How the Disaster May Help Japan's Brand

The March 11 earthquake, tsunami, and resulting nuclear accident have led some to question the health of Japan's "brand." Japanese products, services, and business partnerships in recent years have enjoyed a halo effect emanating from Japan's reputation as a land of safety, efficiency, and trustworthiness. As renowned Japanese columnist Yoichi Funabashi put it this week, "Instead of viewing Japan as a haven of immunity from danger and inconvenience, many around the world now perceive the country as fraught with peril and discomfort." The impact of the recent disasters on Japan's reputation or brand has been one of the focal points of experts who worry that the disaster would damage the prospects of Japan's strategic growth industries such as cuisine, tourism, and services. But this is not the whole story.

Rather it is the perseverance and calm that Japanese society demonstrated during the crisis that remains the enduring image of Japan in the minds of many people. This positive story was featured widely in the U.S. media immediately after the earthquake and remains relevant today. A case in point today is in Vietnam, a country I visited last month to conduct research on attitudes toward Japan and the United States. Every Vietnamese expert I spoke with told me that their impression of Japan had been further enhanced since the March 11 earthquake. In Vietnam, Japan's reputation was already positive in part due to Japan's vital role in Vietnamese economic development, for example as the largest contributor of foreign aid after the World Bank.

But more interestingly, many Vietnamese admired Japanese discipline, order, and perseverance during the recent crisis. Some Vietnamese want their society to resemble that of Japan as a leading Asian Confucian society, described in T.R. Reid's classic book Confucius Lives Next Door.

Vietnam is no outlier on this view. According to a survey conducted May 9-18 by the AIP-Hakuhodo Earthquake Recovery Project on the "Image of Japanese Products Internationally," positive attitudes of those surveyed toward Japan and Japanese products outnumbered negative ones. A total of 2,700 people were surveyed in China, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Brazil. Most people were aware of the earthquake and nuclear accident but wanted to see Japan recover quickly (62.8 percent) and felt sympathy for Japanese people (56.8 percent). As for products, more people responded that their desire to purchase Japanese goods had increased compared with one year ago than those who said it had decreased.

These positive attitudes stand in stark contrast to those in Vietnam toward China. Vietnam's relationship with China reached a "critical mass" in 2008 and has deteriorated since then, reverting to the previous unfriendly relationship that prevailed for the past millennium. Vietnam's brief friendship with China in the 1990s was seen as naive by many of the experts I spoke with. I was in Hanoi during which China's maritime aggression was on display in the South China Sea, when one of its ships cut the underwater cables of a Vietnamese gas survey ship. These episodes have pushed Vietnam closer to the United States and Japan.

China's approach in other areas also has resulted in bringing Vietnam closer to Japan and the United States. Delays in the construction of power plants by Chinese contractors and Vietnam's reliance in its territorially-sensitive northern provinces on China for hydroelectric power have also had this effect. Meanwhile, the appetite for nuclear power and cooperation with Japan in this area remains strong in Vietnam despite the Fukushima crisis. The immediate need in Vietnam is for reliable, affordable electricity, and nuclear power will be a major source in providing that electricity.

Another area is the export of rare earth supplies, which China has restricted, sending prices skyrocketing recently. These strategic metals are used in the production of batteries and high-tech electronics. Demand for rare earths in Japan will increase as its economy recovers in the short-term and as it explores alternatives to nuclear power in the longer-term. China began restricting exports of rare earths to Japan in September 2010 in response to the detainment of a Chinese fishing boat captain by the Japanese coast guard.

Chinese manipulation of the rare earths market again has pushed Japan closer to its neighbors. It has led the Japanese government and companies to promote exploration of rare earths projects in Vietnam and other countries. But one Vietnamese expert told me that he believes that China will begin dumping rare earths on the global market once other countries attain the capacity to produce the metals. This perception that China plays a zero-sum game is common in Southeast Asia and has convinced many that Japan represents a more trustworthy partner that values a positive-sum business ethic.

