JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

I am finally learning how to play tennis lessons. Have had two lessons so far in the foothills around Namsan mountain in central Seoul. From a Japanese retired high school tennis teacher (I mean, a national-level teacher player). It's like learning your backhand from John Belushi's Samurai chef character. I really enjoy it, but I certainly try not to show it.

Going for a couple of days to one of Korea's old imperial cities, Gyeongju. This town is really, really old. Back in 1989 I picked up a very nice Izod golfing rain hat there; it was very odd because there no other Western franchise or chain stores there. I still have it around somewhere, perhaps in storage back in Maryland.

Probably will not see much of the royal tombs or the ancient temple, since I will be stuck inside a conference area for most of the time.

Will be good to breathe fresh air, though.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

June 19, 2006 Monday 5:19 AM EST

Vietnam plans to spend 30 billion dollars on high-tech railway

Hanoi: Vietnam plans to spend 30 billion dollars to upgrade
four sections of its national railway system by 2013, officials said
Monday.

The plans call for widening tracks to allow high-speed trains
traveling up to 200 kilometres per hour, according to Phan Van Gian,
deputy director of the Vietnam Railway Corp.

However, the upgrade plans so far do not extend to the entire
Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City express route, which now takes at least 30
hours, Gian said.

"We haven't been able to plan the upgrade straight from Hanoi to
Ho Chi Minh City because of budget constraints," he said. "But for
the long term, we will do that."

A fully modernized rail link between Vietnam's two main cities -
1,750 kilometres apart - would take only 9 hours. However, the
current plans would only cut the time to 21 hours, officials said.
The four routes slated to be modernized include two from Hanoi, to
the seaside towns of Hai Phong in the north and Vinh in central
Vietnam, and two from Ho Chi Minh City, to the resort towns of Nha
Trang in the centre and Vung Tau in the south.

The state-owned railway company is expected to submit the plan to
Vietnam's government later this year, another official said by
telephone.

Vietnam has 2,600 kilometres of rail lines, most dating back to
the 1970s.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101518.html

If Necessary, Strike and Destroy
North Korea Cannot Be Allowed to Test This Missile

By Ashton B. Carter and William J. Perry
Thursday, June 22, 2006; Page A29

North Korean technicians are reportedly in the final stages of fueling a long-range ballistic missile that some experts estimate can deliver a deadly payload to the United States. The last time North Korea tested such a missile, in 1998, it sent a shock wave around the world, but especially to the United States and Japan, both of which North Korea regards as archenemies. They recognized immediately that a missile of this type makes no sense as a weapon unless it is intended for delivery of a nuclear warhead....




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062201465.html


No, Don't Blow It Up
A Saner Approach to a North Korean Missile Test

By Charles L. "Jack" Pritchard
Friday, June 23, 2006; Page A25

For 1,971 days the Bush administration ignored North Korea's missile program as unimportant and unthreatening to the security of the United States. Then it woke up. Unfortunately, the alarm clock was North Korea's preparation to test a long-range missile. By simply putting a Taepodong ICBM on the launch pad, North Korea has managed to turn truly smart people into foolish ones.

In the week or so since word spread that Pyongyang was erecting and then fueling a Taepodong, we have seen a spate of opinion pieces declaring the following: that North Korea is in violation of its own missile moratorium and the Sept. 19, 2005, Beijing Joint Statement; that the Chinese and South Koreans are at fault for coddling the enemy; and that South Korea is a runaway ally full of appeasers, and we should work around it....



http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/post_14.html

ASHTON CARTER, FMR. ASST. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The idea is to recommend to President Bush that he tell the North Koreans that if they prepare an intercontinental missile for launch, that he will order the U.S. military to destroy the missile on its launch pad rather than let it be tested, because such a test can give them the information they need to build a whole fleet of missiles at that and aim them at us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUME: That man, who was the assistant secretary -- an assistant secretary of defense in the Clinton administration along with former Clinton defense Secretary William Perry proposed that idea in the "Washington Post" today. Some analytical observations on it now from Mort Kondracke, executive editor of "Roll Call"; Mara Liasson national political correspondent of National Public Radio; and the syndicated columnist, Charles Krauthammer, FOX News contributors all....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Vietnam-Politics.html



HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam's president, prime minister and chief of parliament all submitted their resignations Saturday, bowing out in a long-awaited internal shuffle to make way for a new generation of leaders....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/24/world/asia/24korea.html


By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: June 24, 2006

WASHINGTON, June 23 — For years North Korea has supplied Iran with missile technology, and late last year the White House told American intelligence agencies to evaluate the danger that the North Koreans might be tempted to sell their nuclear expertise — or a bomb's worth of plutonium — to the Iranians....

