【71,72,73,74】 Chinese Tourists Fuel Tension in Vietnam

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【71】AS IT IS

Chinese Tourists Fuel Tension in Vietnam

May 21, 2018

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Chinese tourists wearing 9-dash line T-shirts at Cam Ranh airport. Tuoi Tre website in Vietnam crossed out the 9-dash line on the T-shirt. (screenshot of Tuoi Tre website)

A series of incidents involving Chinese tourists in Vietnam has fueled tension despite the countries’ efforts to improve relations.

Last week, 14 Chinese tourists passed through immigration in the central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa, all wearing the same red-on-white T-shirts.

The shirts showed a nine-dash line marking China’s claim to the entire South China Sea. The marking covers area that Vietnam also claims as its own.

Vietnam’s immigration officials seized the shirts. And Vietnamese voiced their anger online toward the Chinese tourists.

The incident is at least the fourth involving Chinese tourists over the past two years.

Trung Nguyen is head of international relations at Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities. He said, "We can see that the Chinese government might increasingly use civilians as a way to spread their sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, from militia fishermen to uber-nationalist southbound tourists.”

A series of incidents

China and Vietnam have had a long history of dispute. In the 1970s, the two neighboring countries fought a border war that resulted in many deaths on both sides.

Now, the two are involved in a dispute over parts of the South China Sea rich in fisheries, oil and gas. China commands the more powerful armed forces and has militarized small islands in the disputed parts of the sea.

VnExpress International is a news website with official permission to operate in Vietnam. It said that in 2016, the city of Da Nang suspended a travel agency because it offered travel services to Chinese visitors who burned Vietnamese money.

That same year, China asked Vietnam to investigate whether immigration officials had written profanity into the passport of a Chinese visitor to Ho Chi Minh City.

Chinese tourists ride rickshaws for sightseeing in Hanoi, Vietnam, Dec. 1, 2016.

VN Express also said Chinese tour guides have sometimes spread anti-Vietnamese information about history to tour groups.

Oh Ei Sun teaches international studies teacher at Singapore Nanyang University. He said people in both countries are influenced by the nationalist traditions in their education.

"Of course they would think that those disputed territories unquestionably belong to them and therefore all others are sort of occupiers and should be gotten rid of as soon as possible," Sun said.

Still trying to get along

Officials from the two countries, however, are trying to get along.

China and Vietnam have held defense talks and exchanged state visits. The two ruling Communist parties have also met regularly since 2014. And the two countries depend on each other for economic activities.

Adam McCarty is the chief economist with Mekong Economics in Hanoi. He said China sees Vietnam as an economic link to Southeast Asia. Vietnam looks to China as a top trading partner and Chinese tourism to support its service economy.

He said, "There will still be some on both sides who are overtly nationalistic and trying to push issues with these silly T-shirts. I think the Vietnamese government (is) not going to be provoked by that.”

I’m Phil Dierking.

Ralph Jennings reported this story for VOANews. Phil Dierking adapted the story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

Have you seen tourist try and make political statements while traveling? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

profanity - n.offensive language

province - n. any one of the large parts that some countries are divided into

provoke - v. to cause the occurrence of (a feeling or action)

sovereignty - n. a country's independent authority and the right to govern itself

uber - adj. used to indicate that someone is a great or extreme example of a particular kind of person

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【72】AS IT IS

Somali Fishermen Struggle to Compete with Foreign Fishing Boats

May 21, 2018

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A man holds up a shark to chop up for its fins, liver, and meat in Bossaso, northern Somalia, in late March 2018. (J. Patinkin/VOA)

Each morning, fishermen in the Somali port of Bosaso pull in their catch of tuna, marlin, and other fish.

The waters off northern Somalia are some of the richest in Africa. As businesspeople negotiate at the port over the price of fish, the daily catch looks plentiful.

But all is not well for the local fishermen. Many are unhappy about larger, foreign boats that enter Somali waters. The locals say they are losing out to the foreign fishers.

“Now there is illegal fishing, fish stealing, and so on," explains boat captainMohammed Elias Abdiqadir. He told VOA that some of the foreign fishing boats come from Iran.

"We don’t have a powerful government who can stop these illegal fishermen who are creating problems," said Abdiqadir.

Foreign boats in Somali waters have been a problem for years, he added. Some of them operate without the government’s permission. Others buy permits from Somali officials, at times under questionable conditions.

