News about Viet Nam

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Indonesian President Visits Vietnam 28-6-2003
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri arrived in Hanoi on June 25, 2003, beginning her official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Tran Duc Luong. She held talks with President Tran Duc Luong and met other top leaders of Vietnam. She was accompanied by some ministers who had private talks with their Vietnamese counterparts to improve bilateral co-operation and seek business opportunities. This was her second visit to Vietnam, following her previous visit on August 22, 2001.

Vietnam's National Assembly Continues Debates in June 2003 20-6-2003
The May-June session of Vietnam's 11^th National Assembly continued into June with continuing discussions of new laws and amendments to existing laws to reflect the changes taking place in the country's economic, social and political climate. The National Assembly closed its third session in Ha Noi on June 17 after a month and a half of sitting. During the third session, the National Assembly discussed and reviewed the implementation of socio-economic tasks and State budget in 2002 and in the first months of 2003. It adopted eight laws.

Vietnam Internet Dissident Jailed 20-6-2003
A Vietnamese doctor accused of spying and using the internet to spread criticism of the government was sentenced to 13 years in jail. Vietnam has no freedom of speech. The court in Hanoi also ruled Pham Hong Son should be kept under house arrest for three years after serving his prison sentence. He was arrested 2002, after publishing an online feature entitled What Is Democracy? from the US State Department's website. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists said the trial was part of the Vietnamese Government's campaign against intellectuals and dissidents who use the internet to circulate news or opinion banned from the tightly-controlled state press.

Mob Boss of Vietnam's Truong Van Cam Mafia Gang Found Guilty 15-6-2003
The jury in Vietnam's biggest-ever corruption trial found crime boss Truong Van Cam guilty, in a case that has also involved high-ranking officials. The defendant, better known as Nam Cam, was sentenced to death by firing squad, after a jury in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh found him guilty of murder, bribery and five other crimes. He had been in charge of a criminal empire whose influence extended into the highest ranks of the ruling Communist Party.

Third Session of Vietnam's 11^th National Assembly Opens 31-5-2003
The eleventh National Assembly opened its third session at Ba Dinh Hall in Hanoi on May 3, 2003. During the more than one-month sitting, the NA passed eight laws, including four new laws on the NA's supervision operations, national borders, statistics and accountancy. The remaining four were amendments and supplements to some articles of current laws on Special Consumption Tax, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Value-Added Tax, and amendments to the law on Enterprises' Income. The NA gave opinion to nine draft laws. They were the law on construction, the law on the amendments and supplements to some articles of the Law on Co-operatives, the law on the State emulation and commendation, the revised Law on the State-owned Enterprises, the revised Law on the Organisation of the People's Council and People's Committee, the revised Law on Election to the People's Council, the law on fisheries, the revised Law on Land, and the criminal litigation code.

Vietnam's Massive Trial of Truong Van Cam Mafia Continues with More Indictments 31-5-2003
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy continued to announce indictments against defendants of the mafia-style Truong Van Cam gang trial on April 29, 2003. The gang had clearly demonstrated how riddled the Vietnamese government had become with corruption and the influence of major criminal gangs.

Bus Explodes in Vietnam 13-5-2003
At least 42 people were killed with a total of 92 dead and injured people after a bus exploded in northern Vietnam. The bus was apparently getting ready to leave Dai Bai market in Bac Ninh province, about 30 kilometres north-east of the capital, Hanoi, when it exploded and burst into flames.

Corruption, Murder and Assault Charges at Vietnam's Notorious Nam Cam Trial 30-4-2003
The trial of Vietnam's mafia-like Nam Cam trial continued in April, ending with a guilty verdict. The trial involved a massive introspection in the increase of organised crime and corruption, the involvement of government officials in what was seen by some as the beginning of the collapse of social order in the country and possible loss of the government's authority to crime figures. The prolonged trial of the underworld crime gang headed by the notorious Nam Cam entered the 27^th day on April 2, 2003, with the interrogation of defendants charged with murder and assault. These were just two of the 24 charges faced by Truong Van Cam (nickname Nam Cam) and his notorious gang in Viet Nam's largest-ever corruption and murder trial, expected to run for 55 days. The Supreme People's Procuracy proposed death penalties for Truong Van Cam and four other defendants as the case entered the indictment phase.

Vietnam Successfully Controls Outbreak of SARS 29-4-2003
Vietnam on April 28, 2003 was able to declare its success in containing the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, with no new cases found in the country for 20 days since the previous probable case was reported on April 8. The World Health Organisation also declared that Vietnam had contained its SARS outbreak, making it the first country to do so.

Vietnam's Massive Trial of Truong Van Cam and His Underworld Accomplices Continues 31-3-2003
Vietnam's most notorious underworld boss appeared in court on February 25, 2003 with 154 others and almost all work went smoothly in the first week of the Truong Van Cam case. Security work was considered an important work for the success of the trial. Before the opening day of the court, the special board for the case, in co-ordination with Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court had anticipated any manner of possible incidents and worked out measures to deal with such situations. Due to the large number of defendants who had been detained at different places, the escort of the defendants to the court was carefully calculated. People did not know where Nam Cam and other top defendants had been detained or in which cars they had been taken.

Vietnam Nam Cam Mafia Boss on Trial 28-2-2003
Vietnam's most notorious underworld boss appeared in court on February 25, 2003 with 154 others in what could be one of the Communist country's most important trials that was supposed to be a showcase trial to try to prove to Vietnam's increasingly skeptical people that the government was serious in its crackdown on corruption and crime. Nam Cam, more formally known as Truong Van Cam, was charged with seven counts including murder, gambling and harbouring fugitives. He faced death by firing squad if convicted. His co-defendants included two expelled members of the Communist Party's powerful Central Committee, 13 senior police officers, three former prosecutors and three state journalists.

Vietnam Welcomes Cuba's Castro 28-2-2003
Fidel Castro Ruz first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and president of both the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, arrived in Hanoi on February 21, 2003, starting his three-day and third official friendship visit to Vietnam. President Castro received a warm welcome in Vietnam he met communist leaders and war veterans. General Vo Nguyen Giap--the mastermind of Vietnam's guerrilla warfare against France and the US--embraced Mr Castro in front of the cameras before the two held private talks in the capital, Hanoi. Earlier, the Cuban president met Vietnam's leadership troika for talks in which the communist allies stated their opposition to any US-led war against Iraq. After his three-day visit to Vietnam, Mr Castro travelled to Malaysia to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit, which was also dominated by the crisis in Iraq.

Vietnam Hill Tribe Men Jailed 28-12-2002
A Vietnamese court sentenced eight people to long jail terms for having contact with what the Communist Party regards as hostile forces in the United States. Eight men in Vietnam's troubled Central Highlands region received up to 10-year sentences on charges of undermining national unity. The charges related to an uprising in the highlands in 2000, when about 1,000 ethnic minority people fled to neighbouring Cambodia. It is one of Vietnam's major coffee growing regions and home to many of the country's hill tribe minorities, known as Montagnards.

Second Sitting of Vietnam's 11^th National Assembly Continues 19-12-2002
The second sitting of Vietnam's 11^th National Assembly continued into December 2002, closing on December 16. The NA deputies considered and made decisions relating to the country's socio-economic issues, and the State budget. They also spent time on the law building work, and discussed and passed decisions on a number of important issues. During the second session, the NA deputies adopted the Law on State Budget, the Law on Admendments and Supplements to some Articles of the Law on Legal Document Promulgation, the Regulation on NA Sessions, the Regulation on Operation of NA Deputies and NA Delegations, the Law Building Programme, the Ordinance on the term of the 11th National Assembly and the year 2003. They also gave comments on the draft law on NA supervision, the draft law on accounting, the draft law on statistics and the draft law on national borders. The NA deputies chose a formula for the construction of the Son La hydro-electric power plant, gave comments on the implementation of projects of the Ca Mau gas-electricity-urea complex in order to ensure the overal socio-economic efficiency of the southernmost region.

Vietnam's Bikers Get Licence to Ride Amidst Mounted Road Carnage 19-12-2002
Road safety authorities in Vietnam said they had logged a massive jump in new driving licence applications since the government announced new measures to tackle the rising number of road deaths in a country where people seem to now flout laws and have absolutely no sense of the physical process of driving a vehicle. In December 2002 alone, some 28,000 people in Hanoi applied for licences, under the new regulations. The government said traffic is the main cause of preventable death in Vietnam, with 30 people dying every day in accidents.

Second Session of Vietnam's Eleventh National Assembly Opens 30-11-2002
The eleventh National Assembly of Vietnam opened its second session at Ba Dinh Hall in Hanoi on November 12, 2002. Before the opening of the session, NA deputies laid wreaths at the President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. Addressing the opening meeting, NA Chairman Nguyen Van An said that this session would review the implementation of socio-economic tasks and state budget of 2002, decide socio-economic development orientation and state budget estimate for 2003 and approve the balance sheet of the 2001 state budget. The legislature also discussed the government's report as well as reports on public security, national defence, external relations and other issues of particular concern by the National Assembly and people such as anti-corruption, value-added tax refunding, natural disaster control, traffic safety and measures to address public complaints and denunciations and prevent crime and law-breaking acts.

Striking Vietnamese Labourers Hit with Bars 30-11-2002
At least four Vietnamese men were taken to hospital after a group of factory managers attacked striking workers with metal bars. Local labour department officials said that several of the managers have been charged with breaking Vietnam's labour laws. The incident is the latest in a series of strikes at a number of foreign-owned businesses in a country that portrays itself supposedly as socialistic, but in fact increasingly is reverting to feudalistic behaviour wherein the masses are treated as serfs of the economic and political elite.

Vietnam's Worst-Ever Fire Disaster Started by Bad Welding 30-11-2002
Vietnamese police said welders had triggered the the country's worst fire since the end of the Vietnam War that ravaged an office complex in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City in late October 2002. The blaze engulfed the six-storey Saigon International Business Centre and left at least 250 people dead and over 100 injured. However, authorities suppressed the true number of casualties so as not to scare off foreign investors and to protect Vietnam's honour. In fact, many people counted the number of bodies at well over 200, even though the official number was put at 60 killed in the huge, devastating fire. Two welding workers were arrested for causing the blaze and subsequently three more were. Later, more were arrested, of which two of those were the vice head of board of managers of Blue disco and a manager of the Blue disco.

Vietnamese Police and Farmers Clash Over Land Clearance 16-11-2002
Hundreds of people clashed with police in northern Vietnam, holding captive two officers and an official, in a land protest. Several officials were hurt and a car was smashed in the violence in the northern province of Ha Tay. The clash occurred as workers and police forced 38 families, or about 190 people, to move out of a site being cleared for the construction of an industrial zone that while further impoverishing the farmers would further enrich corrupt members of the country's economic and political elite and certain multinational corporations.

Vietnam Fire Kills More Than 100 31-10-2002
More than 100 people died in the fire that ravaged an office complex in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, according to official media. The October 29, 2003 fire engulfed the six-storey Saigon International Business Centre, which housed offices, shops and a disco. At least 159 people were injured and were treated in hospital. State television said the fire broke out in a discotheque. It said firefighters were hampered by a lack of equipment and water and took several hours before they could tackle the blaze properly. The whole building was gutted in Vietnam's worst fire ever, with some reports putting the death toll as high as 2002.

Vietnam's Mekong Delta Suffers Severe Floods 29-10-2002
The Mekong delta, the Plain of Reeds (Dong Thap Muoi) and the Long Xuyen Quadrangle (in southern Vietnam) faced severe floods with the water level in 2002 surpassing the 2001 peak and expanding into other areas while flood water continued to flow down from upper reaches of the Mekong River. Floods in the Mekong delta in 2001 claimed 295 lives (231 children) and caused total damage worth VND 857 billion (more than US $57 million). Meanwhile, since the beginning of the 2002 season in August, floods had as of the middle of October killed 132 people in the region, including 114 children. These numbers were smaller than the previous year's thanks to the building of residential clusters for people in low-lying areas to move to during the floods.

Vietnam Moves Against Corrupt Former Officials 29-10-2002
Vietnamese officials said legal proceedings in early October 2002 were started against three former high-ranking government officials with links to a notorious criminal ring. Vietnamese state media said police searched the homes of all three - the former vice minister of police, Bui Quoc Huy, in Ho Chi Minh City, and in Hanoi, the general director of Voice of Vietnam, Tran Mai Hanh, and the deputy director of the Peoples Supreme Prosecutors Office, Pham Si Chien.

Most Vietnamese Women Abused 25-10-2002
A United Nations report on gender issues in Vietnam said violence against women is widespread. It quoted one study as reporting that 80% of Vietnamese women had experienced some form of violence. The study found that almost all men and most women believed it was acceptable for a man to abuse his wife in all manner of ways. The report, prepared from a study by the Vietnam Women's Union, brought many of its readers to tears.

Vietnamese Government Promises to Rid Streets of Millions of Unlicensed Motorcyclists 25-10-2002
At least 4.5 million motorbike users would be encouraged to get their driving licences before March 2003 under a draft to ease road traffic conditions put out by the Transport Ministry. The director of the department of road traffic's driver and vehicle management division, Nguyen The Dinh, said that even though Viet Nam had over 10 million motorcycles on its roads, only four million drivers had proper licences.

Devastating Annual Flooding Starts in Vietnam 31-8-2002
Officials in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, said that despite the efforts taken to strengthen and improve the 500-year-old dyke system which protects the city from floods, it was in danger of being breached. It seemed to the officials that the ADB-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Project, implemented by the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with the assistance of a consortium of internation consulting engineers made up of Experco and Klohn Crippen of Canada and ECI of the United States, feared that the early arrival of floods posed a greater than usual threat to Hanoi city.

Severe Prolonged Droughts in Central Vietnam 20-8-2002
Protracted droughts dealt a heavy blow to agricultural production and daily lives of people in central coastal provinces, and this was viewed as an omen for early floods in the region in 2002, weather forecasters said. The droughts had nearly dried up water resources, and withered the summer autumn rice crop in many districts in the region, the Southern Center for Hydrometeorological Forecast said.

Vietnam Honours Dissident General 20-8-2002
Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Vietnam's most prominent dissident, retired Lieutenant-General Tran Do. Do, a decorated war veteran and former head of the ruling Communist Party's ideology and culture department, died on August 9, 2002 aged 78. He had been in hospital for more than a month with acute diabetes and other ailments. But his death was only acknowledged officially four days later with identical obituaries in two state-run newspapers that made no mention of his calls for political reform, including multi-party elections.