Many Japan watchers have called the March 11 earthquake a pivot point for Japan's future trajectory. Japan could very well seize this moment to promote innovation, for example in the areas of clean energy and efficiency, and build stronger relationships with its neighbors. But it is a step too far to say that if Japan fails to take advantage of this situation fully, the other path is ruin. It is rather more likely that Japan will face more of the same, with its long-term problems persisting. As one of the most coherent nation-states on Earth, Japan isn't going anywhere. Even if its government fails to come up with a winning strategy, Japan will remain one of the world's most influential economies for years to come.

It is certain, though, that the disaster and the country's response have humanized Japan and shattered stereotypes, making it a country that is more accessible and closer to the rest of the world.


Also published in the Huffington Post.

Photo by Marc Veraart.

Vietnam must improve rights: US envoy pick

WASHINGTON - THE nominee to be the next US ambassador to Vietnam on Wednesday saluted warming relations between the former enemies but said the communist nation needed to improve human rights for fuller ties.

Mr David Shear, a veteran diplomat in Asia, pledged in a Senate confirmation hearing to make sure 'our relationship with Vietnam is among the most successful in the East Asian region'.

Quoting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mr Shear said that the United States and Vietnam 'have reached a level of cooperation that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.'

But Mr Shear said there 'remains a deep concern about the imprisonment of dissidents, restrictions on the media and the Internet and the harassment of religious groups'.

'Vietnam will not realise its full potential without greater respect for human rights, and its troubling record in this area could limit the growth of our relationship,' he said. He pledged that he would 'make human rights and religious freedom a central part of my conversations with Vietnam's leaders and with the Vietnamese people.'

Most recently, the United States raised concerns over the sentencing of prominent Vietnamese dissident Cu Huy Ha Vu, the son of a revolutionary leader, who got into trouble over his writings and interviews with foreign media. -- AFP

Vietnam dissident's attorneys file complaint

HANOI - THE defence team of a prominent Vietnamese dissident lawyer sentenced this week to prison has filed a complaint alleging the judge in his trial broke the law by obstructing their rights to hear all the evidence.

Cu Huy Ha Vu, 53, the well-known son of a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader, was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years under house arrest at the one-day trial on Monday on charges of conducting propaganda against the state.

One of Vu's four defence attorneys was ejected from the courtroom for repeatedly asking the judge to read in full or provide copies of 10 interviews Vu gave to foreign media, which were used as key evidence against him.

The three other attorneys walked out in protest, leaving Vu to defend himself.

In the complaint, posted at a popular dissident website and verified on Tuesday by lawyer Tran Dinh Trien, the defence team accused the judge of violating their rights as attorneys and the rights of their client by refusing to provide the full evidence.

'There has been a serious violation of laws during the investigation, prosecution and at the court,' said Mr Trien, one of the three lawyers who left the court in protest. 'According to the law, the evidence must be announced at the trial, but they did not. -- AP

Vietnamese woman jailed for human trafficking

HANOI - A JUDGE says a Vietnamese woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking women to work as prostitutes in Malaysia and Singapore.

Presiding Judge Nguyen Thi Mai says the woman, Dinh Thi Thu Hong, was convicted in a one-day trial on Wednesday of selling seven Vietnamese women to work in brothels in 2008 and 2009.

Mr Mai says the victims were promised jobs at restaurants but were instead sold to brothels.

Hong told the court in Dong Thap province that she was unaware that the women had been sold into prostitution, maintaining that she was merely the broker who sent them to work abroad.

Two other women of Vietnamese descent who were allegedly part of the ring in Singapore and Malaysia have not been arrested. -- AP

Vietnam zoo owner jailed for tiger sales

A tiger inside a private zoo at Thanh Canh Tourism Park in Binh Duong. Huynh Van Hai has been jailed for three years for selling the endangered tigers that he was supposed to protect. -- PHOTO: AFP

HANOI - THE owner of a private zoo in Vietnam has been jailed for three years for selling the endangered tigers that he was supposed to protect, a conservation group and officials said on Friday.

Huynh Van Hai, of Thanh Canh Tourism Park in Binh Duong province, near Ho Chi Minh City, was sentenced on March 10, Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV) said in a statement.

