By Viet Anh September 16, 2020 | 10:02 am GMT+7 vnexpressThe Xayaburi dam in the lower Mekong River in Laos. Photo by CK Power/Handout via AFP.
Germany has provided equipment to the Mekong River Commission to monitor the environmental impacts of two mainstream dams on the lower reaches of the Mekong River.
The equipment, worth around $600,000, meant to help monitor the impacts of Laos’s Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams, was handed over on Tuesday as part of the German government’s support for the MRC’s Joint Environment Monitoring of Mekong Mainstream Hydropower Projects (JEM) program, which is now in the pilot stage.
The Supreme People’s Procuracy on Monday issued an indictment to prosecute former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and his accomplices for their involvement in a violation case related to the land plot at 2-4-6 Hai Ba Trung Street, HCMC.
Former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang. — VNA/VNS Photo
Former Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Light Industry Department Phan Chi Dung, Former Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Tin, former Director of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment Dao Anh Kiet, and six others will also face prosecution.
File photo of a H-6 bomber of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force flying near a Taiwan F-16 in this Feb 10, 2020 handout photo. (Photo: Reuters)
The measure is unlikely to have much of an immediate effect because of the city’s coronavirus restrictions, but it could worsen fraying U.S.-China ties.
Police officers confronting protesters in Hong Kong this month. Dozens of people in the city have been arrested under a new security law.Credit…Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times
The State Department advisory warned that the security law, which came into force in June, could subject Americans who have been publicly critical of China “to a heightened risk of arrest, detention, expulsion, or prosecution.”
The security law targets what it deems acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign elements, but critics say the broad wording also gives the authorities wide-ranging powers to target voices of dissent. Dozens of people in Hong Kong have already been arrested under the law, including Jimmy Lai, a prominent pro-democracy media tycoon.
The State Department has previously warned about the risk of arbitrary detention in mainland China and about the use of exit bans that cannot be readily challenged in court to keep Americans in the country.
Hong Kong, a semiautonomous territory of China, has its own legal system that is more independent and transparent than the Communist Party-controlled courts in the mainland. But the U.S. travel advisory suggests the risk of arbitrary enforcement is increasing in Hong Kong as well.
Americans traveling in mainland China or Hong Kong “may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime,” the advisory said. “U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention without due process of law.”
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticized the new travel warning on Tuesday, saying China was one of the safest places on earth and the mainland had recorded no local transmission of the coronavirus for a month.
Last year, the State Department warned of the risk of “confrontational” demonstrations in Hong Kong, as mass pro-democracy rallies evolved into an increasingly violent push against Chinese rule. Several other countries issued similar warnings.
The United States has penalized Hong Kong and Chinese officials, and Beijing has responded with similar measures against American lawmakers and heads of nongovernmental organizations.
The warning on Hong Kong came as the United States improved its assessment of the coronavirus risk in China, where the spread of the virus is largely controlled, by changing its advisory level to “reconsider travel” from “do not travel.”
Austin Ramzy is a Hong Kong reporter, focusing on coverage of the city and also of regional and breaking news. He previously covered major events around Asia from Taipei and Beijing. @austinramzy
The Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Hanoi authorities to check reports in local newspapers about 300 pending or abandoned real estate projects in the city.
The Hanoi Planning and Investment Department has released a decision to stop a housing project in Me Tri ward of Nam Tu Liem district. The investment certificate was given in June 2008 to Vietnam Trade Union Tourism Co Ltd.
The company has to give back the land plot allocated to it before implementing the project, because the investor did not start the project within 12 months as stipulated in the 2014 Investment Law.
Hotels for sale is reaching a record number in a decade in Vietnam.
The number of hotels for sale is reaching a record high in a decade in Vietnam as the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown the local tourism industry in abyss, according to real estate brokers.
Every day, dozens of hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and coastal cities are for sale, but the number of properties hitting the market far outstrips that of buyers.
A hotel in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi. Photo: Saigondautu
In Hanoi, the Old Quarter is home to many hotels for sale due to the impacts of the second wave of Covid-19 infections. Located on Hue Street, a 200m2 hotel is offered at VND300 million (US$12,930) per m2. Also, a 5-story hotel on Hang Be street with 16 rooms and 5.5m main side is asking for VND69 billion (US$3 million).
HCM City plans to turn Can Gio District into an ecological urban area as part of efforts to urbanise it and improve the quality of life for locals.
The famous Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve Area. HCM City plans to turn Can Gio District into an ecological urban area. Photo courtesy of the Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve Area
With Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc calling on HCM City to “urbanise the district while preserving its mangrove forests,” the city plans to solicit investment in the district, especially in major projects like the Can Gio Sea Encroachment project, Can Gio Bridge, an upgrade of the Rung Sac route, and building a ferry port.
Ngày 4/9 vừa qua, Ban Nghiên cứu Phát triển Kinh tế tư nhân đã công bố Báo cáo Tác động của Bùng phát dịch Covid-19 lần 2 đối với doanh nghiệp và Tổng hợp các kiến nghị chính sách doanh nghiệp, hiệp hội gửi Chính phủ, Thủ tướng Chính phủ; căn cứ trên kết quả cuộc khảo sát lần 3 về tình hình doanh nghiệp trong bối cảnh covid-19 bùng phát lần 2 tại Việt Nam với đối tượng là 15 hiệp hội doanh nghiệp Việt Nam (đại diện cho gần 15.000 doanh nghiệp thành viên và hơn 5000 cá nhân thành viên) và 349 doanh nghiệp trả lời khảo sát online bao gồm cả doanh nghiệp Việt Nam lẫn doanh nghiệp có vốn đầu tư nước ngoài.
‘Phat Oil’ in Hai Phong, ‘Son Iron’ in Thanh Hoa, and Trinh Suong in Soc Trang, well-known characters in their specific worlds, have been arrested for producing and trading counterfeit petrol, smuggling and buying smuggled petrol, and illegal trading of VAT invoices.
Ngo Van Phat
* On the evening of September 8, the Hai Phong Police began legal proceedings against Ngo Van Phat, born in 1964 residing in Hai An District in Hai Phong City, and put him into temporary detention.
The Xayaburi dam in the lower Mekong River in Laos. Photo by CK Power/Handout via AFP.
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