U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis (R) is with Bui Anh Chung, Deputy Commander of Vietnam's Air and Air Defense Force at Bien Hoa Airport on Wednesday. Photo by Phuoc Tuan Mattis, accompanied by American military officials and the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, Daniel Krienrink, arrived at the airport in the southern Dong Nai Province at 8:30 a.m. In what has been called a “rare” and “unusual” visit by international media including AP and Nikkei, Mattis spent around 10 minutes talking with Vietnamese military officials, led by Major General Bui Anh Chung, Deputy Commander of Vietnam’s Air and Air Defense Force. With reporters kept at a distance, the military delegations talked and surveyed the airport map in a tent, steps away from a “Danger” sign along the ditch that runs around the airport. The visit will hopefully earn Vietnam more support from the U.S. for dioxin clearance, officials said. A Vietnam's Defense Ministry statement cited Mattis … [Read more...] about US defense secretary visits dioxin hotspot in ‘unusual’ Vietnam trip
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Gusty winds, heavy rains batter Philippines as super typhoon Mangkhut makes landfall
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the super typhoon made landfall at 1:40 a.m. local time on Saturday, packing maximum sustained winds of 205 km per hour and gusts reaching 305 km per hour. According to PAGASA, Mangkhut has been slightly weakened and is now heading towards Ilocos Norte province in the northern Philippines. "Stormy weather is expected over many areas (in the Philippine main Luzon Island, including Metro Manila)," PAGASA said. Ricardo Jalad, undersecretary of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said 56,000 people have been evacuated to safer grounds when typhoon smashed into northern Luzon Island. Jalad said nearly 5 million people have been affected by the typhoon, mostly farmers and fishermen from the provinces. So far, no casualties have been reported, except for some houses and town halls damaged by the super typhoon. In Tuguegarao City, the capital of the Cagayan province, local … [Read more...] about Gusty winds, heavy rains batter Philippines as super typhoon Mangkhut makes landfall
Vietnam tourism’s overwhelming reliance on Chinese, S.Koreans worrying: experts
South Korean visitors at Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong More than 7.89 million foreign tourists came to Vietnam in the first half of this year, 27.2 percent higher than in the same period last year. A massive 2.56 million of this number were Chinese, up 36.1 percent, and over 1.7 million were South Korean, up 60.7 percent. In 2017, visitor numbers had risen sharply, by 29.1 percent, to reach an all-time high of 12.9 million, according to the General Statistics Office. Again South Koreans and Chinese had accounted for the lion’s share. In this scenario, the mission to diversify Vietnam’s tourism markets has a long way to go. This year the numbers of tourists from the third and fourth largest markets, Japan and Europe, were 404,000 and 1.08 million, up 6.6 percent and 11 percent year-on-year. The overwhelming dependence on two markets has raised concerns in the industry that tourism could be hit hard if there is a crisis like the … [Read more...] about Vietnam tourism’s overwhelming reliance on Chinese, S.Koreans worrying: experts
Clarion call: Make South China Sea ‘a sea of peace’ Vietnam exhorts
Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich has called for all concerned parties to act responsibility to maintain order and make the South China Sea “a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.” Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, Minister Lich said: “The peaceful means of dialogue, instead of confrontation, the threat to use force or unilateral action, is really the best solution, which can resolve multiple issues on the basis of common interest, respect for international laws and regional institutions.” He called for responsibility from all concerned parties in building order at sea to make the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, “a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship.” Lich said militarizing acts on disputed areas in the East Sea a serious breach of the sovereignty of another country and a serious violation of international laws. “Vietnam pursues a defensive and peaceful defense policy, does … [Read more...] about Clarion call: Make South China Sea ‘a sea of peace’ Vietnam exhorts
Tourism threatens Lý Sơn geo-park hopes
Viet Nam News by Bùi Hoài Nam LÝ SƠN ISLANDS — A giant, outdoor, natural museum. That’s what experts believe 2,000sq.km of land in Quảng Ngãi Province could soon become. Proposals have been submitted to create a Global Geo-Park around Lý Sơn Island and large coastal and mountainous areas nearby. Experts from the Việt Nam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources along with international scientists hope the park plans will be approved by the UN cultural agency UNESCO. The Director of the Việt Nam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources, Trần Tân Văn, said the Quảng Ngãi Geo-Park would cover a large area above and under the sea and land from Lý Sơn Island to the districts of Bình Sơn, Tư Nghĩa, Nghĩa Hành, Mộ Đức, Ba Tơ, Sơn Hà, Tây Trà, and Sa Huỳnh. He said the Geo-Park will include … [Read more...] about Tourism threatens Lý Sơn geo-park hopes