Fourteen other people linked to his operation, including his son, received sentences ranging from probation to 30 months' jail, it said.

An official at Thuan An district court of Binh Duong province confirmed the sentence.

'We feel that Binh Duong authorities have taken a vital first step in ending illegal farming and trade of tigers in Vietnam,' ENV founder Vu Thi Quyen said in the statement.

ENV said it conducted its own investigation last year into the alleged illegal trade of tigers born at Thanh Canh park. The probe indicated at least two other major tiger farmers were also involved in the illegal trade, it said. -- AFP

Vietnam deports 3 US activists who joined protest

HANOI - AN OFFICIAL says Vietnam will deport the last of three Vietnamese-American activists who participated in a protest in Ho Chi Minh City.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nguyen Phuong Nga said on Thursday the three were held for inciting others to disturb public order and security. They were detained after the March 14 protest over corruption and property rights.

Nguyen Ly Trong of San Bernardino, California, and Nguyen Quang Khanh of Centennial, Colorado, have already been deported. Nga says Jennifer Truong of Fountain Valley, California, will be deported Thursday.

All are members of Viet Tan, a US-based group also known as the Vietnam Reform Party which is banned in Vietnam.

Communist Vietnam does not tolerate any threat to its one-party rule. -- AP

Nigerian sentenced to death for drugs in Vietnam

HANOI - A NIGERIAN has been sentenced to death in Vietnam for transporting heroin, while his Vietnamese wife was jailed for life, a court official said on Wednesday.

Michael Ikenna Nduanya, 34, and his common-law spouse Nguyen Thi Hai Anh, 27, were convicted on Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City, the official said, refusing to be named.

He said the couple were arrested in December 2009, but gave no further details.

The website of Tuoi Tre newspaper, citing the indictment, said Nduanya had asked his wife to collect about one kilogram of heroin from Cambodia. She was arrested at a Ho Chi Minh City bus depot after returning with the drugs, it said.

The report suggested the heroin originated in India and was ultimately destined for China.

Nduanya is the third person to be sentenced to death in Vietnam this year, according to state-controlled media reports tallied by AFP. There were 80 death sentences and four executions last year, according to the tally. Most death sentences in the communist country are issued for drug and murder cases. -- AFP

Time running out on US soldiers missing in Vietnam

HANOI - WITH increasingly few of their families left alive and acidic soil eating into their buried remains, time is running out to find the last Americans listed as missing in action from the Vietnam War.

But for the head of a relatives' group, giving up is not an option. 'We need to act now,' said Ann Mills-Griffiths, executive director of the National League of POW/MIA Families, whose brother has been missing since September 1966 when his navy aircraft disappeared over North Vietnam.

Almost four decades after the end of US combat involvement in the South-east Asian nation, few parents of about 1,700 missing soldiers and airmen are still alive and siblings are often in their 60s.

Witnesses are also ageing, their fading physical and mental abilities limiting their ability to assist in investigations. Mrs Mills-Griffiths, 69, was in Hanoi for talks that ended at the weekend with Vietnamese officials about a 'renewed effort' to open up archival records which could provide vital clues as to what happened in some of the cases.

She was optimistic that the records would be made available, with 'very good commitment' from the Vietnamese during the talks. 'But we're running out of time,' warned Mrs Mills-Griffiths, who has made about 30 trips to Vietnam as head of the families' group.

The US and Vietnam have cooperated on investigations into missing American servicemen since 1985 - 'the bridge', she says, which led to a normalisation of diplomatic relations 10 years later. -- AFP

Laos communists to tussle over China-Vietnam role

Traffic passing billboards marking the 9th national congress of Lao People's Revolutionary Party at Pattouxay monument square in Vientiane. -- PHOTO: AFP

VIENTIANE - THE ruling communist party of Laos opened its five-yearly congress on Thursday, an event analysts say will see a power struggle between rival pro-Vietnam and China camps.

Red banners are on display throughout the capital Vientiane, where 576 delegates of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) are gathered until March 21 to choose members of the ruling Politburo, according to state media.

