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VIETNAM REVIEW

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Commentary

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For the U.S. Congress - Professional Staff and Legislative Assistants for Foreign Policies and Concerned Citizens

January 2005

1.   A Report On The Religious Liberty Reality                                                                          02

2.   Vietnam Demands End To Chinese Attacks On Fishermen                                                  06

3.   Reporter Who Investigated Drug Company Is Indicted                                                          06

4.   Buddhist Monk Returns From Exile To Political Storm In Vietnam                                         07

5.   Foreign Ministry Confirms Vietnamese Bandits Try To Rob Chinese Fishing Boats                 09

6.   Vietnam Raps China Over Shooting Of Nine Fishermen                                                        09

7.   Vietnamese Court Sentences Seven For "Causing Social Unrest”                                         10

8.   Vietnam Tightens Media Stranglehold                                                                                 10

9.   Vietnam Likely To Be Sued For Dumping Garments and Textiles In US                                 12

10. Party To Focus On Fighting Corrupt Members This Year                                                      12

11. Vietnam’s Deputy PM Urges Drastic Population Measures                                                   13

12. Vietnam To Grant Amnesty To More Than 8,200 Prisoners                                                   14

13. HRW Report - Human Rights Developments in Vietnam, 2004                                               14

14. Vietnam Makes a Start on the Reform of The Media                                                             18

15. Government Clamps Down On The Online Press                                                                  21

16. State Owned Banks Receive $25.5 Mln For Recapitalization                                                 22

17. Fourteen Hospitalized In Vietnam With Suspected Bird Flu                                                   22

18. Bird Flu Kills 100,000 Poultry, Threatens Northern Vietnam                                                  23

19. Vietnam’s President Earns 240 Dollars Per Month                                                               24

20. Vietnam Rejects Report On Mass Arrest Of Minority Christians                                            24

21. Vietnam Suspends A Popular Web Site                                                                              25

22. Government Outlines Corruption Prevention Plan For 2005                                                    25

23. New Evidence of Torture, Mass Arrests of Montagnards                                                        26

24. Police Minister Promoted To Top Ranking General                                                               28

25. Vietnam’s Party Chief Discusses Cooperation With Japanese Party Leader                           29

26. Vietnamese Reporter Prosecuted For Publishing Confidential Document                                30

27. U.S. Panel Clears Way for Tariffs On Shrimp Imports                                                           31

Vietnamese American Concerned Citizens (VACC)

P.O. Box 59655, Potomac. MD 20859

VietnamReview2004@yahoo.com

Contact: Khai Q. Nguyen

Local contact: …....……….…………………………….

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A Report On The Religious Liberty Reality

By Elizabeth Kendal, January 19, 2005

World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)

Special to ASSIST News Service

AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- The following deeply disturbing report on Vietnam was written by an internationally respected Vietnam observer. The observer reports that there are many hundreds of unregistered Christian meeting places and gatherings in Vietnam where believers meet at great personal risk to their liberty and life, despite the Vietnamese government's boastings of freedom of religion.

The observer also reports that nearly 300 Christian leaders have been incarcerated since the April 2004 Easter demonstrations, and that at least 60 Protestant leaders languish in the infamous Ba Sao Prison in Nam Ha Province on long prison sentences.

Reliable, trusted sources told the observer that the Vietnamese government is recruiting and training special units from amongst the Hmong and Montagnards to combat the spread of Christianity (described as an internal enemy) in their ethnic communities.

This report also examines the appalling and violent mistreatment meted out to the Mennonite prisoners, and the distressing state of the one female Mennonite prisoner arrested in June 2004, Le Thi Hong Lien (21), who has become deranged with trauma. Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action Appeal on her behalf: UA 01/05 Viet Nam

ttp://www.amnesty.ca/urgentaction/.

Totalitarian states require friendly international relations in order to pursue coveted economic development. However, the more the totalitarian governments open up economically and diplomatically, the more they need to repress their suffering masses, restricting their access to information and cracking down on all dissent and perceived threats in order to hold on to power. They also need to ensure that their propaganda speaks louder and is more convincing (or appealing) than the truth. It becomes a perpetual game of testing the waters (how much can we get away with?) and should be matched by a testing of the "bones" (not accepting everything at face value) as the confronting report below suggests.

The question then becomes: How much duplicity will the Vietnamese government be permitted? Those who knowingly accept and wink at the government of Vietnam's duplicity are complicit in the government of Vietnam's morally reprehensible human rights abuses.

Elizabeth Kendal (WEA RLC)

A Box Of Mixed Bones, Religious Human Rights In Vietnam

By A Vietnam Observer,

15 January 2005.

In early December 2004, North Korea infuriated Japan by trying to pass off "a box of mixed human bones" as the remains of a woman it had kidnapped from Japan when she was 13. After DNA testing, a Japanese cabinet secretary announced on December 8 that, "The bones belong to a number of other people. It would be difficult under the present circumstances to provide further assistance to North Korea." The announcement caused shock waves in Japan, a nation that venerates its dead. (Herald Tribune, December 13, 2004, page 1)

This is an apt metaphor for what Vietnam is trying to do with its human rights – religious freedom policies. It is giving the world "a box of mixed bones". But unlike Japan's incensed people, many in the world seem to be accepting them as the genuine article. The guile of trying to pass off the counterfeit is surpassed only by the naivete of accepting it as real.

Concerned about its reputation in the region and the world, with WTO prospects, and stung by continued revelations of religious human rights abuses, Vietnam is in the midst of an unprecedented propaganda campaign to show the world all is well.

Here, however, are some examples of Vietnam's ongoing restrictive and abusive practices.

THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND THE NORTHWEST PROVINCES

An area of continued great concern to which Vietnamese authorities deny free access is the Central Highlands. A propaganda piece sent on 4 November 2004 by ambassador Phan Thuy Thanh from the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels, to inquirers in Holland, is full of disingenuous "information". It entirely denies that land and religion have anything to do with the unrest. It says:

"Vietnam's law ensures the right to freedom of religion and belief and non-religion or belief to all citizens, which is clearly inscribed in the constitution and respected in reality. There is absolutely no question of the so-called 'repression of Protestants'. On the contrary, Protestants in the Central Highlands enjoy favourable conditions for religious practices.

There are about 25 grass root Protestant groups in the Central Highland."Here is the "reality". There are in the five Highland provinces with minorities - Dak Nong, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Gai Lai and part of Binh Phuoc - at least 1,700 Protestant "meeting places" where Christians gather to worship. The government recognizes about 25, but cannot even bring itself to call them churches, because it has not allowed them to build church buildings!

Beginning in September 2002 a massive government campaign forcibly disbanded many hundreds of local churches and other campaigns sought to force Christians to renounce their faith. Nearly 300 Christians leaders are known to have been arrested and are incarcerated, some still without trial since the April 2004 Easter demonstrations. At least 60 Protestant leaders, including eight regular pastors of local churches, languish in the infamous Ba Sao Prison in Nam Ha Province, all with long prison sentences. After the demonstrations last Easter, authorities promised only a handful of "ringleaders" would be tried and sentenced. Another promise broken.

In Dak Lak, a province that remains virtually locked down to regular travel for residents and visitors alike, the state recognizes only two ethnic Vietnamese and two Ede minority churches that meet in the homes of the pastors. Christian leaders report there are 439 meeting places in the province. Four out of 439 is less than one per cent! The pastors of the four groups, supposedly recognized by the state, are not even free to visit their own parishioners without getting complicated permissions. Christian leaders in the province say the vast majority of the approximately 150,000 Protestant Christians must now practice their faith underground – and so worship, teaching, baptisms and the observance of holy communion must be done out of sight of the authorities. Protestant leaders say the government plan to "eradicate" Christianity, frequently enunciated by hardline local officials, continues gradually but steadily. All villages and hamlets have constant military and/or police presence.

Similar stories are told about the other provinces. In Gia Lai province where strong church leaders do daily battle with the authorities, some 16 church groups have now been recognized. But there are 400 meeting places! One prominent church leader of the Jerai minority who was described in a "complimentary manner" in a communist journal has accused authorities of fabricating much of the story and has demanded a public retraction. Compliments by the Party or State for a religious leader are a curse to be overcome because they cause his followers to suspect his integrity.

ETHNIC SPECIAL UNITS TO COMBAT THE INTERNAL ENEMY

In a very troubling development not yet reported elsewhere, it has been learned from independent sources which have proved reliable in the past, that the Vietnamese government is in the process of recruiting and training both Hmong in the Northwest Provinces and Montagnards in the Central Highlands for special units to oppose the spread and development of Christianity.

The purpose of the unit according to the Hmong sources is to "oppose an enemy, not external, but internal". That is Christianity. Men are being recruited on a basis of loyalty to the repressive system and the absence of sympathies for Christian believers. They are being given training after which they will return to their home areas to suppress Christianity. Some of those being recruited are former military people. (At least a dozen Hmong Christian leaders remain in prison in the Northwest provinces.)

And similarly, a knowledgeable Dak Lak Montagnard source has reported that authorities are recruiting training a special unit of 2,500 Montagnards for similar purposes.

