Court begins hearing Philippines, China dispute over South China Sea

https://www.yahoo.com/news/court-begins-hearing-philippines-china-dispute-over-south-051513368.html

A Philippine Navy personnel stands in front of an Agusta Westland AW109 helicopter before it takes off during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Philippines 2014, a U.S.-Philippines military exercise, aboard Philippine Navy vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz in the South China Sea near waters claimed by China June 28, 2014. REUTERS/Noel Celis/Pool

By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Philippines argued at a closed hearing on Tuesday that an international court should intervene in its dispute with China over the right to exploit natural resources and fish in the South China Sea.

Although China has declined to participate, the case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is being closely watched by Asian governments and Washington, given rising regional tensions as Chinese naval power grows.

A panel of five judges will hear arguments this week and decide whether the treaty-based court has jurisdiction.

Manila filed suit at the court in 2013, seeking to enforce its right to exploit waters in a 200-nautical mile "exclusive economic zone" off its coast, as defined under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Philippines argues that the arbitration court is the correct venue for resolving disputes covered by the treaty, which both countries have signed.

"The Philippines believes the court has jurisdiction over all the claims it has made," said lawyer Paul Reichler, representing the Philippines.

He said he was confident the court would ultimately rule in the Philippines' favor.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China did not accept the court's jurisdiction and would not participate.

"China opposes any form of arbitration process proposed and promoted by the Philippines," Hua told a daily news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

In a position paper in December, China argued the dispute was not covered by the treaty because it was ultimately a matter of sovereignty, not exploitation rights.

China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei claim overlapping parts of the strategic waterway.

While the hearings are closed to the public, the court said in a statement it had allowed small delegations from Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand to observe proceedings after getting requests from those countries.

After the Philippines, the country most at odds with Beijing over the South China Sea is Vietnam. Japan is also involved in a bitter dispute with China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Manila says China is unfairly preventing it from accessing reefs and shoals that are under its dominion in the South China Sea.

Reichler said the case could continue even if China declined to participate. The court's rulings are binding, although it has no power to enforce them and countries have ignored them in the past.

Reichler declined to discuss the details of the Philippines' arguments on Tuesday.

Court legal counsel Judith Levine said the court would not comment on the proceedings.

Reichler said he expected a decision on jurisdiction within 90 days. A ruling on the merits of the case could take years.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Manuel Mogato in Manila; Editing by Ian Geoghegan and Dean Yates)

The Wrong Message to Vietnam

Posted: 07/07/2015 1:19 am EDT Updated: 07/07/2015 8:59 am EDT

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-sifton/the-wrong-message-to-viet_b_7741116.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592&ref=yfp 

This week President Obama will host the head of the Vietnam Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, at the White House. The meeting is a curious event--partly because Trong is not a head of state but instead the leader of Vietnam's constitutionally-mandated ruling party--but also because Vietnam has done so little in recent months to deserve the reward that is an Oval Office meeting. It remains a thoroughly autocratic and undemocratic state ruled by a single party, headed by Trong, in which repression, torture, and religious persecution are the norm.

What is President Obama hoping to accomplish?

To the administration's credit, it has never shied from raising rights concerns with Hanoi. President Obama has publicly flagged political prisoners in public statements, and his ambassadors and envoys are instructed to raise human rights concerns in all diplomatic exchanges.

The problem is that the messages are clearly not getting through.

A few weeks ago, Tony Blinken, Obama's former White House Deputy National Security Advisor and current Deputy Secretary of State, visited Hanoi. According to the State Department, Blinken pressed the Vietnam government on human rights issues and raised concerns about the continued jailing or harassment of dissidents, and urged Hanoi to better demonstrate a commitment to reform. But he came away with no pledges on human rights, no commitments, and no political prisoner releases.

Blinken's trip came only a week after another senior State Department official, Tom Malinowski, who heads the department's office responsible for human rights issues, visited Vietnam to hold a human rights dialogue. Malinowski and his delegation met with senior government and security officials, raised concerns about political prisoners, made visits to detention sites, and met religious leaders. Malinowski told the Vietnamese government the same thing US ambassadors have been telling them for years: that rights reforms are a necessary component of improved ties with the US government.

