DTN News - HILLARY CLINTON IN HANOI: Clinton Supports Vietnam's To Resolve Issues In Disputed South China Sea

DTN News - HILLARY CLINTON IN HANOI: Clinton Supports Vietnam's To Resolve Issues In Disputed South China Sea

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 10, 2012: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, poses for a photo with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the Government Office in Hanoi Tuesday, July 10, 2012. 

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton says she supports Vietnam's work to help resolve issues in the disputed South China Sea but believes the communist country needs to do more to protect human rights.  (Photo - AP)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/

DTN News - DISPUTED ISLANDS: China Sends 'Combat Ready' Patrols To Spratlys

DTN News - DISPUTED ISLANDS: China Sends 'Combat Ready' Patrols To Spratlys 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 29, 2012: "Combat ready" Chinese naval and aerial patrols have been deployed to the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea to protect Beijing's interests, the Chinese Defense Ministry said Thursday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said China will "resolutely oppose any militarily provocative behavior" from other countries also claiming ownership of the Spratlys.

"In order to protect national sovereignty and our security and development interests, the Chinese military has already set up a normal, combat-ready patrol system in seas under our control," he said.

"The Chinese military's resolve and will to defend territorial sovereignty and protect our maritime rights and interests is firm and unshakeable," Geng added.

Vietnam has launched regular air patrols over the Spratly Islands.

Four aircraft, including two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets, were deployed to the area on June 15, according to Vietnam's Thanh Nien News.

The Philippine Air Force, meanwhile, has deployed reconnaissance aircraft to Scarborough shoal just off Zambales that China is also claiming.

(Read complete story on Defense-Technology News - Click on link undermentioned)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/06/dtn-news-disputed-islands-china-sends.html

DTN News - EURO 2012: Football Fever Trending Across Vietnam for the Euro 2012

DTN News - EURO 2012:  Football Fever Trending Across Vietnam for the Euro 2012

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 26, 2012: A newspaper vendor walks past Euro2012 advertising posters outside a bar in downtown Hanoi on June 26, 2012. Vietnamese police have arrested 26 people after uncovering an illegal football betting ring set up to cash in on the Euro 2012 championship, local media reported on June 26.   (Photo - Getty)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/

DTN News - DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION: Philippines Accuses China Of Deploying 100 Ships In Scarborough Shoal

DTN News - DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION: Philippines Accuses China Of Deploying 100 Ships In Scarborough Shoal

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 26, 2012: There are now 92 Chinese ships at Panatag.

The Philippines accused China on Wednesday of flaring tensions anew by sending more government and fishing vessels to Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal despite ongoing talks to resolve the two-month-old standoff.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the number of Chinese vessels at Scarborough Shoal increased to 92 from 77 on Tuesday. They included four government ships and fishing and utility boats.

Hernandez said the Philippines had only two vessels in the area, which both countries claim.

Hernandez said the DFA handed Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing a diplomatic note on Monday to protest the presence on that day of 77 Chinese vessels-five government ships, 16 fishing boats and 56 dinghies used to load fish or corals.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hong Lei, on Wednesday said that nearly 100 Chinese boats or dinghies arrived at the shoal.

"The Philippine side has recently taken some provocative actions in the Huangyan Island waters, thus the Chinese side has adopted corresponding measures to strengthen management and control," Hong said, using China's name for Scarborough Shoal.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-disputed-south-china-sea.html

DTN News - DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION: Protesters In Manila Accuse Poaching By Chinese Fishermen In Scarborough Shoal

DTN News - DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION: Protesters In Manila Accuse Poaching By Chinese Fishermen In Scarborough Shoal

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 26, 2012: There are now 92 Chinese ships at Panatag.

The Philippines accused China on Wednesday of flaring tensions anew by sending more government and fishing vessels to Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal despite ongoing talks to resolve the two-month-old standoff.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the number of Chinese vessels at Scarborough Shoal increased to 92 from 77 on Tuesday. They included four government ships and fishing and utility boats.

Hernandez said the Philippines had only two vessels in the area, which both countries claim.

Hernandez said the DFA handed Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing a diplomatic note on Monday to protest the presence on that day of 77 Chinese vessels-five government ships, 16 fishing boats and 56 dinghies used to load fish or corals.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hong Lei, on Wednesday said that nearly 100 Chinese boats or dinghies arrived at the shoal.

"The Philippine side has recently taken some provocative actions in the Huangyan Island waters, thus the Chinese side has adopted corresponding measures to strengthen management and control," Hong said, using China's name for Scarborough Shoal.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-disputed-south-china-sea.html

DTN News - OBAMA BACK FROM AFGHANISTAN: US President Barack Returns To The White House From A Surprise Trip To Afghanistan And Signed A Strategic Partnership Agreement With President Hamid Karzai

DTN News - OBAMA BACK FROM AFGHANISTAN: US President Barack Returns To The White House From A Surprise Trip To Afghanistan And Signed A Strategic Partnership Agreement With President Hamid Karzai

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 2, 2012: US President Barack Obama walks from Marine One to the White House May 2, 2012 in Washington, DC. 

