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Vietnam Defence Forum

Well i have the same thought, it useless to give some basic training just to be forgotten next year or years later, why bother in first place. Boyscout or Girl scout in my country regularly training with firearms, so they can be part of reserve unit in future or Emergency cases

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Well, there are people like in the UK when the cadet was trained with de-milled weapon, just to go on a manoeuvre or demonstrate what the parts are and where bullet come out. That is totally fine even tho if you would forget about that the next year.

but shoot a few round is not really make sense and that is why I don't understand, I mean it's their country and their program but they should have known by now it's pointless or even useless to just let off a few round other than having fun.
 
@Viet, I think You should see China in another aspect. Well, in fact, we are getting benefit from the development of China, We hate the Chinese for the aggression in SCS. but I think It is acceptable same as a big boy, sometimes I chat with Vietnamese people online, a lot of them said, ok, ok, put Vietnam in China's location, the pinoy, malay...etc let's pray. Frankly, Vietnam already did well in the relation with China. As a small nation, we almost didn't lose territories to China. Bach Long Vy island now is a debate in China, why it was ceded to Vietnam.

I think you forget to mention to https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/花木兰 In Vietnam, we dont know Fu Hao, but we know this girl. In fact, Chinese and Vietnamese have many similarities about history and culture, but Vietnamese use women for real combat is more popular than because the Chinese population is big and they have enough men for combat don't need women for this dangerous mission, for Vietnam, It is different.
The island lies within the Vietnamese left half, so it belongs to VN, the Chinese get all the other in the right half. Tonkin agreement.

Benefiting from China is a big word. We would benefit if VN/CN relationship improves from the current 1/100 to 1/10 of CN/Pakistan level. I don't believe we would ever achieve 100, but 10 is a very good base.

East Asia would be a better place if we lead the wolfs pack. Look at the disaster the Japanese created in the past and the Chinese create now. Either we all head to a great future or end up in nuclear blasts.
 
The island lies within the Vietnamese left half, so it belongs to VN, the Chinese get all the other in the right half. Tonkin agreement.

Benefiting from China is a big word. We would benefit if VN/CN relationship improves from the current 1/100 to 1/10 of CN/Pakistan level. I don't believe we would ever achieve 100, but 10 is a very good base.

East Asia would be a better place if we lead the wolfs pack. Look at the disaster the Japanese created in the past and the Chinese create now. Either we all head to a great future or end up in nuclear blasts.

Clearly that you look at China-Vietnam relationship from Western (german) point of view. Vietnamese do not see it that way.
 
Clearly that you look at China-Vietnam relationship from Western (german) point of view. Vietnamese do not see it that way.
Looking from Germany or from Denmark makes no difference. If VN/CN relationship is good, we would still speak and write in Chinese. Apart from the short period of cooperation during the VN war, when do we see a close cooperation between the two nations?

Oh let's me check: was that during the Ming, when the Chinese recruited combat hardened Vietnamese skilled in firearm for their military campaign against the northern barbarians? Long ago, isn't it?
 
That's interesting. Small but important improvement for T54 tanks. First pic without rubber second pic with rubber on tank tracks.

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Like a small Korean invasion: two RoK warships led by destroyer Kang Gam Chan with 633 sailors aboard make port call.


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Smart Koreans. Their efforts to lure Vietnamese tourists pay off. While the number of Chinese tourists to RoK is in freefall, the number of Vietnamese is on the rise. Should the trend continue S Korea will see 500,000 Vietnamese tourists by 2018. the Koreans offer free gifts, free ads. How about free visa?

No joke: RoK tourist companies offer winter sports to tropical people from VN.

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Not today but tomorrow. Vietnam military industrial complex should be strengthened in the years to come so it can export weapons so the government chief Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

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Well, there are people like in the UK when the cadet was trained with de-milled weapon, just to go on a manoeuvre or demonstrate what the parts are and where bullet come out. That is totally fine even tho if you would forget about that the next year.

but shoot a few round is not really make sense and that is why I don't understand, I mean it's their country and their program but they should have known by now it's pointless or even useless to just let off a few round other than having fun.
I have theories about that:

1. I think its a logistical issue because Vietnam have mandatory services & probably don't want to take reserves ammo from their regulars.