Such an approach is intended to give the government plausible deniability as they will make it look as if there is spontaneous indigenous ethnic resistance to a "foreign religion". This action underlines that religious freedom for minorities is NOT in the government's plan – all protestations to the contrary. It takes delusional mental gymnastics to see "progress" in freedom for minority Christians in this picture.

DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NEW ORDINANCE ON RELIGION

Announced to become effective on 15 November 2004, the new ordinance has not provided signs of hope to religious people. Authorities, who believed they were making concessions in the new religion ordinance were surprised by the depth of opposition which included complaints from some religious groups they believed were safely "patriotic".

It has been learned that before being fully implemented, the new Ordinance is to be further spelled out by a new decree, implementation bulletins, and forms for the many permissions required. Authorities are currently stuck at the decree level. Draft three of the decree is circulating among religious groups but authorities are said to be on draft five.

The new ordinance and draft decree still provide no legal space for house churches, nor for the majority of Protestant Evangelical Christians in Vietnam who are ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and the Northwest Provinces. Therefore some 75 percent of Protestants in Vietnam continue to be excluded from legality in spite of Vietnam's pronouncements about liberalization in the emerging legal framework. In anticipation of the ordinance coming into effect, some house churches, fearing the worst, have already divided into smaller, less visible groups.

The 1999 Government Decree on Religion No. 26 continues to be used a legal tool to suppress religious activity. On 11 November 2004, the People's Committee of Dong Xuan District in Phu Yen Province responded in a letter to a request from a small Protestant congregation to register its activities. The congregation of Da Du Hamlet, Xuan Lanh Commune, had functioned there for some years with the knowledge of the authorities and with few difficulties. So it accepted in good faith the government's well-advertised new liberalization in religious affairs and tried to register its activities.

The result was entirely disheartening. The congregation ended up in a much worse situation than when it operated informally earlier. The Dong Xuan District People's Committee flatly denied the congregation permission to meet and practice their faith on the basis of Decree 26. The directive to the congregation concluded ominously:

"The People's Committee of Dong Xuan District orders the People's Committee of Xuan Lanh Commune to coordinate with the Fatherland Front and other government organs in the commune to mobilize, educate and abruptly halt and take legal measures against all meetings, religious activities and propagation activities of a number of people in Da Du Hamlet of Xuan Lanh Commune."

Such is the reward of a small Protestant congregation that dares test the government's announced intention to liberalize restrictions on religion. It is difficult to see any progress in the area of creating new laws, and implementing current ones.

PERSECUTION OF THE VIETNAMESE MENNONITE CHURCH

The well-publicized conviction and sentencing of six Vietnamese Mennonites on 12 November 2004, on a "criminal charge" seems to be considered by some as difficult to oppose because it involved a "criminal charge". Strangely, some diplomats and even some Mennonite groups seem to accept and be immobilized by the government's consistent claim that "it has nothing to do with religion".

That this view is simply wrong is shown by the fact that from 10 November to 3 December 2004 the home/church of the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, cared for by his 30-year-old wife Le Thi Phu Dung, was invaded five times by gangs of uniformed and plain-clothes police, up to 40 at a time and sometime at midnight. This round of persecution began with a cultural revolution-style public accusation/humiliation session against Mrs. Quang. A recording of this session makes clear it is against the "illegal Christian religion". \

Authorities require Mrs. Quang to cease all religious gatherings, activities and ceremonies in the Quang house/church, and to take down the church sign. Videos of some of the police raids have also made their way to the West.

With the release of two of the six prisoners in early December, written testimonies of their unbelievable mistreatment while in custody became available. These reports in translation are available. Readers will agree that the treatment of the two brothers, Nhan and Nghia, is worthy of the Soviet Gulags. A 5 January 2005 press release of the Mennonite World Conference details some of the awful abuse. (Link 1)

Even more horrible is the complete crushing of the body, mind and spirit of the lone woman among the six prisoners, 21-year-old Le Thi Hong Lien. Physical and mental abuse by officials has caused Ms Lien to lose her mind and control over bodily functions. The poignant report and reflections of her poor, day-labourer father, written after his visit with her on 14 December, with additional information gleaned from previous prison visits, is also available. Her father has been denied any access to her since. On 7 January 2005, Amnesty International issued an urgent appeal on her behalf. (Link 2)

Government policy makers, business people and aid organizations wishing to do business with and help the people of Vietnam need to keep these realities firmly in mind when dealing with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They should test a few bones. Without clear international consequences for its gross misbehaviour toward is own peaceful citizens, Vietnam will have no incentive to change.

Vietnam Demands End To Chinese Attacks On Fishermen

Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC

BBC Monitoring International Reports

January 19, 2005

Hanoi, 19 January: Vietnam has demanded that China take measures to put an immediate end to attacks on Vietnamese fishermen.

A Foreign Ministry representative handed a diplomatic note to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi protesting the recent attack by Chinese on-duty ships, which killed and injured a number of Vietnamese fishermen.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also demanded that China investigate the case and hand out strict punishments to the killers. It asked China to return the bodies of the victims and the Vietnamese people it held, compensate the fishermen for the loss of life and property and coordinate with Vietnamese agencies to investigate the case and report to the leaders of the two countries.

The ministry has instructed Vietnamese diplomatic missions in China to arrange with the Chinese side and visit the injured and detained fishermen as early as possible.

The Vietnamese side has also called on the Joint Committee on Fisheries in the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf to meet and promptly stabilise the situation in the two countries' common fishing area.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry's spokesman Le Dung said Chinese gunners killed nine fishermen and injured many others.

Source: VNA news agency web site, Hanoi, in English 19 Jan 05

Reporter Who Investigated Drug Company Is Indicted

Committee to Protect Journalists

 330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA     Fax: (212) 465-9568     Web: www.cpj.org     E-Mail: media@cpj.org

Contact:  Kristin Jones Telephone:  (212) 465-1004 e-mail: info@cpj.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New York, January 18, 2005 ”The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the indictment of Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, a staff reporter for the Vietnamese daily Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, on a charge of "appropriating state secrets." The January 5 announcement of legal actions against Lan Anh followed her series of investigative articles about manipulations of the drug market by the pharmaceutical company Zuellig Pharma.

"Lan Anh's strong investigative journalism, which brought attention to an issue of great concern to the Vietnamese public, should be welcomed by authorities who have paid lip service to the important role of the press in Vietnamese society," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call on authorities to drop all charges against Lan Anh and allow her to continue her work."

While she has not been officially arrested, Lan Anh has been ordered not to leave her home in Hanoi, sources told CPJ. The indictment stems from a May 2004 article by Lan Anh in which she quotes a document submitted by the Health Ministry to the Prime Minister. In the document, the health minister recommends a comprehensive investigation of Zuellig Pharma Vietnam, a subsidiary of the multi-national Zuellig Pharma.

In her articles, Lan Anh wrote that the pharmaceutical company's monopoly on the market of certain medicines in Vietnam had been driving up drug prices to "unacceptable levels." In February, the company signed a commitment with the Health Ministry to stabilize its prices, but the Vietnamese government allowed Zuellig's import contract to expire in September. Tuoi Tre is a popular daily that enjoys wide circulation in Vietnam. It is owned by the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, an organization under the direct management of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

Legal actions against Lan Anh come amid a government drive to further restrict online and print journalism in Vietnam. On orders from the Ministry of Culture and Information, the popular news Web site Tintucvietnam.com was shut down last week after posting uncensored letters from readers. Truong Dinh Anh, the editor-in-chief of another Web site, VNExpress.com, was fired in November after posting readers' angry comments regarding the government's purchase of a legion of Mercedes Benz cars for the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Hanoi in October 2004.

Buddhist Monk Returns From Exile To Political Storm In Vietnam

Agence France Presse

January 18, 2005

In the shadow of a large longan tree at a pagoda in Hanoi, an elderly Buddhist monk hopes to tell a few home truths: Thich Nhat Hanh has returned to Vietnam after 38 years' exile in France -- and has become the centre of a religious and political storm.

As the head of a delegation of about 200 followers, mainly French and American, he is on a three-month visit to the tightly controlled communist country he left in 1967 and where his works and recordings have long been banned.

"My trip is not political," says the 78-year-old, draped in a dark orange robe. But his comments seem to suggest quite the opposite.

Until recently, "There was fear and suspicion here. There was a need for much communication to transform, to remove erroneous perceptions," Hanh tells AFP in an interview, surrounded by Vietnamese journalists and attentive officials.

"We have been able to breathe easier these last years," he says.

But for some Buddhists in this country, life can still be difficult.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has been banned since 1981 for refusing to submit itself, along with all of its churches around the country, to the supervision of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

Several of the UBCV's members, including its two most senior figures, have since spent most of their time in prison or under house arrest.

Thich Huyen Quang, 87, and his deputy Thich Quang Do, 76, are accused by Vietnamese authorities of possessing "state secrets" and are de facto under house arrest in two separate pagodas.

Hanh chooses his words carefully.

"We want to listen carefully to understand the reality," the monk says in French. "Our policy is to listen to everyone, the Buddhists who are not happy and the governmental agents who are facing difficulties."

On Monday the monk held talks with members of the committee on religious fairs, a government body in charge with cultural and religious issues. "I asked them to be patient (with UBCV)," he says, smiling.

"Sometimes, one needs months to sit down and talk."

Will he be allowed to meet with members of the banned church? "I hope so," he says. "Our enemy is discrimination and fear."

