Reading this report from Manila, I won’t forget when the delta variant hit Indonesia, which had been early on from the developing world to order vaccines, all ranging from Sputnik, Sinopharm, Sinovac, to Pfizer. 1/ Yet, at that time as in much of the developing world, Sinovac were the only providers capable of supplying large amounts and well on time. The rest, especially Sputnik and Pfizer, came on small sea drops and far too late (due to overwhelming orders and hoarding elsewhere). 2/

Three major phenomena that make 2024 so far an extraordinarily unprecedented time in Vietnamese politics & society: 1/ (1) Since the 13th VCP Congress in 2021, 6 Politburo members, its highest decision-making body, have been ousted from power, including 2 sitting Presidents; 1 Parliamentary Chairman; >20 VCP Central Commitee members. An extent of elite political crisis unlike anytime since 1935.

https://twitter.com/cnguyenec/status/1783800695927476531

Notwithstanding their own limitations, I keep thinking about Indian FM Jaishankar’s “[is not] transactionally unsentimental” description of India’s approach to Russia. It confirms how the role of affectionate politics is somewhat underestimated in Western calculations. 1/ Affectionate politics comprise both multi-faceted, longstanding exposure to anything USSR/Russia (ranging from culture, friendships, mentorships, studies, to anything political) and individual and collectively-held gratitude for past deeds during one’s own crises. 2/

Vietnam officially joins the “community for a shared future”, under some carefully crafted terms with respect to the intl’ laws and territorial integrity. This is followed by approx. 36 🇻🇳 🇨🇳 cooperation deals to be signed tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/hungson_dav/status/1734562513449075126

Noteworthy in this announcement is the elevated emphasis on the party-to-party ties and channels for commanding the overall party-state bilateral relations.

#Gabon coup: "So far, eight ex-French colonies in West and Central Africa have fallen to military rulers in just three years, each one coming with a wave of anti-France sentiment blamed on interference from the former colonial power." @CNN
edition.cnn.com/2023/09/01/afr… @CNN Been thinking lately of how the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine has accelerated two parallel universes in terms of 'self-determination': 1) increased vigilance to the threat of revanchist invasions in Asia, and 2) various ex-Western colonies taking the opportunity of Russia's war

I know of this Vietnamese migrant worker overseas, a young mother of one daughter, who came from Vietnam with no formal education beyond completing middle school and is literate in the language of her country of current residence at the very basic level. She pulls out 10 hours and more work almost every day, while also trying to help out with her own daughter's homework (in a foreign language) during breaks from work by watching tutorials on youtube. Especially in mathematics, the mother herself doesn't understand much, and struggles to help out her

Found the 1-hour interviews each with two #Vietnam military generals on the 1st anniversary of #Russia's war on #Ukraine to be overall well-balanced. A large segment of each interview was dedicated to candid reflections on Russia's multifold mistakes. Both view the war as unjust. The interview with Major Gen. Nguyen Hong Quan was conducted by FNBC, a corporate news channel. Quite a respected and highly-sought commentator in the past year for daring to discuss the many pitfalls of this war (triggered a protest from RU embassy too).

With the highest echelons of Vietnam’s foreign affairs ministry now punished, public attention only intensified toward the fate of 2-3 deputy prime ministers, including zero-Covid tsar, Vu Duc Dam, and former foreign minister, Pham Binh Minh. baochinhphu.vn/bo-chinh-tri-b… The end of this week might witness the biggest sudden shake-up in government leadership personnel in many years amid an anti-corruption drive and intra-party struggles.

You will be surprised at how little policy makers (otherwise very technocratic, pragmatic and self-critical) at the top in Vietnam nowadays emphasize the role of past wars to excuse for many contemporary economic problems.

https://twitter.com/AlkRomeo/status/1585747652763070465

The current minister of planning and investment, Nguyen Chi Dung, once summoned all senior and junior staff for a 4-hour session on why Vietnam failed to meet its own set target of becoming an industrialized country by 2020 (set in 2006). "Why? Why? Why?" vietnamnet.vn/nhung-tran-tro…

It’s about time that “since 1979” myth ends. The Sino-Vietnamese war lasted for 10 years. Among the highest daily combat losses in the history of Vietnam People’s Army took place in 1984 against China (600 to 1,700 per day in the Battle of Vi Xuyen/Laoshan).

https://twitter.com/BrankoMilan/status/1581470517131108352

For the duration of 1979-89, you will have several ‘Sino-Indian War of 1962’ in terms of military and civilian deaths. It’s only as late as 2009 that most of the occupied land territories since 1979-89 were returned to Vietnam.