Conversations on Vietnam Development
Five claimants occupy nearly 70 disputed reefs and islets spread across the South China Sea. They have built more than 90 outposts on these contested features, many of which have seen expansion in recent years. AMTI has gathered satellite imagery of each outpost, along with other relevant information, to document their current status and any changes they have undergone in recent years. Explore the database below.
Click on the name of each country to see.
Liberal Publishing House publishes and distributes books Vietnam’s government does not wants its citizens to read.
![Vietnam's publishing industry is tightly controlled by the government [File: Kham/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2020/1/13/b87f615839eb46618ace880f8a6da237_18.jpg "'Pushing boundaries': The rise of Samizdat publishing in Vietnam")
Hanoi, Vietnam – Inside a cramped room in a secret – and temporary – location in northern Vietnam, a printer whirs to life, spitting out sheets of paper covered in text.
Neat piles are stacked on nearby tables and a man wearing an air respirator places one of them into a machine that cuts and binds the pages to a cover.
Tiếp tục đọc “‘Pushing boundaries’: The rise of Samizdat publishing in Vietnam”
Christmas light shipments to the US from Vietnam have more than doubled this year, while those from China have plunged.
Former information minister Nguyen Bac Son was accused of receiving $3m in bribes to help a deal with a mobile company.
![The Hanoi court sentenced Nguyen Bac Son to life in prison in a case that also saw another minister and a dozen executives receive lengthy prison terms [Nguyen Van Diep/VNA via AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/12/28/79a06003aac948899dfd71b8d23ed131_18.jpg "Vietnam court sentences ex-minister to life in prison for fraud")
A court in Vietnam on Saturday sentenced a former information minister to life in prison after finding him guilty of taking $3m in bribes in connection with a controversial deal at state telecoms firm MobiFone.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam court sentences ex-minister to life in prison for fraud”
A Vietnamese martyr’s mother prayed for his soul for decades, unaware that he had escaped Pol Pot`s regime and ended up in Thailand.
At one of the family’s recent meals, there are two bowls of fish sauce, besides a plate of steamed vegetables and braised fish.
One bowl of fish sauce is for 84-year-old Trinh Thi Hay and the other, heavy with cut fresh chillies, is for her 60-year-old son Nguyen Van Ke.
Tiếp tục đọc “War veteran returns from the dead, struggles with life”
07/01/2020 14:06 GMT+7
Saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta during the dry season, is forecast to enter local rivers 30-40km deeper than the annual average.
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| Salinity intrusion destroyed rice fields in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang in 2016.—VNA/VNS Photo Trong Dat |
That is more severe than 2016, the year of historic salinity which caused VND15 trillion (US$ 646 million) damage to the delta.
The concentration of salinity was about four grammes per litre, said minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong at a meeting held on Friday in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre. Tiếp tục đọc “Saltwater intrusion to enter deeper in Mekong Delta”
The loss of sand has caused erosion and increased salinity as well as subsidence in the Mekong Delta.
The studies of the Mekong River by Prof Stephen Darby from Southampton University found that within several years, the river bed fell by several meters on a section of hundreds of kilometers in length.
Tiếp tục đọc “Sand overexploitation of Mekong River raises worries for Mekong Delta”
Vietnam will enjoy the fastest economic growth in Southeast Asia in 2020, according to a new forecast from British multinational investment bank HSBC.
Vietnam has been a beneficiary of the China-U.S. trade war, enjoying a boost in services and exports that should drive economic growth to 7% this year, HSBC economist Yun Liu said last week. But she said the country remains vulnerable to economic risks including trade protection and inflation. Tiếp tục đọc “US-China Trade War Seen as Boosting Vietnam Growth”
According to statistics by the World Bank (WB), overseas remittances transferred to Vietnam are estimated at US$16.7 billion in 2019, an increase of 4.4 percent compared to that in 2018.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam receives US$16.7 billion of remittances in 2019”
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $11.12 billion last year, widening from a surplus of $6.8 billion in 2018, customs data released on Monday showed, with smartphones, garments and electronic home appliances among the largest export earners.
Exports in 2019 rose 8.4% to $264.189 billion, while imports rose 6.8% to $253.071 billion, the Customs Department said in a statement. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam 2019 trade surplus $11.12 billion, beating $9.94 billion forecast: customs”
Two former chairmen of the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang have been handed jail terms totaling 29 years for serious violations in the management of state-owned assets and land.
The Hanoi People’s Court on Monday tried Tran Van Minh, Van Huu Chien, Phan Van Anh Vu, and 18 other defendants. Tiếp tục đọc “Former Da Nang chairmen jailed over violations in state asset, land management”
A textile factory is seen inside a residential area in Hanoi, Vietnam July 2, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS
“You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win,” Ho Chi Minh warns French colonialists, 1946. Tiếp tục đọc “Fascinating Vietnam”
Six years ago, a village of tycoons appeared in Son Tay District, in the central province of Quang Ngai, as local people became billionaires overnight thanks to land compensation from a hydropower project. Tiếp tục đọc “Billionaire village turns to ghost town”
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Nguyen Dang Anh Thi |
It has become necessary since a shortage is forecast for several years starting in 2020.
With the seventh National Power Development Plan (2011-2020) focusing primarily on traditional energy sources like thermal and hydropower, 47 out of 62 power projects, the majority being thermal, are behind schedule due to lack of funding and local resentment against thermal plants.
Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam faces growing threat to energy security, environment”
![For many years Christmas lights were produced almost solely in China, but increased US tariffs on Chinese goods pushed many buyers to source the items elsewhere, including Vietnam [File: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2019/12/26/7ef4bf60ed7045e6845617351d575950_18.jpg "Untangling Christmas lights: How Vietnam gains from the trade war")
CVD 