Constrained by exile in 1967 by southern Vietnam's pro-American regime, the monk obtained asylum in France, where he taught at Paris' prestigious Sorbonne University.

In 1982 he settled in southwestern France and founded a new community. The author of 100 works, he preaches a new form of Buddhism, adapted for modern society and able to lure younger generations and to protect them from materialism.

But not everyone is keen on his methods.

For the Paris-based International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB), the UBCV's communication arm, Hanh's visit amounts to a "Faustian pact" with the country's communist dictatorship.

"This highly publicized visit could be interpreted as a sign of increased religious tolerance in Vietnam," the IBIB complained.

"This Faustian pact between Thich Nhat Hanh and the Vietnamese authorities enables (him) to promote the development of his own sect."

On leaving Paris, one of Hanh's close associates had accused certain banned religions in the country of hiding "flags of the old regime" of southern Vietnam, which was beaten by the communist north in 1975.

The statement was not very well received by IBIB, which said it smacked of propaganda.

"Thich Nhat Hanh gives a precious propaganda bonus to the Vietnamese regime. But he does nothing for the cause of religious freedom and human rights in Vietnam," says Vo Van Ai, the group's president and sworn enemy of the Hanoi regime.

"It's a matter of perception," the elderly monk answers.

He will not say any more.

"It's for the politicians and the journalists to say if there are enough religious freedoms in Vietnam. You can judge by yourself without needing a declaration from us."

On Monday the state Vietnam News Agency welcomed the monk's visit, saying: "Thich Nhat Hanh praises Vietnam's open-door policy on religious beliefs."

Foreign Ministry Confirms Vietnamese Bandits Try To Rob Chinese Fishing Boats

Source: Xinhua,  January 15, 2005

Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved

Chinese maritime police shot dead several armed robbers and captured eight others who were trying to rob Chinese fishing boats operating on Jan. 8 at the Chinese side of the Beibu Gulf, the Foreign Ministry said in Beijing Saturday.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, on the morning of Jan. 8, several Chinese fishing boats from Hainan Province were operating on the Chinese side of the Beibu Gulf, and three unidentified armed vessels came trying to rob and firing at the Chinese boats.

Chinese maritime police rushed to the spot for rescue immediately after receiving report from the fishermen. The three armed vessels opened fire at the police boats and injured Chinese law enforcement personnel, Kong said.

The Chinese maritime police were forced to take necessary actions. They shot dead several armed robbers, seized one of the armed vessels and eight robbers along with their weapons and ammunition and tools, he said.

Calling it a "serious armed robbery case at sea," Kong said the robbers had confessed they were Vietnamese, and had committed four armed robberies of Chinese fishing boats in the Beibu Gulf before.

The Chinese side has informed the Vietnamese side of the issue in detail in accordance with the Sino-Vietnamese consulate treaty, Kong said. "The Chinese has abundant and irrefutable human testimony and material evidence, and will handle the case according to Chinese law."

The spokesman said since the agreements on demarcation and fishery cooperation in the Beibu Gulf between China and Vietnam took effect last June, the overall situation there is stable. However, the armed robberies of Chinese fishing boats have posed serious threat to the life and property safety of Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen.

China is willing to cooperate closely with Vietnam so that the two countries can take effective measures to combat maritime crimes and safeguard security and stability in the Beibu Gulf, he said.

Vietnam Raps China Over Shooting Of Nine Fishermen

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

January 14, 2005, Friday

Vietnam has demanded action from China after nine fishermen were killed by Chinese forces near the maritime border between the two countries. "We are concerned that the Chinese boat shot to death nine Vietnamese fishermen, wounded many others and caused property loss to the fishermen," foreign ministry spokesman Le Dzung said in a statement Friday. "Vietnam requires the Chinese to take measures to prevent and stop this wrong action. Vietnam also requires China to further investigate the killers," Dzung said.

Chinese forces killed nine Vietnamese fishermen and arrested eight others on Saturday, a commune official said on Wednesday. The deaths were the result of two incidents in which fishermen were accused of straying into Chinese waters, said Le Van Thuan, chairman of Hoa Loc commune of Thanh Hoa province. In the first incident Chinese forces shot dead eight fishermen and captured eight others, two of whom were wounded, Thuan said. The Chinese authority confiscated the boat and arrested the eight men, the chairman said. "They said they would return the eight dead bodies after discussions with Vietnam's government," Thuan said. The other fishermen will be charged under Chinese law. A second boat, carrying 12 people in the same area, also came under fire. One man was killed before the fishing vessel managed to flee. "There were 400 bullet shells found on the boat," Thuan said.

Vietnamese Court Sentences Seven For "Causing Social Unrest"

Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC

BBC Monitoring International Reports

January 14, 2005

Gia Lai, 13 January: The People's Court of Auynpa district in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai on 12 January held a public trial of Ksor Krok and his accomplices on charges of causing social unrest.

Ksor Krok is a younger brother of Ksor Kok, head of the reactionary organization Fulro, who is nursing a dangerous ambition to establish an autonomous state in the Central Highlands.

The defendants also included Ksor Dro, Siu Djing, Siu Yunh, Ksor Jon, K'Sor Sen and Siub Panh, who all live in Auyunpa district. They incited local ethnic minority people to social disorder.

Ksor Krok was sentenced to seven years in jail; Ksor Dro, six years in jail; and the others, from 4-5 years in jail.

Vietnam Tightens Media Stranglehold

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4175271.stm

BBC NEWS, January 14, 2005

By Nga Pham

BBC Vietnamese service

When Lan Anh, a staff writer for the popular daily Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, wrote a series of articles on Zuellig Pharma last year, she was hailed for brilliant investigative reporting.

The Hong Kong-based Zuellig Pharma, via its Singapore office, had been monopolising the Vietnamese pharmaceutical market for almost three years and had bumped up the prices of some popular medicines to "unacceptable levels".

The public responded positively and gratefully to Lan Anh's reports.

Yet the journalist is now facing legal action from the government for "appropriating state secrets", which the Health Ministry said were included in the notes she published in her newspaper.

The move against Lan Anh has shocked and outraged the Vietnamese public.

But it is unfortunately not the only time the government is alleged to have harassed the media.

During the last couple of months, the government has decided to shut down one of the country's most popular news and entertainment websites, tintucvietnam.com, as well as to sack the editor-in-chief of the leading online newspaper, Vnexpress.

Tintucvietnam.com and Vnexpress had both carried reports that the government was importing unnecessarily expensive limousines from abroad.

Last year the government also introduced a highly controversial regulation that requires all internet cafes to register the personal details of customers

The government said it needed the cars for the Asia Europe Summit (Asem) in October 2004, but readers' letters published by Vnexpress showed the public was angry about the amount of money it spent.

The Ministry of Information has fined Vinacomm, the company that owns tintucvietnam.com, 20m dong (#1,268), and has closed it "until further notice" for operating without a proper licence.

Before this decision, there were threats that the website would be shut down for good, and its fate remains unknown.

As for Vnexpress, its editor was sacked and the online newspaper has since noticeably toned down its news coverage.

Control

Critics say the latest events show the Vietnamese government is tightening its grip on the media, especially online services.

"With less than a year to go to the next Communist Party Congress, they (the Vietnamese government) particularly fear websites, even official ones, since they are a sounding board for popular discontent," the press watchdog Reporters sans Frontieres has said in a statement.

Last year the government also introduced a highly controversial regulation that requires all internet cafes to register the personal details of customers.

The government claims it just wants to "fight pornography and evil influences from the West", not to limit the public in any way.

But its actions suggest otherwise, and leave people wondering how long it can try and control the media in an era of rapidly developing information services.

Vietnam Likely To Be Sued For Dumping Garments and Textiles In US

Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire

Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

January 13, 2005

Vietnam's textile industry received a warning about possible US anti-dumping tariffs following the lawsuit of catfish dumping, when it discussed trading textile export quotas to the US this year at two different seminars on Tuesday.

At a seminar held by the Trade Ministry in Hanoi, William Barringer, chief lawyer of US law firm Willikie Farr & Gallangher said that Vietnam was likely to impose anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnam's garments and textiles.

American textile producers are preparing necessary documents to prove that textile imports are the cause of material injury to the US industry.

Because Vietnam is a long-term supplier to the US, most retailers believe it will be a primary target of this lawsuit, he explained.

To avoid the lawsuit, Vietnam should ensure that Vietnamese exporters change accounting practices to fall in line with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Barringer advised.

They should also create adequate paper records to show the absence of Government control, particularly on price negotiations with US importers, to qualify for separate rate status.

They should also clearly define the relationship among affiliates and between themselves and the government.

Besides, public relations and lobbying would also pay a role in a successful defense, he said.

The lawsuit will be likely to start by mid 2005 and Vietnam's wooden products will be sued next, experts foresee.

According to the statistics of Willikie Farr & Gallangher, there were 981 anti-dumping lawsuits and 348 anti-price support lawsuits in US between 1980 and 2003.

The US applies a quota system on Vietnamese garments and textiles since 2001. Last year, the country imposed quotas of $ 1.7 billion a year on Vietnamese textiles and garments to curb a surge in imports.