These trips cannot be called a success--and yet the Obama administration is rolling out the red carpet on Tuesday.

Not only did Hanoi make no concrete pledges or commitments during the dialogue, during Malinowski's visit their security services harassed dissidents and a prominent blogger, Nguyen Chi Tuyen (known as Anh Chi), was brutally attacked by thugs--almost certainly government personnel in plainclothes. Photographs of his battered head and bloodstained face were soon shared by dissidents online. (On May 19, another activist, Dinh Quang Tuyen, was assaulted in Ho Chi Minh City.)

Congress has weighed in with Hanoi too. A bipartisan delegation of members of Congress visited around the same time as Malinowski, headed by Rep. Eliot Engel, the ranking Democratic chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), and Rep. Matt Salmon, the Republican chair of the HFAC Asia subcommittee. And this group too raised rights concerns, and repeated pleas made by another delegation to Hanoi--headed by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Ways and Means ranking chair Rep. Sandy Levin--only weeks before. They too said that Vietnam's failure to demonstrate commitments to reform would undermine US-Vietnam ties.

The bottom line is that these engagements do not seem to be leading to reform or any meaningful action to improve human rights by Vietnam.

State Department officials still insist that the pressure, and diplomatic efforts, are working. They point to lower numbers of prosecutions of dissidents, and Hanoi's recent ratification of two human rights treaties. In an op-ed in Politico on June 8, for instance, Malinowski argued that "Under the spotlight of the TPP negotiations, Vietnam has released prisoners of conscience, bringing the total number down to around 110 from over 160 two years ago." He also contrasted the high number of persons for peaceful political expression in 2013--61 cases--with only "one case" in 2015 so far.

But these have been baby steps at best. Yes, the number of political prisoners in Vietnam has dropped by about 50 since 2013, but few of these were released pursuant to reform steps: in many cases, released detainees simply completed their sentences and are now out on probation, effectively silenced. Further political or dissident activity will land them back in prison. In any case, the State Department list is incomplete: Human Rights Watch analysis shows well over 200 prisoners back in 2013, with the current total number of political prisoners now at least 135. And while it is true that fewer dissidents are being convicted, there are still cases (not just one) and the government anyway now has new methods, as the beating of Nguyen Chi Tuyen demonstrated. Vietnamese dissidents now say that violence or harassment by plainclothes police thugs is the new norm.

In sum, critics of the government in Vietnam are still facing enormous dangers; the dangers have simply changed.

President Obama should not be rewarding rights abuses on this scale by meeting with Secretary General Trong. But if he must, he needs to raise the volume on the human rights concerns -- especially so if the two countries are planning to announce a new level in their diplomatic ties.

Otherwise, the message will be: "We want you to reform, but we'll reward you even if you don't."

John Sifton is Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. Follow him on Twitter @JohnSifton.

China lobbies hard ahead of Manila's South China Sea arbitration case

Protesters from the Socialista National Confederation of Labor 

activist group display placards during a rally over the South China Sea disputes with China, outside the Chinese Consulate in Makati City, Metro Manila June 19, 2015. REUTERS/Janis C. Alano

https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-lobbies-hard-ahead-manilas-south-china-sea-232531061.html

By Greg Torode and Manuel Mogato

HONG KONG/MANILA (Reuters) - China's claims to the disputed South China Sea will come under international legal scrutiny for the first time this week, but while Beijing has officially refused to take part in the case filed by the Philippines at a U.N. tribunal, it has made its presence felt.

Indeed, Manila's international legal team was heading to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to initially argue that the five-judge panel has jurisdiction to hear the case, Philippine Foreign Ministry officials told Reuters.

That is because of concerns China raised in a public position paper in December about the tribunal's jurisdiction over the matter, according to court statements.

A little-noticed decision by the tribunal's panel in April acknowledged China's objections and announced that a hearing on jurisdiction from July 7-13 would be held first.

