Spratly Islands Will be Quiet in 2008

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Chinese oil companies are unlikely to pursue any significant hydrocarbon exploration in the disputed region around the Spratly Islands in 2008, as Chinese national oil companies have slowed activities there to ensure the success of the Beijing Olympics.

The central government doesn’t want the intensifying Spratly sovereignty dispute to heat up, especially with Vietnam, and it has asked the Chinese NOCs to avoid any conflict in the contested waters. As a result, PetroChina has canceled a plan to drill its first wildcat well in the Spratlys.

Last year, Vietnam announced it would explore oil fields off the Spratlys with BP to set up natural gas supply pipelines. Vietnam has also decided to hold elections for parliament members representing 24 of the total 48 islands, which it occupies. In response, China established the city of Sansha, which is part of Hainan Province and encompasses all of the islands on waters spanning 2.6 million square kilometers. In early December, a Vietnamese group protested in front of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi.

Vietnam moving towards a more open aviation market

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In a move to open up Vietnam’s aviation market, the Vietnamese government has given the green light to the nation’s first private airline, VietJet, according to a report by VietNamNet Bridge.

Set to commence operations in November, VietJet will fly on popular domestic routes linking Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi and Da Nang as well as international air routes to Singapore and Thailand. The new airline is set to win over substantial market share from rivals, Vietnam Airlines and Pacific Airlines.

“We will establish a partnership for mutual development with the aviation community in the Vietnamese market in order to ensure customers’ highest benefit,” said Robert Hughes, Managing Director of VietJet.

According to the Minister of Transport and Communication, Ho Nghia Dung, the establishment of new aviation firms is crucial to Vietnam’s aviation market in that it will stimulate competition in the face of rising demand. In the last five years, Vietnam’s aviation sector has grown 15 percent annually. The industry’s growth rate even tipped the 20 percent mark last year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines General Director Pham Ngoc Minh told VietNamNet Bridge that there was plenty of room in the market for other airlines. However, the Vietnam Aviation Department believes that realistically, the government will only provide approval to another two or three airlines in the next few years.

Vietnam: authorities ban New Year Mass

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Catholics in Ia Grai, a district in Central Highlands of Vietnam, could not have Mass on the first day of the Lunar New Year, known as Tet, after Bùi Minh Sen, the chairman of local People’s Committee, threatened legal action against the clergy and faithful.

The official said that Tat was not a Catholic festival and so they needed to apply for special permission for the Mass.

In their petitions, Ia Grai Catholics stated that for Vietnamese Catholics, it is a tradition to dedicate the first days of the new year to Christ and Virgin Mary through public gatherings where the congregation can attend Eucharist or other worship services, receive sacraments, exchange new year greetings and receive blessings from their priests.

Responding tothe petitions Sen insisted that has Tet was not a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, Mass on Tet would violates “the State law and Ordinance on Religion and Belief”. In the ordinance No 34/UBND-DTTG, dated 4th February, Sen ordered security forces to arrest anyone gathering to celebrate Tet according to Catholic rite.

The Church’s normal activities, involving travel, holding meetings, developing new pastoral initiatives, are all subjected to approval by the civil authorities.

According to the “State law and Ordinance on Religion and Belief”, every year Catholic pastors need to submit to local authorities the list of Masses that they are going to celebrate during the coming year. Some of them may be disapproved. In these cases, the priest violates the law if he risks saying them – even with a smaller congregation.

With the introduction to open market, the gradual opening to the West, especially to the United States, beginning with the lifting of the US trade embargo in February 1994, the normalization of relations in July 1995, and the accession into WTO in November 2006; there has been a number of positive developments in religious liberty. Also, the situation of the Church in Vietnam was improved due in good part to the persistent efforts of the Holy See to maintain an official dialogue with the authorities, including a more or less annual visit to Vietnam of a Vatican delegation.

However, there can be no denying that religious freedom is still severely limited in today’s Vietnam. Local governments are still pursuing policies of religious persecution for the ethnic minorities, especially the Montagnards in the Central Highlands, and the Thai, Hmong and Muong in the Northern Mountains.