President Obama was returning from a surprise trip to Afghanistan where he signed a strategic partnership agreement with President Hamid Karzai, visited troops and addressed Americans from Bagram Air Base.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-obama-in-afghanistan-obamas.html

DTN News - OBAMA IN AFGHANISTAN: President Barack Obama With Afghan President Hamid Karzai Signed Strategic Partnership Agreement In Kabul

DTN News - OBAMA IN AFGHANISTAN: President Barack Obama With Afghan President Hamid Karzai Signed Strategic Partnership Agreement In Kabul

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 2, 2012: US President Barack Obama (CL) attends a meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (CR), on May 2, 2012 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The US and Afghan Presidents signed a long-term strategic partnership outlining their cooperation following the 2014 withdrawal of NATO and allied forces. 

Obama made the secret visit to the country on the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death and made a primetime tv address to the American people from Bagram Air Base in Kabul.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-obama-in-afghanistan-obamas.html

DTN News - OBAMA IN AFGHANISTAN: Obama’s Afghanistan Plan - Echoes of Vietnam In The U.S. Exit Strategy

DTN News - OBAMA IN AFGHANISTAN: Obama’s Afghanistan Plan - Echoes of Vietnam In The U.S. Exit Strategy

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 2, 2012: To understand the historical significance of President Barack Obama’s visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday, imagine that President Richard Nixon had, in the spring of 1972, flown to Saigon to signal American voters that the Vietnam war was coming to an end — and to ink a deal with President Nguyen Van Thieu codifying a long-term U.S. relationship with the Republic of South Vietnam, which would shortly be left responsible for its own security. 

“Today, I signed a historic agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that defines a new kind of relationship between our countries – a future in which Afghans are responsible for the security of their nation, and we build an equal partnership between two sovereign states; a future in which the war ends, and a new chapter begins,” Obama said Tuesday.  Nixon might have said something similar on that imaginary 1972 visit. Except, of course, everyone knew that Vietnam’s future would not be defined by an agreement between Washington and Thieu, as much as by the one signed in Paris, two months after Nixon’s reelection, between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, representing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (a.k.a. “North Vietnam”). Even that deal collapsed, of course, with the DRV and its supporters in the south finishing off the Thieu regime 19 months after U.S. troops withdrew.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-obama-in-afghanistan-obamas.html

DTN News - MEKONG-JAPAN SUMMIT 2012: Leaders From Myanmar Thein Sein, Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra And Japan Yoshihiko Noda Take Part In Electric Car Demonstration On Sidelines Of Summit In Tokyo

DTN News - MEKONG-JAPAN SUMMIT 2012: Leaders From Myanmar Thein Sein, Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra And Japan Yoshihiko Noda Take Part In Electric Car Demonstration On Sidelines Of  Summit In Tokyo

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 21, 2012: Myanmar President Thein Sein, left front, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, second left in front, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, center, take part in an electric car demonstration on the sidelines of the Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo, Saturday, April 21, 2012.                                 (Photo – AP)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/

DTN News - MEKONG-JAPAN SUMMIT 2012: Leaders From Japan Yoshihiko Noda, Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra And Vietnam Nguen Tan Dung Feed Carp After Their Dinner At The Akasaka Palace In Tokyo

DTN News - MEKONG-JAPAN SUMMIT 2012: Leaders From Japan Yoshihiko Noda, Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra And Vietnam Nguen Tan Dung Feed Carp After Their Dinner At The Akasaka Palace In Tokyo

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 21, 2012: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (L) and Mekong nations leaders (L-R) Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguen Tan Dung feed carp after their dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on April 20, 2012.     

 Japan will host a summit with five Mekong nations on Saturday aimed at fostering development and friendship in a resource-rich region that is also being courted by China.

(Photo – Getty)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/

Aung San Suu Kyi - matching words with action

From Amnesty International;

Leaders worldwide condemned Myanmar's decision last week to extend Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's imprisonment by 18 months after finding her guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest.

It's time for global leaders to match words with actions.

While Amnesty applauds the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' condemnation of the verdict in Aung San Suu Kyi's trial, the 10-nation ASEAN bloc must ratchet up pressure for the release of Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar.

The head of the Myanmar's ruling military junta, Than Shwe, has brushed off criticisms before, and there's little reason to believe he'll clean-up his act unless ASEAN shows that this time it means business.

That's why we're calling on ASEAN to convene a meeting of the top brass in foreign affairs from all 10 member nations to come up with concrete measures to finally address the growing human rights crisis in Myanmar.


General Than Shwe

We're turning up the heat ourselves by calling on supporters to send 10,000 postcards – instead of emails – to the Thai government, which currently chairs ASEAN. (Don't worry – we'll send the postcard for you, so you don't have to buy postage, lick stamps or find a mailbox.)

Send a postcard today demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar. Time is running out. Vietnam will replace Thailand as chair of ASEAN at the end of next month. Critics have raised concerns that ASEAN's new human rights body will be toothless under Vietnam's leadership.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/98b8a476-7548-11de-9ed5-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

We must ramp up our calls on Thailand to show leadership on human rights in Myanmar in order for it to make a difference in the remaining weeks of its chairmanship.

Act now. Help us send 10,000 postcards to the Thai government by September 1st to urge them to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar.

Paste this link into your browser to send a postcard.

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.jhKPIXPCIoE/b.5380275/k.7928/Free_Aung_San_Suu_Kyi/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=5380275&ICID=I0908A02&tr=y&auid=5207238