I really liked this...I saw Nom classes when I was in Hue...

The New York Times

June 15, 2006 Thursday
Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section A; Column 3; Foreign Desk; Hanoi Journal; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 831 words

HEADLINE: Deciphering the Code to Vietnam's Old Literary Treasures

BYLINE: By JANE PERLEZ

DATELINE: HANOI, Vietnam, June 11

BODY:

A verse of fiery poetry composed by one of Vietnam's legendary fighters
and carved into the plinth of his statue in gilded calligraphy speaks of
victory and valor against northern invaders.

The poet warrior and 18th-century emperor, Nguyen Hue, conjures a scary
but triumphant scene in which his warriors, looking especially fierce
with long hair and blackened teeth, defeated the enemy.

His original verse was written in a Chinese-like script, known as Nom,
used by classical Vietnamese poets and philosophers, government
officials and religious leaders.

Most of the Buddhist pagodas and temples in Hanoi are festooned with Nom
calligraphy inscribed on pillars and altar tables. At the Temple of
Literature, a revered national monument, akin to, say, the Jefferson
Memorial, the names of Vietnam's most famous scholars from the Middle
Ages are inscribed on gray stone stelae in Nom script.

But these days very few Vietnamese can decipher Nom, which was banned in
1920 by the French colonial government and officially replaced by script
based on the Roman alphabet that Alexander de Rhodes, a French
missionary, devised in the 17th century.

An American poet, John Balaban, who first came to Vietnam as a
conscientious objector during the war and who has nurtured a love affair
with the country ever since, is leading a drive to revive the script,
which he says will unlock a trove of hidden Vietnamese culture.

''Nom keeps a flavor of a culture washed away with the language of the
Roman alphabet,'' Mr. Balaban said. ''There are real literary treasures
and still a lot of texts that have not been translated.''

At a gathering of international linguists in the city of Hue earlier
this month, he introduced four young Vietnamese ''font carvers'' who are
working at digitizing the script. A nonprofit foundation created by Mr.
Balaban for the preservation of the script has compiled a Nom
dictionary.
It is a collection of 20,000 characters, which he says can be more
difficult to master than Chinese.

By making the script accessible on the Internet, Mr. Balaban said, he
hopes that an array of Vietnamese writings from the 10th to the early
20th century will be translated into modern Vietnamese. Many of these
writings were spirited out of the country by missionaries during the
colonial era and are tucked away in foreign archives, including the
Vatican and the Musee Guimet in Paris.

Mr. Balaban cannot read Nom, but from his days as a medic in the
countryside helping wounded civilians during the Vietnam War, he can
speak and read modern Vietnamese.

A poet in residence and a professor at North Carolina State University,
Mr. Balaban has used that knowledge to translate Vietnamese poetry
written in Nom into English.

For 10 years, he labored over the works of Ho Xuan Huong, one of
Vietnam's most treasured poets, who wrote sensuous, sometimes cheeky,
always powerful verse in Nom.

Working from the modern Vietnamese versions of her 18th-century poetry,
Mr. Balaban translated about 50 of her poems that appeared in a
collection, ''Spring Essence.''

''She was a big hit in her own time,'' Mr. Balaban said of the poet.
Now, she is perhaps the most widely read poet, not least because she
combined a high literary tradition with earthy street language. Her
poetry is sprinkled with sexual allusions and topics that ring true
today.

She often sounded feminist themes, including being caught in marriage, a
sentiment that pervades ''On Sharing a Husband.''

The poem begins by cursing the fate that would require a woman to share
a man and then continues, in the translation by Mr. Balaban:

One cuddles under cotton blankets; the other's cold.

Every now and then, well, maybe or maybe not.

Once or twice a month, oh, it's like nothing.

You try to stick to it like a fly on rice

but the rice is rotten. You slave like the maid,

but without pay. If I had known how it would go

I think I would have lived alone.

The only known image of the poet, who was born in 1775, shows her
dressed
in a full-length robe, kneeling on the floor in front of a low table,
calligraphy brush in hand as she writes on a folded sheet of paper.