Manila filed the case in 2013 to seek a ruling on its right to exploit the South China Sea waters in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as allowed under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

While legally binding, any decision that favors the Philippines would be unenforceable because there is no U.N. body to police such rulings, legal experts said.

Nevertheless, such a ruling would be a diplomatic blow to Beijing and might prompt other claimants to the South China Sea to take similar action, legal experts and diplomats said.

The case is being closely watched by Asian governments and Washington given rising tensions in the South China Sea, especially in the Spratly archipelago, where China is creating seven artificial islands that will allow its navy to project power deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

China claims most of the waterway, including many reefs and shoals that Manila considers are within its EEZ. Parts of the EEZ contain rich fishing grounds and energy deposits.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

EFFECTIVELY TAKING PART

Some international legal scholars and South China Sea experts said China was effectively taking part in the case even though it had officially refused to do so.

"It appears the tribunal panel is bending over backwards to accommodate China's interests and appear even-handed to both the Philippines and China," said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies.

Experts said that did not mean the judges would find in Beijing's favor.

"They are being as fair as they can ... they seem to sense China will scrutinize every word in any final ruling," said one legal scholar following the case.

When asked to comment, tribunal officials referred Reuters to statements on its website.

Without China's permission, Manila cannot seek a ruling at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the sovereignty of the disputed territory, legal scholars said.

Instead, Manila has invoked dispute settlement procedures under UNCLOS, a system that allows for arbitration even when one side objects and refuses to participate.

The Law of the Sea does not rule on sovereignty but it does outline a system of territory and economic zones that can be claimed from features such as islands, rocks and reefs.

The Chinese position paper last December said the "essence" of the Philippine case was sovereignty, and therefore beyond the scope of the tribunal.

Storey said the hearing on jurisdiction could delay any final ruling by six to 12 months, meaning the case could linger beyond the single term of Philippine President Benigno Aquino, which ends next June.

Aquino has been a key figure behind the legal challenge, at times drawing China's ire by comparing its South China Sea claims to Nazi Germany's expansionism before World War Two.

CHINA WILL REJECT OUTCOME

Chinese diplomats and legal experts have been following developments closely and taking outside opinions, according to sources with knowledge of Beijing's approach to the case.

Some of that work has been handled by the Chinese embassy at The Hague, which has established a formal line of communication with the tribunal, they said.

Trung Cộng gia tăng mức độ xây dựng nhȃn tạo (reclaim) các bãi đá san hô trên biển Ɖông

China ramps up island-building in South China Sea

JULY 3, 2015, 6:50 PM|CBS News correspondent Seth Doane takes a look at China's increased building of islands in the disputed terrirtory of the South China Sea.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/china-ramps-up-island-building-in-south-china-sea/ 

• China ramps up island-building in South Chin...

China moves controversial oil rig closer to Vietnam coast in disputed South China Sea

China moves controversial oil rig closer to Vietnam coast in disputed South China Sea

Controversial drilling platform now located where the two states' exclusive zones overlap

PUBLISHED : Saturday, 27 June, 2015, 3:19am

UPDATED : Saturday, 27 June, 2015, 3:19am

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1827284/china-moves-controversial-oil-rig-closer-vietnam-coast 

China has moved an oil rig at the centre of last year's violent dispute with Vietnam closer to the latter's coast in the disputed South China Sea, weeks ahead of the first visit by a top Vietnamese leader to the United States.

The move came after Beijing said it was close to setting up new outposts in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia as it nears the completion of its land reclamation in the South China Sea.

China claims most of the sea, through which US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims.

Beijing's deployment of the rig last year in what Vietnam called its exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf, about 120 nautical miles off its coast, led to the worst breakdown in relations since a brief border war in 1979.

Vietnam's people remain embittered over a perceived history of Chinese bullying and territorial claims in the South China Sea, although China has said the rig was operating within its waters.

The rig is now in an area where Vietnam's and China's exclusive economic zones overlap, but further away than last year, said Le Hong Hiep, a visiting fellow at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies.

