A boat carrying tourists capsized after an unexpected thunderstorm hit Vietnam Saturday, leaving 34 people dead, according to multiple reports.
The Wonder Sea was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members during a tour of Ha Long Bay, NPR reported, citing local outlets. Eight people are still missing, the outlet reported.
Eleven individuals were saved by rescue workers and the dead were recovered at a site near where the boat capsized, NPR reported, citing the VNExpress newspaper. The newspaper reported that the boat turned over due to strong winds.
The boat overturned around 1:30 p.m., local time and lost its GPS signal around 2:05 p.m., according to VNExpress. Authorities with local police, port authorities and the navy responded alongside 27 boats and two rescue crafts. (Read more from “Over 30 Dead After Boat Carrying Tourists Capsizes In Unexpected Thunderstorm” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/3541377575_58a1c15020_b.jpg6801024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2025-07-22 21:33:452025-07-27 00:56:51Over 30 Dead After Boat Carrying Tourists Capsizes In Unexpected Thunderstorm
Hackers working on behalf of the Vietnamese government attempted to break into Chinese organizations heading up the country’s coronavirus response, according to infosec outfit FireEye.
APT32, a hacking group previously linked to the Vietnamese government, tried to access the personal and professional email addresses of staff at China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the government of Wuhan, where it is believed the pandemic started, according to a report released by FireEye yesterday.
Between January and April, APT32 sent Chinese officials phishing emails that contained a tracking link claiming to direct the reader to a report on office equipment bids. When clicked, the link would report back to the hackers, indicating that they the trigger-happy user was vulnerable to malware. . .
Tensions between Vietnam and China are high, as the former nation this week protested the latter’s extension of its domestic administration units to cover disputed islands in the South China Sea. (Read more from “Vietnam Alleged to Have Hacked Chinese Organizations in Charge of COVID-19 Response” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/2000px-Flag_of_Vietnam.svg_.png13332000Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2020-04-23 21:53:472020-04-23 22:18:05Vietnam Alleged to Have Hacked Chinese Organizations in Charge of COVID-19 Response
Vietnamese officials say China is intentionally mislabeling its products as “made in Vietnam” to avoid American tariffs, and have ordered offices to more aggressively examine products’ certificates of origin.
Chinese firms first export products to Vietnam, then change the labeling on packages before exporting the goods to the United States, Japan or Europe, they said.
“Dozens” of products have been identified, Hoang Thi Thuy, a Vietnamese Customs Department official, told state-run media, and goods like textiles, fishery products, agricultural products, steel, aluminum, and processed wooden products were most vulnerable to the fraud. . .
“It will sabotage Vietnamese brands and products and it will also affect consumers. We could even get tariff retribution from other countries, and if that happens, it will hurt our economy,” Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh told the Vietnamese National Assembly last week.
Vietnam does not have any legal requirements for certification of the “Made in Vietnam” label. The country’s current regulations require that goods be produced partly or completely in Vietnam, but does not provide a mechanism for determining the veracity of the label. (Read more from “Vietnam Says That China Is Mislabeling Products as Vietnamese to Avoid U.S. Tariffs” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/7378023376_8e8ccd6b3a_b-2.jpg7221023Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2019-06-28 21:34:522019-06-28 21:31:22Vietnam Says That China Is Mislabeling Products as Vietnamese to Avoid U.S. Tariffs
A decorated Vietnam veteran and firearms collector was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Wednesday for a decades-old purchase of a rifle.
Alfred Pick, 70, purchased the M14 — a fully automatic weapon illegal to own — at a Ft. Worth gun show in the early 1980s, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The rifle, which had a scratched-off serial number, was similar to the one Pick used as an Army lieutenant in Vietnam, where he earned a Silver Star after participating in more than 100 combat missions and his brief time as a POW.
“The man is a Silver Star winner, he saved lives, he took care of his wife, he’s been in custody for a year, I would think that when a man turned 70 and is an American hero you don’t destroy the rest of his life for one mistake,” Mark Shackelford, a friend, told KDFW-TV.
