Thứ Sáu, 26 tháng 6, 2020

Interspace Communication Vietnam (Reuters) Britain set to ban Huawei from 5G (Reuters) Nokia wins Taiwan Mobile 5G contract worth $450 million. (BBC) Bộ Công an VN quyết 'truy bắt bằng được' ông chủ Nhật Cường. (BBC) Ngân hàng Thế giới cấm vận công ty công nghệ Việt Nam vì gian lận. (BBC) 'Không chỉ Nhật Cường cung cấp dịch vụ cho Hà Nội'

Interspace Communication Vietnam

------

World

Britain set to ban Huawei from 5G

An about-turn that will likely see Britain on the wrong side of Beijing: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to make a landmark decision to ban Huawei from Britain's 5G network. The move will win plaudits from President Trump as the U.S. grapples with China's rising technological clout. It pushed Johnson to reverse his January decision to grant Huawei a limited role in 5G. And comes amid tensions over the crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception that China did not tell the whole truth over coronavirus. Britain's National Security Council, chaired by Johnson, will meet on Tuesday (July 14) to discuss the Huawei issue. The immediate reason given for the change in British policy is the impact of new U.S. sanctions on Huawei chip technology. London says they affect the firm's ability to remain a reliable supplier in the future. It's unclear how far Johnson will go on Tuesday. Operators already had to cap Huawei's role in 5G at 35% by 2023. Reducing it to zero over an additional two to fours years is now being discussed. But some telecoms firms have warned that going too fast could delay key technology and disrupt services. The U.S. says Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is an agent of the Chinese Communist State and cannot be trusted. Huawei denies all such allegations. Last week China's ambassador to London warned that Britain would face consequences if it shunned the company.
----

Business

Nokia wins Taiwan Mobile 5G contract worth $450 million

By Supantha Mukherjee

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nokia-wins-taiwan-mobile-5g-071059599.html

(Reuters) - Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia Oyj said on Monday it has won a 5G contract worth about 400 million euros ($449.48 million) from Taiwan Mobile to build out the telecom operator's next-generation network as the sole supplier.

A supplier to Taiwan Mobile's earlier networks, Nokia will prepare for the deployment this month and complete the migration to 5G standalone within a three-year period.

Nokia, along with Nordic rival Ericsson, has picked up most of the 5G contracts in Taiwan.

While Nokia also won 5G contracts from Taiwan Star and Chunghwa Telecom, Ericsson picked up the deal with Far Eas Tone and a part of the contract from Chunghwa.

To offset hurdles faced last year, the Finnish telecom operator has been scripting a turnaround by diversifying its chipset supply and grabbing 5G deals. Earlier this month, Nokia picked up 5G contracts from Canada's Bell Canada and Telus Corp, along with an order from a Singapore telecom operator.

However, Nokia did not win any 5G radio contracts from Chinese telecom companies - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - in recent bidding rounds, excluding a part of China Unicom's 5G core network contract.

Huawei, ZTE and Ericsson got all the 5G radio contracts from the three top vendors in China.

($1 = 0.8899 euros)