Mr. Balaban's next project is to translate into English Vietnam's most
famous poem, ''The Tale of Kieu,'' by Nguyen Du, a male contemporary of
Ho
Xuan Huong sometimes referred to as the Shakespeare of Vietnam.

''The Tale of Kieu,'' a novella- length poem about a beautiful and
talented young woman forced to sell herself into prostitution, traces
the
ups and downs of Kieu from a feckless 18-year-old to a responsible grown

woman: her loves, her promiscuity, her obligations to her Buddhist
beliefs
and finally her decision to settle down with the lover she met years
before in a graveyard.

Mr. Balaban offered a sample verse from ''The Tale of Kieu'':

Night fell on the path she had traveled.

The sky seemed endless, with no horizon,

Even seeing the moon made her ashamed,

the moon, her witness to broken vows.

URL: http://www.nytimes.com

GRAPHIC: Photo: A street vendor walks by a gate in Hanoi carved with an
example of the classical Nom script, right, that was once used by poets
and philosophers. (Photo by Doan Bao Chau for The New York Times)

June 9, 2006 Friday

ACC-NO: A200606122D-11559-GNW

LENGTH: 259 words

HEADLINE: POLITICS & LAW US NAVAL SHIP TO VISIT VIETNAM SOON THIS YEAR

BODY:

from the VIETNAM NEWS BRIEFS, June 9, 2006 A US warship will arrived at
a Vietnamese port this year, said Le Dung, spokesperson of the
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, yesterday following the conclusion of
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's visit to the country earlier this week

"The two sides discussed the possibility of a U.S. warship touring
Vietnam some time this year" Dung announced at a regular press briefing.
However, the fixed time and activities have not been reported

Defense minister Rumsfeld toured Vietnam from June 4-6 in order to
foster military cooperation between the two former enemies

During the trip, he held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Van
Tra and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. He discussed with Vietnamese
leaders collaborations on such issues as the ongoing search for the
remains of soldiers missing-in-action during the Vietnam War, mine
clearance and joint medical and English training programs as well as
further military visits

According to the english.people.com.cn website, the U.S. Navy ship USS
Gary arrived in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City in March 2005,
becoming the third US warship to visit the country since the Vietnam War
ended in 1975

Between late July and early August 2004, the US warship USS Curtis paid
a visit to central Da Nang city. In November 2003, the US frigate USS
Vandegrift docked at the Saigon Port in Ho Chi Minh City, becoming the
first U.S. navy ship to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War

(Foreign Media June 9, Vietnam Panorama) Copyright 2006 Vietnam News
Briefs

June 15, 2006

SECTION: NEWS FROM THE WASHINGTON FILE

LENGTH: 656 words

HEADLINE: Congress Considering Normal Trade Relations Status for
Vietnam; Bills introduced in Senate, House would support market-access
agreement

BYLINE: Cassie Duong, Washington File Staff Writer

BODY:

Washington -- Following up on a bilateral market-access agreement
between the United States and Vietnam that was concluded in May, members
of both houses of the U.S. Congress have introduced legislation that
would authorize permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status for
Vietnam.

The proposed legislation is an essential step in normalizing relations
between the two countries and making possible Vietnam's accession to the
World Trade Organization (WTO).

By granting PNTR, formerly known as "most favored nation" status, the
United States promises a country treatment in international trade equal
to that available to other similarly recognized nations.

Vietnam has been ineligible for this nondiscriminatory treatment because
it is subject to provisions of the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade
Act of 1974, which withholds normal trade relations from certain
nonmarket economies that restrict emigration. The proposed legislation
would terminate the Jackson-Vanik restrictions.

Senator Gordon Smith (Republican of Oregon) and Senator Max Baucus
(Democrat of Montana) co-sponsored the Senate PNTR bill, S. 3495, which
was introduced on June 13 and referred to the Senate Committee on
Finance for consideration.

In order for a bill to become law, it must be approved by the committee
and identical versions of the bill must be passed by both the House of
Representatives and the Senate. Once a bill is passed by Congress, it
still requires the president's signature to take effect.

"Granting permanent normal trade relations status to Vietnam will
complete the process of reconciliation begun 15 years ago," said Baucus,
the ranking minority party member of the Senate Committee on Finance.
"This step will allow America to deepen its relationship with one of the
most dynamic and successful emerging economies in a key region of Asia."