From protectors to pirates

Ten years ago, Somali fishermen took up arms against foreign boats. The fishermen hoped to retake their waters from the outsiders. But some of the Somalis then became pirates. They attacked and hijacked oil transport and other commercial ships off the Horn of Africa.

At one point, Somali pirates were seizing more than 40 ships a year and holding hundreds of sailors as hostages.

An international naval effort has mostly stopped the threat from pirates. Somalia has started to build small local navies, including the Puntland Maritime Police Force, which guards the waters off Bosaso.

But neither has been able to clear the area of foreign fishing boats.

Abdiqadir says one problem is that the foreign boats are larger and have better technology than the Somali boats, which are mostly small and made from fiberglass.

“They fish in the deep ocean, and they have long nets and better tools than us," he said.

Somalia's fledgling fish industry

But the problems for Somalia's fishing industry do not only lie off the coast.

Bosaso's port needs more modern equipment to prepare fish in a clean, healthy environment to export. And there is yet to be a strong, dependable system for exporting Somali fish overseas.

A new program by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization may prove helpful to Somalia's fishing industry.

Tuna is laid out for sale in Bossaso, northern Somalia in late March 2018. (J. Patinkin/VOA)

Just outside Bosaso, women have been trained to process fish meat into a dried fish product to be sold in inland Somalia.

The women work on clean tables, where they cut fresh fish into pieces and let them dry.

The bright sun naturally cures and purifies the meat.

Local young people catch the fish. The FAO trained them in deep-sea fishing. The organization provided them with larger, better-equipped boats that can reach the most profitable sea creatures.

The women are paid with money and fresh fish each day to feed their families.

“This job works for me fine because my home is here," explains Daawo Sheikh Mahamoud, who recently started working at the fish processing station. In the past, she said, her children were cared for by neighbors while she worked. But now, she said, "I can take care of them while doing the work in the morning."

Australian Michael Savins, a fisheries and boatbuilding expert, designed the program. He says it employs more than 100 people, including fishermen at sea and processors on land. He hopes that number will increase to 500 by the end of this year.

The idea, he explains, is to employ local Somalis, and eventually start selling Somali fish internationally.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Jason Patinkin wrote this story for VOA News. George Grow adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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Words in This Story

captain – n. someone who leads or supervises

commercial – adj. related to skills or subjects used in business

fiberglass – n. a light and strong structural material

net – n. a device for catching fish, birds or other things

eventually – adv. at some later time: in the end

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【73】AS IT IS

Venezuelan President Wins Second Six-Year Term

May 21, 2018

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Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores wave to supporters at the presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, May 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won re-election in a disputed vote on Sunday.

The result led his main political opponents to call for another vote to prevent a national crisis.

Venezuela’s National Election Council announced that Maduro won nearly 68 percent of the votes Sunday. It said he defeated Henri Falcon by more than 40 points.

Falcon accused the Maduro government of buying votes and dirty tricks to increase the number of poor Venezuelans voting. Falcon refused to recognize the results, and said the election “lacks legitimacy.” Falcon told supporters that he will fight on instead of joining others in exile.

Third-place finisher Javier Bertucci agreed on the need for new elections. Venezuelan officials say Bertucci won around 11 percent of the vote. He urged the president against being a candidate in a re-vote. Bertucci warned that if Maduro pressed forward, Venezuela would explode before his new six-year term begins in January.

Venezuelan expats are joined by Nicaraguans, Bolivians and others during a protest calling for freedom and democracy in Venezuela, in front of the building of the Organization of American States, in Washington, May 20, 2018.

International pressures

Maduro’s disputed victory is likely to raise international pressure on the Venezuelan leader. On Monday, the United States government announced economic sanctions to punish Venezuela for what officials called its “fraudulent” election. President Donald Trump signed an order that bars Americans from dealing with Venezuela’s oil industry.

The European Union and some Latin American countries also warned that the presidential election was not fair.

Chilean president Sebastian Pinera, said, “Venezuela’s elections do not meet minimum standards of true democracy.” He added that, “Chile does not recognize these elections.” Panama’s government also said it would not recognize the results.

But Cuba and El Salvador, two allies of Venezuela, sent their congratulations on the vote.

FILE - People search through the garbage on a street in Caracas, Venezuela, Nov. 30, 2016. As the economy suffers for a third year, some Venezuelans are forced to forage for food.

Venezuela’s economic crisis

Maduro called for discussions with his defeated opponents, but he showed no sign of wanting new elections. He told supporters, “It doesn’t faze me when they say I’m a dictator.”

The Venezuelan leader promised to repair an economy he says has been damaged by Colombia and the U.S.