First Session of Vietnam's Eleventh National Assembly Continues 12-8-2002
The first session of Vietnam's eleventh National Assembly continued in August 2002. The National Assembly elected heads, deputy heads and members of its committees as well as the session's secretariat on July 31. National Assembly deputies voted for a new government structure at the current session of the legislature in Hanoi on August 5. In the new term, the government would have two additional ministries and one more ministerial-level agency, bringing the total number of governmental portfolios to 26. The two new ministries are the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which is formed on the basis of the General Department of Land Administration and other relevant agencies, and the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications which was established on the basis of the current General Post Department. The Committee for Population, Family and Child Affairs is set up from a merger of the Committee for Population and Family Planning and the Committee for the Protection and Care of Children. The National Assembly of Vietnam also approved Resolutions ratifying the Prime Minister's nomination of deputy prime ministers and cabinet ministers, and members of the National Defence and Security Council.

Strikers at Hai Van Pass Tunnel Construction Site Return to Work 9-8-2002
Striking workers at the Hai Van Pass tunnel project resumed work on August 8, 2002, after a two-day strike was resolved through negotiations with company management. Work on the northern section of the project, which is being undetaken by Japan's Hazama Company and the local Civil Engineering Corporation No.6, was slowed considerably after workers walked off the job, complaining of dangerous working conditions and reduced pay. The Louis Berger Group is the project manager for this project for the government.

Monk Joins Vietnam's Political Disappeared List 9-8-2002
A dissident Buddhist monk who fled Vietnam earlier in 2002 disappeared in neighbouring Cambodia while under the protection of the United Nations refugee agency. The monk, Thich Tri Luc, went missing during the last week of July. The authorities in Vietnam were already under pressure from several governments over the disappearance of three visiting Chinese dissidents who had been missing in Vietnam for several weeks. The Paris-based Buddhist Information Bureau said Thich Tri Luc fled Vietnam in April 2002 to escape religious persecution, which is common in Vietnam. It said he was given refugee status in late June by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

First Session of Vietnam's Eleventh National Assembly Opens 31-7-2002
The first session of Vietnam's eleventh National Assembly opened at Ba Dinh Hall in Hanoi on July 19, 2002 with the participation of 498 newly-elected deputies. Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai attended the opening session. In his opening speech, Chairman of the tenth National Assembly Nguyen Van An said the National Assembly would hear a report on the results of the election of deputies to the eleventh National Assembly, a report summing up voters' opinions and suggestions to the NA, a report on examining the credentials of deputies to the eleventh NA and other important reports. The National Assembly elected and ratified senior personnel to the State apparatus, such as new cabinet ministers, a task of decisive significance for the quality and efficiency of the State apparatus in its work term. The country's president and prime minister were reappointed.

Vietnam Reappoints Prime Minister 26-7-2002
In another rubber-stamping exercise, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on July 25, 2002 was reappointed to a second five-year term by the country's national assembly. The move was expected as Mr Khai was the only nomination "allowed" of the country's ruling Communists. Prime Minister Khai was reported to have received more than 90% of the vote from the 498 members of the assembly, a day after President Tran Duc Long was also approved for another term. Mr Khai, 68, is from the south of the country and trained as a Soviet-educated economist. He had been credited with boosted living standards and reforming parts of Vietnam's administration. He is a member of the country's leadership triumvirate of president, prime minister and Communist Party general secretary.

Vietnam's President Gets Second Term 25-7-2002
Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong was reappointed by the country's national assembly. In what essentially was nothing more than a rubber-stamping process, President Luong received 97% of the vote from the 498 members of the assembly, which is meeting for the first time since elections in May. As expected, the president renominated Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, and a vote was held on July 25, 2002.

Vietnam Questions Prominent Journalist in Party Crackdown on Dissident Writers 23-7-2002
A prominent journalist was interrogated in Vietnam in what human rights activists said was part of a growing campaign of harassment of writers and dissidents. Nguyen Vu Binh, who had written several articles criticising the communist government and calling for reform, was now required to report daily for questioning by security police. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said the writer was taken from his home by police on July 19, 2002 and was held in detention somewhere in the capital, Hanoi. Citing information from a California-based organisation, the Democracy Club of Vietnam, the CPJ says Nguyen Vu Binh was detained on that day as the country's newly elected parliament was meeting. Material was taken from his computer.

Vietnam Officials Sacked for Mob Links 18-7-2002
Vietnam's ruling Communist Party sacked two senior members for links with a notorious organised crime gang. Vice-minister for police, Bui Quoc Huy, and the head of state radio, Tran Mai Hanh, were expelled from the powerful Central Committee, the 150-stong decision-making arm within the party. A statement from the committee said the men were sacked for "having direct connections during a long period with some bad elements" in a mob headed by underworld kingpin known as Nam Cam. The dismissals followed a lengthy and wide-ranging investigation into the activities of Nam Cam as part of the government's drive to stamp out corruption. About 80 officials had been arrested as part of the investigation. It came at a time of official concern that the Communist Party's grip in power was threatened by growing public anger about corruption.

Hanoi Doctors Discover Herbal Cure for Hepatitis B 12-7-2002
A group of scientists in the capital city of Vietnam discovered a herbal cure for Hepatitis B that is more effective and cheaper than western medication. The medicine, made from four kinds of plants, was tested on 75 patients aged between 20 and 65 over a period of three months. Dosages of 25 milligrams and 37.5 grams were administered to patients with high levels of HBs-Ag content in their blood. Six of the patients were totally cured while 50 were free of all symptoms and digestive troubles caused by the disease, said Professor Nguyen Ba Kinh, director of Thanh Nhan Hospital, who headed the team.

Vietnam Bans Thousands of Student Cheats 12-7-2002
Education authorities in Vietnam said they disqualified more than 2,000 students from university entrance exams after widespread cheating. The second and final round of exams closed on July 11, 2002, with even more cheats than in the first round.

Vietnam's Economy Grows in 2002 but Faces Difficulties 6-7-2002
Vietnam's socio-economic development saw a positive sign in the first half of 2002, thus far keeping pace with the previous year and maintaining a gross domestic product growth rate estimated at 6.74%, according to the government at its two-day regular meeting in Hanoi on June 29. The meeting approved additional reports on the implementation of the plan and budget in 2001, reviewed the national socio-economic development in the first half of 2002 and discussed measures to carry out the yearly plan and budget in 2002. The government also reviewed its execution in the first half of the year and discussed draft laws on amendments and supplements to some articles of the Law on Complaints and Denunciation as well as the draft ordinance on Industrial Mobilisation.

Police Smash Vietnam's Biggest Smuggling Ring 25-6-2002
Police in Vietnam smashed the country's biggest smuggling ring, which had been operating across the border from China for more than a decade. More than 70 people were detained after police ambushed smugglers loading lorries with contraband; they responded by throwing stones and bricks. The authorities found tonnes of refrigerators, electronic appliances and automotive spare parts hidden in a cave close to the border in the Vietnamese province of Lang Son. The smuggling ring was discovered the night of June 16, 2002.

Hanoi Admits to Role in Hilltribes Crisis 18-6-2002
More than a year after ethnic unrest in Vietnam's central highlands erupted into protests, the communist authorities in the middle of June 2002 admitted for the first time that a failure of economic and social policy was partly responsible for the region's problems. The tension in the highlands and the government's hardline response prompted continuing international scrutiny of Vietnam - of both its human rights record and the fairness of its development programmes in provinces, which have a high proportion of people from ethnic minorities, often viewed by mainstream Vietnamese as second calss citizens. A prominent politician and deputy prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, told a leading state daily newspaper that policies for the region needed to be changed.

Investment into Vietnam Slumps 18-6-2002
Vietnam suffered a fall of one quarter in investment from abroad during the first five months of 2002, official figures revealed. Less than $400 million was invested into the country during the period, the General Statistics Office said.

Corruption Scandal Fells Vietnam Officials 17-6-2002
The Communist authorities in Vietnam moved to dismiss two senior party officials from their positions as the investigation continued into a web of corruption surrounding the crime boss known as Nam Cam. A senior broadcasting official and a state prosecutor were temporarily removed from their jobs after recommendations from the Communist Party politburo were ratified in June 2002. Nam Cam was in jail in the southern city of Ho Chi Minh and was expected to face trial on murder charges within the following few months. There were several remarkable things about the Nam Cam investigation, not the least of which was the number of very senior people who were touched by enquiries so far. More than 200 were being investigated, and officials said there had been thousands of complaints about the activities of Nam Cam's gang.

Vietnam to Build 24 New Hydro-Power Plants 5-6-2002
Vietnam announced at the beginning of June 2002 that it would build 24 new hydro power plants from June until 2010, according to the Vietnam Electricity Corporation. EVN has been instructed to develop long-term working relations with up to four major international engineering consultanting firms with experience in the feasibility, planning, design and construction management of dams and hydro-powerhouses. Forthwith, EVN announced that it would be soliciting expressions of interests from such firms to provide long-term engineering consulting services to the government for this endeavour.

Vietnam's High Voter Turnout is No Pointer to Democracy 31-5-2002
Vietnam on May 19, 2002 enjoyed its annual holiday marking the birthday of the founder of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, and also held its 11th national assembly election. In one sense, the election was hugely successful if one looks just at the number of ballots cast and the orderly polling environment. The Ha Noi National Election Council declared the next day through its chairman Nguyen Van that more than 50 million voters had gone to the polls in 188 constituencies. However, one must remember that this is largely a one party, one system state. The vast majority of candidates were members of the Communist Party. Even the non-Party candidates had to be vetted by the Party. It was thus not surprising that only 759 candidates stood for election when the Assembly had 498 seats.

Vietnam Holds National Assembly Elections 29-5-2002
Voting began in Vietnam's elections for the 11^th National Assembly on May 12, 2002, with the first voters casting their ballots early in the disputed territory of the Spratly Islands. Voting in the archipelago was held early, as election day in the rest of Vietnam was not until May 19 - the birth date of modern Vietnam's founder, Ho Chi Minh. Almost all eligible voters turned out for the election. The National Assembly elections were seen as significant because, for the first time, at least a quarter of the deputies would be full-time, and they were increasingly younger and better educated. Also for the first time, they were required to disclose their assets and potentially face no-confidence votes in an attempt to curb their corrupt and dishonest inclinations and abuse of position. Despite the fact it had no competitors in the elections, the Vietnamese ruling Communist Party needed to polish its public image, as more challenges from non-party candidates emerged. As part of this effort, three senior Communist Party officials were barred from standing as candidates in the national elections for connections to major criminal gangs and corrupt activities. The results of the national elections were subsequently announced, with the ruling Communist Party continuing to dominate the national parliament.

Vietnam's Former Prime Minister Linked to Organised Crime Scandal 22-5-2002
The former Vietnamese prime minister Vo Van Kiet was linked to a major corruption scandal. State-run newspapers said officials were trying to discover whether Mr Kiet was involved in the decision to release a suspected crime boss, Nam Cam, from a labour camp in 1997.

Japanese Investors' Comment on Vietnam's Investment Environment 18-5-2002
Japanese investors at a meeting in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City on May 16, 2002 said the investment environment in Vietnam was unattractive and less competitive than in regional countries, and blamed high investment costs and unclear policies. The investors told the fourth roundtable meeting organized by the city authorities and the Japanese Business Association that many fees were much higher than elsewhere in the region, and that telecommunications and transport fees were a case in point. For example, the charge of a telephone call from Vietnam to Japan was seven times more expensive than from Singapore, six times from Manila, four times from Jakarta, some three times from Bangkok and nearly two times from China.

Party Leader Pledges Crack-Down on Corruption in Vietnam 9-5-2002
Concerted efforts and severe punishments were needed to crack down on corruption, regardless of the positions held by the persons involved, said Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh on May 2, 2002. Manh made the statement while talking with voters in Ha Noi's constituency No. 1, which comprises Ba Dinh and Hoan Kiem precincts, in his campaign for a seat in the 11^th National Assembly, whose elections were held on May 19. The Party leader said the rule that requires all senior officials to declare their property, first of all real estate, was just one of the necessary measures. The fight against corruption, he stressed, should be conducted both regularly and strongly, on both the large-scale and the grassroots levels. Corrupt officials, regardless of their positions and the sectors they are working for, must be punished openly in line with the law, Manh said.

Russia Closes Vietnam Naval Base 9-5-2002
Russia signed an agreement with Vietnam to hand back the Cam Ranh Bay naval base - once the largest Soviet base outside the Warsaw Pact. The closure ceremony held during the first weekend in May 2002. In its heyday, the deep-water base was a symbol of Soviet military might, housing up to 10,000 troops, 15 ships and 30 aircraft. The base was built by the United States during the Vietnam War, but Moscow had leased it for free since 1979.

Vietnam Criticised Over Rights Abuses of its Hill Tribe People 25-4-2002
The international rights group, Human Rights Watch, warned of continuing unrest in Vietnam's Central Highlands, accusing the country's communist authorities of persisting with policies that repress and discriminate against the region's ethnic minority people. The report, released on April 23, 2002, details religious restriction, land disputes and violence against the hill tribe or Montagnard people. Their grievances erupted into demonstrations in February 2001 which resulted in the authorities sending in troops to put down the demonstrations. The region was largely sealed off to independent observers since then.

Vietnam Tries 59 Over Bank Scandal 25-4-2002
Fifty-nine people went on trial in the Vietnamese southern city of Ho Chi Minh charged with bank fraud involving nearly $100 million. The defendants were charged with embezzling state assets and violating commercial law. Several hundred people and organisations were involved in the court case including those who suffered as a result of the fraud. The case came as Vietnam took another step towards attemtping to reform its corrupt financial and legal systems.

Fire Rages in Vietnam Forest Reserve-Worst in History 22-4-2002
Disaster management officials in Vietnam said that rain would provide the only hope for controlling the country's worst-ever forest fire, which had been burning in the Mekong Delta on the south-western tip of the country for several weeks. The fire, in U Minh National Park in Kien Giang province and Ca Mau province, destroyed thousands of hectares in a forest reserve which is an important wetlands area and home to many rare and endemic species of animal life. Although it appeared the fires were under control, in mid-April they flared up again. Although he praised the army, police and forestry forces for their efforts in controlling the spreading of the fires, the prime minister also criticized of the authorities' handling of the fire situation. The wildfires raging through U Minh Ha forest in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province were finally been brought under control. About 10,000 soldiers, policemen and local residents had joined in the efforts to combat the fires.

Smugglers Storm Vietnam-Laos Border Clashing With Customs Officers 19-4-2002
Six Vietnamese customs officers were badly injured in a clash with hundreds of smugglers, who forced through a convoy of contraband goods from neighbouring Laos.

