China: Korean tensions at ‘tipping point’

Al Jazeeza

Beijing urges US, South Korea to halt military exercises, as White House considers ‘all options’ after missile launch.

China has urged all parties in the dispute to take steps to de-escalate tensions [File: Reuters]

China has warned that tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached a “tipping point” after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, a move Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as “unprecedented” and a “grave threat” to his country’s security.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, urged all sides on Tuesday to avoid provocations, repeating Beijing’s call for Pyongyang to suspend missile tests, while proposing that the United States and South Korea China halt ongoing joint military exercises. Tiếp tục đọc “China: Korean tensions at ‘tipping point’”

What effect did the Crusades have on the Middle East?

The Europeans besiege Jerusalem, seeking to "liberate" it from Muslim rule, 1099.
The Crusaders or Franks attack Jerusalem during the First Crusade, 1099. Getty Images

Updated June 13, 2017

Between 1095 and 1291, Christians from western Europe launched a series of eight major invasions against the Middle East. These attacks, called the Crusades, were aimed at “liberating” the Holy Land and Jerusalem from Muslim rule.

The Crusades were sparked by religious fervor in Europe, by exhortations from various Popes, and by the need to rid Europe of excess warriors left over from regional wars.

What effect did these attacks, which came from out of the blue from the perspective of Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land, have on the Middle East? Tiếp tục đọc “What effect did the Crusades have on the Middle East?”

The True Nature of John McCain’s Heroism

New Yorkers

Senators John McCain, at right, and John Kerry, both veterans of the Vietnam War, in 1985.

Photograph by CBS Photo Archive / Getty

“He’s not a war hero,” Donald Trump said two years ago, speaking at a Republican Party candidates’ forum in Iowa. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Trump’s insult to Senator John McCain—and, by extension, to every American P.O.W.—drew a gasp of rebuke from across the political spectrum. The initial indignation, however, did not last; in hindsight, it seems one of the final instances of a broad cultural unity that now seems lost to this country forever.

Tiếp tục đọc “The True Nature of John McCain’s Heroism”

Vietnam is worried that Trump’s weakness is making China strong

Citizens of Vietnam have developed an unusual national pastime: Across the country and on social networks, people trade suspicions that their government is secretly giving in to an aggressive China. And lately, there has been plenty of fuel for their rumours.

Some blame a visibly diminished US presence for giving Beijing an opportunity to act behind the scenes. Many blame officials in Hanoi for putting economic cooperation or alleged communist solidarity above questions of national pride. Last month, when a valuable project overseen by the Spanish company Repsol was suspended without explanation, both theories abounded. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam is worried that Trump’s weakness is making China strong”

Chuyển đổi Việt Nam Xuyên Quốc Gia – Cộng đồng, Văn hóa và Chính trị Hải ngoại

Giới thiệu sách: Chuyển đổi Việt Nam Xuyên Quốc Gia – Cộng đồng, Văn hóa và Chính trị Hải ngoại (Transnationalizing Viet Nam, Community, Culture, and Politics in the Diaspora)

Tác giả: Kieu-Linh Caroline Valverde –  GS tại University of California, Davis, USA – Chuyên gia nghiên cứu về Người Mỹ gốc Châu Á

Chuyển đổi Việt Nam Xuyên Quốc Gia – Transnationalizing Viet Nam – cung cấp một cái nhìn sâu sắc về các kết nối năng động và lâu dài giữa Việt Nam và cộng đồng người Việt  tại Mỹ.  Các liên kết này đặc biệt đáng kinh ngạc khi ta thấy  rất nhiều thành phần  chống cộng đồng hải ngoại rõ ràng không chỉ trong Việt Nam và các nước có người Việt ở,  mà còn ngay trong chính cộng đồng người Việt hải ngoại. Lịch sử xuyên quốc gia  phong phú này – mà phần lớn chưa được phát hiện, hoặc ít nhất là đã không được công nhận – được tiết lộ thông qua gần 20 năm nghiên cứu cẩn thận qua thời gian, tại nhiều nơi,, và được ghi lại bởi tiếng nói của 250 người được phỏng vấn.

Nghiên cứu này cũng phản ánh cuộc hành trình của tôi như là một người Mỹ gốc Việt đã bị mất nước, Nam Việt Nam cũ, vào tay Bắc Việt Nam, tham gia vào cuộc di tản lịch sử năm  1975 của người Việt sang Mỹ, và cuối cùng đã kết nối lại với “quê hương” của mình. Tiếp tục đọc “Chuyển đổi Việt Nam Xuyên Quốc Gia – Cộng đồng, Văn hóa và Chính trị Hải ngoại”

World reacts to Trump’s new strategy on Afghan war

Al Jazeera, Aug. 22, 2017

India, UK and NATO express support for US president’s policy, but Pakistan, China and Russia offer little enthusiasm.