China's Maritime Safety Administration on Thursday said the "Haiyang Shiyou 981" rig would carry out "ocean drilling operations" 75 nautical miles south of Sanya on Hainan island.

Experts estimate the drilling site is about 167km east of the Vietnam coast. The US$1 billion rig would remain there until August 20, the administration said.

Vietnam's maritime authorities were monitoring the rig's placement, the state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

The movement comes weeks before Vietnam's top leader Nguyen Phu Trong is expected to visit Washington - the first such trip by a general secretary of the nation's Communist Party.

Le Hong Hiep believed Hanoi would not protest against the rig movement as strongly as it did last year if Beijing said the rig was placed within an exclusive economic zone claimed from Hainan rather than one from the disputed Paracel Islands.

Vietnam and China agreed on an equal split of the maritime boundary of the Gulf of Tonkin in 2000 but have yet to agree on demarcating waters further south, near the rig's present site.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Beijing moves oil rig closer to Vietnam coast

Bóng tối u mê của văn hóa Việt

Cho đến giờ đȃy 19:57 của ngày 24/06/2015, kết quả cuộc bầu cử khu vực 4 TP San Jose gần như đã rõ, ứng cử viên Nguyễn Mạnh đã có một số phiếu cao hơn ứng cử viên Tim Orozco, 6087 phiếu của Nguyễn Mạnh so với 4743 phiếu của Tim Orozco.

Sự thắng lợi của Nguyễn Mạnh trong kỳ bầu cử có vinh quang hay không, hay thật sự là một cay đắng bởi bản thȃn Nguyễn Mạnh có quá nhiều ẩn số từ ngay trong cuộc đời anh ta. Là một người đàn ông có nhiều cuộc tình mà vẫn không từng ly dị vợ và vẫn xử dụng những bức hình của gia đình để che chắn mục đích chính trị, sở học thì không đạt đến mục đích nhƯng vẫn thích nghe lời tán dương ca tụng và dùng những lời tán dương này cho mục đích gạt gẫm người khác với ý đồ chính trị khi cho in trên mailer như Nguyễn Mạnh, Esq., anh ta vẫn thường dối trá cho rằng từng phục vụ cộng đồng suốt 30 năm qua nhưng thật sự chưa từng ra “đời” sinh hoạt chính trị trong cộng đồng, lại là người đã có nhiều liên lạc tiếp xúc phỏng vấn với các cán bộ cộng sản.

Nhưng bóng tối của văn hóa Việt tại khu vực 4 thật thê lương và ảm đạm, trong số 10,830 người bỏ phiếu có 6087 người đã ủng hộ Nguyễn Mạnh, hay anh ta là người được 6/10 cư dȃn khu vực 4 chọn mặt gửi vàng làm đại diện cho gia đình hoặc cá nhȃn mình. Nghῖa là quý ông cử tri thì cho rằng cuộc đời Nguyễn Mạnh có lăng nhăng với nhiều người đàn bà thì có sao đȃu hoặc giống tâm trạng của quý ông vậy, còn quý vị phụ nữ thì dễ dãi cho rằng chuyện đó bình thường của những người đàn ông và thȃn phận của người đàn bà Việt là chấp nhận như vậy. Còn chuyện Nguyễn Mạnh in chữ Esq. (luật sư) trên mailer thì cũng hay hay bởi vì ở trong nước hằng khối người bỏ tiền ra mua bằng cấp của Việt cộng thì nay Nguyễn Mạnh có in Esq. trên mailer thì chẳng nhằm nhò gì. Chuyện Nguyễn Mạnh không phát thanh quốc ca VNCH trên radio của anh ta thì nói cho cùng nhiều gia đình Việt đi về Việt Nam như cơm bửa thì bài quốc ca VNCH ấy đối với họ như một bản nhạc vô nghῖa. Có người bảo “đừng nghῖ rằng bỏ phiếu cho cá nhȃn mà nghῖ rằng đó là cho cộng đồng,” câu nói ấy là ngụy biện, một kẻ mà tȃm địa đầy dối gian lại thêm sự bất trung bất nghῖa với gia đình và mọi người, thì anh ta không thể đại diện cho cộng đồng nào cả, trái lại nó là một kẻ ăn bám vào cộng đồng. Anh ta là một tấm gương xấu, anh ta không thể đại diện cho ai. 6/10 cử tri khu vực 4 rõ ràng đã nuông chiều anh ta, coi anh ta là một người tốt lành, nhưng thật sự anh ta là một tấm gương xấu cho cả tình cảm vợ chồng gia đình và một nền giáo dục sai lạc đối với con cái.

