Tác giả: Trần Đình Hoành

I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn. . I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC. I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters. I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law. I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam. In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship. Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam. I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN. I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism. In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net). I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries. I have written these books, published by Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi: "Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống) (Oct. 2011) "10 Core Values for Success" (10 Giá trị cốt lõi của thành công) (Dec. 2013) "Live a Life Worth Living" (Sống Một Cuộc Đời Đáng Sống) (Oct. 2023) I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.

Former U.N. chief Ban throws weight behind THAAD deployment

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Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon waves upon his arrival at Seoul Railway Station in the South Korean capital on Thursday. | AP  

/

by

Staff Writer, Jan 15, 2017

Former United Nations chief and presumptive South Korean presidential candidate Ban Ki-moon has backed the deployment later this year of a U.S. anti-missile system to the country amid North Korea’s progress in its nuclear and missile programs.

“Given the reality of the Korean Peninsula being in an almost quasi-war situation, it is right for the government to take such a measure,” Ban was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying during a trip to the South Korean Navy’s 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul. “I understand that it is to be deployed for defensive purposes as North Korea continues to develop nuclear weapons and accumulate ballistic missile technology,” he said. Tiếp tục đọc “Former U.N. chief Ban throws weight behind THAAD deployment” →

China Orders Registration of App Stores

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In a notice published on its website, the Cyberspace Administration of China said late Friday that its offices across China should ensure that records are kept on the country’s many app stores, starting Monday.

Tiếp tục đọc “China Orders Registration of App Stores” →

China, Russia take aim at U.S. anti-missile system planned for deployment in South Korea

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by Jan 13, 2017

China and Russia have agreed to take unspecified “countermeasures” in response to the planned U.S. deployment of an anti-missile system to South Korea — a move that came as Defense Minister Tomomi Inada inspected a version of the system on the U.S. territory of Guam on Friday.

The countermeasures in response to the U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system will be “aimed at safeguarding interests of China and Russia and the strategic balance in the region,” China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, quoting a statement released after a meeting of Russian and Chinese security officials. Tiếp tục đọc “China, Russia take aim at U.S. anti-missile system planned for deployment in South Korea” →

North Korea’s ICBM not yet able to reach the U.S. mainland, South Korea says

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Kyodo, Japan Times Jan 12, 2017

SEOUL – North Korea has not yet acquired the technology of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that is capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said Wednesday.

In a briefing about the 2016 South Korean Defense White Paper, which was also released Wednesday, the official said South Korea has removed the ministry’s previous assessment included in the 2014 white paper that North Korea is believed to possess the capability of threatening the U.S. mainland with its missiles.

“North Korea has not yet completed an ICBM and has not yet reached the stage that can earn credibility,” the official said.

The official added that North Korea is trying to perfect the flight capability of its submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

The biennial report also said North Korea has about 50 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, having obtained about 10 kg last year through reprocessing of nuclear materials.

The 2014 defense white paper said North Korea is estimated to have about 40 kg of such plutonium.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sunday that Pyongyang could carry out an ICBM test at any time and location determined by its leadership.

In response, the United States said it would shoot down any missiles that threaten its territory or that of its allies.

Ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year address that his country has entered the final stage of preparing to test-launch the long-range missile.

Kim’s regime conducted two nuclear tests and test-launched more than 20 ballistic missiles last year in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

As for relations with Japan, the latest South Korean defense white paper maintained the position that the South will continue to make a resolute and stern response to Japan’s territorial claim over South Korea-controlled islets of Dokdo in the Sea of Japan. The islets are known as Takeshima in Japan.

Aside from the territorial dispute, South Korea will continue to cooperate with Japan in coping with North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats for the sake of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, the paper said.

U.S. sanctions North Korean officials for rights abuses

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AFP-JIJI Japan Times Jan 12, 2017

WASHINGTON – US authorities on Wednesday announced sanctions against North Korean government agencies and senior officials — among them leader Kim Jong Un’s sister — in response to Pyongyang’s “serious” human rights abuses and censorship activities.

The latest action, which sees another seven individuals added to America’s growing list of sanctioned North Koreans, targets security and prison officials accused of rights abuses.

Those blacklisted include Kim Won Hong, who heads the Ministry of State Security (MSS). Tiếp tục đọc “U.S. sanctions North Korean officials for rights abuses” →

Rex Tillerson’s South China Sea Remarks Foreshadow Possible Foreign Policy Crisis

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By MICHAEL FORSYTHEJAN. 12, 2017

Rex W. Tillerson, the nominee for secretary of state, told senators on Wednesday that China’s actions in the South China Sea were “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea.” Doug Mills/The New York Times

HONG KONG — Rex W. Tillerson’s call for China to be denied access to its artificial islands in the South China Sea, made Wednesday during his confirmation hearing for secretary of state, set the stage for a possible crisis between the world’s two biggest economies should his comments become official American policy.

Mr. Tillerson told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that China’s multibillion-dollar island-building campaign in the oil-and-gas rich sea was illegal and “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea.”

“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops,” Mr. Tillerson told the senators. “And second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”

Should those words be translated into action after Donald J. Trump assumes the presidency on Jan. 20, it would be a remarkable change in the American approach to Beijing’s island-building in the South China Sea, which is transforming the area into what one Washington think tank said would by 2030 become “virtually a Chinese lake.” China asserts sovereignty over most of the South China Sea despite competing claims by countries including Vietnam and the Philippines and an international ruling rejecting most of Beijing’s assertions.

Taiwan Works to Keep Its Central America Friends (Among Its Few)

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By ELISABETH MALKINJAN. 13, 2017

President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan and President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras at the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, on Monday. Taiwan has diplomatic relations with only 20 countries, along with the Vatican; the largest cluster of those is in Latin America and the Caribbean. Fernando Antonio/Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan has been hopscotching across Central America this week, attending the inauguration of Nicaragua’s president, Daniel Ortega, touring Guatemala’s colonial city of Antigua and visiting the shrine of Honduras’s patron saint.

From a global perspective, it is the sort of tour that looks like a diplomatic asterisk. But there is nothing trivial about it for Ms. Tsai, who is in Central America to shore up relationships as she faces increasing pressure from China.

Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, has diplomatic relations with only 20 countries, along with the Vatican; the largest cluster of those is in Latin America and the Caribbean. These relationships, complete with embassies, trade agreements and foreign aid, strengthen Taiwan’s effective sovereignty.

That is particularly important now for Taiwan, which fears becoming a casualty as President-elect Donald J. Trump threatens to roil the China-America relationship. Mr. Trump accepted a congratulatory phone call from Ms. Tsai after his election, a break from protocol that prompted a series of angry responses from China.

Donald Trump Is Making the Great Man Theory of History Great Again

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The president-elect’s unpredictable rise is forcing historians and social scientists to rethink their most basic assumptions about how the world works.

By David A. Bell FP January 12, 2017

The imminent ascension to the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, a man whose supporters and detractors both agree is exceptional in the context of American history, raises a question which historians and social scientists generally prefer to shy away from: To what extent does historical change depend on the actions of a handful of unusual individuals — history’s archetypal Great Men and Women — as opposed to large-scale, long-term, impersonal forces?

Professional academics — historians, political scientists, sociologists, among others — who have tried to offer perspective on Trump’s victory and upcoming presidency have generally emphasized the latter. They tend to identify the key phenomenon of the 2016 election as “populism” — an upsurge of hostility to elites, which they explain by reference to the changing social and cultural conditions that left a large group of white Americans economically vulnerable, fearful of outsiders, and bitterly resentful. They credit Trump with successfully mobilizing this group but devote more analysis to the social phenomenon than to Trump himself.

But the explanatory power of populism may be far stronger for explaining the election than in forecasting what is about to happen next. Though impersonal forces may have given rise to Trump, the president-elect himself resists analysis as a predictable, impersonal force. And so, even as Trump claims a mandate to remake the United States, he may force social scientists and historians to look beyond their usual analytical tools in order to explain his presidency. Tiếp tục đọc “Donald Trump Is Making the Great Man Theory of History Great Again” →

Vo Quy, Father of Environmental Conservation in Vietnam, Dies at 87

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Prof. Vo Quy was a remarkable man, a much admired environmentalist, a popular TV host who made science accessible and entertaining.  He was a generous and caring human being whose twinkling eyes and modest good humor, and his integrity, positively influenced governments and party leaders, and several generations of Vietnamese citizens.  Dr. Quy introduced many foreigners to the rich diversity of Viet Nam’s flora and fauna and instilled in everyone a sense of personal responsibility for the preservation of this fragile environment. He was a determined but temperate leader in the struggle to understand the damage caused by Agent Orange and to seek justice for those affected by its consequences.

