| Top of the Agenda Iran Curbs Internet Access as Protests Over Woman’s Death Spread Protests in support of women’s rights and Iran’s political opposition have spread to dozens of cities (NYT) in the country following a woman’s death after being detained by police last week. Authorities have deployed security forces and disrupted internet and cellular services to contain the demonstrations, Iran’s largest since 2019. Many of those protesting are women. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called on the judiciary to prosecute (Reuters) anyone spreading “false news and rumors” related to the protests. Twenty-two-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran’s morality police, who accused her of dressing immodestly and violating the country’s headscarf law. Iranian state television reported today that seventeen people, including demonstrators and police, had died (AFP) in the protests. |
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.
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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.
Khmer Rouge tribunal ends work after 16 years, 3 judgments
By SOPHENG CHEANG and GRANT PECK September 22, 2022 GMT Associate Press
In this photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Khieu Samphan, right, the former head of state for the Khmer Rouge, sits in a courtroom during a hearing at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. The international court convened in Cambodia to judge the brutalities of the Khmer Rouge regime that caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people in the 1970s ends its work Thursday after spending $337 million and 16 years to convict just three men of crimes. (Nhet Sok Heng/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia via AP)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The international court convened in Cambodia to judge the Khmer Rouge for its brutal 1970s rule ended its work Thursday after spending $337 million and 16 years to convict just three men of crimes after the regime caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people.
Tiếp tục đọc “Khmer Rouge tribunal ends work after 16 years, 3 judgments”Thailand and Vietnam emerge as ASEAN crypto trading hot spots
Each country logs over $100bn transactions in a year, topping Singapore
Chainalysis said Thailand and Vietnam saw high web traffic to marketplaces for non-fungible tokens. © Reuters
DYLAN LOH, Nikkei staff writerSeptember 21, 2022 19:00 JST
SINGAPORE — Thailand and Vietnam have become the top crypto trading hubs among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, beating even financial center Singapore, which has been grappling with new legislation to control the nascent sector.
The two ASEAN members recorded over $100 billion each in crypto buying and selling values from July 2021 to June 2022, according to numbers published on Wednesday by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.
Tiếp tục đọc “Thailand and Vietnam emerge as ASEAN crypto trading hot spots”Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Sept. 21, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Putin Escalates Russian War Efforts With New Troop Mobilization ” Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a new mobilization of troops (FT) to fight in Ukraine in a televised address today. Three hundred thousand reservists will be called up to fight, Russia’s defense minister said. Putin also hinted at his willingness to use nuclear weapons, saying Russia “will use all the means at its disposal” if its territorial integrity is threatened. In addition, Putin voiced support for referendums that would let Russia illegally annex four occupied regions of Ukraine. The votes could happen as soon as this weekend. Yesterday, the Russian parliament increased penalties (RFE/RL) for soldiers who surrender or refuse to fight and used the words “mobilization” and “martial law” to describe the conflict in Ukraine for the first time. |
| Analysis “Mobilization…would radically upset the Kremlin’s careful management of the war at home. Dramatically increasing Russia’s manpower might seem a logical choice for a country with a population that is three times the size of Ukraine’s, but the war’s popularity has depended on it being far away,” the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Liana Fix and Michael Kimmage write for Foreign Affairs. “If the Kremlin’s annexation gambit fails to stop the fighting and support to Ukraine, the Kremlin will need to lash out to show it is serious. That means escalation that could come in different forms,” the RAND Corporation’s Dara Massicot tweets. |
Europe turns on China
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
- Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, author of Axios China
Once skeptical of America’s increasingly hostile stance toward China, the EU and its member states are adopting a cascade of new measures that bring their policies closer in line with those of the United States.
Why it matters: Beijing’s push for Europe to adopt “strategic autonomy” from the United States — in the hope the EU would maintain warmer ties with China — now looks like a moot point.
What’s happening: Last week, the European Commission unveiled a proposed ban on products made with forced labor, after intense pressure from lawmakers and human rights activists concerned about forced labor in Xinjiang.
Tiếp tục đọc “Europe turns on China”China to Latin America: All your fish belong to us
Opinion by Ben Kritz – Monday
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AS if communist China was not already doing enough to degrade the rest of the world’s quality of life for its own gain, recent news from South and Central America further reinforces the impression that its rapaciousness knows no bounds. China’s Southeast Asian neighbors, particularly the Philippines, are already familiar with the Red Menace’s greediness when it comes to marine resources, but on the other side of the world, a massive, well-organized, industrial-scale effort to carry out illegal fishing on both sides of Latin America is threatening to wipe out fish stocks for a dozen countries.
