Are parents always right

Children and their parents play at Ly Thai To Square in Hoan Kiem Lake. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hieu

According to the organisers, the campaign aims to create a joyful and exciting atmosphere for citizens on national holidays and major anniversaries of the nation, in addition to aiding the political and decorative tasks of the city.

It is also set to contribute to preserving and promoting the national cultural identity and typical values of Hanoi as a thousand-year-old capital, creative city and city for peace, as well as meet the increasing demands of cultural enjoyment of citizens.

Themed ‘Hanoi — Creative City’ and ‘Hanoi Congratulates the Party and Celebrates a New Spring’, designs must be of high aesthetic, suitable to surrounding landscape, lightning systems and architecture. They are also expected to contain elements of creativity and follow modern decoration trends.

Entries with the use of new technologies, appropriate materials, elegant colours and safety insurance will be prioritised.

The winning designs will be used for decoration of major streets in Hanoi’s downtown such as Trang Tien, Trang Thi, Ba Trieu, Hai Ba Trung, Ly Thuong Kiet and Tran Hung Dao, among others, at the celebration of the new year of 2022.

The contest is open for contestants of any nationality who can submit unlimited designing plans for various places, provided that they comply with copyright protection law.

Trang Tien Street is among those in Hanoi to be decorated with designs submitted to the city decoration and lighting campaign 2021. — Photo kinhtedothi.vn

The works qualified for the competition must be those which have not been submitted to other contests or introduced to the public in any form.

One special prize, one first prize, two-second prizes, third prizes and five consolation prizes will be given to the best entries.

The submitted designs for street decoration and lighting must be drawn on the A4-sized paper, and then sent to Hanoi’s Department of Culture and Sports at 47 Hang Dau Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, from August 24 to 31. VNS

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) transits through South China Sea while conducting routine underway operations, February 5, 2021. — Photo from the US Department of Defense

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam is a responsible member of the international community and always upholds provisions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS 1982), spokesperson for the foreign ministry Lê Thị Thu Hằng said.

She made the statement on Thursday in the regular press briefing, held virtually this time due to COVID-19 in Hà Nội, when asked for Việt Nam’s reaction to the US Navy’s first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) held under the Biden administration in February.

The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain reportedly conducted the FONOP near the Trường Sa (Spratly) and Hoàng Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes in the South China Sea (known as the East Sea by Việt Nam) over which Việt Nam has repeatedly claimed sovereignty, but contested by mainland China and China’s Taiwan.

“By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants,” the US Navy noted in a statement.

Also regarding the recent statement by French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly that France had sent the nuclear submarine, SNA Emeraude, to patrol the South China Sea, together with the naval support ship BSAM Seine, the said spokesperson said: “As a responsible member of the international community and a signatory of the UNCLOS 1982, Việt Nam always upholds the provisions of the UNCLOS, including items related to maritime and flight activities over the sea regions set up in accordance with UNCLOS 1982.”

“The maintenance of peace, stability, security and order, safety, maritime and overflight freedom, the rule of law, with respect to sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the littoral countries in the South China Sea, in a manner that is consistent with the UNCLOS 1982, is the shared goal, interests, responsibility, and aspiration of all countries and of the international community,” Hằng said.

Việt Nam hopes that all countries would strive for “positive contribution” to the maintenance of peace and stability on the basis of international law in the South China Sea region, the Vietnamese diplomat stressed. — VNS

Vietnam hopes all countries will continue contributing positively to maintaining peace and stability on the basis of international law in the East Sea, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet Thursday.

In Vietnam, the South China Sea is called the East Sea.

Hang said maintaining peace, stability, order, security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight, obeying the law, respecting sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of countries along the East Sea in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) should be the common goal, interest, responsibility and aspiration of all concerned states as well as the international community.

“The activities of all countries in the East Sea need to contribute to this common goal. As a responsible member of the international community and a member of UNCLOS, Vietnam abides by the convention’s provisions, including regulations relating to maritime and aviation operations in the sea area that have been set up in accordance with the convention,” she added.

The destroyer USS John S. McCain on February 5 sailed near Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands in the East Sea in a freedom of navigation operation, marking the first such mission under President Joe Biden’s new administration.

On February 17, U.S. destroyer USS Russell conducted another freedom of navigation operation, sailing near Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

Washington has denounced what it calls Beijing’s attempts to bully neighbors with competing interests; and China has similarly denounced what it calls U.S. efforts to foment unrest in the region and interfere in what it regards as its internal affairs.

The recent actions suggest that the Biden administration is not about to scale back operations challenging Beijing’s claims after the ramp-up seen during the Trump administration, analysts have noted.

China seized the Paracel Islands from South Vietnam by force in 1974, and has been illegally occupying a number of reefs in the Spratly Islands since 1988.

Vietnam has repeatedly affirmed that it has full legal basis and historical evidence to assert its sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands in the South China Sea in accordance with international law.

The list was made by British journalist and travel writer Monisha Rajesh based on her book ‘Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure’.

According to the author, starting in Hanoi, the Reunification Express runs the length of the country right down to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, of which the finest segment is the first half of the journey to Da Nang.

Threading deep into the capital city, the train offers voyeuristic views into the backs of houses as families unwind for the night, before emerging into glorious sunshine the following morning, she wrote.

Climbing for miles through the jungle, banana leaves flapping against the windows, the train comes within inches of villagers’ walls and gardens, so close that you can make eye contact and wave.

At the final stretch, the train curls around the clifftops overlooking the sea where a finger of golden sand runs along the edge of the water in Lang Co Bay, before finally pulling into Da Nang Station.

Other train journeys in Asia are also named in the list, including Tokyo to Osaka, Japan, by Tokaido Shinkansen; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Beijing, China, by the Trans-Mongolian Express; Bangkok to Nam Tok by Thailand’s Death Railway; Xining to Lhasa, China, by Qinghai-Tibet Railway; and Mumbai to Madgaon, India, by the Mondovi Express.