Smith, also a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, said trade
could improve living standards in the United States and around the
world.

"International commerce creates new growth opportunities for our
manufacturers and agricultural producers," he said. "WTO membership for
Vietnam will help ensure that everyone's playing by the same rules."

Representative Jim Ramstad (Republican of Minnesota) and Representative
Mike Thompson (Democrat of California) introduced a companion bill, H.R.

5602, in the House of Representatives the same day as the Senate
version.
Both Ramstad and Thompson are members of the House Ways and Means
Committee, which will be considering the proposed legislation.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Susan Schwab welcomed the proposed PNTR
legislation, which is a prerequisite for congressional approval of the
bilateral market-access agreement signed May 31. (See related article.)

That agreement would give U.S. farmers, workers and service providers
greater access to Vietnam's growing market while promoting continued
economic and political reform in Vietnam, according to Schwab.

"But we need passage of PNTR to realize these opportunities," she said.

Baucus said he looked forward to working with colleagues in the Senate
and the House, members of the Bush administration and other interested
parties to secure passage of the legislation before Congress recesses in
August.

"With PNTR, we begin the story of full engagement between the United
States and Vietnam," he said. "It is a story of economic cooperation and
cultural understanding. It is a story where trade and markets overshadow
memories of guns and war."

For more information on U.S. policies, see East Asia and the Pacific and
Trade and Economics.

The full text of a USTR news release is available on the office's Web
site.

A statement from Senator Baucus, a joint statement from Senators Baucus
and Smith, and the full text of S. 3495 are available at the Web site of
the Senate Committee on Finance.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

June 18, 2006 Sunday 8:24 AM EST

LENGTH: 358 words

HEADLINE: Vietnam Airlines' stewards forced to pay bribes for jobs

DATELINE: Hanoi

BODY:

Vietnamese police have arrested several Vietnam Airlines' officials for
an alleged scheme to charge prospective flight attendants up to 20,000
dollars to get hired, local newspapers reported Sunday.

The reports add to a growing scandal at the national carrier, including
the arrest in Australia of one of its co-pilots in Australia with more
than 500,000 dollars in suspected drug money and allegations of improper
contracts.

Saigon Giai Phong and Thanh Nien newspapers reported the investigation
into the jobs' scam Sunday, adding that charges against unnamed airline
officials - reportedly already under arrest - would not be announced
until an overall investigation into the airline is complete.

It was unclear why the flight-attendent job, which is prestigious but
low-paying, might be worth 20,000 dollars to applicants. However, in
2002, several Vietnamese flight attendants were arrested after being
found with thousands of dollars' worth of smuggled gold and mobile
phones.
Vietnamese police could not be contacted Sunday for comment.

Last week, a Vietnam Airlines co-pilot Tran Van Dang was arrested in
Sydney as he was waiting to board a flight after customs' agents
discovered he was carrying 560,000 dollars in undeclared cash.

Saigon Giai Phong reported this weekend that Australian authorities
suspect Dang is involved in the drug trade.

Last month, government inspectors also launched an investigation into
why medium-range engines were purchased for four long-range Boeing-777s
in 2002.
The mismatch meant that the planes could not fly to Europe or to the US.
As a result, Vietnam Airlines was forced to lease planes, at 400,000
dollars per month.
Inspectors also want to know why the lease fee rises to 800,000 dollars
per month after five years. Under normal circumstances, it should
decrease.
In June, company representatives admitted that Vietnam Airlines had been
paying for the children of 16 senior officials to attend expensive
foreign universities. Most were children of relatives of officials in
the justice and internal affairs ministries who had failed to get into
local universities.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

June 8, 2006 Thursday 9:33 AM EST

SECTION: SPORTS

LENGTH: 352 words

HEADLINE: FEATURE: World Cup clashes with Vietnam's university exams

BYLINE: Martha Ann Overland, dpa

DATELINE: Hanoi

BODY:

With entrance exams for Vietnam's universities scheduled to take place
during the World Cup, football fanatics are facing a tough choice. Do
they study or watch their favourite teams play?

Like much of the world, Vietnam is getting swept up in World Cup fever.
But with university entrance exams starting at the end of the month,
watching football will cut into valuable study time.

It is a sacrifice that many students are willing to make.

