The alleged on-going reclamation of Subi Reef by China is seen from Pag-asa Island in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, western Palawan Province, Philippines / AP
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June 9, 2015 5:00 am
UPDATED : 06/09/2015 08:05 GMT + 7
UPDATED : 06/09/2015 14:46 GMT + 7
TTN – A project to build a multimillion-dollar cultural facility, which is intended to worship a highly revered Chinese philosopher/educationist and several noted Vietnamese academics of ancient times, in northern Vietnam has been frowned upon for its wastefulness.
The Van Mieu (Temple of Literature), which is in the making, has been criticized for being a colossal waste of the state budget. Continue reading In Vietnam, cultural edifice dedicated to Chinese philosopher blasted for extravagance
QUANG NAM – Monday, June 08, 2015 14:58
TNN – Hydropower dams on the Vu Gia – Thu Bon River system has hindered sedimentation downstream, causing severe erosion that could wipe out a popular beach in Hoi An town, experts warn.
“Climate change with a sea-level rise of 30cm is not the only reason for the current speed of erosion of Cua Dai Beach,” Vu Thanh Ca of the Scientific Research Institute of Sea and Islands said. Continue reading Vietnam UNESCO heritage threatened by erosion as dams stop sedimentation
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| Ethnic children in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai’s Man Than Primary School. Boosting support for poor ethnic people is one of goals targeted in a national programme on sustainable poverty reduction by 2020. — VNS Photo Thai Ha |
HA NOI (VNS) — The national programme on sustainable poverty reduction until 2020 will be aimed at speeding up the process, preventing people from re-entering poverty situations – and creating conditions for the poor to access basic social services.
This was agreed by experts at a conference collecting ideas for the programme’s policies in Ha Noi on Wednesday. Continue reading War on poverty becomes faster, more sustainable
4 June 2015
EAF – The South China Sea dispute has become the new normal in ASEAN meetings. The dispute, with its overlapping claims on various land features in the South China Sea, has started to figure as the most important territorial disputes in Asia, one that risks becoming a major power confrontation in the region. With this in mind, ASEAN must take a collective stand on the South China Sea.
Continue reading ASEAN must take a collective stance on the South China Sea
• By Jay L. Batongbacal I May 27, 2015
cogitasia – Philippine media went into a minor frenzy with the startling news that Manila purportedly offered Kuala Lumpur a quid pro quo in March: dropping the Philippine claim to North Borneo (Malaysia’s Sabah State) in exchange for Malaysian support for Manila’s arbitration case over the South China Sea. The media reports were quickly denied by the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, which noted the total absence of any reference to such a deal in the note that set off the firestorm. Recently, President Benigno Aquino III had to reiterate that his administration was not dropping the claim, prompting Malaysia to summon the Philippine Charge d’Affaires. Continue reading Sabah’s Shadow on the South China Sea
DONG NAI – Sunday, May 31, 2015 15:52
TNN – Ho Huu Hanh, 16, in Ho Chi Minh City’s neighbor province of Dong Nai, was born without arms. His mother said her family was very sad at his birth while neighbors boycotted him as a “monster.” But since he turned 3, he started to make his legs come in to help. Continue reading Nothing’s impossible: Vietnamese teen boy does it all without arms
AMTI – Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s address at this weekend’s Shangri-La Dialogue was generally well received by conference attendees and Asia-security watchers. A few critics have argued that Carter was “just talk.” What none have noted, however, is the fact that the Secretary’s remarks were the latest installation in a series of moves by the administration to articulate a fact-based approach to the South China Sea. This approach is a nuanced one and does not necessarily constitute a “strategy” for countering China’s recent moves. It is, however, a wise way to engage two key audiences to whom Carter was speaking at Shangri-La: other states in the region and China itself. Let me explain.
By Ralph Ellis, Jethro Mullen and Steven Jiang, CNN
Updated 3:19 PM ET, Tue June 2, 2015
Story highlights
Tornado hit part of Yangtze River where ship capsized, China Meteorological Center says
Survivor says he barely had time to grab a life jacket before escaping ship, report says
Authorities confirm 14 survivors and seven deaths
Jianli County, China (CNN)Most of the passengers on the Eastern Star cruise ship had gone to bed. A violent storm struck and rain pounded the windows with such force that water seeped into the cabins, survivor Zhang Hui told Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency.
The ship began tilting, Zhang told the agency, reaching an angle of 45 degrees at one point. Small bottles rolled off the table in his cabin.
“Looks like we are in trouble,” he remembers telling a colleague.
When the ship with more than 458 people aboard overturned late Monday, he said, it happened so quickly he only had 30 seconds to grab a life jacket and get out of his cabin. He went into the dark and choppy waters of the Yangtze River during the middle of the storm, later confirmed to be a tornado. Continue reading Survivor: Chinese cruise ship capsized quickly during violent storm
foreignpolicy – Beijing’s tough rhetoric over maritime disputes has inflamed nationalist fervor online. That’s not necessarily a good thing for China.
By Chi Nhan, TNN – Tuesday, June 02, 2015 11:21
Vietnam’s government is putting the environment at huge risks by approving many riverside and seaside golf courses, whose uses of fertilizers and pesticides are alarmingly high, experts said.
Le Anh Tuan, a senior environment researcher at Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta, said golf courses “are a threat to the environment.” Continue reading The cost of having fun: Golf courses are ‘killing’ Vietnam’s environment
AMTI.CSIS – Since China first sent a senior military officer to participate in the Shangri-la Dialogue (SLD) in 2007, it has come to the annual security meeting prepared with a carefully crafted strategy to deflect criticism and advance Chinese interests. This year was no exception. Continue reading China’s missed opportunity at the Shangri-La Dialogue
thediplomat – If the U.S. wants to moderate Chinese adventurism in the South China Sea, it should ratify UNCLOS.
By Ankit Panda
May 23, 2015 I 1.4k Shares I 46 Comments
As diligent Diplomat readers may be aware, the situation in the South China Sea is starting to heat up. The United States has started challenging China’s ongoing land reclamation activity in a bid to demonstrate that despite China’s actions, the sovereignty of the disputed reefs and islands, in the Spratlys and elsewhere, remains indeterminate. Continue reading How the US Senate Can Help Stabilize the South China Sea
UPDATED : 05/25/2015 20:30 GMT + 7
>> An audio version of the story is available here
She said her mother will come and take her home in four years because “my mom promised to me that she would pick me in five years when she took me here a year ago.” Continue reading The lonely lives in a rest home in Hanoi
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