unused cartridges near the
bodies, making it clear that the victims were executed by the Taiwanese
mafia, the official said.

Chang Po Wen was wanted by Taiwanese police for drug trafficking and
Wu Wen Yu was at large for alleged fraud. They apparently were murdered
by other Taiwanese criminals, probably based in Cambodia, Louis Chang
said.

Ho Chi Minh City police reportedly launched a formal investigation, but
police officials declined to disclose details of the investigation.

At the moment at least 60 suspected Taiwanese criminals are hiding in
Vietnam and some 200 Taiwanese fugitives, who are at large, are believed
to be in Cambodia, Louis Chang said.

Roughly 10,000 Taiwanese nationals live in Vietnam, most in the country's
biggest economic hub, formerly known as Saigon, according to Taipei Cultural
and Economic Office in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Vietnam Closes Cambodia Border to Foreign Journalists 

HONG KONG, July 7 (AFP) - Vietnam has closed its land border with Cambodia
to foreign journalists trying to get to Phnom Penh, following two days
of heavy fighting in the capital, officials here said Monday.

"It is very chaotic (at the border)," said Le Prung Hoa, Vietnamese vice-consul
in Hong Kong, adding the crossing at Moc Bai, 150 kilometres (90 miles)
east of Phnom Penh, was swamped by people fleeing the clashes.

"We cannot allow journalists into Cambodia," he said, after a weekend
of heavy fighting between forces loyal to First Prime Minister Prince
Norodom Ranariddh and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"The border is open for evacuating people, including foreigners," said
Hoa.

Several countries, including Japan and Thailand, are considering measures
for the emergency evacuation of their nationals from Cambodia, where
fighting has left at least 10 people dead.

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Vietnamese Communist Party Leader to Visit China 

BEIJING (July 7) XINHUA - Do Muoi, general secretary of the Vietnamese
Communist Party Central Committee, will pay an official goodwill visit
to China in mid-July at the invitation of Jiang Zemin, general secretary
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and president
of the People's Republic of China.

This was announced here today by a spokesman for the International Department
of the CPC Central Committee.

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Vietnam "Deeply Preoccupied" by Cambodia Fighting 

HANOI, July 7 (AFP) - Vietnam Monday expressed its "deep preoccupation"
with the fighting in Cambodia and called on warring factions loyal to
the country's rival co-premiers to show restraint.

"As a neighbour of Cambodia, Vietnam is following the development of
the situation in Cambodia with deep preoccupation," a foreign affairs
ministry spokesman said.

"Vietnam would like the Cambodian factions to show restraint and to try
hard to find a peaceful solution to the current situation so the Cambodian
people can know peace and stability necessary for the reconstruction
of the country," the spokesman said.

The spokesman noted that Cambodia's entry into the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) was confirmed in June and added, "we have nothing
new to say on the matter."

ASEAN is to hold an emergency meeting Saturday to decide whether to reverse
Cambodia's scheduled entry into the regional grouping, Philippine Foreign
Secretary Domingo Siazon said in Manila on Monday.

The Vietnamese spokesman also said Vietnam wanted the well-being of the
Viet Kieu (Vietnamese migrants) in Cambodia to be safeguarded.

"The consistent position of Vietnam is to respect the independence and
the sovereignty of Cambodia and not to interfere in its affairs," the
spokesman said.

Hanoi would make no "declaration or act compromising the friendly relations
between Vietnam and Cambodia." Such action would be "prejudicial to peace
and stability in the region," he said.

The spokesman confirmed that a brief visit to southern Vietnam last week
by Cambodia's Second Prime Minister Hun Sen had been "totally private"
and that he had held no meetings with Vietnamese officials.

Hun Sen, whose forces have fought two days of fierce battles with troops
loyal to First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, was previously
installed as premier by Vietnam in 1979 during its occupation of Cambodia.

The Vietnamese press avoided any reference to the fighting in Cambodia
Monday.

Meanwhile, border guards of the three Vietnamese provinces adjoining
Cambodia, An Giang, Kien Giang and Tay Ninh, reported no movement of
refugees out of Cambodia.