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

-------


Bộ Công an VN quyết 'truy bắt bằng được' ông chủ Nhật Cường


26 tháng 6 2020

Cảnh sát tiến hành khám sát một trong các cửa hàng của hãng
ảnh sát tiến hành khám xét một trong các cửa hàng của hãng Nhật Cường.
Liên quan đến vụ Nhật Cường Mobile, Trung tướng Lương Tam Quang, thứ trưởng Bộ Công an khẳng định truy bắt bằng được ông chủ Bùi Quang Huy đang bỏ trốn.
Tại cuộc họp báo 6 tháng đầu năm của Bộ Công an vào chiều 25/6, lãnh đạo bộ này đã cho biết tiến độ điều tra nhiều vụ án được dư luận quan tâm, trong đó có đại án Nhật Cường Mobile. Trong vụ án này, ông Bùi Quang Huy, Tổng giám đốc Công ty Nhật Cường, bị khởi tố về 4 tội danh: buôn lậu, trốn thuế, rửa tiền và vi phạm quy định về đấu thầu, gây hậu quả nghiêm trọng.
Báo Tuổi Trẻ dẫn lời trung tướng Lương Tam Quang cho biết Bộ Công an đã nhiều lần kêu gọi ông Bùi Quang Huy đầu thú để hưởng sự khoan hồng.
"Hiện nay chúng tôi đang áp dụng tất cả các biện pháp tiến hành truy bắt bằng được Bùi Quang Huy về xử lý trước pháp luật", ông Quang nhấn mạnh.
Liên quan đến một số nội dung khác của vụ án, ông Quang cho biết hiện cơ quan điều tra đang tiến hành mở rộng, thu thập các tài liệu, nếu có căn cứ thì sẽ xử lý.
"Đây là vụ án rất nghiêm trọng được Ban Chỉ đạo Trung ương về phòng, chống tham nhũng theo dõi, chỉ đạo. Cơ quan Cảnh sát điều tra Bộ Công an đang tiến hành điều tra mở rộng nếu có căn cứ xác định có vi phạm pháp luật thì sẽ khởi tố vụ án hoặc khởi tố bổ sung", ông Quang khẳng định.
Báo Người Lao Động đưa tin, bên hành lang Quốc hội chiều 26/5/2020, Bộ trưởng Bộ Công an, Đại tướng Tô Lâm nói về việc Bùi Quang Huy bỏ trốn, ông đã khẳng định: "Bằng mọi biện pháp, cách gì có thể làm được thì đều làm để bắt được". Tuy nhiên, Bộ trưởng cho rằng: "Đây là đối tượng chính để điều tra song việc này không ảnh hưởng nhiều đến kết quả công tác điều tra".
Đáng chú ý, sau khi ông chủ Nhật Cường Mobile bị khởi tố và truy nã, hàng loạt quan chức, cựu quan chức của Hà Nội cũng bị bắt giam. Theo báo Thanh Niên, Cơ quan CSĐT Bộ Công an (C03) đã khởi tố bị can, bắt tạm giam ông Nguyễn Văn Tứ, Chánh văn phòng Thành ủy Hà Nội; bà Phạm Thị Thu Hường, Chánh văn phòng Sở Kế hoạch - Đầu tư thành phố Hà Nội; Nguyễn Tiến Học, nguyên Phó giám đốc Sở Kế hoạch - Đầu tư thành phố Hà Nội; Phạm Thị Kim Tuyến, Trưởng phòng Đăng ký kinh doanh Sở Kế hoạch - Đầu tư thành phố Hà Nội; và Lê Duy Tuấn, Giám đốc kinh doanh Công ty TNHH đầu tư và phát triển Đông Kinh, cùng về tội vi phạm quy định về đấu thầu gây hậu quả nghiêm trọng.
Thông báo truy nã ông Bùi Quang Huy trên website Bộ Công an.
Trước đó, tháng 5/2019, (C03) đã đồng loạt khám xét chuỗi cửa hàng của thương hiệu bán lẻ Nhật Cường Mobile. Đây cũng là mốc thời gian đánh dấu sự bắt đầu cho hàng loạt động thái tố tụng tiếp theo trong vụ án được coi là lớn nhất tại Hà Nội trong thời gian gần đây. Khi xác định Bùi Quang Huy bỏ trốn (trốn vào ngày chuỗi cửa hàng Nhật Cường Mobile bị khám xét), C03 đã phát lệnh truy nã toàn quốc và truy nã quốc tế đối với đối tượng Huy.
Được biết, ông Bùi Quang Huy khá nổi tiếng tại thành phố Hà Nội, vì sở hữu Nhật Cường Mobile và Công ty TNHH Giải pháp phần mềm Nhật Cường (Nhật Cường Software).
Theo truyền thông Việt Nam, Nhật Cường Software đã trúng thầu một loạt dự án công trực tuyến của thành phố Hà Nội từ khi thành lập năm 2016. Công ty này đã thực hiện các dự án công nghệ lớn cho Hà Nội gồm Cơ sở dữ liệu dân cư, phần mềm Lưu trú trực tuyến, phần mềm Hộ chiếu Online, và giải pháp Dịch vụ công trực tuyến liên thông 3 cấp.
-----

Ngân hàng Thế giới cấm vận công ty công nghệ Việt Nam vì gian lận

25 tháng 6 2020

https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/vietnam-53175331

Công ty Công nghệ Sao Bắc Đẩu của Việt Nam vừa bị Ngân hàng Thế giới trừng phạt vì liên quan đến lừa đảo và gian lận.

Ngân hàng Thế giới (WB) hôm 24/6 công bố cấm vận 7 năm Công ty Công nghệ Sao Bắc Đẩu (SBD) có trụ sở tại Việt Nam, liên quan đến các hoạt động lừa đảo và gian lận trong Dự án Phát triển giao thông đô thị Hà Nội và Dự án Phát triển bền vững thành phố Đà Nẵng.

WB, trong thông cáo được công bố trên website, nêu rõ: "Việc cấm vận sẽ khiến SBD không đủ điều kiện tham gia vào các dự án hoặc hoạt động do các tổ chức thuộc Nhóm Ngân hàng Thế giới tài trợ. Đây là một phần của các thỏa thuận giải quyết, theo đó SBD thừa nhận trách nhiệm đối với những hành vi vi phạm và phải đáp ứng các yêu cầu cụ thể mới đủ điều kiện thoát khỏi cấm vận".