Anh ta không phải là một model để cho gia đình Việt Nam nào còn chút văn hóa noi theo, và anh ta không phải là một con người điển hình để giới trẻ noi theo vì anh ta đã chà đạp lên biểu tượng cao quý đã nuôi nấng chăm sóc anh ta giáo dục anh ta bằng giòng sữa mẹ ngọt ngào và những anh linh chiến sῖ Việt Nam Cộng Hoà hy sinh cho tổ quốc. Anh ta sẽ làm xấu đi những thế hệ trẻ, làm un thối mầm mon trong mơ ước xȃy dựng dȃn chủ tại Việt Nam.

Giòng chính (mainstream) của chính trị Hoa Kỳ không dành một chỗ đứng nào cho những con người lăng nhăng, gian dối và không có tinh thần ái quốc. Bất cứ một nền văn hóa nào không ai chấp nhận một con người đầy khuyết tật bẩm sinh như vậy làm đại diện làm tiếng nói cho mình. Ai sẽ lắng nghe tiếng nói đó, thế giới chính trị Mỹ không ai có thể nhìn thấy rõ chȃn tướng của anh ta sao? Ai sẽ thán phục anh, respect anh và rõ ràng từ đó chẳng ai respect những con người đã vote cho anh. Nếu anh ta không tôn trọng quốc ca của tổ quốc anh ta, lời thề của anh ta trước các chứng nhȃn là vô nghῖa, nếu anh ta không tôn trọng lá quốc kỳ đã nuôi sống anh ta thì anh ta đã phản bội lại chính những đồng bào máu mủ của anh ta, thì đừng tin anh ta khi anh ta để tay lên ngực khi chào lá cờ Mỹ.

Rồi sẽ có một ngày anh ta sẽ đem những Certificate, Huy chương, Tưởng lục này nọ trao tặng cho cộng đồng, cho các nơi anh ta đến, đó là một con người không xứng đáng để đại diện cho ai và chữ ký của anh ta trên các văn kiện ấy là vô nghῖa bởi vì anh ta không có một đạo đức khả dῖ có một đứa bé tin cậy.

Trên nước Mỹ có biết bao nhiêu sắc dȃn, giữ bản sắc đạo đức mình là điều nên làm để cho các sắc dȃn bạn tôn trọng chúng ta, nhưng không thể đề bạt một con người bất tài vô dụng lên đại diện cho mình và rồi co cụm rút vào cái vỏ bọc mà bên trong ấy đầy un nhọt. Hãy tôn trọng quý vị, và nếu thế hãy nhìn rõ để biết rằng có những con người tài năng thuộc các sắc dȃn khác đang ở chung quanh ta.

Cuộc bầu cử ngày 23/06/2015 không thể hiện một thứ văn hóa tốt lành, nó có điểm gì giống giống với một cuộc “bầu cử” các cấp cán bộ dảng viên trong nước, bất chấp đạo đức, tài năng và phẩm chất một con người đại diện.

Đó là bóng tối u mê của văn hóa Việt

Hoàng Hoa www.saigonfilms.com 06/24/2015

Recognizing the South Vietnam flag is long overdue

At home, my refugee parents taught me to also honor a yellow flag with three red horizontal stripes — the flag of South Vietnam before Saigon fell to communists on April 30, 1975. On Monday, the Seattle City Council is set to vote on a resolution recognizing the contributions of the Vietnamese community and acknowledging their “Heritage and Freedom Flag” as their unifying symbol. Forty years after the City Council first signed resolutions welcoming Vietnamese refugees, it’s about time this community’s turbulent history is acknowledged. Thanks to Councilmember Bruce Harrell and his legislative aide, Vinh Tang, who is of Vietnamese and Chinese heritage, for seeing this opportunity to recognize a large immigrant population that has struggled to find a political voice in Seattle.

