From: pphan@hpldsla.sid.hp.com (Pham Phan)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: [SEASIA NEWS] News relate to Viet Nam
Date: 9 Apr 92 04:36:51 GMT
Organization: HP Scientific Instruments Division - Palo Alto, CA


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LESS VIETNAMESE REFUGEES COME TO HONG KONG SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR

HONG KONG (APRIL 8) XINHUA - ONLY SEVEN VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE HAVE ARRIVED IN
HONG KONG SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR, AS COMPARED WITH 1,734 DURING THE
SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL FIGURES HERE TODAY.

GOVERNMENT REFUGEE COORDINATOR CLINTON LEEKS ATTRIBUTED THE DECLINE TO, AMONG
OTHER THINGS, A BRITISH-VIETNAMESE AGREEMENT ON THE RETURN OF VIETNAMESE BOAT
PEOPLE SIGNED LAST OCTOBER.

AMONG THE SEVEN NEW ARRIVALS THIS YEAR, FOUR CAME HERE IN JANUARY, TWO IN
FEBRUARY, ONE IN MARCH AND NONE HAS SO FAR ARRIVED HERE THIS MONTH.

CLINTON LEEKS SAID THAT SOME 1,500 BOAT PEOPLE ARE WAITING FOR RETURN UNDER A
VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION PROGRAM OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
REFUGEES (UNHCR).  THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAS SET A TARGET TO REPATRIATE AT
LEAST 1,000 VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE A MONTH UNDER THE VOLUNTARY PROGRAM.

OFFICIAL FIGURES SHOWED THAT A TOTAL OF 52,820 VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE WERE
STAYING IN THE TERRITORY BY THE END OF MARCH.  SOME 16,000 BOAT PEOPLE HAVE
RETURNED TO VIET NAM SINCE THE VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION PROGRAM OF THE UNITED
NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) STARTED IN MARCH 1989.

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FRANCE TO PROVIDE FOOD AID TO VIETNAM

    PARIS, April 8, Reuter - France will provide Vietnam with 3,650 tonnes of
wheat and two million francs ($350,000) worth of other food aid under an accord
signed in Paris last week, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
    A ministry statement said the food would be sold on local markets to raise
money for irrigation and other rural development projects in the southeast Asian
country.
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CHINA TO RESUME DIRECT FLIGHTS TO VIETNAM IN MAY

BEIJING (APRIL 8) DPA - China will resume direct flights to Vietnam next month
- a further sign of growing Sino-Vietnamese cooperation following the
normalisation of ties, an official newspaper reported Wednesday in Beijing.

China Southern Airlines will begin twice-weekly flights on May 7 from the
southern Chinese city of Guangzhou (Canton) to Ho Chi Minh City inVyetnam, the
English-language China Daily said.

Li Zhongming, vice-president of the regional state-run airline, said the
carrier plans to add another flight later.

A second route m frNm Beijing to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi -is to begin
service before July, the newspaper said. The flight operated until
Sino-Vietnamese ties soured in the late 1970s.

China and Vietnam normalised relations last fall after 13 years of hostilities
that began when todia.

Bilateral commerce, which was increasing even before diplomatic ties were
restored, has flourished in recent months.

''Vietnam has become a hot investment and business location for many Chinese
and foreign companies'', the China Daily said.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese