"The mother of a prominent Vietnamese blogger has died after setting herself on fire as her daughter prepares to go on trial next week.
A police officer in the southern province of Bac Lieu said Dang Thi Kim Lieng, 64, died on Monday afternoon on the way to hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after setting herself alight that morning near her home.
Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, said Lieng's death 'points to some very, very serious concerns about the kind of harassment' that relatives of dissidents face in Vietnam. "
I'd rather live in Santiago, Chile or Medellin, Colombia.
Doesn't the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have a former colonial status, Western companies, exploited resources and a political class getting rich off corruption now?
No. They're the second base for manufacturing after China now. Their economy is young, relatively debt free and growing. In a few decades they will overtake most of their ASEAN neighbours
The relevant comparison, though, I'd whether you'd rather live in a contemporary Vietnam after it had been under control of an American-backed military junta since the 70s plagued by a constant brutal Communist insurgency. Latter may be preferable, but it's not a huge difference.
Throw in the other counterfactual scenario, which is no US involvement in Vietnam post WWII at all, not much of a war, and thus far less incentive for reprisals, and the installment of leader who was always populist nationalist first and Marxist-sympathiser second and actually had good relations with the US in the immediate aftermath of WWII. Also probably no Communist coup in Laos, and a slim chance of stability in Cambodia.
The ironic thing about Vietnam is that culturally it's still one of the most capitalist countries on earth.
"The mother of a prominent Vietnamese blogger has died after setting herself on fire as her daughter prepares to go on trial next week.
A police officer in the southern province of Bac Lieu said Dang Thi Kim Lieng, 64, died on Monday afternoon on the way to hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after setting herself alight that morning near her home.
Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch, said Lieng's death 'points to some very, very serious concerns about the kind of harassment' that relatives of dissidents face in Vietnam. "
I'd rather live in Santiago, Chile or Medellin, Colombia.