The Seattle Times q

http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/recognizing-the-south-vietnam-flag-is-long-overdue/?ref=yfp

Thanh Tan

Recognizing the South Vietnam flag is long overdue

Originally published June 19, 2015 at 5:05 pm Updated June 19, 2015 at 5:49 pm

The Seattle City Council’s willingness to recognize the South Vietnam flag would be a major milestone for refugees.

What would Americans do if an anti-democratic force conquered Washington, D.C., and forced us to renounce Old Glory? Think about it. Our identity as a nation is so defined by the Stars and Stripes, we’d probably fight until the end for our right to pledge allegiance to a flag that represents freedom and democracy.

Vietnamese people in the United States don’t have to imagine what it’s like to lose their country and its symbol of independence.

As a child, I placed my hand over my heart every morning in school and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. At home, my refugee parents taught me to also honor a yellow flag with three red horizontal stripes — the flag of South Vietnam before Saigon fell to communists on April 30, 1975.

On Monday, the Seattle City Council is set to vote on a resolution recognizing the contributions of the Vietnamese community and acknowledging their “Heritage and Freedom Flag” as their unifying symbol.

This simple but symbolic gesture is long overdue and it makes sense since this is the same flag that flies high at Vietnamese events, throughout the Little Saigon business district and at the entrance to Rainier Valley, where it’s paired with the U.S. flag.

Forty years after the City Council first signed resolutions welcoming Vietnamese refugees, it’s about time this community’s turbulent history is acknowledged. Thanks to Councilmember Bruce Harrell and his legislative aide, Vinh Tang, who is of Vietnamese and Chinese heritage, for seeing this opportunity to recognize a large immigrant population that has struggled to find a political voice in Seattle.

To most outsiders, and even younger Vietnamese Americans, the flag issue may seem abstract. But it would be a tragedy for its significance to be diminished.

Duoc Nguyen, a 76-year-old former South Vietnamese air force lieutenant colonel. (Thanh Tan / The... More 

The yellow flag is an emotional and integral part of the identity of some 70,000 Vietnamese living in Washington. It symbolizes where we came from and our fight for a free society.

“I truly would prefer to live just one day of freedom in a democratic country and die than to live under communism for the rest of my life,” 76-year-old Vietnamese elder and former South Vietnamese air force lieutenant colonel named Duoc Nguyen recently told me as he clutched his beloved yellow flag. He came to the United States after suffering 13 years in a communist re-education camp where he nearly starved to death. The South Vietnamese who weren’t imprisoned were stripped of their assets, citizenship and their entire way of life.

Such conditions forced millions to escape by air, land and sea. Despite the death, rape and pillaging that often occurred on these journeys, people continued to flee Vietnam throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.

For these survivors, the communist regime’s official red flag with a yellow star in the middle elicits anger and a profound sense of loss. I have seen grown men wince at the sight of their oppressor’s flag. I have heard too many stories of the communist regime’s myriad abuses, which the Vietnamese government has never apologized for or formally acknowledged.

Maybe that’s why, even though I was born in Olympia, I, too, react when I see the communist flag in books and news stories.

Just as the Jewish people will never forget the Holocaust and Japanese Americans know the pain of being sent off to concentration camps during World War II, Vietnamese Americans have a responsibility to preserve our legacy as survivors of a war that claimed more than 1 million civilians. In the fight for South Vietnam and its flag, some 58,000 American service members also died along with more than 200,000 South Vietnamese soldiers.

A formal resolution by the City Council would help Seattle’s 10,000 Vietnamese know that they can become part of the mainstream political process. It also offers them some comfort in knowing that where they came from, and how they suffered, will not be forgotten.