Vietnam's 10^th National Assembly Continues Holding its Last Session 7-4-2002
Vietnam's National Assembly, 10th legislature, opened its 11th and last session, in Hanoi on the morning of March 15, 2002, and the session continued into April, discussing and amending various forms of legislation. The National Assembly, with the energy, intellect and wholeheartedness of an office representing the people's will and aspirations, had made a worthy contribution to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation, pointed out NA Chairman Nguyen Van An. He was speaking at a meeting between Party and State leaders and NA deputies on April 1. The final and 11^th session of the 10^th National Assembly closed in Ha Noi on April 2 after more than two weeks of meetings.

Leader to Take Vietnam into New Era 7-4-2002
Nong Duc Manh, who took the helm as Vietnamese Communist Party chief in April 2001, instructed his key ministries to prepare for an "economic take-off'' geared to the pressures of new global circumstances. This was being done to make sure Vietnam did not return to the slow growth it experienced between 1998 and 2000 in the wake of the regional economic crisis.

Vietnam Rulers Probe Official Corruption 7-4-2002
The most powerful body of Vietnam's ruling Communist party, the Politburo, set up a special investigation into collusion with organised crime by more than 50 government officials. A number of the officials, including two police colonels, are accused of accepting bribes and giving protection to a gang, whose alleged leader Nam Cam is under investigation on murder charges. One senior former official Tran Bach Dang said the collusion was known to have been going on for years. As part of this investigation, the Politburo would review the investigation carried out by a Special Task Committee of the National Assembly of  the corruption surrounding the implementation of the Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project, which the final part of which was halted pending this review.

11^th and Last Session of Vietnam's 10^th National Assembly Sits 31-3-2002
Vietnam's National Assembly, 10^th legislature, opened its 11^th and last session, in Hanoi on the morning of March 15, 2002. Present at the event were General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh, President Tran Duc Luong, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, and Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Van An. In his opening speech, Chairman Nguyen Van An told deputies that the session would consider and collect recommendations on the NA's review of the current term (1997-2002). The session would also hear reports from the State president, the prime minister, the Supreme People's Court chief judge, the Supreme People's Procuracy Institute director, and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly. Other reports would be delivered by representatives from the Ethnic Minorities Council and other committees of the National Assembly. Also on the agenda was discussion of Vietnam's legal framework.

Road Accidents Kill 7,000 a Year in Vietnam 27-3-2002
Vietnam's road accidents leave more than 7,000 people dead and injure more than 20,000 others a year, accounting for 97% of total travel-related accidents. The figures were released at the opening session of the three-day second Global Road Safety Partnership ASEAN Seminar, which kicked off in Hanoi on March 25, 2002. Addressing the seminar, the second of its kind, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam noted the timely nature of the seminar, which took place at a period when road accidents in Southeast Asia in general, and in Vietnam in particular, have been increasing at alarming rates.

New Study into Agent Orange in Vietnam 13-3-2002
Vietnam and the US agreed to conduct joint research on the effects of Agent Orange, the defoliant widely used in the Vietnam war, US officials said on March 10, 2002. Anne Sassaman, of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Nguyen Ngoc Sinh, head of Vietnam's National Environmental Agency, signed an agreement laying out specific priorities for future research. The move followed a landmark conference on Agent Orange which took place in Hanoi the week before, the first ever joint conference on the issue.

Agent Orange Talks Held in Vietnam-Victims Need Help 9-3-2002
US and Vietnamese scientists held their first conference in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on the effects of the controversial wartime herbicide, Agent Orange. The conference, which opened on March 3, 2002, looked at research showing that dioxin - a chemical used in Agent Orange - is continuing to contaminate people 30 years after the US stopped spraying it over forests in south and central Vietnam. The US ambassador in Vietnam, Raymond Burghardt, described the issue as the last significant ghost of the war, but said that determining its impact so long afterwards would be extraordinarily complex. Vietnam's Red Cross appealed for urgent help for victims of Agent Orange. People affected by Agent Orange need help now and cannot wait years for more research, said the head of Vietnam's Red Cross, Professor Nguyen Trong Nhan.

Chinese Party Leader and President Jiang Zemin Continues State Visit of Vietnam 6-3-2002
Chinese Party leader and President Jiang Zemin, his wife and entourage left Hanoi on the afternoon of February 28, 2002 for the ancient imperial city of Hue and Da Nang city, continuing his official friendship visit to Viet Nam. A solemn farewell ceremony was held at the Presidential Palace in the presence of Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and his wife, President Tran Duc Luong and his wife, and other senior Party and State officials. Chinese Party General Secretary and President Jiang Zemin left central Da Nang city on March 1, concluding his three-day official friendship visit to Vietnam.

Chinese President Visits Vietnam 28-2-2002
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and State President Jiang Zemin and his wife began a three-day official friendship visit to Vietnam on February 27, 2002. This was Zemin's second official visit to the country since the former rivals normalised relations in 1991. Beijing and Hanoi have several shared concerns in military and economic matters. And there is evidence of mounting concern within Vietnam about territorial agreements, signed in 1999 and 2000 with China, that demarcate their common land border and sea areas.

First Vietnamese Refugees Return Home 28-2-2002
The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, supervised the return of 15 men from Cambodia to their homes in Vietnam's Central Highlands. They were among about 1,000 people who had fled to Cambodia following protests in February 2001 in the highlands over access to land and religious freedom and who later were hounded by Vietnamese authorities. The Vietnamese authorities were anxious to have the people they called illegal migrants return to their highland families, saying they would be given food and other help to restart their lives. But human-rights groups and the United States criticised the returns, blaming the UNHCR for rushing. The deal collapsed over the February 23-24 weekend, prompting a halting to the repatriation process. The UNHCR said that Vietnam and Cambodia were undermining an agreed voluntary repatriation programme by imposing a deadline and called for urgent clarification. The UNHCR also expressed concern over Vietnam's refusal to allow its officials to visit villages before the refugees returned to them. The agency described a visit to the Cambodia camps by Vietnamese officials as "disturbing". The refugees, members of the Montagnard minority, fled Vietnam after they were persecuted.

Over 20 Vietnam Drug Traffickers Brought to Trial 19-1-2002
Farm owner Nguyen Duc Luong and his 22 accomplices in January 2002 were brought to trial by the People’s Court of the central province of Nghe An for illegally trading and trafficking drugs in large quantities. The 23 defendants were accused of belonging to one of the largest drug rings ever uncovered in Vietnam, ranking alongside those of Vu Xuan Truong and Nguyen Van Tam, brought to light in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Six of the 23 offenders charged with drug trafficking were sentenced to death.

Vietnam Destroys So-called Dissidents' Books 16-1-2002
The authorities in Vietnam ordered the seizure and destruction of books written by several prominent dissidents, at the start of a new campaign against publications opposed to the state and the Communist party.

Vietnamese Courts Sentenced 55 People to Death on Drug Charges in 2001 4-1-2002
Vietnamese courts sentenced 55 people to death in 2001 on drug-related charges. Fifty-nine other people were given life sentences for drug offences and 2,241 others received jail terms ranging from seven to 20 years. In all, 5,948 drug-related cases were brought to trial in 2001.

Traffic Accidents in Vietnam Increased by 14% During 2001 2-1-2002
The number of traffic accidents in Vietnam in 2001 was estimated at 26,874 cases as of December 30, an increase of 14% against the previous year. These accidents killed 10,548 and injured 30,175 people, or a 33% increase of death people and a 16% increase of injured people.

The Proceedings of the 10^th Session of Vietnam's 10^th National Assembly in December 2001 26-12-2001
Vietnam's 10^th National Assembly (NA) opened its 10^th session in November 2001 and continued on into the following month. The most significant issue debated during this session of the National Assembly was the need for revisions to Vietnma's constitution. The new constitutional revisions focused chiefly on a number of articles regarded as urgent for continued reform of the State apparatus, while affirming the overall State model defined in the 1992 Constitution. Significantly, the NA passed the revised Constitution as well as ratified the bilateral trade agreement with the United States, thus fully opening trade between the two countries.

Explosion Kills 6 Children in Vietnam 20-12-2001
Six children were killed and five people injured in what authorities suspect to have been a cluster bomb explosion in central Vietnam. The explosives, dropped by the Americans in Hoa Quang commune in the central province of Phu Yen detonated on December 19, 2001 afternoon near a group of children playing beside a road. The six killed ranged from three to five in age.

Vietnam-US Trade Pact Takes Effect 20-12-2001
Vietnam's Minister of Trade Vu Khoan and the US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick exchanged letters on the ratification of the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) at 3pm. Washington time on December 10, 2001, giving the BTA immediate and unconditional effect under Article 8, Chapter 7 of the BTA. Earlier, the BTA had been passed by the US House of Representatives and Senate and the Vietnam National Assembly and ratified by the US and Vietnam presidents. The agreement, once taking effect, would contribute to bolstering economic and commercial ties between Vietnam and the US.

Vietnam’s Constitutional Reform Moves Less Than Meet the Eye 20-12-2001
Analysts in Vietnam expressed scepticism about amendments to the Vietnamese constitution made at the December seesions of the National Assembly that appear to give more power to the legislature and additional legitimacy to private enterprise.

Rare People's Protest in Vietnam Over Land Dispute 10-12-2001
In Vietnam, about 20 people have staged a rare protest against official corruption outside the country's National Assembly in Hanoi. The protestors - who were mainly farmers - were demonstrating against the theft of their land by local authorities. They brandished placards calling for greater democracy and the dismissal of corrupt officials.

Roadside Clinics Fail to Put the Brakes on Vietnam's Highway Death Toll 10-12-2001
Highway 5 is 100km long and links the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, with the port of Haiphong. For years the route had been considered a deathtrap, with hundreds of fatalities annually. Along that relatively short stretch of road, authorities set up, with grim acknowledgment, three emergency clinics to help treat victims of the dramatically rising number of accidents on the highway. Similar clinics throughout the nation were being called for.

Alarm Sounded as Hepatitis B Hits One Fifth of Vietnam's Population 10-12-2001
As many as 20 per cent of Vietnam's 79 million people appear to be infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), with half of those feared to have chronic or lifelong forms of the disease.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Urges Mike Moore to Help Vietnam's WTO Bid 10-12-2001
nam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on November 30, 2001 expressed his hope that Mike Moore, in his capacity as general director of the World Trade Organisation, would continue helping Vietnam quickly join the WTO.

Vietnam's National Assembly Opens 10^th Session 30-11-2001
The 10^th session of Vietnam's 10^th National Assembly (NA) opened on November 20, 2001 at the Ba Dinh Hall, Hanoi. Before coming to attend the session, NA deputies held meetings with voters to receive their opinions and proposals so that the deputies could reflect voters' issues of concern to the NA. Deputies also held a meeting to discuss the contents of the agenda of the session. The NA also discussed the the ratification of the Vietnam-US Trade Agreement and ratified it. Once the BTA is ratified by both Vietnam and the United States and comes into effect, it would directly affect not only the relations between the two countries but also economic relations between Vietnam and other countries worldwide, and regional and international economic organisations to which Vietnam is a party.

Vietnam Ratifies Landmark Trade Deal With the United States 30-11-2001
The national assembly in Vietnam has ratified its long-awaited trade agreement with the United States, marking the final step in the process of normalization between the former wartime enemies. The deal would give Vietnam access to the United States market at the same low tariffs enjoyed by most other nations. It would also open up Vietnam to American traders. There was an air of excitement in the business community in Hanoi, as the deal marked a major step for Vietnam's engagement in global trade.

Vietnam's Communist Party Plenum Discusses 2002 Election 30-11-2001
Vietnam's ruling Communist Party met on November 5, 2001 to discuss National Assembly elections in 2002 and constitutional changes. The meeting of the 150-member Central Committee also discussed Vietnam's socio-economic development plan until 2005 and the 2002 budget and considered ways to strengthen the party and fight corruption and wasteful spending. The fourth plenary session of the Party Central Committee focused its discussions on the fight against corruption and wasteful spending as it remained the most urgent issue in Vietnamese society. The 450-member National Assembly is Vietnam's legislative body. The next five-yearly assembly election was expected in April 2002.

World Trade Organisation Chief Urges Vietnam Reforms 30-11-2001
Vietnam faces "economic stagnation" if it fails to seal membership of the World Trade Organisation, the chief of the commerce promotion body warned. Mike Moore, WTO director general, urged Vietnam to overcome concerns, over issues such as intellectual property rights and customs valuations, raised by the organisation's 140 member states. Failure to tackle such sticking points would deny the country the chance to reap the free trade benefits of WTO membership, he said, singling out the potential of Vietnam's farming sector.

Fire in Vietnamese Market Kills One, Leaves Nearly 200 Homeless 30-11-2001
A fire raged through a market area in southern Vietnam, killing one person, injuring another and leaving nearly 200 homeless. The fire early on November 25, 2001 destroyed 41 homes and 73 shops and caused an estimated 63 billion dong in damage, said Tran Thanh Hung of the People's Committee of Dam Doi in Vietnam's southernmost province of Ca Mau.

12 Vietnamese Sentenced for Fraud, Bribe Taking 30-11-2001
Twelve people accused of fraud and bribe taking in the Muong Te district’s socio-economic development project received from three-year suspended sentences to life imprisonment. Tran Hung Son, director of the mountainous areas and ethnic minorities state-owned development construction company and Nguyen Van Minh, the company’s deputy director and their likes set up false files from 1997 to 1999 to draw over VND 8.805 billion and shared the money between them.

Indochina Border Row Unresolved 30-11-2001
The President of Vietnam, Tran Duc Luong, left the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, after failing to resolve a long-standing border dispute. Cambodian officials said agreements were reached on trade and investment, but the expected signing of a protocol on border issues did not go ahead.

Typhoon Sweeps into Vietnam 21-11-2001
After leaving a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines, Typhoon Lingling hit the central coast of Vietnam on November 12, 2001, killing as many as 20 people. The tropical storm centre passed through Phu Yen province. The typhoon injured 77 people, unroofed and pulled down thousands of houses and schools, sank almost 50 boats, and ruined thousands of hectares of rice and subsidiary food crops in central coastal Khanh Hoa, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Phu Yen provices as well as Central Highlands Dak Lak province. This was the eighth storm to hit Vietnam in 2001.

Vietnam Freezes Rice Exports 21-11-2001
The world's number two rice exporter, Vietnam, blocked shipments until February 2002 because of a shortage of reserves for its own population. The ministry ordered traders in its main rice-growing region to stop offering new rice export contracts, after seeing domestic reserves falling. Rice prices had risen about 20% in the recent months up to the end of November 2001 to 2.9 millionVietnamese dong (£136; $193) per tonne from 2.4 million dong in May and June.

