https://www.scmp.com/rss/327056/feed Kit (formerly Chris) Humphrey is based in Hanoi as the Vietnam Bureau Chief for Deutsche Presse-Agentur. As a freelance journalist, he also writes for South China Morning Post and other publications, covering human rights, culture, geopolitics, and the environment. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com “Great success! Glory to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam!” proclaimed the country’s newly re-elected Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong on Monday as he vowed to pursue strong economic growth and resume his crackdown on corruption after being granted a rare third term in office. Among other things, delegates at the party Congress also approved a five-year economic blueprint that calls for private companies to account for more than half of the economy by 2025, from 42 per cent now, and to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120110/we-have-taken-back-millions-vietnams-secretive-congress-ends?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120110/we-have-taken-back-millions-vietnams-secretive-congress-ends?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Feb 2021 12:58:20 +0000 Authorities in Vietnam are ramping up their crackdown on dissent just weeks before the Communist Party’s national congress, with the jailing of prominent journalist Pham Chi Dung on Tuesday just the latest in a string of sentences handed down to critics of the state. Before his arrest, Dung was chairman of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam, a group he founded that has advocated for press freedom in the country since 2014 yet is considered an illegal organisation by Hanoi. Dung,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3116829/vietnam-ramps-crackdown-dissent-ahead-communist-party-congress?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3116829/vietnam-ramps-crackdown-dissent-ahead-communist-party-congress?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jan 2021 12:02:07 +0000 Just weeks before the US presidential election, the administration of President Donald Trump took aim at Vietnam, opening an investigation into the extent to which illegally harvested timber is exported to the United States from the Southeast Asian nation and accusing Hanoi of manipulating the country’s currency. Both inquiries carry the threat of tariffs and other restrictions on imports of Vietnamese goods and services. This announcement of the investigations hardly went down well in Hanoi,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3109385/vietnam-biden-win-could-mean-end-ustr-currency-and-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3109385/vietnam-biden-win-could-mean-end-ustr-currency-and-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Nov 2020 23:00:20 +0000 Washington toughened its stance against Beijing’s aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea last week by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vietnam, pledging support for its fishermen against “illegal intimidation”. While US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel J Kritenbrink did not mention China in his comments at the signing ceremony with the Directorate of Fisheries, analysts said he was clearly referring to Beijing. Vietnam is one of four Southeast Asian countries with... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3095058/us-pledges-help-south-china-sea-vietnam-wary-antagonising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3095058/us-pledges-help-south-china-sea-vietnam-wary-antagonising?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2020 23:00:26 +0000 The Philippines on Wednesday expressed “deep concern” over the April 3 collision between a Chinese coast guard vessel and a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea, citing its own experience last year as a sign of “how much trust in a friendship is lost” following such incidents. “Given the positive momentum on the discussions on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, it is crucial that such incidents be avoided and that differences be addressed in a manner that enhances dialogue and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3079039/philippines-expresses-concern-after-china-vietnam-incident-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3079039/philippines-expresses-concern-after-china-vietnam-incident-south?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2020 12:30:18 +0000 American Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt will visit Vietnam this week, with a stop scheduled at the coastal city of Da Nang on Thursday. Designed as a symbolic show of unity amid simmering tensions in the resource-rich South China Sea, the vessel’s arrival serves as a statement of intent to China. United States Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink, US Pacific fleet commander John C. Aquilino and US Consul General Marie Damour will represent the American delegation at a welcome... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3064991/us-navy-ship-visit-vietnam-amid-rising-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3064991/us-navy-ship-visit-vietnam-amid-rising-south-china-sea-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 11:00:11 +0000 A 12-year jail term handed to a 70-year-old Australian retiree in Vietnam for “terrorist activities against the state” has renewed international focus on Hanoi’s squeeze on government critics after recent prosecutions of two Americans of Vietnamese descent. Chau Van Kham, a former baker from New South Wales, was accused of giving campaigner Nguyen Van Vien, 48, US$400 towards Viet Tan, a pro-democracy opposition group banned in communist-ruled Vietnam but which the United Nations has described... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037433/australian-retirees-12-year-jail-term-highlights-vietnams?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3037433/australian-retirees-12-year-jail-term-highlights-vietnams?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 21:30:04 +0000 In a landmark case this week, Roman Zmajkovic became the first person to be prosecuted under a new Vietnamese law on paedophilia. Zmajkovic, 33, was charged in Hanoi People’s Court for “having sexual intercourse with children” and given three years in prison followed by deportation to Slovakia. The maximum possible sentence was 15 years. Zmajkovic’s prosecution is the first to occur under a new Vietnamese law that recognises non-heterosexual sex with children as a sex crime. Meanwhile, the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2166210/slovak-paedophiles-conviction-watershed-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2166210/slovak-paedophiles-conviction-watershed-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Sep 2018 09:24:05 +0000 Hanoi is not renowned for its nightlife. On most evenings, police patrol the Old Quarter just before midnight, enforcing an official curfew and sending drinkers home or to lock-ins. Compared to Saigon, where revellers party until dawn, the capital is staid and conservative. Or at least it used to be. Earlier this year, the city took a small step towards jazzing up its reputation by embracing Vietnamese drag. What began as a weekly viewing party for RuPaul’s Drag Race has grown organically into... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2145794/meet-brave-drag-queens-tearing-hanois-nightlife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2145794/meet-brave-drag-queens-tearing-hanois-nightlife?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 May 2018 09:00:45 +0000