"If I don't pass the exam this year, I will pass next year," said Nghiem
Trong Kien, 17, who said he is rooting for the German team.
"But if I don't watch football this year, I'll have to wait another four
years for the World Cup." That could be a risky decision.

With so few seats available for those who want a higher education,
getting a place in a university is highly competitive in Vietnam.
Every year hundreds of thousands take the entrance examinations but only
20 per cent will get in. For most students, their future rides on how
well they score on this test. And for those without the luxury of
retaking the test next year, this will be their only shot.

"It's studying first and football second," sighed Vu Manh Hung, 17, who
hopes to get a place in Hanoi's Transportation University.

"Although I love football, I have to refrain from watching any matches
until I take the exam."

Vu Duy Khanh, 18, said he will schedule his studying so he can still
watch his favourite team, the Netherlands, play.

"I'll watch at night and study by day," Khanh said. "Last year I took
the exam and failed, so this year I must pass."

With so many young men watching the games when they would otherwise be
studying, some female students suspect that the World Cup might give
them a slight advantage.

"I don't like football and I don't watch football," said Luu Thi Hoa,
17, who will be trying to qualify for a seat at the Hanoi University of
Technology, one of the most competitive in the country.

"None of the girls do."

"Maybe with all the boys watching the World Cup more girls will pass
their entrance exams this year," she said hopefully.

From Steve Denny--

Dear friends, this message is from Anh Do, via the Asian American
Journalists Association. Please pass it among your professional and
student networks. Jean

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Olander, Eric <eolander@la18.tv>
Date: Jun 14, 2006 9:57 AM
Subject: KSCI TV LA 18 JOB VACANCY
To: nvdailynews@gmail.com
Cc: "Gallagher, Patti" <pgallagher@la18.tv>

Dear Ms. Do,

My name is Eric Olander and I oversee news and editorial
operations at KSCI TV Channel 18 here in Los Angeles. We have a very
exciting job opening in our Vietnamese news department that I wanted to
see if you might know anyone who is either skilled in Vietnamese
language broadcast journalism or who may be starting out and very eager
to learn. As you may know, we produce daily Vietnamese language news
for TV and web. In the coming weeks and months we will introduce a
number of new Vietnamese program initiatives that will hopefully be very
well received by the community.

As a long time member of AAJA's Bay Area chapter (where I grew
up), I am a frequent visitor to the AAJA website where I found your
email address. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Please do not
hesitate to contact me if you have any questions whatsoever.

Sincerely,

Eric Olander

--
Anh B. Do
Editor, Nguoi Viet 2 News
www.nguoivietweb.com/nv2_default.asp
Columnist, Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com/columns

Jean Libby, editor
VietAm Review
http://vietamreview.blogharbor.com

Interesting article from the Boston Globe about digitalizing and putting
the JFK library online:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/06/08/giving_online_world
_a_link_to_jfk/

Or similar improbables at the unofficial, fan-created Star Trek shows at places like:


http://www.newvoyages.com/
www.HiddenFrontier.com
www.USSintrepid.org.uk
www.StarshipFarragut.com

Tried my best to do absolutely nothing today, but had a nice BBQ dinner with family and a friend who used to work for Enron.


###
Am re-reading the book 1453 by Roger Crowley. If you have ever have a chance, look up the Battle of Manikert of 1071. Romanus IV Diogenes launches into war against Alp Arslan and his Turkish Sunni army that don't want to fight him; they're on the way to fight Shiites in Egypt, but he ends up obliging the Byzantine Romanus and stepping on Romanus' neck in victory. The irony is that Romanus was originally gunning for extremist Turkmen nomads, not the relatively moderate Seljuk forces. Oops.

And this item from www.Wikipedia.org:

Alp Arslan: "What would you do if I was brought before you as a prisoner?"
Romanus: "Perhaps I'd kill you, or exhibit you in the streets of Constantinople."
Alp Arslan: "My punishment is far heavier. I forgive you, and set you free."

###
Finally, look for the Raconteurs music.

http://www.planetcartoonist.com/editorial/success_rozchast.shtml

Am catching up--I've either been too busy running around in Seoul, or else my Inetrnet has not worked well enough to get a connection (weird but true).

Note the line about few protests...





