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Nguyen Tan Dung News

16 Feb 2016

South China Sea Takes Center Stage at US-ASEAN Summit

U.S. President Barack Obama and Southeast Asian leaders turned their attention to China on Tuesday on the second day of a summit intended to improve commercial links and provide a united front on maritime disputes with Beijing. After a first day discussing trade and economic issues at the Sunnylands resort in California, Obama and his Association of Southeast Asian Nations counterparts were to try to arrive at a common position on the South China Sea, where China and several ASEAN states have conflicting claims. Not all the 10 ASEAN nations agree on how to handle the disputes and U.S. officials want a statement calling for China to follow international law and handle disputes peacefully.

20 Aug 2015

Vietnam to Build Seaport Eyeing Kra Canal

A report in the Straits Times Vietnam is set to build a US$2.5 billion seaport in Ca Mau, its southernmost province, hoping to steal some spotlight away from the more popular regional hubs Singapore and Malaysia and could be a clue to Kra Canal. Vietnam announced that it would build a US$2.5 billion deep-water seaport, named Hon Khoai Port, on an island 17km off the coast of Ca Mau, Vietnam's southern-most province. The project was approved by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The decision to build the portdoes not really make complete economic sense - until it is superimposed on the potentially heady commercial traffic the Kra Canal stands to provide.

01 Jun 2015

Vietnam to Build Research Ship Indegenously

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a decision to build specialized ships for maritime research and survey purposes only in local shipyards associated with Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (SBIC). From now onwards only member companies of the Hanoi-based SBIC, previously known as Vinashin, are allowed to join those tenders to secure the rights to build such ships. Prime Minister Dung has assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to actively work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to allocate necessary capital for the project. The premier has also agreed to extend the…

18 Mar 2015

Vietnam, Australia Call for South China Sea 'Restraint'

Vietnam and Australia called on Wednesday for "self-restraint" in the South China Sea and warned against the unilateral use of force, an obvious reference to China's increasingly aggressive presence that has stirred concerns across the disputed region. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met Australian counterpart Tony Abbott in Canberra, where they will sign a deal on issues including security and climate change. Vietnam and other wary Southeast Asian countries have complained about China's controversial policy of land reclamation on disputed isles in the South China Sea. Beijing in turn has said it is not seeking to overturn international order. Dung told the Australian parliament there was an imperative need to draw up a code of conduct for the South China Sea. "We agreed ...

27 Dec 2014

China, Vietnam to Address Maritime Disputes

Senior Chinese and Vietnamese officials have agreed to settle their maritime disputes without resorting to "megaphone diplomacy", the official Xinhua news service said on Saturday. The agency's report follows a meeting in Hanoi on Friday between Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and it comes as Beijing backs off from aggressive attempts to press its territorial claims in the South China Sea. "Megaphone diplomacy can only trigger volatility in public opinion, which should be avoided by both sides," the report quoted Yu as saying. "The maritime issue is highly complicated and sensitive, which requires negotiations to manage and control differences," he said.

17 Oct 2014

China, Vietnam Pledge Maritime Cooperation

China and Vietnam have agreed to "address and control" maritime disputes, state media said on Friday, as differences over the potentially energy-rich South China Sea have roiled relations between the two countries and other neighbors. Ties between the Communist countries sank to a three-decade low this year after China deployed a $1 billion-oil rig to the disputed waters which straddle key shipping lanes. Vietnam claims the portion of the sea as its exclusive economic zone, and the rig's deployment sparked a wave of violent protests in Vietnam. The two countries should "properly address and control maritime differences" to create favourable conditions for bilateral cooperation…

05 Jul 2014

China Arrests Vietnamese Fishermen for Territorial Breach

Six Vietnamese fishermen have been detained by the crew of a Chinese vessel in the South China Sea, officials of both countries said on Friday, the latest in a two-month fracas between the Communist neighbours over maritime sovereignty. Authorities from the two countries disagreed on where the boat was detained Thursday morning. Vietnamese officials said it was in disputed waters 56 km (35 miles) off the coast of China's Hainan Island and 290 km off Vietnam. The arrests risk escalating the biggest breakdown in ties between Vietnam and China in three decades. China's top diplomat met Vietnam's leadership last month to try to defuse tensions, but talks ended in stalemate.

18 Jun 2014

China Scolds Vietnam over China Sea Rig Row

China's top diplomat scolded Vietnamese officials during talks in Hanoi on Wednesday for "hyping up" a row over a Chinese oil rig drilling in disputed waters in the South China Sea, in tough comments that suggest relations will remain rocky. State Councilor Yang Jiechi also told his hosts that the rig's activities in waters also claimed by Vietnam were "completely legal", China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing in Beijing. Yang, who outranks the country's foreign minister, made the remarks in a meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Before the visit, experts had said many obstacles remained to resolving one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbours fought a brief war in 1979.

15 Jun 2014

China Never To Send Military To Oil Rig Spat With Vietnam

A Chinese official said on Friday that China will never send military forces to the scene of an increasingly ugly spat with Vietnam over an oil rig in the South China Sea and accused Hanoi of trying to force an international lawsuit. A senior U.S. Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coastguard vessels, have squared off around the rig despite a series of collisions after the Chinese platform was towed into disputed waters in early May. Vietnam has accused China of sending six warships, but Yi Xianliang, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, said that Beijing had never sent military forces.