2. What doesn't make sense military wise, make sense government wise (& vice versa.) Some government official probably have it in their bright idea to use minimum resources to train someone so they can bulge the numbers of soldiers trained on paper.

3. Corruption probably?...
 
Well, there are people like in the UK when the cadet was trained with de-milled weapon, just to go on a manoeuvre or demonstrate what the parts are and where bullet come out. That is totally fine even tho if you would forget about that the next year.

but shoot a few round is not really make sense and that is why I don't understand, I mean it's their country and their program but they should have known by now it's pointless or even useless to just let off a few round other than having fun.
money and safety problem
 



A Grave Mission Back to Vietnam

Some 300,000 Vietnamese casualties were never found. A local veteran is consumed with helping to track them down.

By Stephanie Farr / Staff Writer
farrs@phillynews.com /
Wednesday, September 20, 2017


The search consumes him now, almost 50 years after Bob Connor smelled the stench of their piled, rotting bodies from across the base and then went back to his duties.

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DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
Bob Connor, a Vietnam War veteran who is helping the Vietnamese government identify mass graves of its soldiers killed during the war.


For hours on end and days that bleed into nights, the 70-year-old retired facilities manager sits at the computer in his Maple Shade, N.J., apartment, poring through vast troves of data, military records, and maps in search of clues about where long-missing bodies of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers might be buried.

For Connor — a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War — this is more than a quest. It is a question of humanity.

In the United States, the Vietnam War has been etched into the fabric of an entire generation and is fading into history books. All but 1,603 American casualties have been found, their remains laid to rest. But in Vietnam, the final chapter of the war remains unwritten, families and comrades unsettled as nearly 300,000 soldiers are still missing, according to the Vietnamese government.


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Courtesy of Bob Connor.
Top: Sgt. Bob Connor (second from left) with his fellow U.S. Air Force Security Forces members in 1967 at Bien Hoa Air Force Base in Vietnam.

Bottom: Connor carries a flare chute outside the barracks.

Many of the missing were buried in mass, unmarked graves dug by their former enemies — American servicemen. In a twist of internet serendipity, the Vietnamese government found Connor and asked him and other veterans to help locate the unmarked graves, to give thousands of Vietnamese families the closure that has eluded them for five decades.

Connor has answered that call with obsessive urgency. His mission to bring comfort to the families of his former enemies has taken him halfway around the world, alienated some Vietnam veterans, and unearthed vivid memories of the futility and horror of a war that ended long ago.

'The colonel will be in touch'
Connor was not out looking to start a new mission at this stage in his life.

He had been helping his granddaughter with a school project about the Vietnam War when he searched Google Earth for Bien Hoa Air Base, where he had served in 1967-68 as a sergeant with the U.S. Air Force Security Forces.

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In the interest of cataloging history, Connor left a comment — and his email address — on one of the photos of Bien Hoa. He didn't really expect anyone to see it.

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Panormaio (archived)
Using a now-defunct service called Panaramio that allowed users to augment Google Earth maps with personal photos, Connor left a comment – and his email address – on one of the photos of Bien Hoa. Click here to see his full note.
"Significant battle took place here at the start of the Tet Offensive '68," he wrote. "Those VC [Viet Cong] killed had to be buried in a mass grave at the end of the runway."

Ten days later, an email arrived from Vietnam.

It was from Che Trung Hieu, a 70-year-old veteran of the North Vietnamese People's Army, who was "very excited to hear about the grave because they knew nothing about it," Connor said. "So he's in shock, and I'm in shock, and he says, 'The colonel will be in touch with you.' "

Connor, who had been honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1969 and has been perfectly happy enjoying retired life since 2003, had no idea who "the colonel" was or what he had gotten himself into.

"I damn near s—," Connor said. "I thought, 'What did you do, you idiot?"

Soon after, he got another email. Col. Mai Xuan Chien — deputy political commissar of the military command in the province where Bien Hoa is located — said the Vietnamese government had been searching the area for decades with no success.

