Vietnam Protests: Week 2

Protesters march in Vietnam May 8, 2016
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Citizens in Vietnam are protesting in Saigon, Hanoi and other cities for the second Sunday over a marine environmental disaster in the central provinces. Scuffles again broke out with police according to reports on Twitter and other social media sites. Dozens of people have been detained after a sit in in Hanoi. Protests last Sunday May 1 drew thousands of people across the country who were angered after a massive fish-kill covering hundreds of kilometers of coastline, which citizens blame

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China Warship Docks in the Spratly Islands

Regional 
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China is continuing to assert its dominant position in the South China Sea. Today the Chinese military announced that the Chinese naval ship Kunlun Shan had docked on Fiery Cross Reef (Yongsha Island) for Labor Day celebrations. According to press announcements, the purpose of the mission was to transport a troupe of 50 entertainers to the islands to cheer up the troops and workers stationed on the isolated archipelago, but analysts will read a lot more into the visit. The

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Mass Protests in Vietnam as Citizens Choose Fish over Steel

protesters hold banners condemning Formosa Plastics Group
Environment 
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Thousands of people have gathered in various locations throughout Vietnam to protest pollution that is believed responsible for the death of fish and other marine life over a stretch of coastline spanning more than 200 kilometers. Protesters held up signs that read “We love fish” and “We need clean oceans”. Up to 5000 gathered in Hanoi according to one report, but the number has been disputed, and around 2000 in Saigon, while smaller groups held protests at the Formosa steel

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Vietnam Activists Call for Protests over Fishkill: Obama Petitioned

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan speaks during a press briefing over an environmental crisis concerning mass fish deaths in central Vietnam on April 27, 2016.
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 4 Comments , , ,

Environmental and social activists in Vietnam are calling for protests May 1 after a massive fish-kill, and the government’s failure to act against industrial giant Formosa Plastics Group. While the Vietnam government claimed Wednesday that they have no proof the environmental disaster was linked to the Formosa Group’s steel mill in Ha Tinh Province, they have called for the company to dig up an illegal pipeline that citizens believe discharged toxic chemicals into the ocean. The government has also sent

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Asylum Seeker Escapes China in Tiny Toy Inflatable Boat

A man and a patrolman pack up an inflatable toy boat used to cross from China to Taiwan
Stupid Stuff 
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A man from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province was caught by patrolmen on Little Jinmen Island in the early hours April 28, after rowing a toy inflatable boat from Xiamen in the middle of the night. The patrolmen spotted the man in the tiny boat about 50 meters from the shore at around 5.15 a.m. When he landed, they arrested the man and took him in for questioning. Mr. Qian, a 43 year old man from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, claimed

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Pingtung Wandan Mud Volcano Erupts

mud flowing from holes in a rice paddy in Pingtung Wandun township
Environment 
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A mud volcano erupted in Pingtung County this morning. Around 9 a.m. this morning mud began flowing from 5 holes that appeared in rice paddies about 50 meters west of Huang Yuan Holy Temple in Wandan township. A farmer discovered the mudflow in his rice field this morning. The area is the site of periodic eruptions, but the exact site of the eruptions varies from year to year. From 2013 until last year, the periodic eruptions occurred further east at

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Taiwan Company Under Fire for Fish Kill in Vietnam

A Vietnamese villager shows dead fish washed up on the beach
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

officials could not have anticipated the unprecedented scale of the disaster. ~deputy prime minister, Trinh Dinh Dung A Taiwanese-owned steel mill in Vietnam’s Ha Tinh Province is being blamed for a marine ecological disaster after tonnes of dead fish washed up near a waste-water pipeline that extends 1.5 kilometers into the sea. Vietnam’s normally staid state-media is on the attack (The Nation). Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corporation (Bloomberg). According to media reports

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China Wants Floating Nuclear Power Plants in the South China Sea

An artists impression of a floating nuclear power station
Regional 
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China’s Global Times reported Friday that state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation has plans to build a fleet of floating nuclear power stations to support maritime operations, including those in the South China Sea, where China has built up a series of artificial islands. In January, Xu Dazhe, the director of the China Atomic Energy Authority, told reporters that China was planning to develop floating nuclear energy plants. Xu said that developing nuclear power-generating capacity was part of the country’s five-year

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The Sacred Ibis Runs Rampant in Taiwan

Sacred Ibis grazing in Taiwan
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments ,

The African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus), a bird revered in ancient Egypt, and associated with the god Thoth, is posing an environmental threat in Taiwan. Members of the species escaped from a zoo 20 years ago and now number an estimated 1000 individuals, of whom around 500 inhabit a wetland in Changhua County. A group dedicated to the conservation of wild birds in Taiwan will join local farmers to help reduce numbers of the invasive species starting in May 2016.

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The Presidential Private Parts Controversy

Ma Ying-jeou warming up for a race at National Tsing-hua University in Taiwan
Media Issues Politics 
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A controversy erupted yesterday, Saturday April 23, when a picture was uploaded to Facebook which allegedly showed out-going President Ma Ying-jeou with his private parts exposed while he was warming up for a road race. The story of the compromising photograph being disseminated on the Internet led President-elect Tsai Ing-wen to issue a statement on her own Facebook page exhorting the media and individuals not to report on or show the picture, as it compromised the dignity of the office

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