The governments of Vietnam and the United States are calling for greater transparency over a $1.7-billion canal project that is being built by a Chinese state-owned firm in southern Cambodia. The 180-kilometer-long Techo Funan Canal, which is scheduled to begin construction later this year, will connect the country’s capital Phnom Penh to the coastal province … Read more
The Vietnamese businesswoman Truong My Lan was sentenced to death yesterday by a court in Ho Chi Minh City, bringing to an expected end one of the country’s largest-ever corruption cases. The wealthy 68-year-old, who headed real estate company Van Thinh Phat (VTP), is accused of using “thousands of ghost companies” to embezzle 304 trillion … Read more
On March 11, Reuters reported that several U.S. firms led by the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council visited Hanoi to broker a deal that would facilitate the supply of gear to Vietnam’s police. It was the largest U.S. business delegation to Vietnam after the elevation of U.S.-Vietnam ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in September. Although … Read more
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could soon make a state visit to Vietnam, after receiving an invitation from Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) chief Nguyen Phu Throng during a telephone call yesterday. During the call, Vietnamese state media reported, “General Secretary Trọng took the occasion to extend an invitation to President Putin to visit Viet Nam … Read more
Vietnam’s National Assembly has accepted the resignation of Vietnam’s President Vo Van Thuong, who has become the second president to step down in as many years amid a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign. In a statement yesterday, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) announced that it had accepted Thuong’s resignation from all official … Read more
The recent state visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Hanoi was the latest sign of the growing strategic convergence between the Philippines and Vietnam regarding maritime security and the South China Sea. Building on a range of past efforts, both leaders confirmed an agreement on coast guard cooperation and a future bilateral code … Read more
Vietnamese prosecutors are calling for the death sentence for the businesswoman who allegedly masterminded the biggest fraud in the country’s history, state media reported yesterday. Truong My Lan, 68, the chairperson of the Ho Chi Minh City-based real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Holdings Group, is accused of using “thousands of ghost companies” to embezzle … Read more
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little over a year in the job, the Communist Party said Wednesday, making him the latest senior official to leave office amid an intense anti-corruption campaign. The party said it had accepted his resignation, writing in a statement that “violations by Vo Van Thuong have left a … Read more
Vietnam’s National Assembly is scheduled to meet later this week to discuss unspecified “personnel issues,” Reuters reported today, citing a letter sent to legislators that raises the possibility of more upheaval at the upper ranks of the government. The letter signed by the general secretary of the national assembly Bui Van Cuong and sent to … Read more
By now, it has been widely accepted that Vietnam has mastered the art of not choosing its foreign relations. Geopolitically speaking, Vietnam has refused to side with either China or the United States in their growing great-power competition. It is also the only country that hosted visits from both Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President … Read more