U.S. Cogressman changes attitude to Vietnam's human rights

Financial Times Information
Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
Vietnam News Briefs
April 25, 2003

Robert R.Simmons, member of the US House of Representatives, openly expressed his satisfaction upon witnessing progress in promoting human rights in Vietnam and said he had changed his mind about the issue.

More Agent Orange sprayed in Viet Nam than estimated

(04/17/2003 -- 22:00GMT+7)

Ha Noi, Apr. 17 (VNA) - American scientists said the US military used more Agent Orange and other defoliant sprays during the war in Viet Nam than previously thought.

The amount of Agent Orange used was at least 30 percent higher than previous estimates or up to 100 million litres, researchers at Columbia University of the US said in a study.

The use of Agent Orange was stopped in 1971 after it was discovered to contain dioxin.

Overseas Vietnamese extremists' actions condemned

(Nhandan.org.vn, April 17, 2003)

The Vietnamese people, including the Vietnamese community in the United States, have strongly condemned a number of overseas Vietnamese extremists who have intentionally sowed discord among the Vietnamese community.

"Their actions are unacceptable and strongly rejected by the Vietnamese people, including the Vietnamese community in the US," said Vietnamese Consul General in San Francisco Nguyen Manh Hung on April 17.

Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien on Iraq situation

Thu, 04/17/2003 - 09:32

Interview given by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien to the Vietnam News Agency on the Iraqi situation on 14 April 2003

Vietnam News Agency: What is the position of the Vietnamese Government on the current situation in Iraq?

The Disquieted American

The New York Times Magazine
April 13, 2003

By KURT ANDERSEN

Vietnam Lets Foreign Co Provide Global Telecoms Links

The Far Eastern Economic Review
April 2, 2003

By Margot Cohen in Hanoi

THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT has long refused to let foreign intruders bypass state control of international telecoms gateways. So it was quite a surprise in late March when Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a trial run for a satellite-linked Internet service provided by Loral Skynet, a unit of New York-based, publicly listed Loral Space & Communications. The move could signal new opportunities for local and overseas telecoms and software companies.

Excerpts from report for Congress on labor rights in Vietnam

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress"
Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Order Code RL31470
June 21, 2002
Nicole J. Sayres
Analyst in Asian Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
The Vietnam-U.S. Textile Agreement Debate:
Trade Patterns, Interests, and Labor Rights

“Possible Approaches Concerning a Vietnam Labor Provision
No Labor Provision. Many argue that there is no need for a labor provision

An America veteran's view on human rights

STATEMENT OF JAMES L. RHODES
Box 488 Camp Hill, Alabama 36850-0488
Life Member: Veterans of Foreign Wars; American Legion; Disabled American Veterans. National Chairman: Vietnam Combat Veterans, Ltd.
2002 National Point of Light award winner due to volunteer services to American veterans and organizations in Vietnam. 2002 WASHINGTON TIMES FOUNDATION honoree for editorials written regarding American & Vietnamese veterans issues.

Senators oppose quotas on VN imports



HA NOI (April 11, 2003) — Twenty three US senators have petitioned their Trade Representative Robert Zoellick not to impose quotas on Vietnamese garment and textile imports through a bilateral textile restraint agreement, a Viet Nam Ministry of Trade source said yesterday.

They said in a letter to him that garment imports from Viet Nam do not threaten the American market or jobs in the US garment industry. Nor do imports from Viet Nam affect supplies from Western markets where the US has vested rights in preferential trade programmes, they pointed out.

An American columnist's view on Vietnam's human rights situation

By BRAD O'LEARY, USA Today columnist

One thing we must make clear is that the US State Department's report is an annual report on many countries in the world.

In the House of Representatives, Congressman Chris Smith made it sound as if it was focused on Vietnam, but it was not.

In my opinion, there is a repression of political thought. If someone in Congress read all the negative things and said "let's do something," there also has to be someone who says: "Wait a minute! What about all the good things that you are ignoring?"

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