Unemployment in Vietnam Creeps Up Despite Efforts to Create Jobs 21-11-2001
The jobless rate in both urban centres and rural areas reached an alarming high despite the Vietnamese government's action to create jobs and ease the pain of economic restructuring. Experts called for a more intense focus on vocational training and retraining, allowing those made redundant in the process of global economic integration and the reform of State-owned enterprises to get new skills and find new jobs. The unemployment rate hit 6 per cent in Ho Chi Minh City and 9.5 per cent in Ha Noi, with an average of 6.35 per cent across Viet Nam's urban centres. In rural areas, where about 80 per cent of the total population live, there are more than 615,000 people without jobs - over 5 per cent of the population. If the under-employed are included in the figures, the number soars above 1.2 million.

Vietnam's Burial Site Carvings Spirited Away by Corrupt Traders 21-11-2001
These are lonely days for the dead in Dak Lak. Vietnam's Central Highlands province, home to hundreds of ethnic minority communities, is losing its famed funeral carvings, the wooden representations of spirits which adorn and protect burial sites of ethnic groups. Having long intrigued anthropologists and tourists alike, the evocative wood carvings made by the Ede, Jarai, Bana and Xe Dang play crucial roles in the minorities' special ceremonies for the deceased. Yet the cultural relics, carved from cottonwood and other soft woods, are being pilfered at an alarming rate, authorities said on November 5, 2001, and foreign tourists are thought to be partly responsible.

Death Toll Rises in Vietnam's Floods 31-10-2001
The flood death toll in Vietnam reached at least 322, including 291 children and 270,183 pupils had suspended their schooling as of October 26, 2001 as a result of the serious flood in the Mekong Delta. The floods have submerged 280,000 houses, 1,405 schools, 4,440 classrooms, 44 medical stations, and 161 offices. They completely destroyed 4,200 ha of summer-autumn rice, inundated 18,000 ha of rice, more than 13,500 ha of subsidiary food crops and fruit trees, 2,500 ha of industrial crops, and more than 3,100 ha of aquaculture. Sections of Tien and Hau rivers have reached their highest water levels in 50 years, damaging Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, and Vinh Long provinces.

Six Children Killed by Vietnam War Shell 30-10-2001
Six children in Vietnam were killed and two injured, one seriously, when a Vietnam War-era mortar shell exploded in a rice field in the southern Khanh Hoa province.

Vietnam Jails Dissident Priest 27-10-2001
Vietnam sentenced a dissident Roman Catholic priest to 15 years in jail for undermining national unity and violating a detention order. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly had written to a US Government committee in March 2001, urging the Americans not to ratify a bilateral trade agreement until Hanoi eased restrictions on religious freedoms.

Vietnam the Safest Place to Be in Asia-Pacific 19-10-2001
Viet Nam was now considered a safer place than anywhere else in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, Canada, and the United States, according to a survey by the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy.

Many of Vietnam's National Assembly's Deputies Incapable in Assigned Duties 17-10-2001
Many of Vietnam's National Assembly deputies were not capable in their roles and duties in the Vietnamese legislative body in terms of management, expertise and the ability to supervise law enforcement, a senior NA official said. Vu Mao, head of the NA Office, gave the remark at a three-day seminar, which opened on October 17, 2001 in HCMC and was being run by the National Assembly Office with the assistance of the Administration of the Swedish Riksdag and the Swedish International Development Authority.

United States Senate Approves Vietnam Trade Agreement 17-10-2001
The US Senate on October 3, 2001 voted 88-12 to approve a historic agreement to normalise trade relations with Vietnam and President Bush said he would sign it. Calling the Senate action "a significant step" toward stronger ties between the United States and Vietnam, president Bush said: "The agreement will provide American companies with access to a large and growing market and, through the reforms it promotes, it will help create a more prosperous and engaged Vietnam... I look forward to signing it." The agreement brought a 10-year reconciliation process close to completion. The pact negotiated by the Clinton administration was signed in 2000 in Hanoi.

Huge Flood Toll in Mekong River Delta 30-9-2001
The death toll from floods in southern Vietnam in the last week of August and up to the end September 2001 climbed to more than 165 people - most of them children - and more than 195,000 homes had been flooded as officials expressed hope that dangerously high water levels might soon start receding. Almost a million people were homeless; officials said more need to be evacuated, but many were reluctant to leave. More than 200,000 pupils could not go to school as more than 1,086 schools were flooded. About 27 medical stations and 57 offices were inundated. Some experts said deforestation upriver had led to dangerous changes in the river's flow pattern, which now was an annual disaster. Material losses were estimated at USD 33.2 million.

Seven Jailed Over Highlands Revolt in Vietnam 29-9-2001
A court in Vietnam sentenced seven accused "provocateurs" to between six and 11 years in prison for their part in violent demonstrations in the central highlands of the country. The unprecedented protests in February 2001 by thousands of people in the Dak Lak and Gia Lai coffee-growing provinces rattled the Government into a twin strategy of appeasement of minorities and ruthless crackdown against political dissents. The Government had accused the protest leaders of taking orders from an exile group in the United States bent on destabilising Vietnam.

U.S. House of Representatives Approves Vietnam Trade Agreement 18-9-2001
The United States House of Representatives approved an agreement to normalise trade relations with Vietnam. Correspondents said the measure, which still had to be approved by the Senate, was a significant part of the reconciliation process, following the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s.

Vietnam's ‘Thang Long Water World’ Corruption Trial Held 18-9-2001
The Hanoi People’s Court started the corruption trial of the 'Thang Long Water World' entertainment project on September 10, 2001. The main defendants, Le Tan Cuong, former director of the Van Thien Company, is charged with misappropriation of State property; Dong Xuan Lan, former branch director of the North Asia Joint-stock Commercial Bank, with breaching the State’s economic management regulations and causing severe damage. Other defendants were Bui Tuong Lan, former head of the Assessment Office under the Ministry of Planning and Investment; Nguyen Quang Linh, an expert of the Assessment Office; Ngo Chi Thien, former deputy head of the Office of the Hanoi People’s Committee and other officials from Hanoi Planning and Investment and the Hanoi Tourism Departments stood trial for irresponsibility leading to severe damage. The main defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Vietnam Officials on Trial for Corruption on ADB Project 18-9-2001
Eight people went on trial in Vietnam over a high-profile corruption scandal that led to the disgrace of a deputy prime minister. Six of the defendants are top government officials, who are accused of aiding and abetting the corrupt economic mismanagement of the Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project and of corrupt land dealings of a private businessman.

Rising Floods in Vietnam Prove Fatal for Many 31-8-2001
The number of people killed by seasonal flooding in Vietnam during the middle week of August 2001 rose to 16. The worst affected regions were the Central Highlands and the Mekong delta, but officials said the impact on the country's key rice and coffee crops had been minimal to that point. Water levels continued to rise, however, and the authorities evacuated thens of thousands of people.

Deaths Rise on Vietnam's Risky Roads 31-8-2001
The accident rate on Vietnam's roads is at an all-time high, due to a sharp rise in traffic and the failure of many to obey basic road rules as the Vietnamese people somehow do not seem to comprehend that operating a motor vehicle is not like walking down a crowded hallway or sidewalk.

Vietnamese Armed Train Gang Busted 31-8-2001
The police force of Cao Loc district, in Vietnam's Lang Son province, was informed that a group of at least 20 armed young men were fighting with the anti-smuggling squad on a train about to leave for Hanoi at Dong Dang station at 6am on August 4, 2001.

Vietnamese Agencies Promoting 'Babies for Aid' Deals 27-8-2001
Vietnam's Ministry of Justice ordered an investigation of non-governmental organisations that struck illegal deals with provincial authorities to trade humanitarian assistance for access to children for adoption. Representatives of international child welfare organisations reported the situation had fuelled the development of what one described as a "thriving adoption industry" in which children's welfare had become secondary to potentially huge profits. In many cases the children were newborn babies that had been abducted from their mothers who already had more than one child, frowned upon by officials.

Severe Flooding in Hanoi 22-8-2001
Relief workers clearied up in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, after it suffered its worst floods in 20 years. The authorities said the city's drainage system was unable to cope after torrential rain in the area.

Vietnam's Smuggling ‘Queen’ Sentenced to Death 22-8-2001
Smuggling and bribe offering ‘queen’ Do Thi My Phuong was sentenced to death by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on August 2, 2001, after 20 days of trial. The court also sentenced Tran Quoc Cuong to 14 years imprisonment for smuggling and bribery; Nguyen Chanh Truc, eight years of imprisonment for illegal activities causing severe damage with 12 years of imprisonment in another trial. He will undergo 20 years imprisonment in total. Luu Quoc Tham and Nguyen Thanh Tiep, director and deputy director of the Long An Customs Department, were sentenced to four and three years of imprisonment respectively for abusing their power to sponsor Ms Phuong. Other defendants were sentenced to between nine months and two years imprisonment. Five defendants will undergo suspended sentences.

Hospital Sharks Make Grief-stricken Relatives in Vietnam Pay for Their Dead 31-7-2001
In another piece of evidence that demonstrates how corrupt and greedy the Vientmese have become, extortionists operating at hospitals in Vietnam's biggest city are preying on grieving relatives by threatening to withhold the bodies of their loved ones unless family members pay for inflated "burial contracts". Phan Thi Hong Minh, vice-director of Ho Chi Minh City's Gia Dinh Hospital, said on July 29, 2001 that the scam was getting out of hand, with police apparently unable to control the abuse because many of them were extortionists were were being paid by the extortionists.

Vietnamese Farmers Take Anger Over Land-grabbing to Hanoi 25-7-2001
More than 100 farmers demonstrated in front of a government building in central Hanoi on July 9, 2001 in a rare protest over what they described as long-standing official corruption and illegal land confiscation. Carrying signs reading "Down with corrupt gangs", the demonstrators said local officials had taken their land, sold it for large amounts of money and evicted them without compensation.

Northern Vietnam's Worst Floods for Years Claim Many Lives 25-7-2001
The death toll in the worst floods to hit Vietnam's far north for years rose to 44 in early July 2001 and several people were reported missing. The floods, caused by heavy rains in the aftermath of Typhoon Durian, struck six highland provinces north of Hanoi from July 4, inundating tens of thousands of homes, swelling rivers, breaching dykes and washing away parts of some roads.

Deal Reached on Agent Orange Devastation in Vietnam 25-7-2001
Hanoi and Washington will research jointly the effects of the notorious chemical defoliant Agent Orange, which the US armed forces sprayed on Vietnam during the Vietnam War during their chemical warfare campaign. The issue has long dogged relations between the former enemies, with the health of up to a million Vietnamese people severely damaged.

US Ambassador Says Goodbye to Vietnam 20-7-2001
The United States' first ambassador to Hanoi after the Vietnam War, Douglas Peterson, ended his four-year term, during which he pushed for reconciliation with a country he once fought as a soldier, and which held him prisoner of war. His work was praised by Vietnam's communist government.

Vietnam's Economic Performance During the First Half of 2001 Reviewed 17-7-2001
As the month of June 2001 closed, statisticians and economists sat down to calculate how well Vietnam's economy had performed in the first half of the year by drawing up a sketch of the whole economy with gross domestic product surging to 7.1%, slightly below the target set for the period early 2001, but much higher than the figures for the period in 2000 and the year before it, with 4.3% growth for the first half of 1999 and 6.2% for 2000.

Vietnamese National Assembly's Spring Session Continues 30-6-2001
The spring session of Vietnam's tenth National Assembly, which had opened in Hanoi on May 22, 2001, at Ba Dinh Hall, continued sitting in June. Deputies of Vietnam's parliament considered a package of bills, as well as heard and discussed the government's report on the results of work over 2000 and main directions of the country's economic development in 2001. The National Assembly closed the session at the end of June after voting on going ahead with the Son La Hydropower project.

Mr Nguyen Van An Elected as Vietnam's National Assembly Chairman 30-6-2001
Mr Nguyen Van An, a Politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam was elected as Vietnma's National Assembly chairman on the morning of June 27, 2001.

Despite Rahabilitation Hanoi Dyke Threatened as Rats Scare Cats in Great Dyke Takeover 30-6-2001
Vietnam's capital was under threat from an army of giant rats that officials said had seriously damaged the city's flood-protection dyke system ahead of the wet season. A 2.3 km section of a dyke protecting low-lying Hanoi from the Red River, rehabilitated with the assistance of a consortium of international engineers from Experco, ECI, and Klohn Crippen Consultants under the aegis of the Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project, had become a "rat castle", where the rats had dug in after an intense, but failed, eradication campaign.

Donors Outline Specific Steps for Viet Nam to Attract Foreign Investment 30-6-2001
Vietnam needs to take specific steps to make itself more attractive to foreign investment, which is vital to its growth plans, representatives of donor countries said on June 20, 2001.

Vietnam's Party Chief Gives Up Assembly Post 11-6-2001
Vietnam's Communist Party approved the resignation of new party chief Nong Duc Manh from his post of National Assembly chairman on June 10, 2001. The decision came at a two-day weekend meeting of the powerful 150-member party Central Committee, which proposed candidates to take over the post. Mr Manh said when he was elected as the new general-secretary of the party in April he would give up the National Assembly post, which he had held for nine years, to focus on his new job.

Vietnam's Communist Party Steps Up Pressure on Church Leaders 11-6-2001
Vietnam's communist authorities launched a renewed clampdown on religious dissidents just as the US Congress prepared to consider ratification of a key trade agreement, exiled church leaders said on June 3, 2001. The clampdown targeted leaders of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the church's Paris office said in a statement. Security police placed the church's No 2, Thich Quang Do, under house arrest on June 1 after detaining three other monks the previous day. Monks loyal to the dissident church were "threatened and harassed" at pagodas across southern Vietnam over the previous 10 days as police launched a wave of interrogations.

Millions of Children Live in Poverty in Vietnam-UNICEF 11-6-2001
Four million children from Vietnam's ethnic minorities suffered from poverty and were extremely vulnerable, compared with others from the majority group, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on June 11, 2001.

THAI Airways Airliner Makes Emergency Landing in Da Nang 8-6-2001
A Thai Airways Boeing 777 carrying 307 passengers and 19 crew was forced to make an emergency landing in Vietnam after a fuel leak and no one was hurt. The airliner made the unscheduled landing at the Da Nang International Airport in central Vietnam airport at 12.15am on June 6, 2001 after a fuel pipe broke.