Representing more than 191,700 party members, delegates are to decide who will take the key post of general secretary, currently occupied by 75-year-old Choummaly Sayasone, who is expected to stay in the job.

The congress - described by the Vientiane Times as 'the most significant event in the country's political life' - is the traditional venue for the redistribution of powers.

But in a surprise move in December, Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh quit to be replaced by National Assembly president Thongsing Thammavon.

Analysts say his appointment points to a realignment of power in favour of the party's pro-Vietnamese factions and those wary of major Chinese investments pouring into the country. -- AFP

Vietnam gang accused of web rape ring

HANOI - VIETNAMESE police have accused a group of eight youngsters of gang-raping and robbing teenage girls they met through the Internet, a report said on Thursday.

The reputed leader of the Hanoi-based group was a 15-year-old girl nicknamed 'Wolf", who colluded with her 19-year-old male lover, the website of the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

The pair 'made acquaintances with teen girls via chats on (the) Internet,' the English-language report said, citing a legal indictment.

'The couple later lured the teens to go out with them and then forced them into hotel rooms where the other male members of the gang raped them and then robbed their assets.' Police have completed their investigation, which will now be reviewed by prosecutors before deciding whether or not the case should go to court.

There were a total of five victims, beginning last July, Tuoi Tre said. It added that the other alleged gang members were aged between 19 and 23.

Concerns have risen in Vietnam about a perceived increase in youth violence and a breakdown of traditional family-centred social values in the rapidly modernising society. -- AFP

Vietnam scrambles to save Hanoi's sacred turtle

A rare Swinhoe's soft-shelled turtle swims in Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Hoan Kiem turtle is rooted in Vietnamese folklore and some believe the turtle in the lake today is the same mythical turtle. -- PHOTO: AP

HANOI - HUNDREDS of people are working around the clock to clean up a lake in the heart of Vietnam's capital in hopes of saving a rare, ailing giant turtle that is considered sacred.

Experts say pollution at Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake is killing the giant freshwater turtle, which has a soft shell the size of a desk.

It is one of the world's most-endangered species, with only four believed alive worldwide.

Teams of people are cleaning debris, pumping fresh water into the lake and building an artificial island to serve as a 'turtle hospital.' The rescuers may even try to net the beast for the first time as part of the effort.

The Hoan Kiem turtle is rooted in Vietnamese folklore, and some even believe the creature that lives in the lake today is the same mythical turtle that helped a Vietnamese king fend off the Chinese nearly six centuries ago.

The creature in Hanoi's lake swims alone and in the past has been glimpsed only rarely sticking its wrinkled neck out of the water. -- AP

Vietnam policeman jailed over detained man's death

HANOI - A COURT in northern Vietnam has convicted a policeman and sentenced him to seven years in jail for causing the death of a man who was detained for a routine traffic violation.

Police Lt Nguyen The Nghiep was convicted on Tuesday in the death last July of a 21 year old man who died while being detained for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike.

Following the man's death, thousands of angry people besieged a government building, threw rocks and blocked traffic while carrying his coffin, state media have reported.

Judge Ngoc Thi Vui, who presided over the one-day trial in Bac Giang province, said on Wednesday that prosecutors have charged 10 villagers for causing a public disturbance and assaulting officials.

Their trial is set for later this month. -- AP

Vietnam police blame human error in boat sinking

The sunken boat is seen in Halong Bay. Vietnamese police said that human error was to blame for the sinking of the tour boat that killed 12 sleeping passengers. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

HANOI (Vietnam) - VIETNAMESE police said on Sunday that human error was to blame for the sinking of a tour boat in Ha Long Bay that killed 12 sleeping passengers. The vessel's captain and a crew member have been arrested.

A valve that allows water to come into the boat to cool the engine was left open while the vessel was anchored for the night, Quang Ninh provincial police spokesman Le Thanh Binh said. The engine was turned off, preventing a pump from running to push the water out, he said.

Eleven foreign tourists from nine countries were among those who drowned when the boat went down in the scenic bay last week.

'The initial police investigation showed that the man in charge of the boat engine forgot to close the valve that allowed water in to cool the engine before he, the captain and other crew went to bed,' Mr Binh told The Associated Press by telephone. 'When they found out about that, it was too late.'