Party To Focus On Fighting Corrupt Members This Year

Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

January 13, 2005

The sole and ruling Communist Party in Vietnam has asked its inspectorate to further concentrate on fighting corruption, wastefulness and authoritarian bureaucracy within Party personnel and organizations this year.

"Inspection is top a priority which helps renovate the Party's leadership style and make it more transparent and healthy, thus maintaining its role as a strong ruling body," Phan Dien, a member of the Politburo and Party Central Committee Secretariat, told a national conference held in Hanoi on January 11

Inspectors, therefore, will have to focus on examining signs of violation of Party organizing principles and working regulations as well as Party personnel work, he said.

The directive reveals Party leaders' concern about the development of individualism and opportunism, which leads to degradation in politics, ethics and lifestyles among a number of Party members.

General secretary of the Party, Nong Duc Manh, himself, recently admitted that this is a real threat to the Party's leadership and the main reason for the deterioration of people's confidence in the Party.

According to the Party Central Committee's Commission for Inspection, of the 19,103 Party members and 3,494 Party organizations inspected last year, 73.2% and 56.9% were found violating Party regulations, due to lack of responsibility and the abuse of power for personal benefit. The figures, however, are believed to be just the floating part of the iceberg.

According to statistics of the National Assembly, residents across the country sent a total of around 600,000 complaints about degenerate cadres and their abuse of power, violations of financial rules and abetting corruption in the past five years.

The Communist Party of Vietnam now has over 2.67 million members who form the backbone of the Vietnamese Government and State. Its members account for 90% of the total deputies at the National Assembly, the country's top legislative body.

Vietnam’s Deputy PM Urges Drastic Population Measures

Asia Pulse

January 13, 2005 Thursday

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem has asked the population sector to immediately take drastic measures to slow down the country's population growth rate.

Deputy PM Khiem on Wednesday attended a conference to review population, family and children work in 2004 and launch the 2005 plan. According to the Deputy PM, the sector has been optimistic about its achievements, and this has led to loose management of population growth in some localities and the untimely and inadequate dissemination of the Ordinance on Population to the people.

He told localities and sectors at all levels to strictly regulate against people having a third child and combine family planning instructions into local regulations.

In 2005, Khiem said, the population sector should complete the building organising apparatus from central to local levels, coordinate with relevant agencies and international organisations in scientific research in population, family planning and reproductive health, improve the capacity of population cadres and call for foreign investment and cooperation in birth control and children work.

Deputy PM Khiem plans to have working sessions with localities that have high birth rates and outstanding problems in population work to help them work out solutions and orientations.

Reports delivered at the conference said that since 2000 the implementation of policies on population and family planning has been "wobbly" as the birth rate has increased, as well as the number of families having a third child.

Vietnam's population grew 1.47 per cent in 2003, an increase of 0.15 per cent or 100,000 babies more than in 2002. Vietnam's population strategy till 2010 aims to have a population of 88 million people with each couple having two children at most.

Other targets also include reducing the natural population growth rate to 1.1 per cent and the infant mortality rate to 25 per 1,000 births in 2010. Under the strategy, Vietnam's population is forecasted to grow 1.22 per cent to peak at 82,493,000 people in 2005.

Vietnam To Grant Amnesty To More Than 8,200 Prisoners

Agence France Presse

January 13, 2005

Vietnam plans to grant amnesty to 8,277 prisoners to mark the country's traditional Lunar New Year Festival which falls in early February, state media said Thursday.

The communist country's President Tran Duc Luong will soon make a final decision on Wednesday's proposal by the National Amnesty Consulting Council, the daily Tien Phong newspaper said.

Only those with "good re-education records" will be given amnesty, the paper added.

Last September, Vietnam granted a nationwide amnesty to 8,623 prisoners, including 51 foreigners, to mark its September 2 National Day.

Included in the list were 10 prisoners described by Hanoi as "of concern to the international community".

Western governments and human rights groups have long criticised Hanoi for jailing political and religious critics of the regime.

Further amnesties are expected to be announced on May 19, the anniversary of the birth of revered Vietnamese Communist Party founder and independence hero Ho Chi Minh.

HRW Report - Human Rights Developments in Vietnam,  2004

HRW, January 13, 2005

Enclosed please find the Vietnam section on human rights developments inVietnam during 2004. This is part of Human Rights Watch's annual WORLD REPORT, which was released today in Washington, D.C.

VIETNAM

Human Rights Summary

Human rights conditions in Vietnam, already dismal, worsened in 2004. The government tolerates little public criticism of the Communist Party or statements calling for pluralism, democracy, or a free press. Dissidents are harassed, isolated, placed under house arrest, and in many cases, charged with crimes and imprisoned. Among those singled out are prominent intellectuals, writers, and former Communist Party stalwarts.

The government continues to brand all unauthorized religious activities-particularly those that it fears may be able to attract a large following-as potentially subversive. Targeted in particular are members of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and ethnic minority Protestants in the northern and central highlands.

Freedom of Expression

Domestic newspapers and television and radio stations remain under strict government control. Although journalists are occasionally able to report on corruption by government officials, direct criticism of the Party is forbidden. Foreign media representatives are required to obtain authorization from the Foreign Ministry for all travel outside Hanoi.

Several dissidents and democracy activists have been arrested and tried during the last several years on criminal charges-including espionage and other vaguely-worded crimes against "national security"-for peaceful criticism of the government or calling for multi-party reforms. Legislation remains in force authorizing the arbitrary "administrative detention" of anyone suspected of threatening national security, with no need for prior judicial approval.

In July 2004 long-time human rights advocate Nguyen Dan Que, 62, was sentenced to thirty months of imprisonment for "abusing democratic freedoms," for writing an essay, distributed over the Internet, about state censorship of information and the media. Other cyber-dissidents who have been sentenced to prison on criminal charges include: Pham Hong Son, Le Chi Quang, Nguyen Khac Toan, Nguyen Vu Binh, Pham Que Duong and Tran Khue.

Internet Controls

The government maintains strict control over access to the Internet.  It blocks websites considered objectionable or politically sensitive and strictly bans the use of the Internet to oppose the government, "disturb" national security and social order, or offend the "traditional national way of life." Decision 71, issued by the Ministry of Public Security in January 2004, requires Internet users at public cafés to provide personal information before logging on and has increased the pressure on Internet café owners to monitor customers' email messages and block access to banned websites.

In April 2004 the government closed down Vietnam International News 24-Hour, an unlicensed website that had reprinted a BBC article about Easter demonstrations in the Central Highlands. In August 2004 the Ministry of Public Security created a new office to monitor the Internet for "criminal" content, a measure that appears to be aimed in part at intimidating people from circulating any information that authorities could deem to be a "state secret" or otherwise unauthorized.

Freedom of Religion

The government bans independent religious associations and permits religious activities only insofar as they are conducted by officially-recognized churches and organizations whose governing boards are approved and controlled by the government.

A new Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions went into effect in November 2004. It pays lip service to freedom of religion but strengthens government controls over religion and bans religious activities deemed to threaten national security, public order, and national unity.

Members of the banned Mennonite church have come under increasing pressure from the government. In June 2004, Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, an outspoken Mennonite church leader, was arrested after publicly criticizing the government for detaining four Mennonites three months earlier. On two separate occasions during 2004, officials in Kontum province bulldozed a chapel of Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, superintendent of the Mennonite churches in the Central Highlands. In September, October, and November, police pressured Mennonites in Kontum and Pleiku provinces to sign forms renouncing their religion.

In both the central and northern highlands, government officials continue to ban most Protestant gatherings. Authorities have forced ethnic minority evangelical Christians to pledge to abandon their religion and cease all political or religious activities in public self-criticism sessions or by signing written pledges.

Crackdown in the Central Highlands

In the Central Highlands some ethnic minority Christians have rejected the government-controlled Evangelical Church of Vietnam and have sought to manage their own religious activities. Increasing numbers of ethnic minorities, collectively known as Montagnards, appear to be joining Tin Lanh Dega, or Dega Protestantism, which combines evangelical Christianity with elements of ethnic pride and aspirations for self-rule. Dega Protestantism is officially banned by the government.

In April 2004 peaceful demonstrations by Montagnards during Easter weekend in the Central Highlands turned violent when security forces and civilians acting on their behalf ambushed and attacked the demonstrators with clubs, metal bars, and other crude weapons. At least ten Montagnards were killed and dozens wounded. Hundreds fled from their villages and went into hiding or attempted to flee to Cambodia. (see Cambodia) Authorities dispatched additional police and military forces to the region and established security checkpoints along the main roads. Strict restrictions were placed on travel within the highlands, on meetings of more than two people, and on communication with the outside world.

Repression of Buddhists

Religious leaders of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), which was the largest Buddhist organization in the country prior to 1975 and which does not recognize the authority of the government-controlled Vietnam Buddhist Church, face ongoing persecution. The government appeared to be easing up on the group in early 2003, when UBCV leader Thich Quang Do was released from two years of administrative detention and the prime minister visited UBCV Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang. However, in October 2003 the two UBCV leaders were once again placed under unofficial house arrest and eleven other UBCV leaders were taken into administrative detention. Tensions escalated in November 2004 when authorities prevented Thich Quang Do from visiting Thich Huyen Quang, 87, who was severely ill in hospital, and summoned him for questioning on allegations of "appropriating state secrets".