In the past two years, more than 1 million Venezuelans have fled to neighboring countries as the value of the national currency dropped.

Venezuela’s oil production — the source of almost all of its overseas earnings — has collapsed to its lowest level. And U.S. government sanctions have made it impossible for Venezuela to renegotiate its debts.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

The Associated Press reported this story. Hai Do adapted the report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

legitimacy – n. the state of being lawful or rightful

sanction – n. a measure designed to punish a nation for violating international law

fraudulent - adj. done to trick someone with the goal of getting something valuable

minimum – adj. the lowest level or amount permitted

standard – n. a measure or level of quality

faze – v. to make someone feel afraid or worried

currency – n. paper money; money that a country uses

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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【74】AS IT IS

Texas Community Mourns Pakistani Exchange Student

May 21, 2018

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Funeral prayers are offered for Pakistani exchange student Sabika Sheikh, who was killed in the Santa Fe High School shooting, during a service at the Brand Lane Islamic Center Sunday, May 20, 2018, in Stafford, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A funeral service has been held for a Pakistani exchange student killed in a mass shooting at a high school near Houston, Texas.

The student, 17-year-old Sabika Sheikh, was one of 10 people gunned down Friday at Santa Fe High School in the town of Sante Fe, Texas. Eight of those killed were students, two were teachers. At least 10 people were injured in the attack.

The accused gunman is Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old student at the school. He was arrested and is being held on murder charges.

Sabika Sheikh came to the United States last fall as an exchange student. Friends and family said she wanted to learn about U.S. culture, while sharing her own with Americans.

Sabika had two U.S. host families. Her first host mother was Pakistani American Uzma Parveen, who spoke to VOA at the funeral, held Sunday at a mosque in Stafford, Texas.

“We did not have children. She was the first one who called us mom and dad. She was literally like a daughter to us.”

 EMBED

Parveen said Sabika experienced many parts of American culture, including going to the yearly high school dance known as prom. She said she had big dreams, with plans to attend college to study to become a diplomat or a businesswoman.

Also attending the funeral was Gerri Manlove, who helps run the foreign student exchange program. She tried to reach Sabika by text message the day of the shooting, but never got an answer.

“She and two other students and a teacher hid in the classroom. They hid.They found a closet. But the boy found them.”

Manlove said she thinks there should be steps taken to improve security to prevent future shootings. She suggested students could be required to wear clothes that would not easily hide guns. Or, she said putting metal detectors in schools might help.

Uzma Parveen said she also believes more should be done to prevent future tragedies.

“If anybody listens to me, I have only one appeal. Please do something. No children should be taken away from parents. It hurts. Believe me, it hurts. One metal detector could have saved her, just one.”

Friends say Sabika was looking forward to going home in a few weeks after the school year ended. They said she planned to celebrate the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Her second host family also attended the funeral. Host father Jason Cogburn spoke about the family’s desire to include Sabika in everything they did.

Jason Cogburn, right, speaks as his wife, Joleen, left, and daughter, Jaelyn, far left, listen during a funeral for Pakistani exchange student Sabika Sheikh, who was killed in the Santa Fe High School shooting.

“When she started Ramadan and started fasting, my family did that with her, because we did things together.”

Her host sister, Jaelyn, called Sabika “the most beautiful, loving person” she had ever met.

In Pakistan, Sabika’s parents were in shock over her death. Father Abdul Aziz Sheikh told the Associated Press in Karachi he could not believe what had happened. “We are still in a state of denial. We can’t believe it. It’s like a nightmare.”

Abdul Aziz Sheikh, center, father of Sabika Sheikh, a victim of a shooting at a Texas high school, shows a picture of his daughter in Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, May 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Sheikh said his daughter had talked about one day joining Pakistan’s Foreign Office after finishing her studies. He called on U.S. officials to completely investigate the shooting. But he said he hoped it would not prevent other students from going abroad.

“One must go for education undeterred," he said. "But controlling such incidents is the responsibility of the respective governments,” he added.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Elizabeth Lee reported this story for VOA News. Bryan Lynn adapted it for Learning English, with additional material from the Associated Press. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

host – n. person or people who offer to let someone from another country live with them for a period of time

literally – adv. used to stress that a statement or description is true and accurate even though it may be surprising

closet – n. a small room used to store things

detector – n. device that can tell if a substance or object is present

fasting – n. eating no food for a period of time

nightmare – n. a frightening dream

undeterred – adj. continuing to do something despite problems of a bad situation

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