Vietnamese National Assembly Opens Spring Session 31-5-2001
The spring session of the Vietnamese National Assembly of the tenth convocation opened in Hanoi on May 22, 2001 in Ha Noi, at Ba Dinh Hall. Deputies of Vietnam's parliament considered a package of bills, as well as heard and discussed the government's report on the results of work over 2000 and main directions of the country's economic development in 2001. Apart from it, the agenda of the session included consideration of a number of cadre issues, the main of which was elections a new chairman of the National Assembly instead of Nong Duc Manh, who in April was elected secretary general of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

First US Ambassador Ends his Term in Viet Nam in Mid-July 31-5-2001
On May 23, 2001 U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Douglas "Pete" Peterson announced his resignation from the post effective from July 15. The US ambassador took up the Ha Noi posting in 1997. America's first postwar ambassador to Vietnam said he had submitted his resignation to President George W. Bush the day before.

Vietnam Tries Opposition Group 31-5-2001
Vietnam tried 37 people accused of crimes against the state. The defendants were alleged to be members of a group operating out of Thailand and Cambodia that aimed to launching armed attacks and distributing political leaflets within Vietnam. The group is run by an American citizen of Vietnamese origin, Nguyen Huu Chanh, who was wanted by the authorities in Hanoi.

Vietnam's Ousted Party Boss Keeps Graft Fight Alive 23-5-2001
While Vietnam's top leaders on May 22, 2001 began reviewing the country's vaunted socio-economic goals, ousted communist chief Le Kha Phieu warned that corruption threatened to bring down the ruling party he once led. General Phieu, the one-time army commissar who in April ended an unpopular three-year stint as Communist Party general secretary, blasted insidious graft.

US Envoy Meets Vietnamese Foreign Minister 22-5-2001
A senior American envoy, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, met with the Vietnamese foreign minister in Hanoi to discuss delays to a crucial bilateral trade agreement between the two countries. Mr Kelly, who was in Hanoi for a meeting of officials from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the May 18 arrest of dissident catholic priest, Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, would further complicate the issue.

Vietnam Bomb Explosion Injures Police, Passer-by 22-5-2001
Four people, including a police officer, were injured when a bomb placed by an extortionist exploded in southern Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, police said on May 3, 2001. Police Lieutenant Le Xuan Thuat was injured along with two local militiamen and a passer-by when he tried to open a box containing the bomb night before, a local police officer said.

Anti-aircraft Guns Out to Ensure Smooth Vietnam Celebration 19-5-2001
Anti-aircraft weapons were set up in central Hanoi on May 2, 2001 to deter possible attacks by "subversives" bent on marring celebrations to mark the end of the Vietnam War. The batteries were installed on April 29 on the rooftop of a block of flats in Hoan Kiem district, near the renowned Metropole Hotel.

Vietnam Democracy Activist Arrested 19-5-2001
Vietnam's authorities arrested a pro-democracy activist in April 2001 after he met for talks with other dissidents. Other prominent dissidents arrested in a crackdown after the naming of the new Communist Party leadership in April. Vu Cao Quan, 68, was arrested on April 24 on his way to his home in the northern port city of Haiphong after meeting individually in Hanoi on April 22 with other democracy activists.

Vietnam Elects a New National and Party Leader 23-4-2001
Nong Duc Manh - Vietnam's New Modernising Leader
At the ninth congress of Communist Party of Vietnam, held in Hanoi from April 19-22, 2001, the party appointed a key moderniser, Nong Duc Manh, as its new secretary-general, the country's most powerful leadership post. Mr Manh, currently chairman of the National Assembly, replaced 70-year-old Le Kha Phieu, who was forced to step down. The changes are significant with respect to the direction that Vietnam is to take over the next five years. MORE...

Communist Party Ousts Vietnam's Top Leader 23-4-2001
The Communist Party's central body removed Vietnam's top leader, Le Kha Phieu, on April 17, 2001 amid dissatisfaction with his policies and named a party stalwart seen as more reform-minded in his place. The party's Central Committee replaced Phieu with Nong Duc Manh, an ethnic Tay minority. Manh, a moderate, would be the first ethnic minority member to hold the top Communist Party position. The 150 members of the new Central Committee, who were elected the day before, also selected 15 members of the party's policy-guiding Politburo, including four new members.

Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam Held 23-4-2001
The Ninth National Congress of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) was held in Hanoi on April 19-22, 2001 after a protracted leadership battle from which progressives emerged triumphant. The congress, held every five years and the most important political event in Vietnam, saw 1,168 delegates review the party's achievements since 1996 before endorsing changes to the leadership and policies which would chart the nation's course until 2005. Chairman Nong Duc Manh was elected Party leader after former party head General Le Kha Phieu was ousted for being too conservative and anti-reformist.

Busy Agenda for Vietnam's Communist Party 12^th Plenum  19-4-2001
The Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) opened its 12^th plenary meeting in Hanoi on April 7, 2001. The meeting aimed to complete the draft documents to be presented to the subsequent Ninth National Party Congress and continue introducing candidates to the new Central Committee for approval by the Ninth Congress. It will also offered opinions about the draft agenda, procedures and electoral regulations for submission to the congress.

Poison Attacks on Vietnamese Schools 19-4-2001
Nearly 250 students and teachers at schools in central Vietnam were poisoned in apparently deliberate attacks, the state-controlled press said. Someone put a strange smelling chemical into classrooms at seven different schools in the province of Dak Lak. Over 40 people were in a serious condition as a result of the chemical poisoning.

American Searchers for MIAs Die in Vietnam Helicopter Crash  18-4-2001
Officials on April 8, 2001 recovered the bodies of 16 people -- including seven Americans -- who died in a helicopter crash while searching for Americans missing in action from the Vietnam War. The bodies were carried on stretchers down the hillside where the Russian-made MI-17 helicopter crashed the day before near Thanh Tranh village in Quang Binh province's Bo Tranh district, about 280 miles south of Hanoi.

IMF Calls for Increased Structural Reforms in Vietnam 5-4-2001
The International Monetary Fund welcomed recent signs of Vietnam's economic recovery based on the strength of exports and supported by macroeconomic policies. But its executive director said that the country needed to accelerate the pace of structural reform attract foreign investment for sustainable growth.

Bogus War Pensions Could Cost Vietnam Government $50 Million 5-4-2001
Demonstrating how bad corruption in Vietnam was becoming, investigators uncovered extensive fraud involving pensions and other benefits available to war veterans and their families, revealing that close to 10 percent of payments were unjustified and could have cost the state more than US$50 million. An inspection of more than 300,000 war benefit claims showed that nearly 28,000 were based on counterfeit documents submitted by people who falsely claimed that they or members of their family had served in North Vietnam's wartime military.

Party Graft in Vietnam Gets More Serious 30-3-2001
Although the number of incidents of detected corruption involving members of Vietnam's Communist Party fell in recent years, cases have become more serious, official media said on March 30, 2001. The Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberation) said on average 0.86 percent of party members had been disciplined each year between 1995 and 2001, down from more than 1.0 percent in the previous five-year period. But the newspaper said cases were more serious and newly and better organised corruption among officials had made it more difficult for the party to fight graft.

Vietnamese Government Acknowledges Serious Ethnic Unrest and Anti-Government Sentiments 30-3-2001
The Vietnamese authorities said the leaders of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands region had organised patrols to block access to the area. The report in the state newspaper the trade union daily Lao Dong was the latest of a series of admissions about the continuing serious anti-government protest and sentiments in the central highlands of Vietnam. It acknowledged that the protests were of greater scale than it had earlier said and also recognised a religious dimension to the unrest. The mainly Christian ethnic minority in the region have been complaining about the seizure of their land and religious repression. In a separate report, state media said that a senior official in charge of ethnic minorities and mountainous areas Hoang Duc Nghi had been disciplined for corruption and misuse of funds.

Vietnam Central Committee Meets Amid National Leadership Debate 27-3-2001
The Central Committee of Vietnam's ruling Communist party met to prepare for the national party congress due to be held in April. General Secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party Central Committee Le Kha Phieu said the 10-day working meeting of the committee's 11^th Plenum, second phase, had fulfilled its agenda. This was to continue the assessment and completion of the draft documents and list of candidates to be submitted to next month's Ninth National Party Congress. The Committee session focused on political and economic development plans and on leadership issues. There were major disagreements among party leaders on the issue of having an upper age limit for party leaders, and but there were no immediate decisions from the committee meeting.

Biker Gangs Sweep Vietnam 10-3-2001
Illegal motorbike races have become so popular amongst young people of Vietnam that the authorities contemplate measures to curb them. The Vietnamese police said they were increasingly concerned over the number of young people taking part in illegal motorbike races. According to reports in the Vietnamese press, one race in February 2001 in the south of the country attracted no fewer than 10,000 bikers. Another race resulted in a young man's death when several bikes collided. The illegal motorbike races generally take place at weekends in the middle of the night.

Full Text of Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership Between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Russian Federation 10-3-2001
Following is the full text of a Joint Statement on Strategic Partnership between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Russian Federation, signed by President Tran Duc Luong and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ha Noi on March 1. At the invitation of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam's (SRV) President Tran Duc Luong, the Russian Federation's President V.V.Putin made an official visit to the SRV from February 28 to March 2, 2001.

Putin Visits Vietnam - A New Partnership for Vietnam and Russia 5-3-2001
On the first visit to Vietnam by a Russian or Soviet head of state, the two countries declared a new strategic partnership. The president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, arrived in Hanoi on February 28, 2001 to begin an official visit to Vietnam. Mr Putin joined President Tran Duc Luong in signing a new strategic partnership that promised closer co-operation between the two countries.

Russian President Putin Arrives in Vietnam 28-2-2001
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 28, 2001 arrived in Vietnam for a historic two-day visit. He arrived in Hanoi from South Korea as the first Kremlin chief ever to visit a country that was one of Moscow's Cold War allies, and once a key extension of the Soviet Union's power in Asia. Putin was looking to rebuild economic and security ties neglected for a decade since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Vietnam's Hierarchy Meets to Settle Protracted Leadership Battle 26-2-2001
Vietnam's powerful Central Committee met in the latter half of February 2001 in an effort to settle a leadership struggle that had preoccupied the Communist party for about one year. Often portrayed as a straightforward contest between hardliners and economic reformers, the leadership issue is actually more complex, involving multiple vested interests. The politics are very feudal and rather contrary to what one would expect of a political system that prides itself as communist and socialist--certainly not a true democracy.

Many Buildings Damaged as Earthquake Hits North Vietnam 23-2-2001
A rare earthquake believed to be the strongest in Vietnam in a decade damaged many houses and sent panicked residents into the streets, where they stayed all night to avoid aftershocks. The 5.3-magnitude quake struck the town of Dien Bien Phu at 10:51 p.m. the night of February 19, 2001. Aftershocks continued into the following morning.

Forty Percent of Vietnam's Communist Party Members Guilty of Corruption 16-2-2001
A massive internal inspection by Vietnam's Communist Party, precipitated by corruption investigations by a National Assembly Special Investigations Committee of the Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project, found that 69,000 party members -- more than 40 percent of those reviewed -- were guilty of corruption over the previous five years, official media reported February 14, 2001. The alarming findings, released at a two-day national conference of party inspectors, came as the party experiences unprecedented internal debate. Leaders admitted that a campaign against corruption had failed and a leadership shake-up was expected at a key party congress in March.

Vietnam's Coffee Provinces Calmer after Days of Protests 16-2-2001
Vietnamese police said key coffee growing provinces in the central highlands were largely under control after several days of protests by thousands of ethnic hill people. Protesters blocked National Road 14 between Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Daklak, and Gia Lai province for two hours on February 5 morning and cut telephone lines. The people had staged protests to demand a return of land taken by increasingly despotic and corrupt local officials to be tilled by majority ethnic Vietnamese.

Vietnam's Government Defines State Secrets 15-2-2001
Pseudo-communist-ruled Vietnam published details of an ordinance defining three categories of state secrets - including data on foreign reserves, inflation and banknotes in circulation. Documents on national security strategy, intelligence operations and the external and internal relations policies of the Communist Party were classified "top secret" in the ordinance passed by the National Assembly in December. Details were to b published after ratification by President Tran Duc Luong.

Race on to Shield Vietnam's Dwindling Forests From Illegal Logging 6-2-2001
Vietnam's dwindling forests were under threat from the country's explosion in timber processing, officials admitted on January 31, 2001. Local and international environmentalists hope sustainable forestry exploitation could be implemented before it is too late. They have an uphill battle because of the increasingly endemic corruption and dishonesty of the Vietnamese government officials and authorities.

Ditch Ideology, Says Vietnamese Communist Veteran 15-1-2001
An elderly Communist Party member urged his country's leadership to "untie and liberate" Vietnam by ditching socialism. In a stinging rebuke, Pham Ngoc Uyen, a 53-year veteran of the party, wrote to the country's rulers and said socialism, which Vietnam had adroitly used to help liberate the nation, had outlived its usefulness.

Social Change to Vietnam Brings Suicide, Mental Illness 15-1-2001
Psychiatrists and social scientists have blamed Vietnam's rapidly changing society for what they say is an alarming increase in the number of suicides and hospital admissions due to mental illness. Vietnamese state media reported on January 1, 2001 that a single commune in central Quang Tri province had in November and December seen 13 suicides and 10 attempted suicides. They were attributed to greater material expectations and the breakdown of support from within the family unit that is being brought about by the change in society.

Vietnamese Extortion Gang Sends AIDS Threat 15-1-2001
Police in Ho Chi Minh City searced for members of a gang that threatened to infect victims with the AIDS virus if they did not hand over 25 million dong (US$1,700) for the 2001 Lunar New Year. The official Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper published text from the gang's extortion letter, received by a Tan Binh district resident, saying the gang members were drug addicts infected with HIV.

Traffic Accidents in Vietnam Up Alarmingly 15-1-2001
Vietnam encountered increasing traffic accidents and congestion in urban areas, despite concerted endeavours it had made for better traffic control, according to participants to a seminar held in Hanoi on January 11, 2000. Traffic accidents and congestion were alarming to the entire community, the participants warned, saying in 2000, about 7,500 people were killed and 25,400 others injured in 22,486 road accidents, a year-on-year increase of 12.4 % and 6.2 %, respectively. In the first week of 2001, 162 died and 564 others were injured in 475 traffic accidents across the country, reported the seminar which was jointly sponsored by Nhan Dan and the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

Freedom in Vietnam Brings Rise in Reports of Abuses Against Women 31-12-2000
Greater social freedom in Vietnam has been accompanied by an increase in reports of violence against women, a conference heard. According to the December 30, 2000 issue of Liberation Saigon newspaper, a United Nations-sponsored conference in Hanoi during the last week of December heard the economic prosperity and increasing personal freedom of the past decade had brought with them a darker side of social change in Vietnam.

Vietnam-China Pact Signed 27-12-2000
Vietnam and China have signed an agreement on their sea border in the Tonkin Gulf, at the start of a four-day visit to China by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong. Negotiations on the Tonkin Gulf sea border have been going since the 1970s, but were interrupted by the war between China and Vietnam in 1979. But now after 18 rounds of talks, the two sides settled their differences.