The Cambodian Trade Minister Cham Prasidh cancelled a planned visit Monday
to Vietnam because the Phnom Penh airport was still closed by the fighting,
the Cambodian ambassador to Vietnam said.

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Vietnam downplays visit by Cambodia's Hun Sen 

Hanoi, July 7 (Reuter) - Vietnam on Monday played down a visit last week
by Cambodia's Second Prime Minister Hun Sen and reiterated a statement
that the Khmer leader had merely been on vacation.

A foreign ministry official told Reuters by phone that Hun Sen, whose
forces ousted his co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh over the weekend,
"did not meet with any Vietnamese leader" during his stay in Vietnam
and had now returned home.

She gave no further details of the visit, but a separate statement said
Hanoi viewed the current situation in Cambodia with concern.

"On the one hand Vietnam views this as an internal affair of Cambodia,"
it said. "On the other, as a country which has friendly relations with
Cambodia, Vietnam hopes the different parties will use restraint and
seek a peaceful resolution to the situation."

Hun Sen, a former member of the Khmer Rouge, was installed as the head
of the government which came to power in Cambodia following Vietnam's
1978 invasion. He formed an uneasy coalition with Ranariddh following
U.N.-sponsored elections in 1993.

Analysts in Hanoi said on Monday the government was concerned that
anti-Vietnamese sentiment might re-emerge as a dominant political theme in
the wake of the Hun Sen takeover, from both his opponents and supporters. 

But officials in southern Vietnam said the situation in Phnom Penh in
recent weeks was already being reflected in increased tension along the
frontier between the two countries.

The officials told Reuters that around 1,000 ethnic Vietnamese had returned
to Vietnam recently because of concerns over their safety.

They said a number of traders who crossed into Cambodia had been beaten
and robbed, and added that a formal protest had been made after soldiers
began building a canal in the border area in violation of an agreement
to keep each other informed in advance of such moves.

Details and dates of the alleged incidents were not given.

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Secrets of firing squad unveiled in Vietnam 

Hanoi, July 7 (Reuter) - Intricate details of how Vietnam's criminals
are executed by firing squad were published on Monday in one of the country's
most popular newspapers.

The People's Police journal carried a picture of the unmarked grave of
a teenager who was put to death last year for murdering a policeman,
and another of the site where eight people will be executed for their
part in a massive drugs ring, and then buried.

Apparently seeking to frighten would-be criminals, the same paper last
year ran a photograph of a child murderer that was taken just moments
before the firing squad opened fire.

Its latest article explained that condemned criminals are taken before
dawn to a desolate site outside Hanoi, read the court's verdict, offered
noodle soup, a cigarette and the chance to write a last letter home.

They are then tied to a wooden pole, and shot by five policemen, each
with one bullet in his rifle.

"After the shots, the commander goes up to check and fires a last 'humane
shot' in the ear," the paper said.

It said there were already 16 graves at the site.

The newspaper said the next one would be filled by former police captain
Vu Xuan Truong, who became a household name during the recent trial of
22 people for flooding the country with heroin from the opium poppy-growing
corners of Burma and Laos.

The Supreme Court last week rejected appeals for leniency by all but
three of the 22 convicted in May's courtroom drama, which means eight
will be put to death and the rest will go to jail.

Communist Vietnam has taken a strong stand in the past year against organised
and violent crime, which many in the government link to the country's
increasingly freewheeling society.

According to Amnesty International, Vietnamese courts sentenced 113 people
to death in 1996.

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Upgrading of trans-Asian highway to start in Vietnam next year

HANOI, July 7 (AFP) - Work to upgrade a trans-Asian highway linking Ho
Chi Minh City and the Cambodian border is scheduled to begin next year,
the official Vietnam News daily reported Monday.

The project is to upgrade and expand the existing road connecting from
Thu Duc in Ho Chi Minh City and the Moc Bai checkpoint on the Vietnam-Cambodia
border.

