Vietnam

End of the war• On April 30 1975 the Vietnam war ended with the

surrender of South Vietnam to the communist north.

• The war claimed the lives of 1.3 million Vietnamese

Post war communist utopia?

• In the aftermath of the war, the government embarked on a mass campaign of collectivization of farms and factories.

• This caused an economic collapse and resulted in triple-digit inflation.

Cambodia• In 1978, the Vietnamese military invaded Cambodia to remove from power

the Khmer Rouge, who had been attacking Vietnamese border villages and massacring the inhabitants

• In early 1979, Vietnam was conducting a two-front war: defending its northern border against a Chinese invasion and supporting its army in Cambodia, which was still fighting Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

• This conflict caused Vietnam to rely even more heavily on Soviet economic and military aid.

Victory at a price•

Hanoi's Marxist policies combined with the destruction of the country's infrastructure during the decades of fighting devastated Vietnam's economy.

• persecution and mass exodus of individuals - many of them successful South Vietnamese merchants had caused the economy to become stagnant

• growing international isolation was also an issue

Opening up• The economy started to pick up in 1986 under doi

moi (economic renovation), an effort at limited privatization.

Investment and relations

• The U.S. lifted a Vietnamese trade embargo in Feb. 1994 that had been in place since U.S. involvement in the war.

• Full diplomatic relations were announced between the two countries in July 1995.

• In 1998, the nation began a drive to eliminate inefficient bureaucrats and streamline the approval process for direct foreign investment.

Not so fast• Efforts of reform-minded officials toward political

and economic change have been partially thwarted by Vietnam's ruling Communist Party.

• In April 2001, however, the progressive Nong Duc Manh was appointed general secretary of the ruling Communist Party

Joining the trade market

• In Nov. 2001, Vietnam's national assembly approved a trade agreement that opened U.S. markets to Vietnam's goods and services.

• Tariffs on Vietnam's products dropped to about 4% from rates as high as 40%.

The west welcomes• Prime Minister Phan Van Khai visited the United States in June

2005, becoming the first Vietnamese leader to do so since the Vietnam War ended.

• He met with President Bush and several business leaders, including Microsoft chairman Bill Gates.

• The U.S. is Vietnam's largest trading partner, buying about $7 billion in Vietnamese goods each year.

Scandal• A corruption scandal rocked Vietnam in April 2006

when Transport minister Dao Dinh Binh resigned amid allegations that members of his staff embezzled millions from the country and used the funds to bet on soccer games.

• His deputy Nguyen Viet Tien was arrested for his role in the scandal.

Transition• Prime Minister Phan Van Khai resigned in June 2006, making way for a younger

leader, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. • Khai had led Vietnam since 1997 and was instrumental in Vietnam's two-decades-

long transition to a market economy

Gay Marriage• In November 2013, Vietnam took a huge step toward

marriage equality by legalizing gay weddings. • The government changed the law after two same-sex

couples were fined for having marriage ceremonies.• The two couples were charged under the Law On

Marriage & Family of Vietnam, a law that bans marriage between persons of the same sex. Prompted by this incident, the law was changed to legally allow same-sex weddings.

• Under the change, same-sex couples would now officially have the right to live together. However, same-sex marriages would still not be legally recognized.

Politically communist Economically liberal

• The Communist leaders, however, maintain control on political expression and have resisted outside calls to improve human rights.

• No other party except those approved by the communist party are allowed to participate in elections

• The country continues to experience small-scale protests from various groups, the vast majority connected to land-use issues.

• The human rights advocacy group Amnesty International says in a 2011 report that ''more than a dozen activists were convicted in faulty trials simply because they had peacefully voiced criticism of government policies''.

Gay Marriage • In November 2013, Vietnam took a huge step toward marriage equality by legalizing

gay weddings. • The government changed the law after two same-sex couples were fined for having

marriage ceremonies. • The two couples were charged under the Law On Marriage & Family of Vietnam, a

law that bans marriage between persons of the same sex. Prompted by this incident, the law was changed to legally allow same-sex weddings.

• Under the change, same-sex couples would now officially have the right to live together. However, same-sex marriages would still not be legally recognized. Still, gay rights activists believed it was a large step on the path to marriage equality for Vietnam

Disputed Waters• Regional tension over claims to islands and resources in the South China Sea• China has declared sovereignty over the sea and many of its islands, including the Paracel and

Spratly islands, which are rich in oil and gas reserves and fish. However, Vietnam has also laid claim to island chains.

• While the issue has been festering for decades, China took a tougher stance in 2012, warning other nations to refrain from oil and gas exploration and placing naval vessels in the South China Sea.

• In 2014, tensions increased between China and Vietnam when Vietnamese officials reported that their vessels had been hit by Chinese ships. "On May 4, Chinese ships intentionally rammed two Vietnamese Sea Guard vessels,” said Foreign Ministry official Tran Duy Hai, during a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Chinese ships, with air support, sought to intimidate Vietnamese vessels.”

• The situation intensified three days later when Vietnamese ships confronted Chinese ships. • The Chinese vessels were placing an oil rig off the coast of Vietnam when the confrontation

occurred. The placement of the rig also led to protests throughout Vietnam and some of those protests turned violent.

• On May 14, anti-China protesters set fire to at least 15 foreign-owned factories throughout Vietnam, according to state media. Protesters also destroyed and looted offices of manufacturing companies owned or managed by Chinese workers. At least one person died in the protests.

• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/world/asia/vietnams-nuclear-dreams-blossom-despite-doubts.html?ref=vietnam

• http://the-diplomat.com/2012/04/12/why-u-s-should-embrace-vietnam/

• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/business/international/mcdonalds-chooses-its-moment-in-vietnam.html

• http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/vietnam-shows-china-its-resolve-with-military-posters/?_r=0