In March 2004, UBCV dissident Thich Tri Luc (Pham Van Tuong) was released from prison and resettled in Sweden two months later. Thich Tri Luc, a UNHCR-recognized refugee, had been abducted by Cambodian and Vietnamese agents in Cambodia and taken to Vietnam in 2002.

Members of the Hoa Hao sect of Buddhism are subject to police surveillance and several were thought to remain in detention at this writing. The sect was granted official status in May 1999, although government appointees dominated the Hoa Hao Buddhism Representative Committee established at that time. In August 2004 Hoa Hao leader Le Quang Liem, 84, was released from administrative detention after more than two years' under house arrest.

Religious Prisoners

At this writing, at least ten ethnic Hmong Christians were in detention in Lai Chau and Ha Giang provinces in the north. At least 180 Montagnard Christians continued to serve prison sentences of up to twelve years for their involvement in church activities or public demonstrations, or for attempting to seek asylum in Cambodia. Three Mennonites were serving prison terms ranging from nine months to three years for "resisting officers on duty," after a half-day trial in November 2004. At least four Catholics, including Father Nguyen Van Ly and members of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, remained in prison for expressing criticism of Vietnam's human rights record or for distributing religious books and holding training courses.

Torture in Detention

Prison conditions in Vietnam are extremely harsh. Human Rights Watch has received reports of solitary confinement of detainees in cramped, dark, unsanitary cells; lack of access to medical care; and of police beating, kicking, and using electric shock batons on detainees. Police officers routinely arrest and detain suspects without written warrants, and authorities regularly hold suspects in detention for more than a year before they are formally charged or tried.

Political trials are closed to the international press corps, the public, and often the families of the detainees themselves. Defendants do not have access to independent legal counsel. More than 100 death sentences were issued in 2004, with twenty-nine crimes considered capital offenses under the penal code, including murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, many economic crimes, and some sex offenses.

International Response

At the December 2003 Consultative Group meeting, Vietnam's international donors pledged more than U.S.$2.8 billion in aid for 2004. While donors publicly have focused on economic growth, "good governance," and poverty reduction programs, they have increasingly expressed concerns about the government's imprisonment of dissidents, suppression of freedom of expression and of religion, and its poor handling of the crisis in the Central Highlands.

In June 2004 Japan, Vietnam's largest donor, reversed its traditionally circumspect stance on Vietnam's record on human rights and announced that its official development assistance to Vietnam would be linked in part to the government's respect for human rights and steps toward democracy.  In contrast, fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) made virtually no comment on Vietnam's human rights record.

In 2004, the European Union (EU) criticized Vietnam's decision to classify information and statistics on executions as a state secret. More than 100 members of the European Parliament called on the EU and European Commission to highlight Vietnam's human rights record during the Asia-Europe Summit Meeting held in Hanoi in October 2004.  During the meetings the Dutch Foreign Minister, on behalf of the EU, called for the release of political and religious prisoners. In November, the UK Foreign Office raised concerns about the plight of non-recognized Buddhist and Protestant groups in its annual human rights report.

The U.S. re-established diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1995 and approved a bilateral trade agreement with Vietnam in 2001. In 2001 and again in 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Vietnam Human Rights Act, which would link future increases in non-humanitarian aid to progress on human rights. As of this writing the Senate had not approved the legislation. In 2003 the U.S. State Department cancelled its annual human rights dialogue with Vietnam because of lack of concrete results. In September 2004 the State Department designated Vietnam a "Country of Particular Concern" because of what it called Vietnam's "particularly severe violations of religious freedom."

In July 2004 Vietnam became of one fifteen countries, and the first and only Asian country, to receive financial aid from President Bush's emergency global plan for HIV/AIDS.  In November, the deputy director of UNAIDS called on Vietnam to address continuing discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, which she said was among the worst in the world.

In November 2004 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that the imprisonment of Nguyen Dan Que was arbitrary and in violation of international law.

Vietnam Makes a Start on the Reform of The Media

Jan 12, 2005, Asia Times

James Borton eyes the media 

From the stoops of small, family-run shops to stalls along the Red River to the old Hanoi Quarter on Ta Hien Street, old and young alike will soon be celebrating Tet - the Vietnamese New Year. The national holiday, which falls in late January or early February depending on the moon, is a time for families and ancestral remembrances. For the media, however, there is little time for celebrations, with competition heating up as lifelines to once-enshrined state subsidies and the standard receipt of gratuity envelopes from business enterprises ends.

More journalists are now engaged in improving the media's professional skills and enhancing journalistic integrity. But progress in Vietnam is not easy to chart; sometimes every step forward seems to be paired with a move back, in the direction of a hardliner communist past. For the most part, however, Vietnam's state-controlled media readily accept the inevitable: in order to keep pace with the doi moi, renovation market reforms, Hanoi's Ministry of Culture and Information has issued a call to increase the quality of its media, invest in new media technologies, and improve the training of its more than 11,000 reporters, more than 35% of whom are women.

"Information communication technologies are contributing to major shifts in our culture, society and media," said Nguyen Ahn Tuan, chief executive of the state-owned enterprise Value Added Software Company (VASC) and founder of the bilingual news website, VietnamNet Bridge.

Online reporting has been adopted by many of Vietnam's major media, and digital-era publishing has become widely popular, despite periodic Ministry of Public Security crackdowns on Internet access at many unlicensed cafes.

Vietnam's nearly 700 newspapers and periodicals published by more than 400 publishers are all controlled by the Communist Party, leaving no room for private media. The Vietnamese press must also adhere to guidelines firmly established by the powerful Ministry of Culture and Information. Vietnam's press remains, for all purposes, still a party outlet for educating the public and filtering information - not for independent news reporting. But there are signs of an emerging cadre of newspaper editors and professional journalists who welcome an adoption of Western-style reporting standards.

Controlled by the Vietnam Communist Party Central Committee's Propaganda and Training Department, the press adheres to guidelines firmly established by the powerful Ministry of Culture and Information. For example, Nhan Dan, is the party newspaper of record. Last year, for instance, the party's secretary general, Nong Duc Manh, called on the press to upgrade reporting standards and get out into the countryside to record the views of the people.

"Correspondents and editors must constantly improve not only their professional skills, and in that process, root out corruption and social ills while keeping close contact with people from all walks of life," stated Manh during a 2004 press conference on the media.

This media shift was also reinforced last year by Hong Vinh, deputy head of the Central Commission on Culture and Ideology, at a media conference held in Hanoi. Vinh suggested that the media are deeply engaged in improving professional skills, and in the process offer protection of the rights of all citizens and welcome a renewed criticism of any abuses.

Several newspapers in Ho Chi Minh City have embraced this call for journalistic integrity and are now attempting to inject some infused professionalism into their publications. These include the Saigon Group, Thanh Nien, Lao Dong and Tuoi Tre, four publications now free of all state-issued publishing subsidies. As a result, many reporters no longer eschew the party line. Some bold reporters have even written critical reports on sensitive dam construction projects that threaten the livelihood of fishermen and farmers in the north.

More recently, a state-sanctioned Vietnam Forum for Environmental Journalists was established to address sustainable development issues and challenges associated with reporting on these matters.

At the same time, however, Vietnam faces the excesses of a lax canon of reporting standards reminiscent of the West's own brand of "tabloid journalism". For example, the most popular newspaper in Vietnam is the Cong An Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, or the Saigon Police Gazette, published by the police in Ho Chi Minh City. Its weekly circulation comes to more than 600,000 copies. Newspaper vendors indicate that it sells out almost immediately. At US$0.20 a copy, that's no small change for the publisher.

This is in sharp contrast to the party's ideological flagship newspaper, Nhan Dan, which many vendors choose not to sell because it brings in so little money. Unlike Nhan Dan, the Saigon Police Gazette is filled with lurid tales of sex and violence, of gang crimes and prostitution.

Le Quoc Minh, a veteran Vietnamese journalist, understands the need to improve standards and has established a Vietnamese journalism website, www.vietnamjournalism.com, to provide informational tools for reporters. "I just set up this website to share all I know on journalism for my colleagues, especially young reporters, editors and photographers. I don't think the way we have [been] doing things here is all that professional," added Minh in an interview with Asia Times Online.

But with the way things seem to be going, the foreign media will no longer be the only ones drawing attention to the myriad challenges facing this developing nation. Intrepid Vietnamese reporters are bravely reporting on rural poverty, environmental problems, a fragile health-care system, corruption and integration into the world market; and they are doing so in a way that attempts to safeguard their traditional culture in conjunction with necessary reforms.

One of the most stellar reporting efforts by the Vietnamese press involved insightful investigative articles on one of its own: Tran Mai Hanh, former deputy chairman of the Vietnamese Journalists' Association, who is alleged to have links to the Vietnamese mafia and has accepted bribes for suppressing information. Hanh also served as the general director of Voice of Vietnam radio and was a member of the party's powerful Central Committee. Vietnam's state-run media is credited with breaking this corruption scandal two years ago.

A school all their own

Vietnam gatekeepers are almost universally trained at the Press and Communication Institute, the first journalism school in Vietnam. About 90% of the state's media managers have completed their studies at this institute. The institute has faculties in print media, broadcasting, Internet and new media, and international relations.

