Mr. Tom Andrews, the UN Human Rights Special Representative for Myanmar, has urged the leaders of the G7 industrial summits to be held in Hiroshima, Japan in mid-May to impose strong sanctions against the Myanmar military.
Mr. Tom Andrews said at a press conference last Friday after his ten-day trip to Japan that Japan, the host chairman of the G7 conference, needs to lead the discussion on the Myanmar issue.
"The Japanese government has an opportunity to make Myanmar matters known to the world at the G7 summit conference to be held in Hiroshima. I urge Japanese Prime Minister Keishida to make good use of this opportunity and participate in the G7 summit as an agent for Myanmar issues. I urge you to unanimously adopt a strong message about Myanmar issues from this conference and take action."
In the war between Russia and Ukraine, he asked the international community, including the G7 summit countries, to stand by Ukraine and help the Burmese people as well.
"I encourage the Japanese government to work together with the G7 countries to impose economic sanctions on the Myanmar military. Sanctions must be imposed on the main sources of income for the Myanmar military. We need to do the same as they did in the Ukraine issue. We need to block the purchase of expensive military weapons such as fighter jets and military helicopters."
He also said that if we can close such money loopholes, we will be able to force the military council that is targeting civilians. Therefore, when the world's leading countries meet, they are calling for strong measures to be taken regarding Burma.
"Burmese people always ask me why the international community does not respond to the issue of Myanmar like Ukraine. Some even point out that Burmese people are dropping bombs similar to the ones that are being dropped on the people of Ukraine. I have no answer to these questions."
During his 10-day visit, Mr. Tom Andrew met with Japanese government officials, In addition to businessmen, representatives of the National Unity Government NUG, He met with Myanmar activists.
He also asked the Japanese Ministry of Defense not to continue providing military training to Burmese military officers.
"Evidences are also coming out that Burmese military officers who attended the courses provided by the Japanese Ministry of Defense are involved in mass killings and air strikes targeting civilians. Therefore, as long as the Japanese Ministry of Defense continues to train these Burmese officers, it must be said that Japan is involved in the brutal actions of the Burmese army."
The current time of the G7 presidency is when the foreign ministers are discussing before the summit in Japan.
While the G7 foreign ministers were there, there were also protests on Myanmar issues in Tokyo, and yesterday, about 100 Myanmar citizens marched and protested.
The protestors shouted that how many more Burmese people would have to die for international action to be taken. During the second week of last April, the protesters gave a message that more than 200 people were killed by the aerial attack on Pazigyi village.
During his visit, Mr. Tom Andrews also focused on the death of Pazi Gyi residents due to the military council's airstrikes and pointed out that attacking civilians is a brutal act.
The Burmese military council is arresting and torturing opposition leaders and at the same time saying that they will hold a fair election, it is impossible. At a time when major parties in Myanmar politics are being dissolved, When journalists are not able to report freely and are being arrested and imprisoned. Mr. Tom Andrews said at the press conference that it is impossible to hold another election in a situation where the military cannot be criticized.
France, known as the G7 United States Great Britain Germany Japan The conference, which will be attended by the leaders of 7 countries, Italy and Canada, will be held from May 19 to 21.
In the welcome speech delivered by Japanese Prime Minister Keishida to this conference, he mainly talked about Ukraine. There is no mention of Burma issues in the region.
Professor Vu Tuong: The Republic of Vietnam only lost militarily, but "won most" other areas
Looking back at 48 years of historical events April 30, 1975, it can be seen that the Republic of Vietnam only lost militarily but "won most" in other fields; and the legacy of the Republic of Vietnam, despite five decades of persecution, has survived and developed, that is the opinion of a scholar specializing in political science studying Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam from the US. .
“Military defeat may have been possible, but it was clear that the Republic of Vietnam had won the North Vietnamese Communists on most other fronts, and that final military defeat though, was only a military defeat only," political researcher, Professor Vu Tuong, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Oregon, USA on this occasion told Radio Free Asia.
“Through the study of culture, politics, economy, society, education, art, etc., we find the question to be asked is why did the Republic of Vietnam win in these respects?
That is to say, in all these respects, the Republic of Vietnam was superior to the communists, and the legacy of the Republic of Vietnam persists to this day and is still growing, despite years of repression, So the question is completely reversed.”