Shackelford called the weapon the “piece de resistance” of Pick’s collection, adding that “He had shown it to me. I’ve never seen it taken out of the case. (Read more from “Decorated Vietnam Vet Sentenced to Prison for Automatic Rifle Purchased in the 1980s” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/jail.jpg8001200Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2018-10-22 20:52:422018-10-28 00:42:13Decorated Vietnam Vet Sentenced to Prison for Automatic Rifle Purchased in the 1980s
An illegal immigrant from Vietnam faces life in prison after being convicted Monday in the 2012 hammer-killing of a family of five after losing money at a casino earlier in the evening.
Binh Thai Luc, who had a violent criminal history and was supposed to be deported in 2006, was found guilty in the murders of a family of Chinese immigrants. He was also found guilty of five counts of attempted robbery and two counts of burglary.
Luc, who was in debt and served an eviction notice, killed the family during a robbery after he lost money at a casino on March 23, 2012.
Prosecutors said the family kept thousands of dollars in cash in the San Francisco home. Luc had more than $6,500 with him during his arrest. The jury was told that Luc settled his debt after the killings.
Despite no eyewitness accounts of Luc’s involvement, investigators said one of the family member’s blood was found spattered on Luc’s jeans. Luc’s blood was found on a pack of cigarettes, a receipt and a cabinet drawer, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. (Read more from “Illegal Alien Found Guilty of Murdering Family of 5” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/8559722063_d78cba51bc_b.jpg6621024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-12-11 22:48:262017-12-11 22:48:26Illegal Alien Found Guilty of Murdering Family of 5
The May summit between President Donald Trump and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuân Phúc demonstrated the extent of warming relations between Vietnam and the U.S.
Over the past two decades, U.S.-Vietnam relations have been relatively stable with converging interests in economics, military affairs, and geopolitics. This relationship will prove to be particularly important as both countries contend with China’s expansion in the South China Sea.
Hours after meeting with Trump, Phúc spoke at The Heritage Foundation about Vietnamese-American relations and Vietnam’s security concerns.
During his speech, the prime minister touched on several shared U.S.-Vietnamese interests. He commended the trading of technology and produce, the signing of $15 billion in contracts, the investing of $10 billion to American projects in Vietnam, and the expanding of tourism and education.
According to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, part of the deals included a $3.4 billion investment in goods manufactured in the U.S. that support 23,000 jobs.
The prime minister also mentioned that investments between the two countries continue to be signs of good relations, with 850 American projects already in Vietnam worth over $10 billion and Vietnam-issued licenses making way for $50 to $70-million projects in America.
Converging military interests are also bringing the two nations closer, despite their embattlement in the Vietnam War decades ago.
The White House announced that the U.S. and Vietnam pledged to strengthen defense ties under the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding on Advancing Bilateral Defense Cooperation and the 2015 Joint Vision Statement on Defense Relations.
One of the most noticeable agreements in recent months is the delivery of six patrol boats and a decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard Hamilton-class cutter. More measures to expand maritime security have also been in the talks between the two countries.
As for humanitarian issues, Phúc advocated for “accelerated humanitarian cooperation to address [the] consequences of war” through continued cooperation in areas such as decontamination, extraction of explosives, and investigation of missing soldiers.
The U.S. and Vietnam have long cooperated in the accounting for American servicemen missing from the Vietnam War.
One topic the prime minister did not address was the issue of human rights for Vietnamese citizens.
According to the State Department, Vietnam has a poor track record with its restrictive policies on speech, its poor judicial system, and inhumane police treatment.
Many Vietnamese activists urged Trump to address arbitrary arrests and beatings of citizens like bloggers defending land-rights and Catholic priests protesting the Formosa Plastics Corp. environmental disaster.
Prior to the prime minister’s visit, however, the U.S. and Vietnam did hold human rights dialogues in Hanoi—something that would not be possible without a broader, positive relationship.