"I am studying for a masters in journalism. Around 300 young journalists graduate from the institute every year, and in my opinion, the education quality of this institute is better than the two other journalism education centers in Vietnam [Hanoi National University and Ho Chi Minh City University], since the institute offers experienced professors," Nguyen Thu Hoai from the Vietnam Journalists Association in Hanoi wrote in an e-mail interview with Asia Times Online.

Since Vietnam has failed to establish any national standards for its media curriculum, foreign entities have been encouraged by the Vietnamese government to offer media training classes in country. These include Sweden's International Institute for Further Education of Journalists (Fojo), Lille University in France, Singapore's School of Communication Studies at Nanyang Technological University, and Indochina Media Memorial Foundation - all now plying reporters with short-term intensive media training classes.

Sweden has supported a training program for journalists since 1994 that includes a radio broadcasting program with interaction from ordinary citizens, reminiscent of popular talk-radio programs in the West. This type of media program has sparked enthusiasm for the widespread belief in a growing role for the media to enhance dan chu goc, or grassroots democracy.

West Virginia University's Perley Issac Reed School of Journalism in the United States is now engaged in fundraising to create a Center for the Study of Emerging Media in Vietnam. Located in Morgantown, West Virginia, the internationally focused journalism school has supported training and exchanges with journalists from Vietnam for several years.

"The center will help Vietnamese journalists and educators build their understanding of contemporary media and media skills, learn modern media technology and build a professional network online," according to Professor Christine Martin, the former dean of the Perley Issac Reed School of Journalism, and vice president for Institutional Advancement at West Virginia University.

All of these media training developments are first steps in the transformation of Vietnam's media, including the World Bank's newly funded program in cooperation with the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Science and Humanities, for the establishment of practical media courses titled "Reporting on Development Issues".

"Vietnam is taking steps to ensure the reform of the media and even recently passed a law granting more freedom to the individual editors of publishing companies, enabling that person to make value judgments about news worthiness and accuracy rather than having each article pass through the party's ideological censors," stated Augustine Vinh, a Hanoi-based independent financial consultant to the World Bank.

Despite the country's legacy of war, political constraints and poverty, Vietnam's media are slowly helping the nation face up to their challenges in the race toward becoming an active global competitor and aspirant to the World Trade Organization.

In response to an Asia Times Online question about improvements in the development of an independent press, Huon Tran from VietnamNet Bridge said, "I think this development must accompany the international integration process that Vietnam has long embarked on, and I myself found quite a very interesting shift in this view on the country's image building by Vietnamese leaders."

James Borton is a freelance journalist and currently is writing a book on China's media. He can be reached at asiareview@yahoo.com.

Government Clamps Down On The Online Press 

The Internet Under Surveillance

RSF.Internet

12 January 2005

Reporters Without Borders has condemned a government assault on press freedom, led by politburo ideologue Nguyen Khoa Diem, who has decided to reign in the official press, particularly new websites.

In just three weeks, three websites - Tuoi Tre, Tintucvietnam.com and Vnexpress.net - have been banned or brought to book.

The worldwide press freedom organisation also deplored legal action against Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, a journalist on the daily Tuoi Tre. "The Vietnamese authorities view the media as propaganda vehicles," it said. "With less than a year to go to the next Communist Party Congress, they particularly fear websites, even official ones, since they are a sounding board for popular discontent."

"We need to support this young generation of journalists who want to report on the news as it is and not be used as mouthpieces for the regime," it said.

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh was charged on 5 January 2005, with posting two briefs quoting a note from the Health Minister classified as a "state secret". In it the minister called for an investigation into the abnormally high prices set by pharmaceutical business Zuellig Pharma VN. Tuoi Tre (Youth), one of Vietnam's rare investigative publications, has been targeted by the government for several years.

Vietnamese Prime Minister, Pham Van khai, on 8 November 2004, called for disciplinary steps to be taken against online press agency Vnexpress.net, run by Internet provider FTP - a state-owned company. It followed a demand for intervention by the Ministry of Culture and Information over "erroneous" articles published by the agency. The offending articles reported on government purchase of 78 Mercedes for the Europe-Asia (ASEM), in October 2004. It unleashed a wave of readers' letter denouncing the import of luxury vehicles. Vnexpress posted some of the reactions, which appeared to particularly provoke the government's ire. The editor and the journalists involved in the story were reportedly subjected to disciplinary action.

The website Tintucvietnam.com (Vietnam News) was closed around 10 January on the order of the Ministry of Culture and Information. The site chiefly dealt with cultural and economic stories. As in the case of Vnexpress, it was posting readers' letters that was believed to have prompted the ban.

This clampdown on the media has been orchestrated by Nguyen Khoa Diem, head of the party central committee's ideology and culture commission. In recent months he has publicly insisted on several occasions on the need to bring into line a press, which he said, chased after sensationalism and profit rather than confining itself to putting out government ideology.

State Owned Banks Receive $25.5 Mln For Recapitalization

Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

January 11, 2005

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance (MoF) has decided to provide an additional VND400 billion ($ 25.5 million) via 20-year special government bonds to two State-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) as part of the last package for recapitalizing the banks ahead further integration, especially WTO entry expected at the end this year.

MoF previously planned to provide the last package worth VND1.5 trillion ($ 95.5 million) via the special government bonds to the country's three largest state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) including Agribank, Vietcombank and Incombank by the end of 2004 at the latest.

However, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), Vietnam's biggest state-owned commercial bank, was the only bank to receive the recapitalization funding worth VND690 billion ($ 44 million) from the MoF.

The other two SOCBs, the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (Incombank), were originally stated to receive $ 25 million apiece at the same time as Agribank, but had to wait for the disbursement.

The total VND1.5 trillion for the three banks is the fourth package under the Vietnamese Government's $ 673-million recapitalization program to assist the country's five existing state-owned banks to raise their capital safety ratios, which currently stand at dangerous levels.

As of the end of June 2004, Agribank had the highest capital adequacy ratio of 6.2% while the figures for Vietcombank and Incombank were only 4.7% and 4.4%, respectively.

Vietnam now has five State-run commercial banks, 38 joint stock commercial banks, four joint venture banks, 25 foreign bank branches, and some 40 foreign bank representative offices.

Fourteen Hospitalized In Vietnam With Suspected Bird Flu

Xinhua

Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC

BBC Monitoring International Reports

January 11, 2005

Hanoi, 11 January: Fourteen people in seven Vietnam's southern localities have been hospitalized since Monday (10 January) for being suspected of suffering bird flu, a local health official told Xinhua. Of the cases, four were confirmed to have contracted virus H5N1. One bird flu patient from southern Tien Giang Province is in serious health condition, and three others from southern provinces of Tay Ninh, Tra Vinh and Dong Thap died, said the official of Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.

"Hospitals, which are treating the suspected cases, are actively conducting tests to determine whether they got H5N1 virus or not," the official said, asking for anonymity. The spread of the virus is favoured as cooler temperatures and an increase in the movement of fowls ahead of the Lunar New Year, which falls in February.

To deal with the situation, Vietnam is taking urgent anti-bird flu measures, such as tightening management over transport and trading of poultry, conducting closer surveillance on the current situation of fowl flocks nationwide, and intensifying propaganda on the disease via mass media.

According to the Department of Animal Health, since last December, the relapse of bird flu has been seen in 13 localities across the country, killing or leading to the forced culling of nearly 100,000 fowls. In late March 2004, Vietnam declared an end to the bird flu that killed 17 per cent of its poultry population and claimed at least 21 human lives during the previous outbreak starting in December 2003. A total of 43.2 million fowls nationwide either died or were culled, causing a total loss of 1.3 trillion Vietnamese dong (82.8 million dollars) to the local poultry industry.

Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0515 gmt 11 Jan 05

Bird Flu Kills 100,000 Poultry, Threatens Northern Vietnam

Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

January 11, 2005

The bird flu epidemic, which caused serious damage to Vietnam's husbandry sector in early 2004 and killed or forced culling of around 100,000 poultry in recent months, is spreading rapidly and is likely to threaten the northern region.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on January 10 said that the northern region is likely to be infected as the virus was recently found in Nam Dinh province.

However, the ministry affirmed that the strain has not yet found detected in two major poultry raising provinces of Ha Tay and Ha Nam.

The deadly avian influenza virus has recently been detected in additional 47 communes in 26 districts of 9 provinces of Lam Dong, Binh Phuoc, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Long An, Dong Thap, Can Tho, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau.

On January 9 alone, around 18,000 ducks and 38,000 quails tested positive with H5N1 were killed or culled in additional 19 communes, numbering the total communes to 71 in 13 provinces nationwide so far.

Since January 5, around 13,700 chickens and quails in local farms in Mekong Delta's Ben Tre province have been culled to prevent the bird flu virus from spreading, according to the province's Veterinary Department. Samples of dead poultry were immediately sent to the laboratory at the Ho Chi Minh City Veterinary Center for testing.

The dead domestic fowls came from farms in the province's districts of Chau Thanh and Giong Trom. Bird flu had also appeared in both areas at the beginning of last year. In October 2004, the recurrence of bird flu was reported in a territory of the province's Chau Hoa district.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have quickly implemented specific measures to prevent the spreading of the deadly virus to their areas.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Animal Health Department will cooperate with local authorities and agricultural services to organize a conference on bird flu prevention and control in Hanoi on January 13 this year to quickly deal with the situation.