13 Jun 2014

China: No Military Force to Settle Oil Rig Spat

A Chinese official said on Friday that China will never send military forces to the scene of an increasingly ugly spat with Vietnam over an oil rig in the South China Sea, and accused Hanoi of trying to force an international lawsuit. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, but parts of the potentially energy-rich waters are also subject to claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China is also involved in a territorial dispute in the East China Sea with Japan. Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coastguard vessels, have squared off around the rig despite a series of collisions after the platform was towed to the area in early May. The rig's deployment triggered anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam last month that killed at least four workers.

31 May 2014

Xi Says China Won't Stir Trouble In South China Sea

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed not to stir up trouble in the South China Sea but said China would react "in the necessary way" to provocations by other countries, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The comments come at a time of deep tension between China and Vietnam over Beijing's decision in early May to move an oil rig into disputed waters between the Paracel islands and the Vietnamese coast. Days after China deployed the rig, the Philippines accused Beijing of reclaiming land on a disputed reef in the Spratlys to build what would be its first airstrip in the South China Sea. "We will never stir up trouble, but will react in the necessary way to the provocations of countries involved…

23 May 2014

China Warns Japan, Philippines Chastises China

China warned Japan on Friday to stay out of a growing dispute with its neighbors over the South China Sea, as the Philippines implicitly accused Beijing of delaying talks aimed at a solution. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei in one of Asia's most intractable disputes and a possible flashpoint. It also has a separate maritime dispute with Japan over islands in the East Sea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday expressed concern about regional tensions that he said were stoked by China's "unilateral drilling" after China moved a giant oil rig into disputed waters, a moved denounced by the Philippines, Vietnam and the United States.

22 May 2014

White House Supports Legal action in South China Sea Dispute

The White House said on Thursday it would support the use of legal action by Vietnam against China to resolve a dispute after the deployment of a Chinese oil rig to disputed waters in the South China Sea. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said, in comments to Reuters, his government was considering various "defense options" against China, including legal action. U.S. support for such a move would likely upset Beijing. "The United States has a national interest in maintenance of peace and stability; respect for international law; unimpeded lawful commerce; and freedom of navigation and over flight in the South China Sea," White House spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in response to questions about the prime minister's remarks.

22 May 2014

Vietnam Considers Legal Action Against China

Vietnam says will "resolutely defend its sovereignty." China says Vietnam making "irresponsible accusations" against it; Philippines submitted arbitration case against China in March. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his government was considering various "defence options" against China, including legal action, following the deployment of a Chinese oil rig to waters in the South China Sea that Hanoi also claims. Dung's comments, given in a written response to questions from Reuters, were the first time he has suggested Vietnam would take legal measures, and drew an angry response from China, which insisted the rig was in its sovereign waters.

21 May 2014

Vietnam PM: Chinese Oil Rig Threatens Peace

China's positioning of its biggest mobile oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea seriously threatens peace, stability, and maritime safety, Vietnam's prime minister said on Wednesday, urging the international community to condemn Beijing's action. Nguyen Tan Dung held two-way talks with Philippine President Benigno Aquino during an official two-day visit to Manila to discuss defence and security and economic and cultural ties. "China's illegal placement of the oil rig seriously threatens peace, stability, maritime safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea," the Vietnamese prime minister said in a statement after the meeting at the presidential palace in Manila.

18 May 2014

Vietnam Stops Anti-China Protests After Deadly Riots, China Evacuates

Vietnam flooded major cities with police to avert anti-China protests on Sunday in the wake of rare and deadly rioting in industrial parks that deepened a tense standoff with Beijing over sovereignty in the South China Sea. China has evacuated more than 3,000 nationals following the attacks on Chinese workers and Chinese-owned businesses last week, and Beijing had sent five ships on Sunday to bring more people home, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Several arrests were made in the capital Hanoi and commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City within minutes of groups trying to start protests, according to witnesses, as Vietnam's communist rulers stuck to their vow to thwart any repeat of last week's violence in three provinces in the south and centre.

13 May 2014

U.S., China spar again on South China Seas dispute

China hit back at the United States over the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said recent Chinese moves in the waters were "provocative". Tensions rose in the resource-rich sea last week after China moved a giant oil rig into an area also claimed by Vietnam. Each country accused the other of ramming its ships near the disputed Paracel Islands. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. "He (Kerry) said China's introduction of an oil rig and numerous government vessels in waters disputed with Vietnam was provocative," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

28 Mar 2011

Vietnamese Gov’t Acknowledges Shortcomings in Managing Shipbuilder

According to a report from Bloomberg and AFP, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other leaders acknowledge “shortcomings” in managing the nation’s top shipbuilding company, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said in a speech to the National Assembly, Vietnam’s legislature, on March 21.   Source: Bloomberg, AFP

14 Oct 2010

New Leader for Vinashin

According to an AFP report, Vietnam has named a new chairman to take over Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), after the last head was arrested for driving the company into massive debt. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reportedly appointed Nguyen Ngoc Su, formerly deputy head of state-owned oil and gas firm PetroVietnam, to head the shipbuilder. He replaces Pham Thanh Binh, who was suspended in July and later arrested due to the group's debts,. (Source: AFP)

23 Feb 2007

Vietnam Shipbuilding Expansion Moves On

It is being reported that the Vietnamese government has given approval in principle for STX Shipbuilding Co. Ltd of South Korean, to build a $500m shipyard covering 300 hectares in the Van Phong Economic Zone in Vietnam. Vietnam is keen to progress shipbuilding as a national champion and this is the latest development towards her goal of becoming a world-class shipbuilder to rival other countries such as China, South Korea and Japan. Although there are 'certain formalities' to go through before final approval, it is almost certain that there are just purely formalities and the construction of the new shipyard will go ahead, as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed state agencies 'to help' the company with them.