Proceedings of Viet Nam's National Assembly's 8^th Session 24-12-2000
The eighth session of Vietnam's10^th National Assembly (NA) opened on November 14, 2000 at the Ba Dinh Hall, Hanoi. The session worked all through November and continued on into December. This is the continuing account of the National Assembly's proceedings.

Milking of Aid Money to Vietnam by Corrupt Officials Threatens Border Peace 24-12-2000
Vietnamese authorities made a series of arrests in a corruption scandal involving the misappropriation of foreign aid money. Hanoi feared the siphoning of grants might contribute to political instability in the country's remote northwest. The state-run Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper on December 7 detailed two more arrests in a continuing investigation into the misappropriation of US$600,000 by officials implementing a Japanese-funded poverty alleviation project in the provinces of Lai Chau and Son La.

Vietnam's Riot Police Attack Religious Sect Rebels 24-12-2000
A long-running dispute between the authorities and a Buddhist sect in southern An Giang province intensified on December 20, 2000, with police attacking a large group demonstrating for greater religious freedom. Members of a breakaway faction of the Hoa Hao Buddhist sect reported one follower, Truong Van Duc, was clubbed to death and faction chairman Le Quang Liem severely attacked. A member of the Penguin Star staff saw police beat and kick hundreds of protesters who were among 20,000 devotees who had converged on the An Hoa Tu pagoda to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the sect's founder, Huynh Phu So.

Vietnam's Vice President Announces Victory in Polio Fight 24-12-2000
Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh announced on December 15, 2000 that Viet Nam had eliminated polio at a ceremony held in Ha Noi. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai; Shigere Omi and San Tae Han, Director and Honorary Director of the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization, WHO; Director of the Western Pacific Region of the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, Mehr Kha; and the ambassadors of several countries to Viet Nam. Viet Nam was officially recognized on October 29 to have eliminated polio, making the Western Pacific a polio-free region. The recognition means that Viet Nam has reached the WHO target for eliminating the disease throughout the globe by 2005, five years ahead of schedule.

China Threat Basis for Vietnam's Weapons Hoard 24-12-2000
Celebrating the 56^th anniversary of the creation of the armed forces on December 22, 2000, Vietnamese leaders were confident the modernisation of the military was on track and that its maritime strike capability would be significantly boosted by the end of 2001. The collapse of the Soviet Union had a major impact on Vietnam's Soviet-equipped armed forces, prompting significant increases in defence spending and an expansion of links with new and traditional defence partners. A 2000-year history of frequent hostility between China and Vietnam remained the main factor behind the strengthening of both Hanoi's defence capability and its wider diplomatic relations.

Vietnam's Leaders Pass the Buck Back When Dealing With Rising Popular Discontent 20-12-2000
Vietnam's central government addresses mounting discontent in the provinces, but its approach seems to be backfiring and stoking unrest that would lead to a peasant uprising and revolt. The very issues that Vietnam's revolutionaries fought to protect the Vietnamese people from--abuse of power, increasingly arrogrant and corrupt officials, feudalistic behaviour of local leaders, oppression of the rural peasantry, arbitrary astronimical taxes and extortive collection of wealth, embezzlement and protracted land claims as officials 'steal' land from the peasantry--is returning and giving rise to intense grass-roots disillusionment with the social and political system of Vietnam. Alarmed by the growing sense of popular rebellion, the government is taking a classic Oriental stick-the-head-in-the-sand approach rather than properly analysing the growing problem and effecting an approporiate solution.

International Donors Pledge $2.4 Billion Vietnam Aid at Consultative Group Meeting 20-12-2000
The Consultative Group for Viet Nam opened its meeting in Ha Noi the morning of December 14, 2000. Participants at the two-day meeting included Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung, and representatives of the World Bank, 41 bilateral and multilateral donor organizations and nations, and many observers. International donors indicated they would provide around $2.4 billion in support of Vietnam's poverty reduction and development agenda at the meeting.

Hanoi Admits Problems but Says Committed to Reform 6-12-2000
Vietnam's prime minister on December 1, 2000 admitted there were serious shortcomings in creating favourable conditions for foreign investment in Vietnam, but stressed the country remained committed to reforms to improve the environment. Phan Van Khai told a foreign investment seminar in Hanoi that while investor-friendly legislation had been put in place, it had not been properly implemented and administrative formalities remained complicated. He also addmitted that corrupt officials everywhere in the government were arbitrarily applying rules and fees and in effect extorting investors.

Proceedings of Viet Nam's National Assembly's 8^th Session 30-11-2000
The eighth session of the 10^th National Assembly (NA) opened on November 14, 2000 at the Ba Dinh Hall, Hanoi, the session working through November. Earlier, the Standing Committees of the NA and the government had ordered the relevant agencies to promptly accomplish the preparatory work for the session. Before the session, NA delegates arranged meetings with local people to listen to their ideas and opinions. They also held discussions on the content of the session's agenda.

Corruption: Vietnam's Communist Party's Haves and Have-nots Split Opinion 29-11-2000
The trappings of wealth some Vietnamese cadres have accumulated since the transition to a market economy are fracturing the Communist Party and giving weight to public disquiet about official corruption. Now, some members said the only option is for the party to abandon tradition and fully embrace the private enterprise system. Unprecedented coverage of policy meetings for the Ninth Party Congress in March 2001 revealed strong challenges to party conservatives.

US President Clinton Makes Historic Visit to Vietnam 20-11-2000
President Bill Clinton was the first United States head of state to visit Vietnam since the end of the war between Vietnam and the United States in April 1975 and the first American president to visit Hanoi. His historic four-day visit, which started on November 16, 2000, was also his last scheduled foreign trip as US president. He was warmly welcomed by one and all Vietnamese with huge throngs waiting for hours to catch a glimpse of the leader of Vietnam's former enemy. Mr Clinton's visit was the culmination of his policy of normalising relations with Vietnam.

Vietnam's Army Paper Slams 'Commercialisation' of Power 16-11-2000
A letter in Vietnam's army newspaper on November 2, 2000 hit out at the "commercialisation" of power by senior members of the ruling Communist Party, saying corruption undermined the system and hampered economic development. The letter published on the front page of the official Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People's Army) said corruption among state officials and powerful Communist Party members should be considered the key threat to Vietnam's development and economic and social well-being.

Vietnamese Troops, Rangers Unite in Armed Clashes Against Violent Illegal Loggers 16-11-2000
Vietnamese troops and armed police joined forest rangers to combat escalating violence over illegal logging and the trade in wild animals. The new strategy came amid a string of gunfights and other incidents between forest protection officers and illegal loggers, the latest of which saw two people killed. The problem is caused by an increasingly corrupt and uncivilised bureaucracy and powerful gangland leaders with connections to high-standing members of the Vietnamese government.

Vietnam Flood Toll Rises 31-10-2000
The Vietnamese army pressed on with evacuating thousands of families from the flood-stricken Mekong Delta during early October 2000 as the death toll from floods that hit the region rose remorselessly. The floods, the worst in more than 70 years, continued to ravage Dong Thap Muoi (the Plain of Reeds) and Tu Giac Long Xuyen (Long Xuyen Quadrangle), including Dong Thap, Long An, An Giang provinces, and spread to Kien Giang, Can Tho, Vinh Long, and Tien Giang provinces. The death toll rose to over 500 people, most of them children. More than 67,000 families had been evacuated by army rescue teams, but another 60,000 were still hanging on above the floodwaters, he said. More than 827,400 houses were inundated. At least 5 million people were affected by flooding with 215,445 needing emergency relief.

Vietnam's Party Boss Sets Eyes on Presidency 31-10-2000
Vietnam's Communist Party boss is lobbying hard to also take over the country's presidency, a move which if successful would give him unprecedented political power in Vietnam. The presidential push by party Secretary General Le Kha Phieu came amid manoeuvring ahead of the Ninth Party Congress forum scheduled for March 2001 which would endorse the country's leadership and shape social, economic and foreign affairs policies for the following five years.

Hanoi's 990^th Anniversary Celebrations 19-10-2000
The cultural week to mark the 990^th founding anniversary started in Hanoi on October 1, 2000. In the year 2000, Vietnam's capital city became 990 years old. The activities during the week included seminars on socio-economic development plan for Hanoi to 2010, ten centuries of Hanoi-Thang Long literature and Ly Cong Uan and the Ly dynasty with the participation of many scientists, historians, and cultural activists in many branches. In all, large celebrations were held all over the city as well as in other parts of the country to commemorate the founding of one of the world's oldest coninuing thriving cities.

Vietnamese Farmers Stage Protest in Hanoi 19-10-2000
About 100 Vietnamese farmers staged a public protest about corruption outside central government headquarters duringthe third week of October 2000 but dispersed on October 19 after officials were ordered to investigate their grievances. The farmers, from three northern provinces, had complained about local corruption and the route of planned national highway. The provinces included Thai Binh, the scene of serious anti-corruption unrest in November 1997.

Storms and Floods Cause Massive Losses in Viet Nam 30-9-2000
More than 50,000 people in Vietnam's Mekong Delta were evacuated from flooded homes and dwellings threatened by landslides, officials said on September 7, 2000. Seasonal flooding hit southern Vietnam early in 2000, engulfing the country's rice bowl since July. The worst hit areas were the Dong Thap and Long An provinces along the border with Cambodia where rice fields were turned into huge lakes. Over a dozen provinces were turned into one huge, deep lake. Rescuers from the army and navy have used boats to fetch stranded villages from their homes. Officials said about 170,000 people had been stranded in the flood plain. Around 600,000 people were left homeless between Vietnam and Cambodia. The United Nations disaster management team in Vietman described the water levels as "very dangerous". As of the end of September more than 200 people had died in the worst floods in 40 years, and alarmingly over 160 of the victims were children, most of whom were unable to swim.

Vietnam to Deploy Anti-corruption Taskforces 30-9-2000
The Vietnamese government is going to send high-level taskforces around the country to hear complaints about corruption and abuse of power. This has been prompted by continuing high-stakes corruption that is damaging the country's infrastructural development and its economy. One project that is undergoing particular scrutiny because of its international implications is the Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project. Related to this, the Water Resources Management Sub-Project Office 406 in Thanh Hoa Province is being investigated for financial and economic irregularities associated with the reconstruction of the Bai Thuong Dam under the auspices of the same project. The director of the SPO has been charged with economic crimes.

Vietnam Celebrates 55 Years of Independence 30-9-2000
Vietnam threw a huge celebration on September 2, 2000 to mark 55 years of independence, complete with an elaborate two-hour parade before Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. More than 17,000 people participated in the military-civilian parade in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square, the place where former Communist leader Ho Chi Minh had declared the country's independence from France on September 2, 1945.

Vietnam Wins First-Ever Olympic Medal 29-9-2000
Tran Hieu Ngan made history on September 28, 2000 by winning Vietnam's first-ever medal, a silver, in 20 years of Olympic competition. Hieu Ngan fought her way into the final of the women's 57 kilogram class in taekwondo on that day, but lost 0-2 to the Republic of Korea's Jung Jaeeun.

Palestinian President Visits Viet Nam 31-8-2000
President of the State of Palestine, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and President of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat paid a one-day working visit to Viet Nam on August 15, 2000. Arafat made the visit as guest of Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong. He was accompanied by General Secretary of the Presidential Office Taib Abdulrahim, State Minister Hassan Asfour and advisors to the President Nabil Abdullah and Yousef Alabdullah.

Vietnam's Premier 'Close to Quitting in Corruption Fallout' 31-8-2000
Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Van Khai could likely step down at the 2001 Communist Party Congress at which, according party sources, up to half the country's senior leadership would either be asked to retire or be reassigned. Mr Khai had submitted his resignation earlier in 2000, but it had been turned down to allow the Prime Minister to retire with dignity at a forum which provided the opportunity for "routine" changes of senior personnel. The congress was expected to be held in May 2001.

Vietnam Bourse Ready for Business 28-7-2000
Vietnam took another tentative step into the stormy world of capitalism with the opening of its first stock exchange. The Securities Trading Centre (STC) officially opened on July 20, 2000 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's traditional economic capital, but trading on the new bourse did not begin until July 28. Only two companies were initially listed to trade and most of the initial transactions were in government bonds.

Cameras Turned on Corrupt Vietnamese Police 14-7-2000
Bribe-taking became so rife among police on the streets and waterways of Ho Chi Minh City that their supervisors took to using hidden video cameras to try to wipe out the practice. Corruption among road traffic police has been reduced, but it is still out of control on the city's waterways.

ASEAN Ministers' Conference on Mekong Basin Development Cooperation Held in Hanoi 14-7-2000
The second ASEAN Ministers' Conference on Mekong river basin development cooperation was held in Ha Noi July 4, 2000. Present at the conference was Deputy Secretary General Tran Duc Minh of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and delegations from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Record Drugs Trial in Vietnam - Death by Firing Squad 30-6-2000
Twenty-two people wnet on trial in Vietnam's biggest drugs case, charged with smuggling heroin and opium from neighbouring Laos. The defendants were accused of trafficking in 276 kg of heroin and 289 kg of opium between 1992 and 1999. After being found guilty, eleven were sentenced to death by firing squad and nine other defendants were jailed for between 18 years and life.

Vietnam's National Assembly Continues its Session into June 2000 30-6-2000
Vietnam's national assembly continued to sit until June 9, 2000. The tenth National Assembly's seventh session had opened on May 9 at the Ba Dinh Hall, in Hanoi. Legislators debated and passed new legislation and amended many of the country's laws in an attempt to improve the investment climate in the country and to reduce contradictions in many of the country's laws.

Vietnam's Hero Takes Country's Leadership to Task 30-6-2000
Vietnam's war hero General Vo Nguyen Giap - who at 90 remains Vietnam's greatest living legend - lashed out at the country's ruling Communist Party, accusing it of "ideological stagnancy" and reluctance to address its failures. For the second time in as many months, the man who led North Vietnam's army to victory over both France and America publicly called on the party's current leadership to hasten economic and social reforms and speed up integration with the rest of the world.

Fraud Eats into Vietnam's Education System 30-6-2000
An investigation by Vietnam's Ministry of Education uncovered many counterfeit university degrees and some academics say corruption is seriously undermining Vietnam's education system. The ministry conducted a review of 662 state employees who claimed they had received qualifications from six universities in Ho Chi Minh City. One in 10 (10%) of the certificates were fakes.

Vietnam's Army Hospital Rejoins Severed Leg 9-6-2000
The Army Hospital 108 in Hanoi was successful in re-attaching a man’s severed leg in an operation in May 2000.