Tiếp tục đọc “China to Latin America: All your fish belong to us”Council on Foreign Relations -Daily news brief Sept. 20, 2022
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| Top of the Agenda UN General Assembly Weighs ‘Interconnected Crises’ World leaders begin their annual addresses (NYT) to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York today amid what the United Nations has described (Al Jazeera) as time of “complex and interconnected crises.” This year’s session will focus on the war in Ukraine and climate change. In addition, Western governments are expected to urge Iran to commit to rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal. The leaders of China, India, Ethiopia, and Russia will not attend. U.S. President Joe Biden will speak tomorrow. The United States, African Union, and European Union (EU) will hold a conference today to discuss food insecurity and rising prices. On Thursday, the UN Security Council is due to hold a session on the topic of Ukraine and impunity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said last week that he doesn’t expect dialogue (NPR) between Russian and Ukrainian delegations. |
Surveying the Experts: China’s Approach to Taiwan
Surveying the Experts: China’s Approach to Taiwan, CSIS
As China’s recent unprecedented military exercises around Taiwan demonstrated, the Taiwan Strait is a major flashpoint that threatens to undermine regional and global stability. Yet crucial questions remain about the dynamics shaping the Taiwan Strait. What is China’s approach to Taiwan and how long is Beijing willing to wait for Taiwan’s unification? Will China use significant military force against Taiwan, and when? How does Beijing view the potential of U.S. intervention in a Taiwan contingency?
To shed light on these questions, ChinaPower polled 64 leading experts on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and cross-Strait relations.1 The experts polled include 28 former high-level U.S. government (USG) officials from both Democrat and Republican administrations, as well as 23 former USG policy and intelligence analysts and 13 top experts from academia and think tanks.2 Responses were collected from August 10–September 8, 2022, amid the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis.
Tiếp tục đọc “Surveying the Experts: China’s Approach to Taiwan”Council on Foreign Relations: Daily news brief Sept. 19, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Biden Again Says U.S. Military Would Defend Taiwan In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired yesterday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that if China were to invade Taiwan, U.S. military forces would come to the island’s defense. It is at least the fourth time (NBC) that Biden has publicly made comments appearing to contradict the U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan, though the White House later said U.S. policy has not changed. The long-standing policy deliberately leaves unanswered the question of whether the United States would defend the island. China’s foreign ministry said it lodged a complaint (Reuters) with the United States. A ministry spokesperson said Beijing “will not tolerate any activities aimed at [Taiwan’s] secession.” |
China lodges complaint as U.S. Senate panel advances Taiwan bill
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Honour guards lower the Taiwan flag during sunset hours at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) – China said on Thursday that it had lodged “solemn representations” with the United States, after a U.S. Senate panel advanced legislation that would enhance U.S. military support for Taiwan.
If the bill continues to go forward, it would affect U.S.-China relations, Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a regular media briefing.
Tiếp tục đọc “China lodges complaint as U.S. Senate panel advances Taiwan bill”How the autocrats steal elections
16/09/2022: Transparency International On Wednesday, news broke that the Russian government may have spent as much as US$300 million since 2014 on influencing elections and buying political influence abroad. Reportedly, some of the countries affected include Albania, Montenegro, Madagascar, possibly Ecuador and an unnamed country in Asia.
Image: Christopher Penler / ShutterstockThat same day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted “covert foreign influence and shady funding” by authoritarian regimes as a threat to democracy, specifically calling out China.
Most countries recognise the threat of foreign political finance. In fact, 70 per cent of countries around the world ban foreign-sponsored campaign donations. To wiggle around this ban and to disguise the origin of money, China and Russia have abused the global financial system’s loopholes – including anonymous shell companies. According to a 2020 study by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, both countries have increasingly relied on such means to sway elections and interfere in other democratic processes.
Tiếp tục đọc “How the autocrats steal elections“
Carbon Capture: CCS, CCUS, CCU
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Sept. 14, 2022
| Top of the Agenda EU’s Von der Leyen Proposes Energy Market Reforms to Address High CostsIn her annual state of the union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged sweeping efforts (Politico) to reduce energy prices that have soared amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. The proposed plan, which requires approval from European Union (EU) member states, includes new taxes on energy companies and “comprehensive reform” of the EU’s electricity market. Von der Leyen said she aims for the taxes on energy firms to raise $140 billion (Reuters) for European governments to disburse to citizens. She also pledged to work to ensure that Ukraine has “seamless access” to the EU’s single market. European leaders are scheduled to discuss the proposals at the end of the month. |
Myanmar: Increasing evidence of crimes against humanity since coup
(Unsplash/Pyae Sone Htun) Protesters attend a march against the military coup in Myanmar.
12 September 2022 United Nations News
Crimes against humanity and war crimes have intensified in the wake of the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Monday.
The Geneva-based body was briefed by Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), who presented its latest report.
The Mechanism was established by the Council to collect and preserve evidence of the most serious international crimes in the country.
Tiếp tục đọc “Myanmar: Increasing evidence of crimes against humanity since coup”Council on Foreign Relations: Daily news brief Sept. 12, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Ukrainian Forces Make Sweeping Gains in Country’s Northeast Ukraine’s military has recaptured (FT) 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of Russia-held territories in the Kharkiv region this month following a weekend blitz. The new counteroffensive struck the military’s strongest blow to Russian forces since repelling them from Kyiv in March. Russia’s defense ministry acknowledged the losses (BBC) of several cities in the region. Kyiv warned of Russian retaliation, and Russian air strikes hit Ukraine’s second-largest thermal power plant last night. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the advances demonstrated the effect of Western military support in the war. Separately, the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was shut down (AP) yesterday to avoid the risk of a nuclear disaster. |
CVD 