Vietnam top news 2001
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Ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands demonstrated in Gia Lai and
Dak Lak, demanding the return of their ancestors' land. The unrest peaked
in February when two dozens of people were arrested for assaulting local
officials. Houses were burned and some policemen were wounded. Hundreds
fled to Cambodia to seek refugee status but the US accepted only 28 people
pushing the rest to return to Vietnam.
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Earth quake with the strength of 5.3 on Richter scale hit Dien Bien Phu
valley. Tremors lasted for hours on the night of 19 February to the morning
of 20 Feb. Many buildings sustained damages. Two were seriously injured
while escaping their shaking buildings. People spent the night at the streets.
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Russian President Vladimir V. Putin made an official visit Vietnam from
28 February to 2 March. It was the first time a head of state of Russian
Federation visited Vietnam. None of Soviet heads of state (secretary general
of KPSU) ever visited Vietnam.
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Famous song writer Trinh Cong Son died 1 April, at 62. The funeral was
attended by thousands of people singing "Mo^.t co~i di ve^`" and "No^'i
vo`ng tay lo+'n".
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Helicopter MI-17 carrying US military personnel in a MIA advance mission
crashed in Bo Trach, Quang Binh, Sat 7 April. Seven Americans and 9 Vietnamese
were killed, no survivor.
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Ninth National Communist Party Congress met for four days, starting 19
April. The Congress elected Mr. Nong Duc Manh, 60, as the new general secretary,
a 15 member Politburo, 150 member Central Committee. Nguyen Van An replaced
Nong Duc Manh as chairman of the National Assembly.
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New Decree on Income Tax for high income persons effective 1 July, which
raised the no-tax level to 3 million dongs/month and widened the ranges
to 3 million dongs each for progressive rates 10-50%. The Government still
refused to delete "High Income" meaning that the Government only taxed
the rich.
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Hanoi hosted the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on 25 July.
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President Tran Duc Luong visited South Korea 23 August.
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Vietnam shared sympathy with Americans for the terrorist attack on 11 September
and condemned the terrorists.
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Vietnam welcomed the bilateral trade Agreement passed by US Congress but
denounced the Vietnam Human Rights Act which the Congress passed the same
day 5 September. President Bush signed on 18 Oct. Vietnam National Assembly
ratified on 28 Nov. The Agreement became effective 13 Dec. 2001.
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Zimbabwe President Mugabe visited Vietnam on 28 September by the invitation
of the Vietnamese President. Vietnam did not care about possible diplomatic
consequences with OECD countries which considered Mugabe a dictator.
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An operation was organized in November to evacuate wild elephants from
shrinking Tanh Linh forest to Daklak Yokdon protected area. Malaysians
hunters were hired for the work. Two wild elephants were killed.
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Party leader Nong Duc Manh visited China 2 Dec.
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The National Assembly revised the Constitution (last revised in 1992).
The word "Socialist State ruled by law" was added. Provincial authorities
gained more budget decision power. Procuracy gave up the role of law enforcement
monitoring. During the preparation period many people requested for more
changes like deleting the dominant role of the state sector, replacing
"Rule by Law" by "Rule of Law", less emphasizing on "the unity of workers
and peasants" to give a place for businessmen ...
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Vietnam maintained GDP growth of 6.8%, second highest in Asia after China.
Domestic consumption partly compensated the low export growth (4.5%). However,
the quality of growth was low as many commodities like rice, coffee and
crude oil were exported in higher volume but at a lower prices. The competitiveness
of the economy remained unsolved question. State revenue recorded 100 trillion
VND.
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Police in Hochiminh City arrest Nam Cam alledged of being the leader of
the mafia who ordered the murder of Dzung Ha. Officially Nam Cam is the
owner of many restaurants and bars. His gang rackets markets, dance floors,
cafe and bars against other rival gangs. Income of Nam Cam reached billions
VND per month (15,080 VND=1USD).
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