The construction of the 80-kilometer (50 mile) Vietnamese section of
the trans-Asian highway which was approved by Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet
last week will take three years to complete. It will link Vietnam to
Cambodia and Thailand.

Construction of the road is to be divided into three sections with the
biggest section linking Ho Chi Minh City and the suburban Hoc Mon district
to be 33 meters (109 feet) wide and have six traffic lanes.

The trans-Asian road project will cost in Vietnam a total of 169 million
dollars which is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and domestic
capital.

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Taiwan to import workers from Vietnam, North Korea, Latin America

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
07/07/97

Taipei (dpa) - Taiwan, which currently hires workers from four Southeast
Asian countries, will also import workers from Vietnam, North Korea and
Latin America, the United Daily News said Monday.

"We will soon adjust our foreign labour policy, and hire workers from
Vietnam, North Korea and Latin America in line with our government's
foreign and economic policies," the paper quoted Labour Affairs Council
Director Hsu Chieh-kui as saying.

Taiwan has imported 240,000 workers from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia
and Malaysia. Their maximum stay is three years.

Hsu said Taiwan will further relax foreign labour policy by allowing
employers to hire foreign workers through job introduction agencies,
instead of through foreign governments.

The move can cut red tape and prevent foreign workers from being exploited
by their governments.

Currently only the Philippines allows Taiwan employers to hire Filipino
workers through private job introduction agencies.

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Labour Strikes Rise 30 Percent in Vietnam: Report 

HANOI, July 7 (AFP) - The number of labour strikes in Vietnam rose more
than 30 percent in the first six months of the year, with most taking
place in the booming southern provinces, a report said Monday.

A total of 38 strikes took place in the whole country in the first half
of 1997, up nine strikes or 31 percent from the same period last year,
the Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Thirty of the disputes took place in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai province,
chosen by most foreign investors as factory sites.

Twenty nine of the labour disputes that resulted in walkouts took place
in foreign invested enterprises and private enterprises where there are
no trade unions.

Most strikes were related to delays in payment and lack of legal observance
by employers, the union newspaper said, adding that most strikes failed
to follow procedures stipulated in the Labour code.

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Asian Automotive Report ---
Dream Machine: Honda has a name among Vietnam's motorbike buyers that
Most marketers can only fantasize about 

By Samantha Marshall
07/07/97
The Asian Wall Street Journal

Hanoi -- Nguyen Uyn Van stares wistfully at the row of shiny new Honda
Dream motorcycles parked outside the Central Post Office in Hanoi.

The motorcycle taxi driver plans to save enough money to trade in his
battered 1977 Honda Cub for a new Dream, but on his meager income, that
will take at least two more years. The investment will be worth it, he
says: "It's the most economical because it uses less fuel, and I'll get
more customers on a Dream."

Mr. Van's praise is typical of the widespread endorsement the Honda Dream
enjoys among consumers here. While there are no official statistics,
even dealers of competing brands agree that Honda Motor Co.'s market
share hovers around 90%. In fact, measured by market share, Vietnam is
easily the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer's biggest success in Asia,
says Yoshihisa Takase, director of Honda Vietnam Co.

Honda first sold bikes here in the late 1960s, when it was one of the
few manufacturers selling smaller bikes with four-stroke engines. Vietnamese
consumers prefer four-stroke engines because they are cheaper to run,
using only gasoline. Two-stroke engines also need oil.

But there may be room for other bike manufacturers in one of Asia's
fastest-growing markets for two-wheelers. Pot-holed roads and low incomes
make motorbikes the transport mode of choice. On city streets it isn't
unusual to see young families of five piled onto a single bike. In the
countryside, farmers deliver bamboo baskets full of chickens, piglets and
puppies, balanced precariously on the backs of their old Kawasakis,
Suzukis and Hondas. 

According to government statistics, there were 4.2 million motorcycles
in Vietnam last year, up nearly 17% from 3.6 million in 1995. About 526,000
new bikes were registered last year, and Nguyen Xuan Chuan, vice minister
of industry, predicted in a recent interview with official state media
that demand will grow to 800,000 a year by 2000, as incomes and local
production rise. By 2005, there could be as many as 10 million motorbikes
on the road, according to some estimates.