Chuck Searcy

New York Times

ASIA PACIFIC | OBITUARY

Vo Quy, Father of Environmental Conservation in Vietnam, Dies at 87

By MIKE IVESJAN. 11, 2017

Vo Quy, center, checking plant samples in central Vietnam in 1996. Dr. Quy was well known for his pioneering studies on Vietnam’s wildlife. Kathy Wilhelm/Associated Press

HONG KONG — In the early 1960s, a young ornithologist successfully persuaded Vietnam’s top leaders, including its founding president, Ho Chi Minh, to designate a tract of land near the capital as the country’s first national park.

“They listened to this guy who goes out and watches birds,” said Pamela McElwee, an associate professor at Rutgers University who is an expert on Vietnam’s environmental history. “I think that’s a sign of how significant he was.”

Tiếp tục đọc “Vo Quy, Father of Environmental Conservation in Vietnam, Dies at 87” →

Pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker condemns ‘violent attacks’

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 09 Jan 2017 11:24
  • Updated 09 Jan 2017 18:03

Pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law speaks during a rally in Hong Kong. (File photo: AFP)

HONG KONG:- Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Nathan Law hit out Monday (Jan 9) at “violent attacks” by pro-China protesters at the city’s airport on his return from a political forum in Taiwan.

Tiếp tục đọc “Pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker condemns ‘violent attacks’” →

China urges caution with words, actions on Terrex issue

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ChannelNewsAsia

  • Posted 09 Jan 2017 18:13
  • Updated 09 Jan 2017 23:39

A member of security gestures near tarpaulin-covered armoured vehicles belonging to the Singapore military at a customs and excise facility in Hong Kong on Nov 25, 2016. (Photo: AFP/Anthony Wallace)

BEIJING: China on Monday (Jan 9) called for caution with words and actions, after Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen told Parliament that Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) armoured troop carriers held in Hong Kong are protected by sovereign immunity and cannot be legally detained.

The nine SAF Terrex vehicles have been stuck in a Hong Kong port for nearly two months, amid queries over licences and declarations by the commercial shipping firm that had been transporting them from Taiwan to Singapore after a military exercise.

“It is hoped that all relevant countries, including Singapore, can earnestly respect the one-China policy, which is the fundamental prerequisite for China to develop ties with other countries,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said in response to a reporter’s question during a regular briefing. Tiếp tục đọc “China urges caution with words, actions on Terrex issue” →

North Korea, Rebuking Trump, Says It Can Test Long-Range Missile ‘Anytime’

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By CHOE SANG-HUN JAN. 9, 2017

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, in Pyongyang, the capital, in an undated photo. Mr. Kim has said that his country has reached a “final stage” in preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. Korean Central News Agency, via Reuters

SEOUL, South Korea — Less than a week after Donald J. Trump taunted North Korea over its ballistic missile capabilities, North Korea has said that it could conduct its first test of an intercontinental missile “anytime and anywhere” in a rebuke to the incoming president.

Although North Korea has vowed to develop the ability to attack the United States with nuclear warheads and has tested missiles that can reach throughout the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity, it has never tested a long-range missile that could fly over the Pacific.

Continue reading on New York Times

Taiwan’s President Meets With Ted Cruz in the U.S., and China Objects

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By CHRIS HORTONJAN. 9, 2017

The Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, right, with Senator Ted Cruz, left, and their respective delegations at a meeting in Houston on Sunday. Office of The President Taiwan, via European Pressphoto Agency

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan met with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in Houston and then flew off to visit leaders in Latin America, seeking to promote her island’s cause as it gets positive signals from President-elect Donald J. Trump.

The meeting on Sunday with Mr. Cruz, who lost to Mr. Trump in the Republican presidential primary contest, suggested that Ms. Tsai was looking to expand her ties to the Republican Party as it takes control of the White House and keeps its grip on Congress.

Continue reading on New York Times