Dự án Phát triển bền vững thành phố Đà Nẵng được thiết kế để mở rộng sự tiếp cận của cư dân thành phố với hệ thống thoát nước và xử lý nước thải, mạng lưới đường bộ và giao thông công cộng quan trọng tại các khu vực được chọn trên địa bàn thành phố.

Hồ sơ chính thức được công bố trên website của WB cho thấy dự án này có tổng kinh phí 272,20 triệu USD, được duyệt vào tháng 4/2013 và sẽ kết thúc vào tháng 6/2021.

Vũ 'nhôm' cùng hai cựu lãnh đạo Đà Nẵng ra tòa

Ngân hàng Thế giới khen kinh tế Việt Nam

Dự án Phát triển giao thông đô thị Hà Nội được thiết kế để tăng tính lưu động đô thị tại các khu vực được nhắm đến ở Hà Nội bằng cách thúc đẩy việc sử dụng giao thông công cộng và giảm thời gian đi lại giữa trung tâm thành phố và phía tây và tây bắc của thành phố. Dự án nhằm thúc đẩy hơn nữa các phương thức giao thông bền vững, thân thiện với môi trường và sự phát triển đô thị lâu bền cho Hà Nội, WB cho biết.

Dự án được duyệt năm 2007 và kết thúc vào tháng 12/2016 với kinh phí 294,89 triệu USD.

Thông cáo của WB cho hay theo các chứng cứ tìm được, nhân viên SBD đã gây ảnh hưởng không đúng đắn đến các quy trình đấu thầu của hai dự án; bao gồm tài liệu giả mạo trong hồ sơ dự thầu; và không cung cấp thông tin chính xác về sự tham dự trong giai đoạn tiền kỳ của hai dự án. Đây là những hoạt động được coi là thông đồng và gian lận.

VN: Tham nhũng giảm nhờ CT Nguyễn Phú Trọng?

Nhìn lại kinh tế Việt Nam 2016-2020: Góc nhìn chuyên gia Nhật Bản

Thỏa thuận giải quyết có điều khoản giảm thời hạn cấm vận dựa trên những điều kiện như sự hợp tác và hành động khắc phục tự nguyện của SBD.

WB khẳng định việc cấm vận SBD thỏa điều kiện thực hiện cấm vận chéo bởi các ngân hàng phát triển đa phương khác theo Thỏa thuận Thi hành các Quyết định Tranh chấp được ký kết vào ngày 9/4/2010.

Sao Bắc Đẩu (Sao Bac Dau Technologies Corporation) là công ty chuyên về cung cấp hạ tầng công nghệ thông tin và viễn thông có trụ sở tại TP HCM, có nhiều khách hàng là các cơ quan chính phủ quan trọng như Bộ Quốc phòng, Bộ Công an, Bộ Ngoại giao… Theo thông tin tự giới thiệu, công ty đã có 24 năm hoạt động, từng nhận Huân chương Lao động hạng 2 và doanh thu dự kiến đến năm 2022 là 2.500 tỉ đồng.

-----

'Không chỉ Nhật Cường cung cấp dịch vụ cho Hà Nội'

30 tháng 5 2019

Ông Nguyễn Ngọc Kỳ, Giám đốc Sở Thông tin - truyền thông Hà Nội, được truyền thông dẫn lời nói "tại điểm hiện tại có 63 đơn vị đang cung cấp dịch vụ phần mềm cho Hà Nội. và rằng có 135 dịch vụ khác nhau của UBND TP, các sở, ngành..."

Giải thích này là động thái dường như để làm rõ hơn sau khi một số báo trong nước nói, khi Nhật Cường bị khám xét, rằng Nhật Cường "được chỉ định thầu hàng loạt dự án công trực tuyến" cho nhiều cơ quan của chính quyền Hà Nội.

Thông điệp này được ông Kỳ đưa ra hôm 30/05 trong một phiên họp của UBND TP Hà Nội và ông nói thêm hệ thống phần mềm do Nhật Cường Software cung ứng thì Hà Nội "vẫn duy trì hoạt động".

"Ông Kỳ cho hay tổng kinh phí mà UBND TP Hà Nội phải trả cho Nhật Cường 3 năm qua hơn 7,2 tỉ, chỉ bằng 0,49% tổng số chi ngân sách cho công nghệ thông tin của thành phố Hà Nội.

"Ngoài ra, Nhật Cường cũng đã thực hiện 7 gói thầu mua sắm với kinh phí trên 12 tỉ đồng, bằng khoảng 1,23% kinh phí mua sắm, sửa chữa trang thiết bị công nghệ thông tin của TP Hà Nội," báo Tuổi Trẻ đưa tin.