To encourage local production, Vietnam placed a temporary ban on imports
of motorcycles in May. It isn't clear when the ban will be lifted. Several
Japanese brands are revving up local production, starting with Suzuki
Motor Corp. late last year. Honda is scheduled to begin assembling bikes
in Vietnam this month. Yamaha Motor Co. plans to start local production
in mid-1998.

One company holding back is Italian scooter maker Piaggio & Co. Roberto
Christiani, head of Piaggio's Vietnam representative office, says Honda's
stranglehold on the market makes him wonder whether sales would justify
the investment to produce locally.

He estimates that Piaggio currently has 1% to 1.5% of the market but
despairs of getting a bigger toehold anytime soon. "The market is only
for Honda," he laments. Piaggio had hoped to obtain a license to begin
local production early next year, but "unless we see the market giving
room to someone else, it's difficult for us to invest here," Mr. Christiani
says. Local manufacturing plans remain at the feasibility-study stage.

After two years of trying to sell Piaggio scooters here, Mr. Christiani
says he was faced with a litany of complaints from potential customers
about his product: The wheels were too small, the bikes were too heavy
and high off the ground for small Vietnamese physiques, and the bikes
were too big to be locked up safely in the house at night. But now Honda's
Spacy scooter, with dimensions similar to the Piaggio, is enjoying increasing
popularity, Mr. Christiani notes.

Consumers surveyed recently by Piaggio said they preferred Honda's Spacy,
but they couldn't pick one out among photos of three different scooter
brands, Mr. Christiani says.

"As soon as Honda's name was attached to it, all their objections went
out the window," he gripes. Mr. Takase agrees that the dimensions of
Honda's scooter are similar to Piaggio's, but he says he hasn't had any
complaints from customers.

Honda certainly isn't cheaper than other brands. The Honda Dream II motorcycle
costs $2,600 to $2,900, compared with $2,400 for its closest rival, the
Suzuki Viva. The Honda Spacy 125 scooter costs about $3,300, $600 more
than Piaggio's competing Sfera. Vietnam Manufacturing & Export Processing
Co. sells its locally made Magic bikes for just $1,890.

But Honda's popularity means its bikes keep their resale value longer
than other brands. That is important to consumers like government worker
Nguyen Minh Son, who considers his new Honda Dream his most valuable
asset. It took him a year to save enough to upgrade from his old Suzuki,
but Mr. Son takes comfort in the knowledge that he can sell his bike
for a good price if his family ever falls on hard times.

Despite Honda's lead, Mr. Takase doesn't expect the company to hang on
to its current market share. "We are facing serious and severe competition,"
he says. While he says he doesn't have a target for future market share,
"If we could hang on to 80% I'd be very, very happy."

---

Ms. Marshall is The Asian Wall Street Journal's reporter based in Hanoi.

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Vietnam Jan-June Rice Shipments Up 53% On Yr At 1.74M Tons 

SINGAPORE, July 06 (Dow Jones)-- Vietnam exported 1,735,120 metric tons
of rice in the first half of 1997, up 53% from 1,130,941 tons the same
period a year earlier, according to Overseas Merchandise Inspection Company
statistics.

Dow Jones obtained the statistics early Monday from the Ho Chi Minh City
office of OMIC, a Japanese cargo surveyor.

Vietnam's June rice shipments largely contributed to the significant
increase, reaching 526,815 tons, up 14% from May shipments of 462,229
tons.

Of the 526,815 tons, almost 43%, or 225,435 tons, were shipped to west
Africa. Other large shipments included 65,114 tons, mostly of 25% broken
rice, to Kenya and 54,217 tons, mostly of 25% broken rice, to Togo.

Last year, Vietnam rice shipments exceeded 400,000 tons only in July,
at 451,264 tons.

-By Joyce Teo +65-421-4825

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