In early 2004, the bird flu epidemic killed around 36 million poultry throughout the country, or 14.25% of the total herds.

Vietnam’s President Earns 240 Dollars Per Month

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

January 11, 2005, Tuesday

Vietnam made public the meagre official salaries of its most senior political figures for the first time in the state run media Tuesday.

Despite presiding over a nation of more than 80 million people, President Tran Duc Luong's salary is a mere 240 dollars a month, the Thanh Nien (Young Newspaper) reported.

The 67-year-old former geologist has been Vietnam's president since 1997.

Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, although considered a more powerful figure than the president, also earns 240 dollars a month.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An both earn 230 dollars per month.

Members of the powerful politburo are paid 165 dollars per month, according to the paper, while ministers earn from 180 to 190 dollars and four-star generals earn 192 dollars.

The low salaries of government officials and civil servants are often cited as contributing to Vietnam's poor record on official corruption.

Recently a number of high profile members of the government have been sanctioned, including Deputy Trade Minister Mai Van Dau, who was arrested on graft charges last November.

Vietnam Rejects Report On Mass Arrest Of Minority Christians

BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific – Political

Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring

January 11, 2005, Tuesday

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dung said on Monday 10 January that people of ethnic minority groups living in the Central Highlands had enjoyed a peaceful Christmas, rejecting Human Rights Watch's report on massive arrests of Protestants in the region during the festive period.

In response to a question raised by a French news agency AFP correspondent on Vietnam's reaction to the Human Rights Watch's report, Dung said Christians all over the country, including those from ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands, had enjoyed a peaceful Christmas. He confirmed that there were no cases of ethnic minority people were detained or tortured in the region.

Earlier in the day, Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Vietnam of arresting and torturing a number of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands before Christmas celebrations. It alleged that police arrested many Protestants from ethnic minority groups in the region in the weeks before Christmas. In Gia Lai Province alone, the report claimed that 129 people were arrested between 12 and 24 December, 2004.

Vietnam Suspends A Popular Web Site

Associated Press, January 11, 2005,

Vietnam has suspended a popular news Web site for failing to obtain a government operating license, state-controlled media reported Wednesday.

The Ministry of Culture and Information also fined local software company, Vinacomm - which runs the tintucvietnam.com Web site - $1,274, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said.

Access to the popular Web site - which compiled news stories from local newspapers - has not been possible since Saturday.

Ministry officials and company executives were not available for comment Wednesday.

Vietnam maintains tight control over the media and the Internet. There are an estimated 500 media organizations in Vietnam, all of which are state-run.

Government Outlines Corruption Prevention Plan For 2005

Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

January 10, 2005

The government has outlined an action plan to combat corruption in an effort to reduce graft, a major hurdle to the country's future development.

Under the three-point action plan for 2005, the government will emphasize preventing corruption related to national infrastructure projects, which make up the majority of graft scandals exposed so far.

The plan stresses the need for scrutiny into the management of public finances and property. Regulations on bidding and investing on public works projects will be reviewed with an eye towards diminishing legal loopholes.

Under the plan, the government will require its administrative agencies to build a people-oriented management culture and encourage officials to improve relations with the people.

The government has said leaders of the agencies will ultimately be held responsible for their subordinates misdeeds.

Heads of central provinces and cities, ministries and services in charge of granting licenses or certificates should more effectively distribute information on new rules or procedures, the plan said.

The government will also ask ministries, industries and local authorities to intensify inspections of the management of construction projects so as to prevent misappropriation and wasteful spending.

The government has also instructed inspectors to improve their work by responding to complaints of local people or the media. Corruption cases reported by the media should be immediately inspected, the document said.

Under the plan, the Inspectorate is tasked with reviewing the implementation of the Ordinance on Anti-corruption and accelerating the drafting of an anti-corruption law by November, 2005.

Another task for the legal watchdog is to create a national steering board on corruption control to be submitted to the Government for consideration within the second quarter of this year.

Despite recent strong commitments by the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam and the government against corruption and other negative phenomena, such evils are still rampant in all sectors and at all levels in Vietnam, having adversely affecting the country's competitiveness for a long time.

In the past ten years, Vietnam detected as many as 9,454 corruption cases causing total losses of more than VND10 trillion ($ 639 million), according to the country's Police Ministry. Such large number of uncovered cases, however, is said to be only the floating part of the iceberg and the recent crackdown on deteriorating officials is highly selective and some high-ranking cadres have acquired de facto immunity from prosecution.

Observers say that Vietnam needs more specific and stronger measures against corruption.

In 2003, Vietnam received a corruption perception rating of 2.4 in a global corruption survey undertaken by Transparency International, where 10 equals little or no corruption and zero represents a highly corrupt country. That figure was unchanged from 2002.

New Evidence of Torture, Mass Arrests of Montagnards

Cambodia Slams Door on New Asylum Seekers

Human Rights Watch

(New York, January 10, 2005) - Cambodia’s decision to close its northeastern border with Vietnam to halt the flow of Montagnard asylum seekers comes amidst alarming new reports of mass arrests, torture, and increasing persecution of Montagnard Christians in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, Human Rights Watch said in a 25-page briefing paper released today.

New testimony gathered by Human Rights Watch establishes the widespread and continued use of torture against activists, religious leaders, and individuals who have been deported or have voluntarily returned from Cambodia.

On January 1, Cambodian National Police Chief Hok Lundy ordered authorities in the border province of Ratanakiri to increase the number of border police in order to prevent Montagnard asylum seekers from entering. “The authorities have to convince the local people to be our spies in order to report how many Montagnards [enter Cambodia], to arrest them and send them back to Vietnam,” he said.

“The Vietnamese government’s mistreatment of Montagnards continues unabated,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “Instead of closing its borders to asylum seekers, the Cambodian government should be working with the United Nations refugee agency to provide sanctuary to people escaping torture and arbitrary arrest.”

Human Rights Watch said that under Cambodia’s international treaty obligations, the Cambodian government must not return Montagnard asylum seekers so long as they face a serious risk of persecution upon return to Vietnam. Hok Lundy’s statements, which were tape recorded, make it clear that Cambodia is flouting its legal obligations.

During high-profile tours to the Central Highlands in December, top Vietnamese officials pledged to respect religious freedom and called on local officials to encourage “peaceful and happy” Christmas celebrations in Montagnard villages.

However, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, police were busy rounding up and arresting dozens of Montagnard Christians and detaining them at district and provincial police stations and prisons throughout the region. In Gia Lai province alone––one of five provinces in the Central Highlands––police arrested 129 people between December 12 and 24.

“Christmas was relatively quiet in the highlands,” said Adams. “That’s because hundreds of Montagnards were rounded up and spent the holiday in police detention.”

Many of those arrested during the Christmas crackdown were Montagnard house church leaders who were organizing Christmas gatherings in the villages. Others targeted for detention included the wives and even young children of men who had fled to Cambodia to seek asylum. Human Rights Watch said that police also arrested dozens of Montagnards suspected of being protest leaders or making contact with groups in the U.S. supporting demands for the return of ancestral land and religious freedom. The current whereabouts and treatment of most of the detainees is unknown.

A Mnong man from Dak Nong province, who was arrested in April 2004, said he was severely beaten several times by police officers trying to obtain the names of other activists. At the district jail, police officers pulled out one of his toe nails, beat him repeatedly on his thighs with a rubber baton, and boxed him in the face, knocking out one of his front teeth. They brandished an AK-47 rifle and threatened to kill him. He was then transferred to the provincial prison, where he was interrogated and beaten again:

They beat my head and used two hands to box my ears more than thirty times, until my face was bright red and my ears were bleeding. They kicked me in the chest with their boots. They wanted to squeeze out the information about the demonstrations.

First-hand accounts from Montagnards who have voluntarily returned to Vietnam since 2001 indicate that Vietnamese authorities treat returnees with intense suspicion. Some are placed under police surveillance and even house arrest upon return, or are regularly summoned to the police station for questioning about their activities.

On December 29, the Vietnamese government publicly accused 13 Montagnards who voluntarily returned to Vietnam last October from a Cambodian refugee camp of being spies that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) “trained to create disturbances and then sent back to Vietnam.”

“These kinds of statements show a degree of paranoia that leads to persecution,” said Adams. “Instead of punishing those who flee for safety, the government in Hanoi must begin to deal with the causes of discontent, which are religious repression and widespread confiscation of the agricultural land on which the indigenous minority people depend for their livelihood.”

Meanwhile, Montagnard asylum seekers who crossed the border to Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province right before Christmas remain in dire straits. During the last week truckloads of Cambodian police and gendarmerie have been scouring the forests where the asylum seekers are thought to be hiding.

“It is absolutely imperative that the Cambodian government immediately grants UNHCR access to these people, or turns them over to UNHCR if government security forces apprehend them,” said Adams. “UNHCR and key governments must make it clear in no uncertain terms to the Cambodian government that asylum seekers must not be arrested and summarily returned to Vietnam.”

Cambodia is a party to the United Nations Refugee Convention, which prohibits the return of individuals facing a well-founded fear of persecution on political, religious, or ethnic grounds. Cambodia has an obligation to make individual determinations about the validity of asylum claims. Cambodia is also a party to the Convention Against Torture, which states in article 3 that, "No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."