"We are so glad because over 40 past years, we have so many times searched and excavated along the perimeter of Bien Hoa Air Base, but we didn't find any of the mass graves," Mai wrote. "Would you please contact other veterans to give us more specific information?"

'You have to get by that bitterness'
In Vietnamese culture, soldiers who die in war but remain unaccounted for are referred to as martyrs. Their spirits are believed to wander between this world and the next until their bodies are found, identified, and properly entombed. Only then can they be called heroes.

Mai said first-person accounts were one of Vietnam's best resources for finding mass graves.

JARED WHALEN / Staff
Retired Sgt. Bob Connor describes his experience during the Tet Offensive at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam.
"Veterans of the United States who are witnesses ... are the best clues, with their memory, souvenirs, photographs, and even their hearts of humanitarians," Mai wrote in an email to the Inquirer and Daily News, "along with the generosity and sympathy sharing the pain of war between two peoples of Vietnam and the United States."

Connor thought it strange that people in Vietnam would put so much faith in his word alone. It was an honor he did not take lightly.

He scoured the internet for other veterans who could have more detailed information about the mass grave at Bien Hoa, or any other mass graves in Vietnam. He posted on military Facebook pages and message boards. He sent emails and contacted website administrators.

Many times, he received no response. Sometimes, the responses were hostile.

"Let those stinking commies lay where they are," one Vietnam veteran wrote back to Connor. "I won the nation's 5th highest award for heroism … and killed as many of those commies as I could."

Connor hit roadblocks at every turn until one veteran put him in contact with retired Col. Martin Strones, who had been a captain of the U.S. Air Force Security Forces at Bien Hoa during the Tet Offensive battle and had been awarded the Silver Star for valor in combat.

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DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
Retired Air Force Colonel Martin E. Strones at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
On base after the attack, it had been Strones' job to count the enemy bodies.

"If you can imagine 150 bodies deteriorating rapidly in the sun, it's just a terrible stench — and then the animals start," he said. "It was almost impossible to breathe out there because of the smell."

Strones oversaw the gathering of the bodies, which were buried in an unmarked grave on the edge of the base.

Then, he went on with his duties — and his life.

"I never really dwelled on the mass grave," he said. "In fact, until Bob brought it up, I really hadn't thought about it."

How the Tet Offensive played out at Bien Hoa
The Tet Offensive launched on Jan. 30, 1968, and became one of the largest military campaigns of the war. At Bien Hoa Air Base, U.S. forces were badly outnumbered and caught in a surprise attack.

Click here to learn more about the Tet Offensive and how U.S. forces fared at Bien Hoa.

What Strones, 77, had thought about was returning to Bien Hoa Air Base.

Often.

"I've wanted to go back for many, many years. I don't know if I can explain why to anybody who was not in the military," he said. "It's the same reason why people go back to Normandy."

Strones spent 30 years in active duty and reserve service with the U.S. Air Force and now runs a security consulting company, Strones Enterprises Inc. He had tried at least three times to get back on Bien Hoa Air Base, about 20 miles northeast of what was then Saigon, but was denied access because the site is an active Vietnamese military installation.

In December, Strones, of Clinton, Tenn., received Connor's email, asking him to help locate the mass grave at Bien Hoa. Strones didn't hesitate to help.

"I know some people are still bitter, but we were doing what we were told. Some people are mad at the U.S. government for that, and some people are mad at the Vietnamese for that," Strones said. "I understand. But you have to get by that bitterness. If I'd have lost a son, I'd want to know where he ended up."

Enemies no more
Connor and Strones were invited to Vietnam in March by Mai and the Dong Nai Province People's Committee to help identify the grave at Bien Hoa.

“The common thread between us was that the war was over, and we were friends.”
Bob Connor

At their first meeting, Mai — dressed in full uniform — saluted the Americans. He made it clear, Connor said, that the Vietnamese held no ill-will toward U.S. veterans.

"He wanted us to know that they understand and respect what we had to do during the war," Connor said. "He only said it once, but you had that feeling the entire time we were there with him."

When Connor met Che, the man who wrote the email that started his transcontinental odyssey, he was overcome with emotion.