However, Pham Xuan Viet, a veteran captain who runs a similar boat in Ha Long Bay, said the cause may be more complicated because leaving the cooling valve open should not by itself fill a boat with water and sink it.

The tour boat was inundated with gushing water when it went down about 5 am (6 am S'pore time) on Thursday, trapping passengers in their overnight cabins. All of the Vietnamese crew survived, along with nine foreign tourists. But 11 vacationers from the US, Britain, Australia, Japan, Russia, France, Sweden and Switzerland drowned along with their Vietnamese tour guide. -- AP

Tourist boat sinks in Vietnam bay, 12 dead

Vu Van Thin, a senior official with the Quang Ninh province People's Committee, the local government, said the accident happened when 'part of the boat suddenly broke', but bad weather was not to blame. -- PHOTO: AFP

HANOI - AN OVERNIGHT boat packed with sleeping tourists, including Americans, Australians and Britons, sank early Thursday in Vietnam's scenic Ha Long Bay, killing 11 foreigners and their Vietnamese guide, officials said.

Nine foreign tourists and six locals were rescued from the chilly water by other tour boats anchored nearby. They were rushed to a hospital as teams scoured the area for more survivors.

Those rescued reported seeing a plank of the wooden live-aboard ship ripping away, followed by gushing water inundating the boat and quickly pulling it down around 5 am (6 am S'pore time) near Titov island, said Vu Van Thin, chief administrator of Quang Ninh province.

'Crew members tried to stop the water from coming in and alerted the tourists who were sleeping, but the water came in and the boat sank quickly,' he said. 'All of the 12 people who died were in the cabins.'

There were 27 people on the boat, including six crew members, Thin said. It was anchored alongside dozens of other cruise boats, and weather conditions were calm at the time of the incident.

Twelve bodies have been found, including those of tourists from the US, Australia and Britain, said Ngo Van Hung, director of Ha Long Bay's management board. The body of a Vietnamese tour guide was also recovered, and all of the dead have been sent to Bai Chay Hospital for identification. -- AP

Police smash international Vietnamese trafficking gang

BERLIN - POLICE in Germany said they had smashed an international people-trafficking gang on Tuesday, making 10 arrests in a coordinated raid with France, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Britain.

More than 250 German officers took part in dawn raids, seizing incriminating evidence, computer equipment and mobile phones, according to a statement.

A Europe-wide probe has been underway since September against 22 suspects accused of trafficking 72 Vietnamese citizens from Germany to Britain via Belgium or France.

Police said people pay up to 25,000 euros (S$43,360) to be transported, often via Moscow, to Germany. 

They are then brought to Britain where they hope to be taken in by the large Vietnamese community there. -- AFP

How the Chinese rabbit became a cat in Vietnam

Festive lunar Year of the Cat statues are displayed for sale on a street in Hanoi. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

HANOI - WHILE much of Asia celebrates the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnam is striking a note of independence from the dominance of Chinese culture and marking the beginning of the Year of the Cat.

The two communist countries remain ideological allies and have endorsed a similar transition to a market-oriented economy.

But their relationship evokes strong emotions and contradictions in Vietnam, where many bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war.

While the smaller nation has held onto many Chinese words, customs and traditions, it still feels a strong need to set itself apart from its giant neighbour.

The two countries share 10 of the zodiac calendar's 12 signs- the rat, tiger, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. But the Vietnamese replace the rabbit with the cat and the ox with the buffalo.

Exactly why they opted for different animals remains unclear, but several scholars say the split can be traced back to the founding legends of the zodiac calendar. -- AFP

Drinking water in Vietnam has excessive arsenic

HONG KONG - MORE than a quarter of drinking wells in Vietnam's densely-populated Red River delta contain unsafe levels of arsenic that can cause cancer, neurological problems and hypertension, researchers warned on Tuesday.

In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they also said 44 per cent of the wells in the delta carried levels of manganese that exceed World Health Organization guidelines.

