Pro-democracy representatives from the Vietnamese community have met White House officials in Washington in advance of the upcoming visit by the Communist party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong. Reports from Washington said the activists called on the National Security Council to…
After days of rumours about the health of the Defence Minister, General Phung Quang Thanh, officials have confirmed that he had an emergency operation for a lung tumour in Paris. A powerful conservative with a pro-China background, General Thanh has…
A former top diplomat, Tran Quang Co, renowned for his revelations about Vietnam’s highly sensitive ties with China, died on June 25 at the age of 88. He was one of the first senior officials to call for the normalisation…
A first attempt at dialogue over the Hanoi city government’s plan to cut down thousands of the city’s famous old trees ended in recriminations and ill feeling. More than twenty environmental activists responded to an apparent invitation to talk from…
Deputies attending the seventh meeting of the 13th National Assembly set their vigilant eye on the draft Referendum Law, which they think is not relevant to the Vietnamese context where “people’s knowledge is limited.” A deputy from Hanoi, Ha Minh Hue,…
THANH NIEN – Vietnam has protested and dismissed China’s annual ban on fishing ban in the East Sea, the Vietnamese name for the South China Sea, for the next two-and-a-half months. Le Hai Binh, spokesman for the Vietnamese foreign affairs…
DOAN TRANG – Exclusive interview by VNRN with Assistant Secretary Tom Malinowski, Head of Delegation, US Delegation to the 19th US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue (May 7-8). My name is Trang, I’m an independent journalist and blogger in Vietnam, covering political…
VNRN – The group “For A Green Hanoi” on Wednesday has met up with the “Citizen Meeting” office of the local People’s Committee to hand in a list of unanswered question, taking a step further in their cause to protect trees in…
US President Barack Obama on Friday held a talk with blogger Nguyen Van Hai (aka. Dieu Cay), who used to be considered “anti-state” and sentenced to almost 15 years of imprisonment by the police-dominated courts in Vietnam. The meeting is particularly…
Late PM Vo Van Kiet, in his lifetime, was the first communist leader to describe April 30, the reunification day of Vietnam, as a day when “millions of people are happy while millions of others are sorrowful,” in an interview he…