"It's a funny feeling, when you're face to face with your enemy, completely," Connor said, fighting back tears. "The common thread between us was that the war was over, and we were friends. We had just never met. And we're meeting now for the very first time."

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Courtesy of Martin Strones
Meeting in March in a hotel lobby before heading out to the base in Vietnam are (from left) an interpreter, Vietnamese Col. Mai Xuan Chien, Vietnamese veteran Che Trung Hieu, U.S. veteran Martin Strones, a second interpreter, and U.S. veteran Bob Connor.

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Courtesy of Martin Strones
Col. Mai Xuan Chien (right), vice political commissar of Dong Nai Province Military Command, with Strones (second from left) and Connor (second from right), and an unidentified man.

When Strones and Connor accompanied Mai and his group to try to locate the grave, they became the first Americans since the war to set foot on Bien Hoa Air Base. Even one of the deputy prime ministers, Truong Hoa Bình, came to the base to meet them and oversee the excavations.

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Courtesy of Bob Connor
During the search in March for the unmarked grave at Bien Hoa, one of Vietnam’s deputy prime ministers, Truong Hoa Bình (second from left), visits the base to meet the American veterans.


After four days, they were unable to pinpoint the grave. Strones and Connor returned home deflated.

"I think they thought I could go right to the spot and say, 'Dig here,' " Strones said. "But I had told them more than once, 'I believe I can find it, but we didn't mark it, and it's been 49 years.' "

Connor was crestfallen.

"I was frustrated and ticked off because we couldn't find the grave," he said. "But they weren't upset."

Mai said that knowing the U.S. veterans were leaving his country so despondent only strengthened his people's resolve to find the grave.

DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
Retired Col. Martin Strones talks about making peace with former enemies and helping them find closure.
"Mr. Martin Strones and Mr. Bob Connor had to return their country in an uneasy and unsatisfactory status," he said. "We did share those mood of them and determined to expand the search area."

Three weeks later, the mass grave of "relics and rotten bones" was uncovered at Bien Hoa, just 20 meters from where Strones said it would be, according to Mai.

The discovery proved to Che that Connor and Strones were "good, wonderful guys who help bring home the Martyrs who lay down under cold place nearly 50 years."


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Courtesy of Martin Strones
Vietnamese soldiers sifting and excavating at Bien Hoa air base for a mass grave of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers from the Vietnam War. The search in March was based on information provided by U.S. veterans Bob Connor and Martin Strones.


Dao Le Phuong, press and cultural attaché for the Vietnam Embassy in Washington, D.C., confirmed — in an email to the Inquirer and Daily News — the finding of "mass graves of Vietnamese martyrs" at Bien Hoa, "with the support of two American veterans, Bob Connor and Martin Strones."

While the grave was believed to have contained about 150 soldiers, the Vietnamese government was able to identify only 72 of the martyrs, and to contact their family members, Che said.

"The rest we will continue to contact and find their families, but it is difficult because, after 50 years of war, many families are scattered," he said.

On July 12, a reburial was held in Vietnam for the 72 soldiers who, thanks to their former enemies, are wandering spirits no more. Relatives of the dead came clutching photos of their loved ones, incense filled the hot air, and 72 small coffins — all draped in Vietnamese flags — were aligned in perfect rows.

"The memorial service was so emotional," Che said, "more than 1,500 attenders and martyrs' families from 23 provinces."


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Mourners in July attended a ceremony and reburial for the 72 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers whose mass grave was found on Bien Hoa Air Base. The remains were excavated in April. Photos by Hoang Hanh Nguyen / Courtesy of Che Trung Hieu


Le Anh Toan, the brother of one of the soldiers found in the mass grave, said that in 1968, his family had received nothing more than a death notice.

For "50 years, our family has looked for our brother. Now we know his resting place amongst his comrades. We can finally be at peace," he told the Viet Nam News, a daily English newspaper in Hanoi.

Phung Duy Cuong, who fought at Bien Hoa for the North Vietnamese People's Army, said the soldiers who had died beside him that day were like brothers.

“We come from different places, we are not blood relatives, but we might as well be,” he told the paper. “The day we found our comrades feels like the day we found our family."