Donald Trump has committed the US to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan [Reuters]

Politicians from across the world have reacted to US President Donald Trump’s new strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

Trump on Monday committed the United States to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan and signalled he would send more troops there.

He insisted that the Afghan government, Pakistan, India and NATO allies step up their commitment to resolving the 16-year conflict. Tiếp tục đọc “World reacts to Trump’s new strategy on Afghan war”

US Senate Resolution 412:calls on China to withdraw its HD-981 drilling rig and associated maritime forces from their current positions

First posted on UNCLOSforum.wordpress.com on July 11, 2014

There are 2 summaries for this bill.
Bill summaries are authored by CRS.

Shown Here:
Reported to Senate amended (05/20/2014)

States that the Senate: (1) condemns coercive actions or the use of force to impede freedom of operations in international airspace to alter the status quo or to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region; (2) urges China to refrain from implementing the declared East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone and to refrain from taking similar provocative actions elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region; (3) commends Japan and the Republic of Korea for their restraint; and (4) calls on China to withdraw its HD-981 drilling rig and associated maritime forces from their current positions, refrain from maritime maneuvers contrary to the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and return to the status quo as it existed before May 1, 2014.

Sets forth U.S. policy regarding: (1) supporting allies and partners in the Asia-Pacific region; (2) opposing claims that impinge on the rights, freedoms, and lawful use of the sea; (3) managing disputes without intimidation or force; (4) supporting development of regional institutions to build cooperation and reinforce the role of international law; and (5) assuring continuity of operations by the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.

6 killed by suspected wartime bomb explosion in central Vietnam

By Xuan Ngoc   August 18, 2017 | 02:53 pm GMT+7

6 killed by suspected wartime bomb explosion in central Vietnam

e.vnexpress.net_Police and curious people stand outside a house where an explosion killed six people in Khanh Hoa Province on Friday. Photo courtesy of Vietnam’s government news portal

Neighbors said the family had been trying to dismantle a bomb to sell as scrap metal.

Six members of a single family were killed in an explosion in the central province of Khanh Hoa on Friday morning.

Among the victims were three children. Another child was seriously injured and is receiving treatment.

Local witnesses said they rushed to the house after hearing the blast to find the roof had been blown off and the smell of explosives hanging in the air.

An official said the explosion might have been caused by ordnance left over from the war.

Local media reports cited the victims’ neighbors as saying that one member of the family had brought home a bomb that morning and they were cutting it open when it exploded.

Tiếp tục đọc “6 killed by suspected wartime bomb explosion in central Vietnam”

Racism ‘poisoning our societies’ says UN chief

RTE

People in Minnesota protest against racism and violence over the weekend in Charlottesville
People in Minnesota protest against racism and violence over the weekend in Charlottesville
The head of the United Nations has said that “racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia” are “poisoning our societies”, after a weekend of violence in the US state of Virginia.Writing on Twitter, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “We must stand up against them. Every time. Everywhere”.

Tiếp tục đọc “Racism ‘poisoning our societies’ says UN chief”

Bản đồ “nỗi khiếp sợ và điên cuồng của vũ khí hạt nhân” – 2053 vụ nổ bom nguyên tử trong lịch sử từ năm 1945 – 1998

Nghệ sĩ người Nhật Isao Hashimoto đã làm nên một bản đồ thời gian thật đẹp, một sự thật đáng sợ không thể phủ nhận của 2053 vụ nổ hạt nhân năm xảy ra từ năm 1945 và đến 1998, bắt đầu với thử nghiệm “Trinity” của dự án Manhattan gần Los Alamos và kết thúc với thử nghiệmhạt nhân của Pakistan vào tháng 5 năm 1998. Bản đồ này thiếy 2 vụ thử nghiệm hạt nhân của Bắc Triều Tiên trong thập niên vừa qua (do tính hợp pháp của hai vụ này chưa rõ ràng 100%).

Trong bản đồ, mỗi quốc gia đều có một đốm sáng và một chấm nhấp nháy trên bản đồ bất cứ khi nào có một vụ nổ vũ khí hạt nhân, với một thanh chạy trên cùng và dưới cùng của màn hình. Hashimoto, bắt đầu dự án vào năm 2003, nói rằng ông đã tạo ra nó với mục tiêu cho thấy “nỗi khiếp sợ và điên cuồng của vũ khí hạt nhân”. Bản đồ bắt đầu rất chậm – nếu bạn muốn xem hành động thực sự, hãy bỏ qua trước năm 1962 hoặc lâu hơn nữa – nhưng sự tích lũy trở nên quá tải.

A Time-Lapse Map of Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 – by Isao Hashimoto

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project’s “Trinity” test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan’s nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea’s two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).

Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing”the fear and folly of nuclear weapons.” It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.