Chủ tịch Trọng và một Việt Nam đầy ắp câu hỏi

Tăng giá điện và cáo buộc 'đối tượng xấu lợi dụng'

Đảng muốn xử các đại án 'đúng tiến độ'

Công an khám xét Công ty Nhật Cường

Bí thư Thành ủy Hà Nội Hoàng Trung Hải
Bí thư Thành ủy Hà Nội Hoàng Trung Hải

Dư luận quan tâm

Chương trình mục tiêu ứng dụng công nghệ thông tin trong cơ quan nhà nước ở Hà Nội được mô tả là chuyển từ đầu tư trực tiếp sang thuê dịch vụ, gồm dịch vụ thuê máy chủ và các dịch vụ khác như đường truyền được các đơn vị Viettel, VNPT, FPT, CMC và cả MobiFone cung cấp.

Mối quan tâm của dư luận về công ty Nhật Cường được nêu ra trên truyền thông sau khi có việc khám xét các cơ sở của doanh nghiệp này.

Một đại biểu quốc hội cũng đã đặt câu hỏi liệu có 'lợi ích nhóm' trong vụ Nhật Cường hay không trong khi Bí thư Thành ủy Hà Nội Hoàng Trung Hải nói "tôi được báo cáo hoạt động bình thường của thành phố không bị ảnh hưởng".

Ông Hải nói thêm "thực tế có nhiều đơn vị cung cấp dịch vụ cho thành phố chứ không chỉ mình Nhật Cường".

Bộ Công an hôm 19/5 phát lệnh truy nã ông Bùi Quang Huy, Tổng giám đốc Công ty TNHH Thương mại và Dịch vụ kỹ thuật Nhật Cường (Nhật Cường Mobile).

Lệnh truy nã được đưa ra năm ngày sau khi bộ này khởi tố bị can, ra lệnh bắt tạm giam, lệnh khám xét đối với ông Huy và tám người khác vì tội "Buôn lậu và tội Vi phạm quy định về kế toán gây hậu quả nghiêm trọng".

Truyền thông nhà nước dẫn lời Bộ Công an nói bị can này đã "bỏ trốn từ ngày 9/5".

Cho tới nay Chủ tịch UBND Thành phố Hà Nội Nguyễn Đức Chung chưa bình luận gì về vụ việc Nhật Cường.

Thứ Năm, 25 tháng 6, 2020

COMMUNIST VIETNAM INTERNATIONAL CRIME. The Case of Dong Tam (RFA) Vietnam Indicts 25 Dong Tam Protesters on Murder-Related Charges. (RFA) Vietnam Arrests Four For Sharing Info on Dong Tam Police Raid

COMMUNIST VIETNAM INTERNATIONAL CRIME

SRVN The Case of Dong Tam

----

World

Vietnam sentences brothers to death after violent land clash

Twenty-seven others were handed varying sentences, from a 15-month suspended sentence to life in prison
Twenty-seven others were handed varying sentences, from a 15-month suspended sentence to life in prison

A Vietnam court sentenced two brothers to death Monday after a long-running land dispute spiralled into rare violence which left three police officers and a villager dead.

Residents of Dong Tam commune in a Hanoi suburb have for years clashed with authorities, accusing the military of illegally seizing their farmland for an airport.

In January officials attempted to erect a perimeter fence, but were met with villagers armed with "grenades, petrol bombs and knives", according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The clash left three police officers and an elderly resident, Le Dinh Kinh, dead.

Villagers have a different account of the incident, accusing authorities of attacking Kinh in his sleep. He was believed to be the leader of the farmers' resistance.

Kinh's two sons -- Le Dinh Chuc, 40, and Le Dinh Cong, 56 -- were among dozens arrested in the aftermath of the violence.

The Hanoi court sentenced the brothers "to death for murder" of the three police officers, according to state media.

Twenty-seven others were handed varying sentences, from a 15-month suspended sentence to life in prison.

Defence lawyer Le Luan called the trial "unfair", and said the defence team had proposed it be postponed pending further investigation into the incident.

"We do not agree with the verdict given by the court today; we don't even agree with the trial itself," he told AFP.

Human Rights Watch decried the "heavy sentences" coming after a "rushed" trial, which started last week.

"This trial was plagued by serious procedural concerns that clearly undermined any possibility of fair process," said HRW's Phil Robertson.

It is difficult to verify the authorities' version of events, as the communist country strictly controls all media and information dissemination.

Land disputes are common in Vietnam, where powerful individuals and companies often make claims on property.

Freedom of expression is restricted, as is the right to protest, but flashpoints occur.

In 2017, the Dong Tam villagers held more than a dozen police officers and officials hostage for several days at the airport site in a standoff that gripped the tightly-controlled country.

bur/dhc/rma

World

Vietnam court sentences 2 to death over land dispute clash

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A Vietnamese court on Monday sentenced two villagers to death in the killings of three policemen during a clash over a land dispute, state media reported. Twenty-seven other villagers received sentences of up to life imprisonment.

The newspaper Vietnam News said half brothers Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc received the death sentences for their roles in burning the three policemen to death in the village in a suburb of Hanoi in January.