Strones' piercing blue eyes still well up when he talks about watching footage of the reburial.

Courtesy of Bob Connor.

On July 12, a reburial was held in Vietnam for the 72 martyrs who, thanks to their former enemies, are wandering spirits no more. At the ceremony, U.S. veterans Bob Connor and Martin Strones spoke to attendees via a video stream.
"To see those people standing with an 8-by-10 picture of their loved one — I'm so glad I was able to do that, to give them closure," he said. "People sent me emails saying, 'God bless you for coming to Vietnam and helping us heal the wounds.'"

Laying the dead to rest is "an important part of healing deep wounds," Ted Osius, U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, said in a statement.

"When people from both countries, who were once on opposite sides of the battlefield, are able to move on, become friends, and work together to pay respect to the fallen and bring a sense of closure to these families," Osius said, "that sends a powerful message."

'A profound humanitarian issue'
Today, Strones continues to speak to military groups about his humanitarian mission, in part to try to find others who may know about additional graves in Vietnam.

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Courtesy of Che Trung Hieu.
Top: Family members carry photos of their loved ones at the reburial ceremony.

Bottom left: Sgt: Phùng Văn Thái, Unit: U1 Special Force of Bien Hoa. Born 1944 in Hai Phong City. Joined the army in Jan., 1965. Died Jan. 31, 1968.
Bottom right: Nguyen Văn Sơm, Unit: E4 (Regiment), F5 (Division 5). Born 1946 in Hưng Yen Province. Joined the army in April, 1966. Died Jan. 31, 1968.
Meanwhile, Connor — who came home from the Vietnam War feeling like he hadn't made a damn bit of difference — now spends up to four hours a day hunting the internet, trying to get other veterans to come forward.

"For those who have seen grotesque war atrocities, that's a hard pill to swallow. I admit that," Connor said of veterans' helping a former enemy. "They need to break away from that last thought of the guy who died beside them and think of the families in Vietnam that deserve closure."

What started as just one man on an unlikely mission has grown. Connor is now working with four other Vietnam veterans he found on the internet who have insight into additional mass graves in Vietnam. He and Strones have also provided information on several other mass graves containing as many as 3,000 soldiers, though those sites have yet to be excavated, Che said.

Connor hopes the U.S. government will also step up and provide intelligence it may have on mass graves in Vietnam, "or else this whole thing is going to take another 50 years."

Why is Vietnam so far behind in identifying remains?
After more than 40 years of largely unsuccessful attempts to find 300,000 missing war dead, Vietnam has invested $25 million into a project to locate and identify its lost soldiers.

Click here to read why.

Dao, of the Vietnamese Embassy, called the exchange of information "a profound humanitarian issue."

"Continued cooperation between the two countries on these humanitarian issues," he said, "serve the interest and wishes of our two people and help deepen our ties and relations."

Lee Tucker, a spokesman for the Defense Department's POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said in an email that, since 1988, the U.S. has conducted joint recovery operations with Vietnam for missing U.S. soldiers and citizens, and does so four times a year.

"The progress we have made in accounting for our personnel still missing from the war in Vietnam would not be possible without the support of the Vietnamese people and its government," Tucker wrote. "For that, we are very appreciative."

In 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development signed a statement of cooperation with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, which included a $980,000 grant to help advance the country's ability to identify remains.

While POW/MIA is aware of Connor and Strones' endeavor and is "supportive of the mission from a humanitarian perspective," Tucker said, the agency takes no official position on their actions.

"It is important to remember," he wrote, "these are efforts by veterans acting on their own."

Do you have information or resources that could help in the search for Vietnam's missing soldiers? Click here to contact reporter Stephanie Farr and veterans Bob Connor and Martin Strones.

CREDITS
Reporter: Stephanie Farr
Editor: Jessica Parks
Visuals editor: Frank Wiese
Design and graphics: Jared Whalen
Project Manager: Emily Babay
Video: David Swanson, Jared Whalen
Photography: David Swanson
Copy editor: Suzanne Weston

The Tet Offensive battle at Bien Hoa Air Base in Vietnam on Jan. 31, 1968, photographed by Air Force Sgt. Bob Connor, who was atop a water tower serving as a lookout. / Photo courtesy of Bob Connor
 
Visit of Liu Yunshan, a senior CCP official with an offer nobody expected, apparently in an attempt to calm down the mood. China offers $11 billion for Vietnam infrastructure projects.