Train Derailed in Vietnam's Quang Binh Province 9-6-2000
A 32 hour north-south express train running from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City was derailed in Chau Hoa village, Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh province at 5.27am on June 2, 2000, killing one man and injuring 23 other people including 6 children. There were 332 passengers on board when the train, unable to slowdown at a curved section before a tunnel, was derailed.

Vietnam's National Assembly’s Seventh Session Opens 31-5-2000
The tenth National Assembly’s seventh session solemnly opened on May 9, 2000 at the Ba Dinh Hall, in Hanoi.

Green Row Over Vietnam's New Highway 30-5-2000
Construction of Vietnam's second north-south highway sparked an unusual if somewhat belated public controversy, with officials trading allegations of arrogance and incompetence over the environmental impact.

Thai King Receives Vietnamese Prime Minister Khai 15-5-2000
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and his wife were received by the Thai King, Bhumibol Adulyadej, at the Klai Kangwon Hua Hin Palace in Prachuap Kirikhan province, about 200 kilometres south of Bangkok on May 10, 2000.

Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Van Dong Passes Away 7-5-2000
One of the giants of Vietnam's struggle for independence, Pham Van Dong, died at the age of 94. Prime minister of Vietnam for more than 30 years, died on April 29, 2000, the day before the country celebrated the 25^th anniversary of the North's final victory in the Vietnam War over imperialist aggressors.

Vietnam Bids Farewell to Pham Van Dong 7-5-2000
Vietnam's top leaders paid their respects on May 5, 2000 to elder statesman and wartime prime minister Pham Van Dong, who died the week before aged 94. The ruling Communist Party's elite politburo, other senior officials and revolutionaries filed into an ornate funeral chamber at the back of Military Hospital 108 in Hanoi where Dong's body lay in state. The following day Dong's body was laid to rest at the Mai Dich Cemetery.

Vietnam's Liberation Remembered With Triumphal Celebrations 30-4-2000
It was 25 years since the United States withdrew from Vietnam, ending the bitter war between the two countries and a victory for Vietnam against imperialst and colonial forces. Vietnamese celebrations to mark its communist victory were in full swing in towns throughout the country during April 2000. The celebrations culminated in Ho Chi Minh City - formerly Saigon - on 30 April, 25 years to the day since the hurried and chaotic American departure.

John McCain Retraces Vietnam War Past April 29, 2000
Former United States Republican presidential candidate John McCain arrived in Vietnam on April 25, 2000 on a trip that took the US senator down memory lane to his past as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. Mr McCain, a navy pilot during the Vietnam War, visited the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison on the same day and also the city lake, Lake Truc Bach, he parachuted into after his F4-Skyhawk bomber was shot down in 1967 at the height of the conflict.

Vietnam Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of Its Victory Over the United States March 31, 2000
It was 25 years before that in April 1975 Vietnam finally won full independence from its Eurocentric yoke, first from the French and then from the Americans in what the world over is called the Vietnam War, but which the Vietnamese call the American War. Celebrations started in Vietnam on March 10 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war. The celebration continued in various parts of Vietnam during the month of March.

Vietnam Jails Baby Smugglers March 30, 2000
A court in the northern Vietnamese province of Ninh Binh in March 2000 sentenced 12 people for their roles in selling children for foreign adoption. The leader of the ring, Vu Tien Manh, a senior official in the provincial Justice Department, received the longest term, of four and a half years in jail. The defendants, who included three women, also faced fines totalling 376 million dong ($27,000).

Vietnam to Speed up Administrative Reform March 21, 2000
The Vietnamese government in March 2000 announced new measures to speed up its administrative reform. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai appointed his deputy Nguyen Tan Dung as deputy head of the Government Steering Board for Administrative Reform to speed up administrative reform of the country. Other key members of the steering board were also appointed by Khai during his working session with the board early in March in Hanoi.

Cohen Visits Vietnam for Landmark Talks March 17, 2000
United States Defence Secretary William Cohen kicked off an historic visit to former enemy Vietnam on March 13, 2000 with wide-ranging talks with his counterpart that an American official described as "incredibly comfortable". The US ambassador to Vietnam, Pete Peterson, said Mr Cohen and General Pham Van Tra discussed possible military cooperation in demining and search and rescue operations. Mr Cohen also referred to joint efforts to account for the some 2,000 American servicemen listed as missing in action (MIA) from the Vietnam War as a "partnership".

Dozens Killed in Vietnam Bus Crash February 17, 2000
Police in Vietnam reported that at least seventeen people were killed when their bus plunged into a river in Nghe An Province. About thirty other passengers were missing after the accident which happened when the bus collided with another bus.

Buffalo Calf Born with Two Heads February 7, 2000
A buffalo calf with two heads was born in the central Vietnamese province of Nghe An.

Vietnam's National Assembly Approves Cabinet Reshuffle February 7, 2000
The Standing Committee of the National Assembly approved Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's proposals regarding senior government officers.

Corrupt Cadres Thrive Despite Vietnam's Anti-Graft Campaign January 17, 2000
A Vietnamese Finance Ministry audit of government organisations found that nearly 30 percent of state assets had been excluded from official records and used for personal financial purposes by employees. According to the Investment newspaper, the audit of the activities of state organisations in 1999 also found that, excluding salaries, up to 80 percent of allocated budgets was spent on administrative costs. The reported findings come amid a steady stream of officially sanctioned press reports that suggest widespread misuse of funds by state organisations.

Vietnam Baby Trade Trial Opens January 17, 2000
Nine people, including government and hospital officials, have gone on trial in Vietnam accused of selling nearly 200 babies for illegal adoption abroad. The majority of the infants aged under one year were bought from poor farming families and provincial hospitals and then sold to foreigners who believed they were paying for legal adoption procedures.

Vietnamese Toxic Noodle Scare January 7, 2000
Vietnam's health authorities closed seven rice-noodle factories in the Vietnamese capital after it was discovered the factories were adding highly toxic formaldehyde to their products to improve their appearance and shelf life.

Vietnam's Drug Gangs Enlisting More Children to Do Their Dirty Work  January 7, 2000
Street children are being increasingly exploited by drug syndicates in Vietnam as couriers and dealers. Accounts in several state newspapers in early January 2000 said children as young as 12 had been caught dealing heroin in Ho Chi Minh City, where they sold up to 10 hits of the drug a day in return for basic food and shelter. The reports were verified by sources working with international drug agencies in Vietnam, which is battling widespread domestic heroin abuse and has been identified by the United Nations as an increasingly important transit country in the international drug trade.

Tenth Session of Vietnam's National Assembly December 27, 1999
The sixth National Assembly met in a session to iron out new laws, regulations and government issues including dealing with increasing corruption and graft. Hanoi's crackdown on graft claimed another senior official, but observers in Vietnam remained divided on whether the purge was targeting the genuinely corrupt or is being used to settle personal and ideological scores. Foreign diplomats and Vietnamese sources said on that police late November had apprehended Nguyen Thai Nguyen, vice-chairman of the Office of Government and a senior adviser to Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, on unspecified charges.

Anti-Corruption Purge Has Vietnamese Officials Dithering December 27, 1999
Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign appears to have had a dramatic impact on the already moribund decision-making process, with several sources saying government officials were paralysed with fear at becoming caught up in the purge. The decentralised structure and demand for consensus within the ruling Communist Party were widely criticised as the principle reasons for the slow pace of economic reform and the apparent inability of authorities to deal with a host of deepening social problems. However, apart from the December 1999 session of the National Assembly, the day-to-day activities of government ground to a halt.

Dirty Dozen in Vietnam Aid Scam December 27, 1999
Vietnamese police arrested 10 local officials and two private contractors in northwestern Lai Chau province for allegedly misusing nearly 240 billion dong earmarked to improve the lives of some of Vietnam's poorest ethnic minority groups. Concern that development funds were being misspent surfaced after it was reported in late 1997 that a quarter of the annual provincial budget had been spent on building a palatial building for local Communist Party chiefs overlooking the historic town of Dien Bien Phu. The report revealed that close to US$1 million had been spent on what is known locally as the "White House" - a mansion featuring Greek-style columns set amid manicured gardens.

Floods Again Sweep Vietnam's Central Provinces December 17, 1999
Heavy floods again hit Vietnam's central provinces. Widespread floods blanketed central coastal Vietnam in early December, killing more than 100 people and leaving one million in need of emergency assistance, officials and relief workers said. They said that while more rains were forecast for the blighted region, it was too early to say if the impact would be as severe as floods that left a trial of destruction across central Vietnam in early November and killed nearly 600 people. But millions of people were still vulnerable and hundreds of thousands had to be evacuated to higher ground. Large numbers of people were left homeless.

Vietnam Smuggling Bust Nets 22 Customs Officials December 8, 1999
Vietnamese police charged dozens of people, including 22 customs officers, with involvement in a major smuggling ring, state media reported on December 8, 1999. The Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper said the female ringleader, Do Thi My Phuong, had used three firms and corrupt customs officials to smuggle goods worth millions of dollars into the country during an unspecified time period. Part of her haul included nearly 10,000 motorbikes, the daily said, adding a total of 45 people had been charged with various offences.

Chinese Prime Minister Visits Vietnam December 7, 1999
Chinese premier, Zhu Rongji arrived in Hanoi on December 1, 1999, to begin his official friendship visit to Vietnam. The visit is made at the invitation of the Vietnamese prime minister, Phan Van Khai. Zhu Rongji was accompanied by his minister of foreign affairs, Tang Jiaxuan; agriculture minister, Chen Yaobang; deputy minister of economic and trade co-operation and external relations, Chen Xinhua; Chinese ambassador to Vietnam, Li Jiazhong; and other high-ranking officials.

General Report on Relief for Vietnam's Flood Victims December 7, 1999
At the beginning of December 1999, Vietnam's Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs made a general report on losses caused by Vietnam's worst floods in a century in early November and the provision of relief efforts in the seven central provinces.

Sixth Session of Vietnam's National Assembly Opens November 30, 1999
The sixth session of the tenth National Assembly of Vietnam opened at the Ba Dinh Conference Hall in Hanoi on November 18. Delegates began by reviewing the 1999 socio-economic plan and then discussing tasks for 2000.

Worst Floods in a Century in Vietnam Kill Hundreds November 27, 1999
Some of the worst flooding in a centuryto hit central and north-central coastal Vietnam had killed at least 70 people by the end of November 2, 1999 and raised the spectre of grave food shortages, government officials and relief workers said on November 3. The number of casualties mounted rapidly as the tragic natural events unfolded. By the end of November 4 the raging floods in central coastal Vietnam had killed at least 226 people, as officials warned that the weather would worsen in the following days. By the end of the first week of November more than 600 people were known dead. Vietnamese troops and rescue officials were frantically moving hundreds of thousands of people to higher ground ahead of more heavy rains. Over one million people lost their homes and were starving. Vietnam's worst floods in a century caused initial damage of more than US$215 million and destroyed or damaged 830,000 homes.

Audit Reveals Misuse of Vietnam's Public Funds November 27, 1999
A Vietnam government Finance Ministry audit of state-run universities, government departments and some provincial administrations uncovered the misuse of 577.2 billion dong and revealed many organisations were turning increasingly to non-government sources of funding.

Communique of the 8^th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam  November 12, 1999
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam has issued a communique on its 8^th plenum convened in Ha Noi on November 4 to 11. The communique said: The 8^th plenum of the CPV Central Committee focussed its discussions on the three following important points: Reviewing the implementation of the 1999 plan and determining the targets, tasks, orientations and main solutions for the socio-economic development plan for 2000; Guiding preparations for the documents to be presented at the 9^th Congress of the Party; Reviewing the results and experiences of the self-criticism and criticism drive conducted in the spirit of the Resolution of the 6^th plenum of the Party Central Committee by a number of Party Committees and organizations directly under the Party Central Committee; and giving opinions on how to continue stepping up the campaign for Party building and strengthening. In an important move to show the people it is serious about tackling corruption, it also asked for the sacking of Deputy Prime Minister Ngo Xuan Loc over a corruption scandal related to an ADB-Financed Development Project.

Hanoi Presses Anti-Corruption Campaign November 12, 1999
The Government of Vietnam made clear that it is serious about its anti-corruption campaign, saying on November 12 that officials would be held responsible for wrongdoing in their departments. An examination of Vietnam's attempts to curb corruption as it presses on with an anti-graft campaign

Vietnam's National Assembly Releases Communique on October-End Meeting November 1, 1999
Vietnam's National Assembly's Standing Committee released a communique on its October 20-29 meeting chaired by NA Chairman Nong Duc Manh. The communique said that also present at the meeting was Vice State President Nguyen Thi Binh, and that the NA Standing Committee had considered and made suggestions on the preparations for the sixth session of the tenth National Assembly.

Storms and Floods Hit Thanh Hoa and North-Central Provinces October 27, 1999
Violent storms lashed Vientam's Thanh Hoa province and other central-northern provinces, causing deaths and widespread damage to houses, fishing fleets and the area's irrigation infrastructure.

Legendary Turtles Reappear on Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake October 24, 1999
Two turtles appeared on the surface of Hoan Kiem Lake every four minutes from 6 to 8 am on October 22, 1999. The turtles are legendary and according to Hanoi mythology brought a sword to Vietnam's savour general who drove the Chinese out from Vietnam once and for all.

Vietnamese Officials Arrested in Labour Scam Bust October 7, 1999
Vietnamese police uncovered what they describe as the country's largest labour fraud after exposing a scam which falsely promised lucrative overseas employment to Vietnamese workers. These scams are common in Southeast Asian countries where the scam artists profit from the desperation of an increasingly growing population purposely kept in poverty through policies implemented by the economic and political elites.

Vietnamese Village Folk Trash Rubbish Dump October 7, 1999
Acts of public defiance are rarely seen in Vietnam, particularly as the consequences are harsh and brutal. However, having to live with the sight, smell and filth caused by a garbage dump was simply too much for residents of Vietnam's Nam Son village.

Rapid Change and Years of War Blamed for Vietnam's Surge in Mental Illness October 7, 1999
More than one in seven Vietnamese suffer from some form of psychological disorder, according to a Health Ministry survey. Depression and other forms of mental illness afflicted between 15 and 20 percent of the population.

First Five-Day Work Week in Vietnam a Quiet Affair October 7, 1999
After weeks of speculation, reality finally set in as Vietnam experienced its first official two-day weekend (October 2-3, 1999).

Vietnamese Working Women Blast the Nation's Lazy Men September 27, 1999
President Ho Chi Minh's vision of a socialist state underpinned by equality of the sexes remains far from reality in modern Vietnam, with a survey revealing women turn out up to 70 percent of the country's agricultural production. The survey, conducted by the Vietnam Farmers' Association and published in the Culture newspaper, found that 75 percent of heavy labour such as ploughing and harvesting was carried out by women farmers who worked on average four hours a day more than their male counterparts.