The 84-year-old father of the two men, village elder Le Dinh Kinh, was fatally shot during the violence, it said.

The newspaper said four other defendants were also charged with murder. Of them, Cong’s son, Le Dinh Doanh, was sentenced to life imprisonment while three others were given jail terms ranging from 12 to 16 years, Vietnam News said.

The defendants were accused of killing the three policemen using grenades, firebombs and spears as the authorities advanced on the village in Dong Tam commune. The police were trying to stop the villagers from blocking the building of a wall around a military airport on land they said belonged to the village.

The newspaper quoted the judge as saying in the verdict that the assailants carried out the murders in a brutal way and used methods for mass killing.

The 23 other defendants were accused of “opposing those who are on public duties" and received sentences ranging from 15 months to six years, the newspaper said.

Land disputes are common in Vietnam because the government does not recognize private land ownership. Land can be taken for infrastructure and investment projects, and disagreements over compensation often lead to prolonged disputes.

“The heavy sentences against the Dong Tam defendants, including the death sentence against two persons, come as no surprise,” said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“Vietnam’s rulers are bending over backwards to show their toughest possible face against the Dong Tam villagers because they worry this community’s defiance could be contagious unless the defendants are hit with the most severe penalties,” Robertson said.

World

Dong Tam case: Two sentenced to death in Vietnam over police killings

A court in Vietnam has sentenced two brothers to death for their role in the killing of three policemen in a notorious land dispute in January.

The other 27 people on trial were given sentences ranging from life imprisonment to 15 months suspended.

Le Dinh Cong and his younger brother Le Dinh Chuc helped mastermind resistance against the police, the court ruled.

Their father, retired local official Le Dinh Kinh, 84, was shot dead by police who had entered Dong Tam village.

The authorities had been trying to secure construction of a fence around land officials were trying to seize next to an airfield.

The raid and the unexplained circumstances around the death of the popular local leader caused huge public controversy. Land disputes are common in Vietnam, but rarely escalate into such conflict.

The two death sentences and long prison terms have been interpreted by many as a warning by the government against resisting seizures of private land, said Tina Thanh-Ha Vu of the BBC's Vietnamese service.

One defendant, Le Dinh Doanh, received a life sentence, several received sentences of between 12 and 15 years, and others lesser prison terms.

The defence counsel protested that the time allotted to them in court to make their case had been significantly shortened.

What happened in Dong Tam?

Police arrived in the village in January to help secure land seized by the defence ministry around the Mieu Mon airport, close to Dong Tam, as the army built a boundary fence.

The land was already subject to a dispute with villagers, who said they had not been properly recompensed for its seizure.

According to authorities, a group of residents led by Le Dinh Kinh violently resisted the police, and three officers - Col Nguyen Huy Thinh, Cpt Pham Cong Huy and Lt Duong Duc Hoang Quan - were set on fire and burned to death.

 

The Case of Murder at Dong Tam Village

-----

Vietnam Indicts 25 Dong Tam Protesters on Murder-Related Charges

Village leader Le Dinh Kinh's body is shown (L) bearing bruises next to a photo of Hanoi police deployed at Dong Tam commune on Jan. 9, 2020.
Village leader Le Dinh Kinh's body is shown (L) bearing bruises next to a photo of Hanoi police deployed at Dong Tam commune on Jan. 9, 2020.


Authorities in Vietnam indicted 25 people on murder-related charges for their involvement in a deadly clash over land rights that left three police officers and a protest leader dead, in January at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi.

Dong Tam village elder Le Dinh Kinh, 84, was shot and killed by police during the Jan. 9 raid on the village by 3,000 security officers intervening in a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of the capital.

The Hanoi People’s Procuracy on Thursday released the indictments after a 20-day investigation, according to state media, accusing the slain man’s son Le Dinh Chuc, and grandsons Le Dinh Doanh and Le Dinh Uy of murder, with 22 more charged as being accomplices to murder.

In addition to Le Dinh Kinh, three police officers died in the police raid at Dong Tam in January.

If convicted they could face a minimum of 12 years or be given the death penalty.

Four others from the village were accused of obstructing officers in the performance of their duty, a charge which carries a jail sentence of between two and seven years.

Police said that the trial will begin soon due to the importance of the case.

Though official reports said that villagers had assaulted police with grenades and petrol bombs in the early morning raid, a report drawn from witness accounts and released seven days later by journalists and activists said that police had attacked first during the deadly clash.

Police blocked off pathways and alleys during the attack and beat villagers “indiscriminately, including women and old people,” the report said, calling the assault “possibly the bloodiest land dispute in Vietnam in the last ten years.”

In an earlier flare up of the dispute that goes back to 1980, farmers detained 38 police officers and local officials during a weeklong standoff in April 2017.