The United States and Vietnam have intersecting interests across a range of issue areas. The two nations should seek to develop those common interests through continued economic, cultural, military, and humanitarian engagement. (For more from the author of “US and Vietnam Deepen Ties During Prime Minister’s Recent Visit” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Flag_of_Vietnam.svg_.png8531280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-06-15 21:18:332017-06-15 21:18:33US and Vietnam Deepen Ties During Prime Minister’s Recent Visit
Vietnam is arming its expanding submarine fleet with land attack missiles that could be capable of reaching Chinese coastal cities, a choice of weapon likely to be seen as provocative by China in the ongoing South China Sea dispute.
The independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) recently updated data on its website to show Vietnam’s acquisition of the Russian-made land attack variant of the Klub missile for its state-of-the-art Kilo attack submarines.
SIPRI arms researcher Siemon Wezeman said the entry was based on an earlier but little-noticed filing Vietnam made last year to the United Nations’ register of conventional arms.
Regional military attaches and analysts see the missiles as a further sign of Vietnam’s determination to counter the rise of China’s military and part of a broader trend of Asian countries re-arming amid rising territorial tensions . . .
While those would potentially target Chinese ships and submarines in the South China Sea, the land attack weapons are capable of precision strikes at a range of 300 kilometres, making China’s coastal cities potential targets in any conflict. (Read more from “Vietnam Buys Submarine-Launched Land Attack Missiles to Deter China” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-05-01 03:50:422015-05-01 03:50:42“Major Provocation”: Vietnam Buys Submarine-Launched Land Attack Missiles to Deter China
Having reached her mid-seventies, Oscar-winner Jane Fonda is now in that phase of her career where she’s celebrated with all kinds of “achievement awards.” Last night at the L.A. Press Club gala honoring her, Fonda revealed that her biggest regret in life is no longer not “f***ing” mass-murderer Che Guevera, but that moment that defined her even more than her film career: when she was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun meant to shoot down American pilots during the Vietnam War.
In a short speech, Fonda called out her friends in the audience — Daniels, Sam Waterston, Melanie Griffith and Lily Tomlin — and said, “I can’t tell you how moved I am for this award.”
Then, in a “lightning round” Q&A with NBC 4 anchor Robert Kovacik, Fonda touched on a variety of topics: …
– On her greatest regret in life: “Sitting on that gun in North Vietnam. I’ll go to my grave with that one.”
Well, give the actress credit. This is a step up from what we learned in Patricia Bosworth’s Biography, “Jane Fonda,” where the star reportedly said: “My biggest regret is I never got to f*** Che Guevara.” (Read about Fonda’s regret of sitting on the gun in North Vietnam HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-01-19 03:54:192016-04-11 11:03:24Jane Fonda’s Latest Regret: Sitting on That Gun in North Vietnam
When veterans of the Vietnam War returned to the United States, they did not receive the same type of “welcome home” as our veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead of being greeted with open arms, veterans of Vietnam were often met with open hostility instead, sometimes being spat on or accused of being “baby killers and “war criminals.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-07-16 03:13:372016-04-11 11:07:16WATCH: America Honors Vietnam Vets By Giving Them The Long Awaited Welcome Home They’ve Always Deserved
Photo Credit: APVietnam veterans in California are furious all over again with Jane Fonda, after the actress was chosen to speak this month at a UCLA graduation ceremony.
Fonda, who in 1972 traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam, to meet with enemy soldiers and called American soldiers “war criminals,” has been picked to be the graduation speaker at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television’s commencement ceremony on June 13.
“We hate her,” Nick Callas, 67, president of the Santa Clarita chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America, told FoxNews.com. “We won’t ever see any of her movies or support anything she did. It makes me sick to see her get this kind of recognition.
It was Fonda’s journey to Vietnam, as American soldiers were dying in the jungles of Southeast Asia and the nation was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the war, that veterans like Callas will never forget — or forgive. Fonda famously posed near a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. Although she has apologized since, many veterans believe she helped lift the enemy’s spirits while demoralizing those of young Americans.
The actress told Oprah Winfrey in 2013 she made an “unforgivable mistake,” saying she was taken to a North Vietnam military site during the last day of her visit, despite her objections.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-06-03 02:20:382016-04-11 11:09:07Veterans See Red as Jane Fonda Tapped to Speak to UCLA Grads