Vietnam's Leaders Fear Fresh Wave of Unrest in Troubled Thai Binh Province September 27, 1999
Vietnam's top leadership acknowledged the prospect of renewed unrest in Vietnam's Thai Binh Province, signalling the likelihood of further purges of the Communist Party hierarchy in the troubled province.

Albright in Viet Nam on Two-day Visit September 7, 1999
United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Ha Noi on September 6, 1999 to begin a two-day visit to Viet Nam.

Graft Mars Vietnamese Leaders' Call to Embrace Uncle Ho Legacy September 2, 1999
Concerned that socialist ideals are crumbling under the weight of growing self-interest, the leadership has intensified its focus on the thoughts of Ho Chi Minh, hoping to rearm the population with a common sense of purpose. On the face of it, the strategy seems sensible.

Increase in Graft in Vietnam Prompts Warning August 13, 1999
A top Communist Party official has warned graft is spreading in Vietnam's administration and has vowed to crack down on cadres. Vice-secretary of Ho Chi Minh City's Party Committee, Vo Van Cuong, said corruption was no longer restricted to government revenue-raising bodies, but had spread to organisations involved in the administration of education, sport and culture.

Vietnam Plans to Put a Brake on Power Projects August 11, 1999
State utility electricity of Vietnam (EVN) was pondering having the schedules of major power projects extended on concerns that electricity supply would substantially outstrip demand. EVN deputy director general Tran Viet Ngai said his corporation would call for the Government to slow down instruction of thermal power plants in the northern region and hydroelectric stations in southern and central provinces.

Floods Cause Heavy Losses in South of Vietnam August 1, 1999
Heavy rains and floods caused great losses in lives and properties to local people and the State in the southern provinces of Binh Thuan, Dac Lac, Dong Nai, and Lam Dong. According to the provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control in Binh Thuan, as many as 30 people were killed, 43 people were missing, 7450 houses were submerged under water, 18,000 hectares of rice and subsidiary food crops waterlogged and 22 bridges and sluices damaged. This is after extraordinarily heavy rains hit the region on July 31 after heavy rains started on July 27. Some places received up to 500 mm of rain in a 24-hour period.

Social Crisis in Vietnam Alarms Leaders July 28, 1999
Vietnam's attempts to eradicate social evils are likely to fail and society is poised to suffer deepening divisions unless authorities address spiralling unemployment, economists and international development workers warn. State-controlled media in July 1999 reported Ministry of Labour statistics asserting that unemployment in Vietnam had swollen from 1.05 million people in 1997 to 1.75 million in 1998.

Vietnam's Proud Military Slips into Decline as Aid Dries Up July 1999
The once formidable People's Army is essentially bankrupt and will be forced to revert to guerrilla warfare to counter any serious external threat arising early in the 21^st century, according to defence analysts.

Vietnam Develops New Herb for AIDS Treatment July 1999
Scientists of the Institute of Biological Technology under the National Centre for Natural Sciences and Technology led by professor Nguyen Duy Dai have found a new kind of medicinal herb to treat AIDS patients

Train Crash Injures Two in Vietnam July 21, 1999
Two people were seriously injured when a heavy truck was hit by a passenger train at an unprotected level crossing Ninh Binh province, 100 km south of Ha Noi on the morning of July 21, 1999.

Hanoi Shows Signs of Retreating into Shell July 18, 1999
It was the sort of statement one would have expected during the darkest days of the so-called "American War" as it is referred to in Vietnam. Its delivery in the middle of July 1999 during a visit by Communist Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu to Havana had observers perplexed - and a little concerned that, as one foreign diplomat put it, Vietnam is "withdrawing slowly into a shell of isolationism".

Mayhem has Vietnam on the Road to Ruin June 26, 1999
A staggering 2,883 people were killed on Vietnam's roads in the first five months of 1999. About 11,000 people were injured in 9,656 accidents. Despite the carnage and extraordinarily high cost to the health system, Vietnamese drivers and motorcycle riders appear oblivious to the dangers of the road. Traffic lights in the country's major cities are routinely ignored and pedestrian crossings seem to be considered as just so much white paint. Throughout the country, motorcycle helmets are the exception rather than the rule, and the honking of horns predominates over the use of brakes, indicators and even any sense of self-preservation.

Hygiene an Unknown Concept, Vietnamese Food Kills Regularly June 25, 1999
According to a report by Vietnam's Ministry of Health's Food Quality and Safety Bureau, nearly 7,000 people suffered from food poisoning in 1998, with 41 dying. With another month to go before summer reached its peak, eight cases of mass food poisoning were reported by the middle of June 1999. Ministry officials said during the last week of June that 248 people had become seriously ill and 16 in Hanoi alone had died in the previous six weeks.

Vietnam Pressing Ahead with Massive Power Project June 23, 1999
Vietnam appointed a foreign consortium on June 23, 1999 to upgrade plans to build a giant hydro-electric power plant in the country's north, signalling its intention to push ahead with the controversial project, despite an energy surplus in the country.

Vietnam's State Budget Goes Public for First Time - And It's in the Red June 15, 1999
Viet Nam for the first time made public its State budget balance sheet when announcing that the deficit in 1999 could reach VND13,000 billion (nearly US$1 billion). The General Statistical Office (GSO) said that this meant the 1999 financial year's deficit would be VND295 billion (over $21 million) higher than the budget deficit recorded in 1997.

United Nations and ADB Reports Detail Waste on Vietnamese Aid Projects June 15, 1999
In a revealing glimpse of how aid programs can go wrong, the United Nations Development Program estimates in a new report that 40 percent of the money spent on a project in Vietnam has been wasted. An internal report obtained by Dow Jones Newswires details how local officials took junkets abroad, purchased office equipment at inflated prices and bought an excessive number of motorcyclees and cars. Ironically, the project was designed to improve government administration in Quang Binh province.

Almost 53,500 km of Canals and Ditches in North Vietnam to be Upgraded  June 15, 1999
Localities in the Red River Delta, the Midland and the Northern Centre of Vietnam will invest VND 16,000 billion (USD 1.14 billion) to upgrade almost 53,500 km of canals and ditches in the next five years, ensuring water for about 1.5 million ha. The target was set at a Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) conference on upgrading and strengthening management of irrigation networks held in the central province of Nghe An on June 14 and 15, 1999.

Hanoi Vows to Move on Investor Concerns, Yet Generates Disappointment  June 14, 1999
At a meeting with international donors in Hai Phong senior Vietnamese officials on June 14, 1999 pledged to address some concerns that foreign investors say impede growth in the communist-ruled country. International donors expressed discontent with Vietnam on June 15, despite the pledges from the communist-ruled country to further economic and political reform.

Vietnam's Population to Reach 100 Million in 2024 June 1, 1999
Vietnam's population is projected to reach 100 million by 2024, according to the General Department of Statistics' report delivered to a seminar Announcing Vietnam's Projected Population from 1994-2024 held in Hanoi on June 1, 1999 to serve the cause of socio-economic development.

Cradle Swap Separates Vietnamese Mothers from Children for Eight Years June 1, 1999
Two mothers in Vietnam's Dong Nai province have no problems agreeing that truth is stranger than fiction. Nguyen Thi Thanh and Nguyen Thi Bao both gave birth to sons at the Dong Nai hospital on August 24, 1991. Both the new-borns were placed in incubators because they were very weak. Then a turn of events occurred that could have been written of a film script. The babies were accidentally switched and only now were the mothers able to confirm it.

Vietnam's Child Malnutrition Rate Still High May 26, 1999
Malnutrition among Vietnamese children under five was recorded at 39 percent in 1998. Child malnutrition is still very high in Vietnam, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Vietnam Elder Statesman Lashes Party Over Graft  May 15, 1999
Vietnam's former Prime Minister Pham Van Dong has launched a scathing attack against graft and abuse of power within the ruling Communist Party, saying they posed a serious threat to the regime.

Vietnamese Veterans Remember Victory Over French May 10, 1999
Aged Vietnamese veterans came to the remote Dien Bien Phu battlefield to mark their victory 45 years ago that spelled the end of French colonial rule and the beginning of the end of European colonialism the world over.

Vietnam Puts Graft on Trial With 77 in the Dock May 10, 1999
Vietnam's biggest graft trial began on May 10, 1999 with 77 defendants accused of involvement in a series of major scams that caused losses of some $2.2 billion. The accused were surrounded by around 100 police officers in Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court.

Vietnam Increases Investments in Agriculture and Water Resources May 5, 1999
Vietnam's investments in agriculture and rural development will account for 20.5 percent of the state budget in 1999, surpassing the 1998 amount by 61.5 percent, Vietnam's daily Vietnam News reported.

Vietnam Economy Faces Litany of Woes May 4, 1999
Vietnam painted a gloomy picture of the country's economic prospects on May 4, 1999 and warned its 79 million people to expect tougher times ahead.

Two Death Sentences Issued in Vietnam's Biggest Smuggling Trial, ADB Project Possibly Next  April 28, 1999
All 74 defendants in Vietnam's biggest corruption and smuggling case were convicted on April 29, 1999, with two sentenced to death and six to life in prison, a court official said the same day. Similarly, Asian Development Bank-financed Irrigation and Flood Protection Rehabilitation Project also investigated for corruption and irregularities.

Vietnam Police Shoot Kidnapper, Free Baby April 20, 1999
Vietnamese police on April 20, 1999 shot a knife-wielding man who had kidnapped a six-month old Japanese baby and rescued the boy unharmed.

Conflagration Destroys 218 Houses April 13, 1999
A large fire, which broke out at 6:45 p.m, on Tuesday, April 13, 1999 completely destroyed 218 houses on Ben Chuong Duong street and at Cau Ong Lanh in district 1, Ho Chi Minh City's (formerly Saigon) biggest fish and fruit wholesale market.

Vietnam's Health and Fertility Improvements Show Decline April 7, 1999
In 1997, equating health with height, some Vietnamese state officials claimed that by the year 2020 the average Vietnamese would stand 165 centimeters tall -- a full six centimeters more than in 1999. Mesmerized by foreign media projections of their country as the next Asian "tiger economy" Vietnam's authorities believed that rapidly rising standards of living would also improve the average life expectancy of its citizens. However, with the Asian economic crisis banging at the doors, the bets are off. But experts point out that Vietnam's impressive public health achievements using its scarce resources means future generations could still be walking tall -- if not taller.

Vietnamese Women Indignant Over NATO's Raids on Yugoslavia April 5, 1999
Recalling the horrors and ethnic cleansing-like atrocities carried out by the the Americans in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, the Viet Nam Women's Union on April 5, 1999 expressed its extreme indignation about NATO's continuous air attacks on Yugoslavia.

Vietnamese Cadres' Attack Reveals Party Divisions April 4, 1999
In a clear indication of how seriously divided the ruling Communist Party has become, a group of seasoned cadres in early April 1999 wrote a letter attacking other senior party members, whose inclusion in officialdom they called a "disaster".

Men Strut Around Like Bosses While Women Run the Show March 10, 1999
Rural Vietnamese women work six hours more each day than their male counterparts on top of two hours less sleep, a recent survey by the National Committee for Women's Conditions has found. It also found out that it is Vietnam's women that carry the physical burden of the country's development.

Vietnam is For the Stayers, Says British Ambassador March 5, 1999
Britain's Ambassador to Vietnam David Fall assessed foreign nation-Vietnam relations in 1998 and prospects for the future to the British Business Group late February 1999. 1997 was a year of gathering gloom in Vietnam what with the east Asian economic risis that was battering all the countries in the region. Vietnam's reform process and decision making continued to slow even before the impact of the regional financial crisis was felt. Yet for international firms that tough it out in Vietnamese during this period, they will not be forgotten by the Vietnamese and they will stand to reap the benefits of Vietnam's development effort.

Prince Andrew Visits Vietnam  March 5, 1999
President Tran Duc Luong received the British Duke of York, Prince Andrew at a reception held at the presidential palace in Hanoi on March 5, 1999. He was on a Vietnam visit from March 2 to March 6 as guest of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam.

Vietnam Sees New Power Crunch despite Output Rise, Droughts a Problem  March 3, 1999
Vietnam is forecasting a new power crunch this year as rises in demand continue to outstrip supply, a power industry official said on Wednesday, March 3, 1999. The official from the state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) said electricity output in 1999 would rise to 24.8 billion kilowatt hours from 21.6 billion kwh the previous year, but that a shortfall of 500 kwh was likely.

Pressure to Diversify as Centuries-Old Vietamese Rice Market Loses Lustre March 3, 1999
Vietnam's remarkable agricultural growth, largely fuelled by its huge rice production, is in danger of petering out. A partial remedy may be found in raising pigs and other livestock, policymakers were told during the first week of March 1999 during a two-day regional conference in Hanoi.

Viet Nam Becomes World's Second Largest Rice Exporter February 16, 1999
After 10 years of steadily increasing rice exports, in 1998 Viet Nam became the world's second biggest exporter of rice with more than 3.8 million tonnes shipped abroad.

Viet Nam's Construction Budget Loses $3.4 Billion to Kickbacks, Rigged Bids February 12, 1999
An estimated US$450 million, 30 percent of Viet Nam's annual construction budget, is lost in corrupt payments. Government to investigate and bring parties to account.

Mammoth Trials to Tackle Smuggling and Corruption February 11, 1999
Authorities in Viet Nam are preparing for the trials of 151 defendants in the country's two biggest smuggling and corruption cases.

Vietnamese Baby Girl Carries Two Foetuses February 9, 1999
The Ho Chi Minh City based Children Hospital No. 2 has successfully operated on a four-month-old baby girl carrying two foetuses.

Vietnam Strives to Produce 24.38 Billion Kwh Electric Power February 9, 1999
Vietnam plans to produce 24.38 billion kwh electric power in 1999, 2.72 billion kwh higher than 1998, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on February 9, 1999.

Drought Hits Viet Nam's Northern and Southern Provinces February 2, 1999
Drought has gripped through northern provinces, leaving some 1.3 million people thirsty for water and threatening vast paddy areas, said the daily. The Water and Irrigation Management Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said 360,000 hectares of 2.5 million hectares of winter-spring paddy in northern Vietnam would likely to be parched.

The Long History of Thang Long-Hanoi
Ha Noi, the capital of Viet Nam, will celebrate its 1,000th anniversary in 2010. Viet Nam's official historical documents say that after his accession to the throne, King Ly Thai To moved the country's capital to Thang Long (Soaring Dragon), the present site of Ha Noi, in autumn 1010.