New questions open up new perspectives
According to Professor Vu Tuong, who is also known as the co-editor of many books, research works, and journals on Southeast Asian politics, the Cold War in Asia, Republic of Vietnam (1955-1975) , Vietnamese republicanism, contemporary Vietnamese politics and economy, and the Vietnamese-American community, etc., this is a new way of thinking in the world of Vietnamese researchers and Vietnamese studies in the United States. Currently, he said:
“This new perspective has led to a completely different answer than the old one, because without a new perspective, looking at the old one would just say: 'Oh, obviously the Viet Cong Draw was lost in the match 30/4/1975, leading to loss of country'.
There's no point in looking at it like that, and it turns out that the military defeat is the end, so the question will continue to be 'Oh, lose, but in what way? ?'
And now, we ask the question with a new perspective, not focusing on the military side, but focusing on other aspects, it is clear that the Republic of Vietnam did not lose, but also won. So this question leads to a complete change!”
Regarding these areas of perceived superiority of the Republic of Vietnam over the North Vietnamese Communists, as a historical legacy that is still valid today as well as for the future, Professor Vu Tuong speak:
“Let's talk about it one by one, politically first, the 1967 Constitution is the most liberal and democratic Constitution of Vietnam ever, more than the 1946 Constitution.
And that Constitution is really the result of a very difficult process of struggle, from the anti-colonial period to the First Republic, parties, religious movements, student movements etc. Ngo Dinh Diem's family and regime and then against generals, such as General Nguyen Khanh, General Nguyen Cao Ky, etc., so that the Constitution was created, which left a document. which we need to study to understand more; and that Constitution was actually enforced, not just a few pieces of paper, but it was actually implemented in the years that followed.
And it has a relatively strong vitality, although it ultimately failed with the death of the Republic of Vietnam, but it leaves behind a very important document, so that we can think in the future, if Vietnam wants to move towards democracy, but actually this democracy is not imposed by the West, but this democracy we clearly see is the struggles of the movements and parties that get it, that democracy is real democracy, is the will of the people, not imposed by foreign countries; and in the future, when Vietnam has this, Vietnam can learn from the successes or failures of that Constitution, because that Constitution is not perfect, or perfect at all.
Because any Constitution, like the US Constitution, is the same, it is a document that reflects the political forces and political views of the time it was drafted, so naturally, it is a democratic and natural Constitution. the best in the history of Vietnam, but it also has weak points that we can refer to to correct, etc... that is politically.”
According to Professor Vu Tuong, the author of a book known to many in the research world is 'Paths to Development in Asia: South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Indonesia'. Asia: Korea, Vietnam, China and Indonesia' published by Cambridge Publishing House in 2010), in economic terms the Republic of Vietnam also has many very good economic development policies, he said:
“Although it is no longer very relevant today as Vietnam's economic scale has grown much larger and economic times have changed, there are still valuable economic lessons to be learned. such as private sector management, management of Chinese businesses, land management, etc.
It is still very valuable lessons for Vietnam today, we see in Vietnam today there are conflicts, like the bloody conflict in Dong Tam, that can be avoided, if like better land management, it's about economics and social management."
Looking at some other fields such as education, culture, art, etc., the advantages of the Republic of Vietnam regime according to historian Vu Tuong are obvious, he said:
“Those aspects we see too clearly, and many people have talked about them, is the policy of freedom for writers and artists to be free to compose, especially under the Second Republic, and freely access and import cultural and artistic thought schools from abroad.
Even religion, etc., even trends that the government doesn't like, but are still free to receive and create, thereby promoting the country's literature and art, there are many other aspects. more that can be talked about.”
Regarding an area where the Republic of Vietnam is also said to have achieved a superior level of development compared to the communist regime in the North, it is about democracy under the rule of law and building the state on this foundation, Prof. Vu Tuong says:
“Building the rule of law in the former Republic of Vietnam was a long process, it did not have as clear a result as the 1967 Constitution, but the court system in South Vietnam was relatively independent from the government. authority and the ability to make judgments that are contrary to the government. For example, the case of the government of President Nguyen Van Thieu arresting Mr. Tran Ngoc Chau, for example, which was vetoed by the Supreme Court of the South Republic of Vietnam, etc... Those are examples, although it is not many, because in the war situation, but it shows that there has been a lot of practical experience in building the rule of law state, which was actually called the rule of law at that time, that is, the rule of law over the whole state. "
Mr. Tran Ngoc Chau was Secretary General of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Vietnam from 1968-1969 and was an active critic of President Nguyen Van Thieu, according to an article by the Washington Post in 2020 that said Mr. arrested in 1970 for "activities beneficial to the Communists."
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a military trial, although the Southern Supreme Court later ruled that the trial was unconstitutional and annulled his sentence, Mr. Chau was still in prison four years ago. when released to house arrest.