US defence secretary discusses improved cooperation withVietnam


Deutsche Presse-Agentur

June 5, 2006 Monday 11:29 AM EST

Following a meeting between US and Vietnam's defence
secretaries, the two countries agreed Monday to improve their limited
military exchanges.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed an agreement to
boost military contacts with Vietnam during a one-hour meeting with
Defence Minister Pham Van Tra.

The two former enemies will expand their limited military contacts
by conducting medical exchanges and language training. Rumsfeld told
reporters traveling with him that both sides sought "more visits at
all levels."

Rumsfeld and Tra also discussed continuing cooperation to locate
the remains of 1,805 US soldiers who were killed in the war that
ended 31 years ago. Rumsfeld announced that a US navy ship will visit
Vietnam this summer.

This is Rumsfeld's fourth visit to the communist country. He
previously came to Vietnam as a congressman and later as a private
businessman in 1995.

"I hasten to congratulate you and the people of Vietnam for the
amazing economic achievements that have occurred just in the last 11
years," Rumsfeld told Tra.

The US defence secretary also met with Vietnam's Prime Minister,
Phan Van Kai, in what was characterized as a courtesy visit.
Rumsfeld stopped by the US military's POW/MIA office in Hanoi and
toured the 1,000-year-old Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first
university. He also squeezed in a game of squash.

As the US has become more deeply mired in Iraq, the comparisons
between America's involvement in Vietnam have grown. Yet Rumsfeld's
visit was not dogged by protests, nor was there much attention given
to his visit.

The local media has been barred any access to the US defence
secretary or his entourage.

Rumsfeld is scheduled to depart Hanoi for Jakarta on Tuesday
morning.

We ended up booking and paying for two separate flights for our son to go to summer camp. Ouch. Hope we can resolve it.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

May 31, 2006 Wednesday 10:41 AM EST

SECTION: FINANCE

LENGTH: 336 words

HEADLINE: Vietnam and US ink WTO entry agreement

DATELINE: Hanoi

BODY:


After more than a decade of negotiations, the US and Vietnam signed a trade agreement late Wednesday that is expected to clear the way for the communist country to join the World Trade Organization.


The agreement was signed by Vietnam's Deputy Trade Minister Luong Van Tu and Deputy US Trade Representative Karen K Bhatia. The ceremony took place in the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, which North Vietnamese tanks rolled through in 1975, essentially marking the end of the war.

The US was the last of 28 countries that Vietnam had to hold bilateral talks with before being inducted into the world trade body.
The US Congress must still restore permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam, but a "yes" vote is considered likely.

Multilateral negotiations, the final hurdle before membership, are scheduled for July. Vietnam hopes to become a WTO member before it hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November.

Vietnam's Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen says membership in the world trade body will be a signal to the rest of the world that Vietnam is a stable and secure place to do business.

Economists believe Vietnam will get an immediate boost from WTO membership because quotas on its garment and textile exports will be lifted. Tariffs on most imported US products will be reduced to below
15 per cent.

But many Vietnamese business owners fear losing out to foreign rivals that have better access to technology and capital. Many sectors suffer from obsolete business practices, poor product quality and a shortage of skilled workers.

Nevertheless, Vietnam's leaders believe WTO membership is crucial to the country's economic growth and stability. While Vietnam is one of the last communist political systems, under its policy of "doi moi," or renewal, which embraced free-market reforms, Vietnam has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Last year trade between the US and Vietnam reached a record high of 7.8-billion dollars.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

June 1, 2006 Thursday 11:07 AM EST

LENGTH: 176 words

HEADLINE: Vietnam to legalize sex changes for some

DATELINE: Hanoi

BODY:


Vietnam plans to legalize medical procedures for people with gender disorders, but sex change surgeries will still be banned, an official with the health ministry said Thursday.


Under the new law, individuals who are considered androgynous, or have an anatomical disorder, are eligible for surgery, said Nguyen Huy Quang, deputy head of the Legislative Department under the Ministry of Health. After the surgery they will legally be able to change their birth certificates to reflect the "correct sex."
"If he or she is more like a man, the surgery will make him a man," Quang said. "But sex change surgeries for people with distinct sexual identities is not allowed and will not be allowed. That is a moral matter."
Sex reassignment surgery is illegal in Vietnam. Those who want the operation, and can afford it, usually travel to Thailand. But when they return home, the government has refused to change their legal documents to reflect their new name and gender.
The new rules are expected to go into effect before the end of the year.