In July 2017, the Hanoi Inspectorate announced that after conducting a “comprehensive inspection,” it had determined that the site belongs to the military.

The inspectorate rejected the farmer’s claims that 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland was seized for the military-run Viettel Group—the country’s largest mobile phone operator—without adequately compensating them.

It acknowledged that the military had “made several mistakes in management” of the land, including allowing area residents to use it after a rental contract expired in 2012 and failing to relocate certain households before 1980, leading to illegal encroachment and construction.

While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation.

Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

----
RFA

Vietnam Arrests Four For Sharing Info on Dong Tam Police Raid

A gate at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi is shown in an April 21, 2017 photo.
A gate at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi is shown in an April 21, 2017 photo.
Reuters
Vietnamese authorities arrested four people Wednesday for alerting foreign diplomats about a deadly clash between police and land rights protesters in January at the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi, police and relatives of the detainees said.
The four had been outspoken in social media postings about the Dong Tam clash, in which three police officers and a village leader died in a raid on protesters in a bitter land dispute, and had openly offered information to embassies and other foreign figures to try to raise awareness of the incident.
Their arrests bring to a dozen the number of Vietnamese taken in for posts on Facebook, in what rights groups say is part of an intensifying crackdown on human rights activists and dissidents six months before the Communist Party of Vietnam’s next five-yearly party congress
Activist Can Thi Theu, her sons Trinh Ba Phuong and Trinh Ba Tu, and land rights petitioner Nguyen Thi Tam were charged with “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” in violation of Article 117 of the penal code.
Trinh Thi Thao, daughter of Can Thi Theu and sister of the Trinh brothers, told RFA’s Vietnamese Service how police took in her mother and brother Ba Phuong at their home in Duong Noi ward, Ha Dong district, Hanoi.
“They read the search warrant and accused my brother of spreading information against the state,” she said.
The Jan. 9 raid on Dong Tam protesters, involving 3,000 security officers, was the latest flare-up of a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of Hanoi.
Wednesday’s arrests occurred about almost week after Hanoi Police concluded their investigation about the clash, with a finding accusing 29 citizens of murder and obstructing on-duty police officers.
In a video made and posted on Facebook in apparent anticipation of his arrest, Trinh Ba Phuong showed the police attempting to drag away two women who were standing in front of his house, while an officer in the uniform of a firefighter used pliers to break into the house.
“Everybody, if I am arrested, do not worry about me,” he said, adding that was in good health and had no thoughts of suicide -- a statement issued to thwart official deception should he die while in custody.
“If they arrest me today it means they are arresting me because of Dong Tam. I hope the international community and all foreign organizations are taking notice of the Dong Tam incident,” Trinh Ba Phuong said.
“There are 29 people in Dong Tam commune facing harsh sentences.”
“I tried to send out truthful information, accurate images and photos to the Vietnamese public and the international community, but they consider everything I have done to be an attempt to affect the investigating organizations and the political system,” he added.
An officer at the Duong Noi ward police station confirmed the arrests of Can and Trinh, but directed further questions to the Hanoi police hotline. The Hanoi police told RFA to contact the Ha Dong district police, but RFA was unable to connect with the district station.
Ba Tu, the older Trinh brother, was arrested in nearby Hoa Binh province, where police first detained his father, Trinh Ba Khiem from his home near, Ba Tu’s.
“Early this morning, police came to my home before I was even up,” he told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
“They broke down my door and forced their way in and restrained me. They searched the house and collected come documents, then took me to Ba Tu’s house,” he said.
“The police entered his house and restrained him while they searched the place. I didn’t hear anything about any arrest warrant,” he added.
The family has had several run-ins with the authorities over the past few years.
In September 2014, the husband and wife were sentenced by Hanoi police to 15 months in jail for “disturbing public order,” for joining in land enforcement protests.
In 2016, Can was arrested again when she participated in a protest in Dong Da district. She was sentenced by the court to 20 months in jail for again “disturbing public order.”
Others arrested on article 117
Also on Wednesday, two activists in the southern part of the country were arrested for violating Article 117.
Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy of Khanh Hoa province had live-streamed herself and others burning Vietnamese flags and a portrait of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
Vu Tien Chi of Lam Dong province had created several Facebook accounts and used them to share stories deemed to be slander against the state and party leaders.
John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrests for social media posts are part of a wide and heavy-handed campaign to suppress dissent to make the Communist Party of Vietnam’s 13th party congress scheduled for January 2021 appear to run smoothly.
“Vietnam has basically made it a crime to use the internet or social media platforms to voice opinions or engage in debate,” Sifton said in a statement on June 19.
The 88 Project, an Illinois-based NGO that tracks Vietnamese political prisoners, this week reported that in 2019 an increasing number of people were arrested under article 117.
“Many of those charged with this crime had no history of activism and
were solely targeted for their peaceful expression online. Forty percent of the people arrested in 2019 were online commentators,” the NGO said.
Vietnam, with a population of 92 million people, of which 55 million are estimated to be users of Facebook, has been consistently rated “not free” in the areas of internet and press freedom by Freedom House, a U.S.-based watchdog group.
Dissent is not tolerated in the communist nation, and authorities routinely use a set of vague provisions in the penal code to detain dozens of writers and bloggers.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

