Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh is
finishing up a trip to Russia to boost military ties, in line with the two countries’
efforts to build on a strategic partnership they signed last year
“Russia is Vietnam’s
top strategic military partner, and the cooperation in training, information
exchange and science research has been expanding…and will continue playing an
important role in the bilateral defense ties,” Minister Thanh said in a
statement posted Thursday on the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense’s website.
“The cooperation will strengthen the traditional friendship
relations, mutual benefit for peace and development, and not aim to a third
country,” Mr. Thanh said, giving no indication of any deals his
delegation might sign with the Russian side during the trip.
Russia has long been Vietnam’s top supplier of weapon and
military equipment and Minister Thanh’s trip is especially important for the
Vietnamese after U.S. ambassador David Shear said Wednesday that the U.S. won’t
sell the country lethal arms until Hanoi improves its human rights record.
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership — which presidents
Truong Tan Sang and Vladimir Putin signed in May 2012 — is an upgrade from the
previous Strategic Partnership signed in 2001. It marked the first time that
Vietnam publicly revealed its signed military deals with Russia, which included
a purchase of modern jet fighters and missiles and an agreement to receive
Russian training to boost its defense forces amid rising disputes in the South
China Sea.
In 2012, Vietnam signed a deal to borrow $8 billion from
Russia to build its first nuclear power plant. Russian state-run utility and
nuclear energy company Rosatom is expected to start the project next year, with
operations ready in 2020.
The trip comes as Russia’s economic activity has increased
in Vietnam. In the first seven months of this year, Russia has been the
third-biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, with an investment of $1
billion. The two biggest foreign investors so far this year are Japan,
with $4.1 billion, and Singapore, with $3.73 billion. Bilateral trade between
Vietnam and Russia increased to $2.45 billion in 2012, from $1.98 billion in
2011.
Defense Minister Thanh, whose trip to Russia was between Aug
8-10, heads next to Poland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
In May, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung led a
delegation to visit Russia to mark one year of the Comprehensive Strategic
Partnership. During his three-day trip, Mr. Dung visited a military base in
Kaliningrad, where Russia was testing the first among the six Kilo-class
(Project 636) diesel-electric submarines for Vietnam, the government said. They
are the first and biggest submarines that Vietnam has acquired.
“The sale of submarines to Vietnam is not only a commercial
contract but it is a symbol of the bilateral comprehensive strategic
partnership,” Mr. Dung said.
In recent years,Vietnam has bought a large amount of
materials from Russia. The expanding relationship has prompted the two
countries to upgrade their defense relationship to facilitate closer
collaboration in defense production and related research and development, said
James Hardy, who is Asia-Pacific editor of IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly.
In 2009 Vietnam ordered six Kilo-class, diesel-electric
submarines, the first of which is scheduled to go into service this month, Mr.
Hardy said. Since 2009 Vietnam has also acquired 20 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighter
aircraft, Svetlyak-class (Project 1041.2) fast attack craft, and Gepard
frigates from Russia, he said.
Vietnam doesn’t publicize its defense budget for the recent
years as it often considers military activities to be state secrets. The
defense budget was last disclosed in the 2009 Defense White Paper, reaching
$1.46 billion in 2008, equal to 1.8% of GDP that year.
Vietnam Attempts Mission Impossible [China Post Commentary]
ReplyDeleteAugust 10, 2013
China Post
The Vietnamese government seems to be trying to stamp its
authority over electronic communications; this is a ridiculous move
that will inflame anger and ultimately fail.
The Vietnamese government will cover the whole sky with its small
hands by issuing a new law to control and clean up public information
disseminated via the Internet. Hanoi is set to enact new legislation,
known as Decree 72, to criminalize the use of social media for
anything other than to “provide or exchange personal information.”
The law, if it comes into force by next month as foreseen, would ban
individuals from quoting or sharing information from press or
government agencies. Internet service providers, under this law, would
be prohibited from handling information that could be deemed as
“against Vietnam.”
The law also demands that all foreign websites have at least one
server in Vietnam, which will give the Vietnamese authorities greater
control of content.
If the law is effective, communication via the Internet will consist
only of chat, messages, blogs and Facebook and Twitter postings about
personal and family matters. Anything deemed “public affairs” will
be off-limits.
This is ridiculous. It is highly controversial for any government to
issue a law that bans people from sharing information, especially
information that is being publicized by government agencies in the
first place.
Vietnam has a poor record when it comes to freedom of expression, both
online and offline. Reporters Without Borders ranks the country 172nd
out of 179th in its press-freedom index, ahead of only China, Iran,
Somalia, Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea when it comes to
respecting media liberty.
Although Vietnam has no solid reputation for the protection of human
rights or democratic principles, it is still expected to at least
allow space for people to have a certain degree of freedom of
expression and a right to know about current events.
It is no secret that the authorities screen all information
disseminated to the public media in Vietnam. Therefore what is the
point of barring people from sharing such information?
The government in Hanoi will find it difficult to achieve anything
with this move, but if its intent is to further curtail the rights of
its people and hinder its chance of fully integrating with global
development, then it is doing a good job.
Vietnam, although it still calls itself a communist state, has been
open to the world for decade ever since the “doi moi” policy was
initiated. The spirit of doi moi is openness, but openness means
allowing people to know what they want to know and what is necessary
for them to know.
Freedom of communication and the right to information is a basic
requirement of any country in the modern world. Vietnam is now working
toward integration into the Asean Economic Community. How can
Vietnamese citizens learn about and understand the situation in the
region and the wider world if they're not allowed to share
information? How can they understand the maritime disputes in the
South China See if their government allows them to share only pictures
of dinner or stories about their love affairs?
Control of Internet communication is an impossible mission for any
government. The U.S. is leaning this at enormous cost. Any government
that wants total control over the Internet needs a huge budget,
resources and manpower to monitor every information transaction - and,
more sinisterly, a deep and willful distrust of its own citizens. It
will realize eventually that such an effort is useless.