 

US army veteran returns to Viet Nam to heal scars of war

vietnamnews

Update: August, 14/2017 – 10:13

Chuck Searcy, Vice President of Project RENEW and Co-chair of the Agent Orange Working Group. — Photo pbs.org

Việt Nam News reporter Hoàng Anh talks to Chuck Searcy, Vice President of Project RENEW and Co-chair of the Agent Orange Working Group.


When did you come to Việt Nam and what motivated your decision?

The first time I came to Việt Nam was in 1967, as a 20-year-old soldier in the US Army. The year I spent in the war had a profound impact on me. That experience made me hate war. I saw the lies used by the US government to win support from the American people to continue the war, and I saw the death and destruction, the pain and the sorrow being caused to American families, but especially the terrible and tragic costs to the Vietnamese people. When I left the war zone in 1968, I knew that someday I would return – and I hoped it would be in a time of peace and recovery for Việt Nam. Tiếp tục đọc “US army veteran returns to Viet Nam to heal scars of war”

Trump’s immigration crackdown hits Vietnam

An ICE officer is pictured. | Getty
Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently ranks Vietnam as third among countries it lists as “recalcitrants” — meaning their governments fail to issue the necessary travel papers or passports needed to enable the execution of a deportation order. | Getty

Trump’s immigration crackdown hits Vietnam

Inside the case of one man who feared torture because of his Montagnard roots, but was deported last month.

President Donald Trump’s “get tough” approach to immigration is now impacting — of all people — the Montagnard hill tribesmen who fought alongside the Green Berets in the Vietnam War.

The son of one such Montagnard veteran was deported back to Vietnam in July, a stunning move for many in the refugee community because of their history in the war and the continued evidence of political and economic mistreatment of Montagnards in Vietnam. Tiếp tục đọc “Trump’s immigration crackdown hits Vietnam”

Third generation AO victims in need of proper support

 vietnamnet

Last update 10:18 | 12/08/2017

Trinh Tran Nam Dat spends his daily life on a bamboo mat in the middle of his home.

Emaciated body, urinating and defecating onto the floor…

His father, Trinh Nam Khoa stays by him all day and night, not thinking of leaving him for a while for tens of years now. He himself is not well enough to work.

Dat’s grandfather was a former soldier. He died of cancer in 1998. His parents had no idea of Agent Orange until Dat was diagnosed cerebral palsy.

The faith of the children in AO victim families has been decided 56 years ago. However, until now there has not been any specific policy designated for the third generation victims.

Between 1961-1971, US troops sprayed some 80 million liters of defoliants over southern Vietnam, 44 million liters of which were Agent Orange. The later contained a total of nearly 370 kilograms of dioxin, the most poisonous toxin people have ever known. As many as 4.8 million Vietnamese people are exposed to AO/dioxin, of whom over 3 million are victims and hundreds of thousands of children are in the third and fourth generations. The agony lasts from generations to generations, bringing along the silent pain.

The move of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs is imperative to pay tribute to generations of people who devoted themselves for the independence of the nation.

VNA

Decades after war, what’s behind US-Vietnamese military cooperation

Mattis Pentagon Ngo
© US Defense Department

sputniknews – 21:36 10.08.2017 (updated 18:15 12.08.2017)

During the recent meeting between Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich and his US counterpart James Mattis, the two defense leaders agreed to deepen mutual military cooperation. Speaking to Sputnik Grigory Lokshin explained what lies at the heart of US-Vietnamese rapprochement.

Although the last time a US aircraft carrier visited Vietnam’s shores was when it participated in the evacuation of American advisers and supporters of the Saigon government in spring 1975, today Hanoi regards the US as one of its most important partners. Tiếp tục đọc “Decades after war, what’s behind US-Vietnamese military cooperation”

Khủng hoảng Qatar: Bẫy hiểm của Mỹ với đồng minh

BĐVNhững gì đã xảy ra với Saddam Hussein trong cuộc chiến tranh Iran – Iraq cho thấy cái bẫy của người Mỹ luôn rất nguy hiểm với đối tác, đồng minh…

 Cuộc khủng hoảng xoay quanh quân cờ di động Qatar đang đưa Ả-rập Saudi vào thế nguy hiểm
Cuộc khủng hoảng xoay quanh quân cờ di động Qatar đang đưa Ả-rập Saudi vào thế nguy hiểm

Cuộc khủng hoảng ngoại giao Qatar vẫn còn nóng và sẽ còn nóng. Vấn đề bắt đầu và xoay quanh việc Ả-rập Saudi khởi xướng và nhanh chóng kéo đồng minh vào “đánh hội đồng” Qatar với nghi ngờ quốc gia này đồng phạm khủng bố.

Tuy nhiên, cái đích mà mũi tên của Riyadh hướng tới là Tehran – kẻ thù lớn nhất của Riyadh, còn tiểu quốc Trung Đông thực ra chỉ là một quân cờ di động. Tiếp tục đọc “Khủng hoảng Qatar: Bẫy hiểm của Mỹ với đồng minh”