INTERSPACE COMMUNICATION June 25, 2020. (Reuters) UK's Supreme Court dismisses Huawei and ZTE patent appeals. (The Telegraph) Huawei's role in Britain's 5G network at risk after US sanctions, minister says. (National Review) FCC Bans Funding to Huawei, ZTE over China Ties. (AFP) Huawei controversy opens field for 5G challengers. (Bloomberg) Huawei Loses Main Singapore 5G Networks to Ericsson, Nokia

INTERSPACE COMMUNICATION June 25, 2020
Tiemline Links: June 25, 2020
Timeline Links: June 8, 2020
Timeline Links: May 26, 2020
---

UK's Supreme Court dismisses Huawei and ZTE patent appeals

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Kingdom's Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously dismissed appeals by China's Huawei [HWT.UL] and ZTE in patent disputes over mobile data technology with Unwired Planet International and Conversant Wireless.

The first appeal concerned an action brought by Unwired against Huawei for the infringement of five UK patents, which Unwired had acquired from Ericsson and were said to be essential in mobile telecoms.

An English court had previously ruled that two of the patents were valid and essential, and in a subsequent trial found Unwired's licence terms were justified and enforceable.

The second appeal concerned action brought by Conversant against Huawei and ZTE for infringing four of its UK patents, which had been acquired from Nokia and related to LTE standards used by 4G handsets to download and send data.

Huawei and ZTE argued that the English Courts did not have jurisdiction to determine the validity of foreign patents.

But the trial judge had ruled against them, saying the court had jurisdiction under a international patent framework agreed by the mobile industry.

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it had unanimously dismissed both appeals.

Conversant's CEO Boris Teksler said he was "very pleased" by the outcome, which the firm said would have "significant implications worldwide" for standard-essential-patent (SEP) licensing.

"It confirms Conversant Wireless' approach, that as a holder of cellular standard-essential patents, we can seek proper value for our patents without having to resort to what the UK courts themselves called the 'madness' of country-by-country licensing and related litigation," he said.

"This helps level the playing field when small companies are trying to license SEP portfolios to global giants with seemingly limitless litigation resources."

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Marc Jones)

---
The Telegraph

Huawei's role in Britain's 5G network at risk after US sanctions, minister says

Hannah Boland

https://www.yahoo.com/news/huaweis-role-britains-5g-network-153316889.html

US sanctions on Huawei, which were announced last month, have made the Chinese firm a less viable supplier for Britain's 5G network, the Digital Minister has said.

Speaking at a Defence sub-committee meeting, Oliver Dowden said the new rules from Washington, preventing Huawei from using US-made equipment, were "likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a provider for the 5G network".

The measures are expected to come into force in September. Over the weekend, experts told The Sunday Telegraph that they could create security risks, given they would "dramatically change the whole security of the supply chain".

It could make it tougher for Huawei to develop its own advanced chips for use in telecoms equipment and smartphones, according to cyber security experts.

Mr Dowden's comments at the parliamentary committee meeting come just days before the National Cyber Security Centre is expected to complete a review into the impact of the US sanctions on Britain's relationship with Huawei.

Mr Dowden said the review was "pretty much finished and going through the final stage".

He said the Government had asked the NCSC to carry out the evaluation and that it was "clear eyed about the potential risk of Huawei".

Up until now, the Government has said it would be limiting Huawei to non-core parts of the 5G network, and only allow it to account for 35pc of the network following concerns over its safety.

However, there have been rumours it is planning a U-Turn on that decision and instead looking to block the Chinese firm altogether.

MPs today doubled down on a warning that the Government would not receive sufficient backing for a bill allowing Huawei any role in building the infrastructure, with Mark Francois asking: "Isn't the truth that everyone including you knows that the bill is dead as a dodo unless it excludes Huawei?"

Ben Wallace, the Defence Minister, who also appeared before the committee, said he was "not happy" about high risk vendors being in the network."The Government’s policy over time is to remove high risk vendors from the network," he said.

Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: “We are investing billions to make the prime minister’s vision of a ‘connected Kingdom’ a reality so that British families and businesses have access to fast, reliable mobile and broadband networks wherever they live.

"We have been in the UK for 20 years and remain focused on working with our customers and the government to ensure the country gets the jobs and economic growth created by 5G as quickly as possible.”

