Sea turtle issues

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hosted a reception in Hanoi on May 10 for Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who is also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha - the upper house of the Parliament of India. Vice President of India to visit Vietnam, attend UN Day of Vesak Vietnam, India work toward two-way trade of $15 billion National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) and Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who is also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha - the upper house of the Parliament of India Ngan welcomed Naidu’s official visit to Vietnam and attendance at the United Nations Day of Vesak 2019, believing that the trip would help reinforce and strengthen political trust and solidarity between the States and people of Vietnam and India. The top legislator expressed her satisfaction at the growing relations between Vietnam and India over the past time, especially after the two countries’ leaders agreed to elevate bilateral ties to the level of … [Read more...] about NA Chairwoman welcomes Indian Vice President

U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia W. Patrick Murphy also said the United States was keen to help Pacific countries protect their sovereignty, in a region where the United States and is allies are competing for influence with China. "Our encouragement on countries that have relations with Taiwan is to maintain the status quo," Murphy told reporters in Canberra, on a three-day visit to Australia. China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as sacred Chinese territory and merely a province with no right to state-to-state ties. Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea. "China is changing (the) status quo, and the Pacific is a good example where China is attempting to reduce Taiwan’s diplomatic relations in the region," Murphy said. "And that's kind of heavy handed." "Countries should be able to make their own … [Read more...] about US official urges Pacific Island nations to keep ties with Taiwan

The meeting was the first in four decades that came amid tense relations between the United States and China. Taiwan's national security chief David Lee met White House national security adviser John Bolton earlier this month, the island's foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The official Central News Agency said the meeting was the first since the island and the United States ended formal diplomatic ties in 1979. China considers Taiwan a renegade province, to be reclaimed by force if necessary, and the meeting is likely to anger Beijing further with Sino-U.S. relations already tense. The diplomatic temperature has risen in recent weeks amid an escalating trade war, U.S. sanctions and China's increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols. The rare meeting will be viewed by Taiwan as a sign of support from the Trump administration. Tensions have also risen between Taipei and … [Read more...] about Taiwan and US security officials hold rare meeting amid China tension

Officers and soldiers of Vietnam's second level-2 field hospital (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Preventing conflicts, enhancing preventive diplomacy, settling conflicts via peaceful measures, intensifying multilateralism, consolidating sustainable development, coping with climate change and promoting human rights will be Vietnam’s priorities during its term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021. With the aim of becoming a “partner for sustainable peace,” Vietnam has made direct contributions to international peacekeeping missions. Five years after Vietnam joined the UN peacekeeping operations in 2014, the country has sent officers to two UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. The country’s first level-2 field hospital has been awarded with the UN’s “For the cause of peacekeeping” order. As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2008-2009, Vietnam … [Read more...] about Vietnam records remarkable achievements in human rights