To read the briefing paper during the embargo period, please see:

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After the embargo expires, please see: http://hrw.org/backgrounder/english/vietnam0105/

For more information, please contact:

In London, Brad Adams: +44-7960-844-996

In New York, Sam Zarifi: +1-212-216-1213

In Washington D.C., Veena Siddharth: +1-202-612-4341

In Brussels, Vanessa Saenen (French, Dutch, German): +32-2-732-2009

In Geneva, Diane Goodman: +41-22-738-0481

Jo-Anne Prud'homme, Asia Division Associate, Human Rights Watch

Vietnam’s Police Minister Promoted To Top Ranking General

Copyright 2005 Toan Viet Limited Co

Vietnam News Briefs

January 10, 2005

Police Minister Le Hong Anh has been promoted to General from Lieutenant General following a decision signed by the State President on January 9.

Anh, who is also a Politburo member, has held the leading position at the Police Ministry since August 2002. He was chosen to replace former Police Minister Le Minh Huong. Before that time, he was head of the Party's Inspectorate.

On the same day, the president also offered the Senior Lieutenant General rank to four Lieutenant Generals of the Police Minister. They are four deputy ministers of the ministry, namely Nguyen Khanh Toan, Nguyen Van Huong, Le The Tiem and Nguyen Van Tinh. The first three are also members of the Central Party Committee.

In late December 2004, 27 police officers were also promoted to the general ranks. Of them, two Major Generals received the Lieutenant General rank, while 25 colonels were promoted to Major General.

The total number of generals in Vietnam was not made available.

(Capital Security Jan 10 p1, Vietnam Panorama)

Vietnam’s Party Chief Discusses Cooperation With Japanese Party Leader

Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring/BBC

BBC Monitoring International Reports

January 9, 2005

Hanoi, 8 January: The Vietnamese Party and government has always attached importance to developing multi-faceted relations with Japan, Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh affirmed.

This is appropriate for the two people's practical benefit, and profitable to peace, stability and development in the region and the world, Manh said while receiving Secretary-General Tsutomu Takebe of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party in Hanoi on Saturday (8 January).

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh spoke highly of the Japanese Government's great efforts to further develop the relations between the two countries and expressed his thanks to Japan for its effective support for and assistance to Vietnam in recent years, including active contributions made by Tsutomu Takebe and MPs of the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentarians' Friendship League. Manh noted with satisfaction the continual development of the relations between the CPV and LDP as well as the two governments, legislatures and people, saying that exchanges of visits between the two countries' leaders have not only contributed to increasing the mutual understanding but also boosting the friendly and cooperative ties between Vietnam and Japan.

LDP General Secretary Tsutomu Takebe and many LDP parliament members of the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentarians' Friendship League have been in Vietnam for a working visit since 7 January. Tsutomu Takebe applauded the great achievements recorded by the Vietnamese people in national renewal and construction over the past 20 years, and noted with satisfaction that Japan-Vietnam relations are witnessing a new stage of fine development.

The same day, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai received General Secretary Tsutomu Takebe and his entourage. Talking to the Prime Minister, Tsutomu Takebe praised Vietnam's achievements in 2004 and affirmed that he would continue striving to further boost the development of the cooperative ties between the two countries in the future.

Earlier, Tran Dinh Hoan, a politburo member, Party Secretariat and President of the Vietnam-Japan Parliamentarians' Friendship League, held a working session with Tsutomu and his entourage. The two sides exchanged views on how to strengthen ties between the two parties and parliaments. They also agreed on the need to increase exchanges in order to boost their cooperation in various fields and exchange experiences for socioeconomic development and international and regional issues of mutual concern with a view of developing Vietnam-Japan ties upon the goal of "trust, stability and long cooperation" was defined by the two countries' leaders.

During the visit, Tsutomu Takebe and other Japanese guests paid a floral tribute to Late President Ho Chi Minh.

Vietnamese Reporter Prosecuted For Publishing Confidential Document

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

January 7, 2005, Friday

A Vietnamese journalist who wrote about a pharmaceutical price fixing scam has been placed under house arrest, local media reported Friday.

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, a reporter with the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, was prosecuted on Thursday for "appropriating, trading and destroying national confident documents", local newspaper Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) reported.

Last May, Anh reported on a document in which the minister of health requested the prime minister to assign the Ministry of Planning and Investment to inspect and examine the activities of Zuelling Pharma Vietnam.

Zuelling Pharma Vietnam, a subsidiary of Zuelling Pharma Singapore, was the monopoly distributor of certain imported medicines to Vietnam between 2001 and September 2004. The company, which held a 26 per cent market share, had increased the price of its medicines by between 12 and 60 per cent each year.

Two other newspapers, Nhan Dan (People) and Lao Dong (Labor), also reported the news on the same day but their reporters were not prosecuted.

Police are also investigating the official with the health ministry who gave Tuoi Tre a copy of the document, a source, who asked not to be named, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Tuoi Tre is one of the leading daily newspapers in Vietnam with the largest circulation. Vietnam has no independent media and freedom of the press is limited.

The newspaper is owned by the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, a socio-political organization under the management of the State and Communist Party.

U.S. Panel Clears Way for Tariffs On Shrimp Imports

Associated Press

January 7, 2005

NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday cleared the way for tariffs to be imposed on shrimp imports from six Asian and South American countries, but the body expressed concern that tariffs could burden tsunami-ravaged countries.

The commission upheld last February's preliminary finding that imports had injured, or were likely to injure, U.S. shrimp processors and fishermen. The panel reaffirmed with a 6-0 vote that frozen shrimp have hurt the U.S. industry, but the group voted 4-2 to scrap tariffs on canned imports, which make up about 0.4% of imports.

The ruling was the last major step before tariffs on imports from Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Vietnam become final.

"Overall, the case is done. The vast majority of the decisions, final. It is a great weight off of the shoulders of shrimpers," said Deborah Long, a spokeswoman for the Southern Shrimp Alliance, an eight-state group of shrimp processors and fishermen that organized the antidumping petition.

She said there are only a few minor questions that still need to be resolved.

While upholding its decision on frozen shrimp, the commission left open the possibility of revoking tariffs on India and Thailand. The commission will review how badly the shrimp industries there have been damaged and decide if the tariffs should be lifted.

"The shrimp industry in these countries is the economic engine, in particular for Thailand. And do you want to place tariffs on one of the most important exports of these countries after they've been hit with this economic devastation?" said Paul Nathanson, a spokesman for a group of importers who oppose the tariffs.

"It is the absolutely worst time to be placing more taxes on the shrimp industry. Together with the tsunami, there are real questions of the viability of the Thai shrimp industry," said Brian Wynn, president and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Rubicon Resources, a major importer of Thai shrimp.

Ms. Long of the Southern Shrimp Alliance disagreed. "While the tsunami has had devastating effects on human life, the shrimp infrastructure is relatively sound and we don't think it will change the legal case before the ITC."

Mr. Wynn said shrimp farms in Thailand were mostly spared but that mangroves and hatcheries where shrimp are bred were seriously damaged. "It will have an immediate price impact."

A preliminary report on the tsunami's damage by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization reported widespread damage to shrimp hatcheries and operations and the loss of thousands of fishing vessels.

The yearlong case was brought by Southern shrimpers, who claimed that imports were being dumped on the U.S. market at unfair prices and driving U.S. shrimpers out of business.

At almost every stage, federal regulators have sided with U.S. shrimpers and found that dumping occurred and that imports had injured, or threatened to injure, the domestic industry.

Duty rates for the six countries range between 2.3% and 112.8%.

Brazil faces duties between 9.6% and 67.8%;

China between 27.8% and 112.8%;

Ecuador between 2.3% and 4.4%;

India between 5% and 13.4%;

Thailand between 5.7% and 6.8%; and

Vietnam between 4.1% and 25.7%.

Dumping occurs when a product is sold in the U.S. at a price below a producer's sales price at home or at a price lower than the cost of production.

From the beginning, shrimp importers and exporters have fought the dumping case, claiming that there was no evidence of dumping and that duties would do little to fix the underlying problems in the domestic industry.

"Ninety percent of all shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported. Families across this country have been able to enjoy shrimp dinners in their homes and at restaurants at record levels. These duties will do nothing to make the domestic shrimpers more competitive," said Wally Stevens, president of the American Seafood Distributors Association.

"What it is going to result in is an increase in price for the American consumer," Mr. Wynn said.

The case pits American fishermen who still catch shrimp in boats and the booming overseas shrimp farms.

American fishermen have struggled with overcapitalization, rising fuel prices and overseas competition. But they argue that massive subsidies to shrimp farms and the blocking of shrimp imports by Japan and the European Union set up unfair conditions.

"When poor quality and antibiotic-laced pond-raised shrimp is rejected by other countries, it's diverted here and unloaded at whatever price they can get," said John Williams, a Tarpon Springs, Fla., shrimp fisherman with the Southern Shrimp Alliance. "The illegal practice of dumping has turned our shrimp towns into ghost towns throughout the Southeast."

Besides the trade action, U.S. shrimpers are embarking on a marketing campaign to brand their shrimp as "American wild caught" and better-tasting than farm-raised foreign shrimp.

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