----
Politics

FCC Bans Funding to Huawei, ZTE over China Ties

Zachary Evans

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fcc-bans-funding-huawei-zte-184842172.html

The Federal Communications Commission has banned Huawei and the ZTE Coroporation from receiving federal funds because of the companies’ ties to the Chinese government.

The ban prevents both companies from drawing on the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, an $8.3 billion fund paid for by Americans via phone bill fees.

“The [FCC] has designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks to America’s communications networks–and to our 5G future,” FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “We cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit network vulnerabilities and compromise our critical communications infrastructure.”

Both companies have been criticized by the U.S. for sharing data and information with the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly urged allies including Germany and the U.K. not to allow Huawei to develop local 5G networks. Additionally, Pentagon Defense Innovation Board chairman Eric Schmidt, a former CEO of Google, has said Huawei can essentially act as “signals intelligence” for the CCP.

“The CCP has gained footholds in countries around the world with Huawei and ZTE under the premise that they are independent companies,” Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) said in a statement. “The United States will not put US dollars in the communists’ pockets and today’s decision shows that. This is good for our national security and for our shared fight against China becoming the world’s leading superpower.”

More from National Review

----
AFP

Huawei controversy opens field for 5G challengers

Erwan LUCAS

https://www.yahoo.com/news/huawei-controversy-opens-field-5g-challengers-061813054.html

Technicians of South Korean telecom operator KT check an antenna for the 5G mobile network service in Seoul (AFP Photo/JUNG Yeon-Je)
Technicians of South Korean telecom operator KT check an antenna for the 5G mobile network service in Seoul (AFP Photo/JUNG Yeon-Je)

Tokyo (AFP) - With growing pressure to keep China's Huawei out of 5G network development, it could be time for firms like Japan's NEC and South Korea's Samsung to shine.

Washington has pushed allies to bar Huawei, a Chinese telecom giant, from building next-generation 5G mobile networks, claiming its equipment can be used to spy for Beijing.

Huawei denies the charges, but US pressure has prompted an about-turn in Britain.

The government had already pledged to cut the firm out of the most sensitive "core" elements of 5G that access personal data, and is now reportedly pushing for plans to end Huawei's involvement in Britain's 5G infrastructure by 2023.

But excluding Huawei is not without challenges, because there are currently only two alternatives in Europe for 5G equipment such as antennas and relay masts: Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson.

Britain has encouraged Washington to form a club of 10 democratic nations that could develop its own 5G technology, but there has been little movement so far.

"The vast majority of the commercial networks sold in the world come from the big three," said Sylvain Chevallier, in charge of telecoms at BearingPoint consultancy, referring to Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson.

"But a world of three is not good for operators, and if it goes down to two it will be worse still," he told AFP.

- Teaming up -

That leaves a tempting potential opening for telecoms firms like Samsung and NEC. But building a successful 5G network is no simple task.

That is a lesson Samsung has already learned. Despite being a major player in 3G, it found itself unable to compete with the big three on 4G and struggled to win commercial contracts.

"This has been a challenge for Samsung," said Daryl Schoolar, a mobile technology specialist at consulting group Omdia.

In building its 5G network, Samsung has so far focused on North America and parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

"So while operators may feel uncertain about Samsung Networks, they are much further along in the process of being a global presence than NEC," Schoolar added.

NEC does have some advantages, including a partnership in Japan with mobile operator Rakuten.

The firms have already cooperated on a 4G network and are now jointly developing a 5G system.

The Japanese firm is also a leader on undersea cables, fibre optic networks and -- thanks to its affiliate Netcracker -- logistics management software.

"Netcracker has a strong presence with operators in Europe, which could be a real entry point for NEC," said Stephane Teral, chief telecoms analyst at LightCounting, a market research firm.

- 'A major challenge' -

NEC is tightlipped about its contracts for mobile networks, saying only that it is holding feasibility demonstrations for "a number of customers and we are engaged in commercial discussions with others".

Britain's government has reportedly asked both NEC and Samsung to take part in demonstrations as it looks to diversify its 5G options.

And on Thursday, NEC announced a tie-up with Japanese operator NTT intended in part to speed up the development of a 5G network.

Samsung and NEC joined forces two years ago and have launched a joint marketing team to offer 5G products to European and Asian markets.

Still, the path ahead will be tough, said Schoolar.

"I think it's a major challenge for NEC. It requires more than radios, it requires investing in people who can do system integration, sales, customer support, network design and engineering," he said.

"Plus NEC will need to build operator trust that they will be there to support them in five to 10 years as those 5G networks evolve."

Washington has backed the use of non-proprietary technology like Open RAN in 5G development, hoping it will provide an entry point for US firms.

Such a move would open up opportunities for NEC, allowing them to "create an economic model that would shake up traditional equipment manufacturers," said Chevallier.

-----

Business

Huawei Loses Main Singapore 5G Networks to Ericsson, Nokia


Abhishek Vishnoi and Yoojung Lee