'About 7 million people are at a considerable risk of chronic arsenic poisoning. This is particularly worrying because groundwater is the main source of drinking water throughout the delta,' lead author Michael Berg wrote in an email to Reuters.

Experts have long known that groundwater in parts of southeast Asia contain unsafe levels of arsenic, a naturally occurring chemical, but their locations have never been clear.

'Sixty-five percent of the groundwater wells in the Red River delta contain naturally occurring toxic elements, at levels which exceed the World Health Organization's (WHO) safety standards,' Mr Berg wrote.

According to the WHO, water containing more than 10 micrograms of arsenic per litre is unsafe, and chronic poisoning leads to accumulations in the skin, hair, and nails, resulting in skin pigmentation, hypertension and neurological dysfunctions. It may also cause cancer in the skin, lungs, bladder and kidney. -- REUTERS

Vietnam communists meet to choose leaders

Vietnamese take pictures in front of a sign on Tuesday, Jan 11 2011, announcing Vietnam's National Party Congress in Hanoi, Vietnam. -- PHOTO: AP

HANOI - VIETNAM'S ruling communists begin talks on Wednesday to choose their leaders with the fast-growing economy under threat and the political system slowly evolving - though not fast enough for some, observers say.

The one-party state is striving to build a 'modern industrialised country' by 2020 but faces immediate challenges that include high inflation, currency weakness, systemic corruption and a bloated state sector.

'Any new leadership coming in will have no choice but to push greater economic reform,' an Asian diplomat said, noting emerging competition from neighbours such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

A socio-economic strategy for the next decade - to be debated at the five-yearly Congress scheduled until January 19 - pledges to carry out reforms long sought by foreign investors. These include the need for a more skilled workforce, better infrastructure, and more efficient state enterprises.

The strategy talks of shifting Vietnam's growth model away from reliance on natural resources and unskilled labour to one more technologically advanced.

'Developing an independent, self-reliant, and highly-competitive economy will become our country's biggest economic challenge in the next decade,' Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung wrote in a review of the new strategy. -- AFP

Vietnamese police roughed up American diplomat: US

In this March 30, 2007 file photo taken on a close-circuit TV, set up in a separate room of the court, Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly, lower centre, is seen in a courtroom in Vietnam's central province of Thua Thien Hue. The US government has strongly protested to Vietnam over the treatment of an American diplomat who was trying to meet the dissident Ly, the ambassador said. -- PHOTO: AP

HANOI (Vietnam) - POLICE roughed up an American diplomat in Vietnam and repeatedly slammed a car door on his legs when he went to visit a prominent dissident, an official in Washington said on Thursday, detailing an encounter that prompted a strong US protest.

Christian Marchant, a political officer at the US Embassy in Hanoi, was expected to make a full recovery after being roughed up while trying to visit the detained dissident, said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to disclose details.

Neither the US Embassy in Hanoi nor outgoing Ambassador Michael Michalak would describe the incident, but he said the US had protested what occurred on Wednesday in the central city of Hue.

'The United States government, both here in Hanoi and in Washington, has lodged a strong, official protest with the government of Vietnam regarding the treatment of one of our diplomats,' Mr Michalak told reporters on Thursday during his farewell press briefing.

He called the issue a matter of grave concern, saying foreign diplomats are protected under international law. 'All governments are responsible for complying fully with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, including ensuring the safety and security of diplomatic personnel,' he said.

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Nguyen Phuong Nga said the government is reviewing the incident, but added that foreign diplomats also have a responsibility to abide by the host country's laws. -- AP

Vietnam opens new international airport

HANOI - VIETNAM has opened a new international airport in the the southern Mekong Delta, state media said on Sunday.

The US$150 million (S$192.3 million) Can Tho International Airport, built on 20,750 sq m of land, will process up to five million passengers a year, Vietnam News Agency reported.

'The airport provides a big opportunity for Can Tho city in particular and the south-western area in general to make fast and sustainable development and helps facilitate air travel in the region,' Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the inauguration on Saturday.

The airport is expected to be a significant boost to the Mekong delta's economy, as well as improving defence, security and international integration, the agency said. -- AFP