On this occasion, Professor Vu Tuong also shared with Radio Free Asia about the plan to study the Republic of Vietnam in the study of early and modern Vietnamese studies in the US, where he and his colleagues he is studying and training, he said:
“First, we've just finished releasing some books, so we're still in the promotional phase; second, in terms of research we have some upcoming topics that we continue to work towards such as research on the Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam and its political system, for example research on liberalism. do, which is the translation of the English word 'Liberalism'.
That liberalism in the French era had a little in Vietnam, but it was not until the Second Republic that it flourished and had new views on freedom, especially economic freedom. in culture and freedom in pluralist politics.
These are the ideas that the thinkers and activists of the Republic of Vietnam have imported from the West and they are still in the process of screening when that process ends and is taken over by the communists, and stopped it from growing, but now it's growing again, so that trend toward liberalism is a pretty interesting topic.
There are some other topics, such as economics, the policy of the plowman with the field is a very good and progressive policy that we can refer to, in addition to other policies.
And especially, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, in the near future, in October 2023, we will organize a workshop on '50 years of the Vietnamese American community looking back on history. history and looking to the future'.
This workshop will be quite large, like the one we held in 2019, and it will have about 40-50 key people participating, and the others will not count, they will consist of half of them. activists, leaders in the Vietnamese American community.
We will hold dialogues and present different points of view so that we can give insight into the formation of the Vietnamese American community, the difficulties we have encountered, the difficulties we have faced, and the challenges we faced. future, such as conflicts between generations, the problem of preserving memories and historical heritage.
Because one of the areas that we at the Center for Vietnamese-American Studies at the University of Oregon are targeting is the Vietnamese-American community, and we've just published a book on the subject, based on the book. book and based on our relationship in the community, we hope to have very useful discussions in the community, on which we can write reports and obtain material to make a documentary based on discussions and important issues in the community.”
According to Professor Vu Tuong, this seminar is one of the main seminars that he and his colleagues are about to organize, with the cooperation of the Institute of Peace under the US government with the University of Oregon, in addition to the occasion to mark the relationship. Vietnam - America after 50 years of war, about the upcoming plan that he mentioned, there is also another important conference:
“After that, we also plan to hold a seminar on Vietnam-US relations after 50 years, from April 30, 1975, when the Vietnamese communists became the master of the whole country of Vietnam. then that relationship was very hostile and went through such a hostile process, it became normalized, and to this day it still has a lot of problems that hopefully we can go into and have valuable studies on that topic,” from the United States, Professor Vu Tuong told Radio Free Asia on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the historic event April 30.
Professor Vu Tuong is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Oregon, he has been researching and teaching at this faculty since 2008. He has also been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and the University. National Institute of Singapore, and also teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Professor Vu Tuong's research and teaching concerns the comparative politics of state formation and development, nationalism and revolutions, with a particular focus on East Asia, with a number of interests. such as ideology, communism, and Southeast Asian studies.
Vietnam recorded nearly 3,000 traffic accidents in two days of public holidays
The total number of traffic accidents in two days April 29 and 30 was 2,984, of which 19 died, 43 were in critical condition and 1,437 were hospitalized for treatment and monitoring.
The Medical Examination and Treatment Administration under the Ministry of Health informed the above information on April 30.
According to the Department, it is worth noting that the accident happened on April 29 in Lao Cai. The Department of Health of this province said that there was a passenger car accident at Km 183 of Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway. The accident killed the driver and injured 17 people, including nine foreigners.
Also on April 30, the Ministry of Health of Vietnam said that 1,039 patients were examined for COVID-19, of which 559 were hospitalized for inpatient treatment.
There were three deaths from COVID-19 on April 29 and 30. Currently, the number of severe and critical COVID-19 patients being treated at hospitals as of 7 am on April 30 is 76.
Previously, the Ministry of Health had written to request medical facilities to strengthen the work of collection, emergency treatment and disease prevention during the holidays of April 30 and May 1.
Specifically, the Ministry of Health suggested that medical facilities ensure a 24-hour hotline standing ready to direct, coordinate, provide aid and rescue in case of need. At the same time, daily report on medical examination and treatment, traffic accident emergency and COVID-19 according to the guidance of the Ministry of Health.
In particular, in the case of developments such as an outbreak of COVID-19 and dangerous diseases, disaster emergency, mass accidents, food poisoning and other special cases, it is recommended that the unit notify report urgently to the direct management agency for timely settlement.
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