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Angelina Jolie follows her passion with 'First They Killed My Father'
Josh RottenbergContact Reporter


On an early September afternoon, Angelina Jolie sat in a sunlit room in a scenic mountainside hotel, clearly feeling relieved.

The day before, Jolie’s latest directorial effort, the emotionally wrenching Cambodian-genocide drama “First They Killed My Father,” had its North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. The crowd gave the film the kind of reception any director would dream of, with cheers and tears in equal measure, while critics took to Twitter to proclaim it Jolie’s best work as a director.

It was an auspicious launch into the awards-season fray for the film, which was released by Netflix on Friday via streaming and in 10 theaters nationwide and has been selected by Cambodia as the country’s official entry for the foreign-language Oscar.

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Sareum Srey Moch as Loung Ung in a scene from "First They Killed My Father." (Roland Neveu / Netflix via AP)
With the screening under her belt, Jolie could now take a breath and take in the rest of the famously low-key festival, which she was attending for the first time with her six children in tow, enjoying the freedom to walk around without being besieged by paparazzi or reporters lobbing prying questions about her recent split from Brad Pitt.


“I geeked out on Ken Burns,” she said brightly, picking at a plate of cheese and crackers beside her longtime friend, Loung Ung, who authored the 2000 memoir “First They Killed My Father” and co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Jolie. “When do you get the chance to do that?”

On its face, “First They Killed My Father” — a child’s-eye view of the horrors of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that claimed the lives of some 2 million Cambodians — may seem an unlikely project for Jolie to have tackled. The film is entirely in the Khmer language and chronicles events that took place on the other side of the globe when she was just a toddler.

Yet for the 42-year-old actress-turned-director, it is perhaps the most personal film she has made — an attempt to recount a painful chapter in the history of the country where her 16-year-old adopted son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, was born and where she has put down her own roots over the last two decades.

Jolie and Ung first met some 16 years ago through their work on the issue of land mines in Cambodia. For years, they had talked about someday bringing Ung’s story of surviving the so-called killing fields to the screen. But neither was at all sure it would ever actually happen.

“Loung was in no rush to have the film made, and we knew Maddox needed to be in the right place because he was going to confront a lot,” Jolie said. “He goes to Cambodia a lot, he sees it — but not like that, not in that way. And then one day Mad said that he was ready.”

Jolie’s path to “First They Killed My Father” had begun in 2000, when she traveled to Cambodia to star in a very different kind of film, the action blockbuster “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.”

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Angelina Jolie and Sareum Srey Moch on the set of "First They Killed My Father." (Netflix)
“When I got there, I realized I knew nothing about this country and I felt very ignorant,” she said. “I decided to buy a book and learn a little bit so I picked up a $2 copy of ‘First They Killed My Father.’ That was really the beginning of an education and an awareness of how little I knew and how much I needed to change my view of the world.”

Inspired in part by her growing love for Cambodia — where she would eventually buy a house, become a citizen in 2005 and work for environmental conservation, education and other causes — Jolie started working with the United Nations as a goodwill ambassador in 2001, devoting more and more of her time to humanitarian efforts around the world that continue to this day.

Nearly four decades after the genocide ended, the subject is still difficult for many Cambodians to discuss, let alone see reenacted onscreen. But Ung says she was confident that Jolie would be able to do her story justice.

“Angie and I have gone through a lot in our friendship and I trust her as a woman, as a friend, as a filmmaker but also as a mother,” Ung said. “She has a track record, not just with me but with Cambodia and with the world, confronting tough issues of war and peace and refugees. So I knew she was somebody who would understand and pay careful attention and be very kind.”

Still, for Ung, who lost both her parents and two sisters in the genocide, watching the most traumatic events of her life play out onscreen for the first time, with young actress Sareum Srey Moch depicting her journey from carefree 5-year-old to orphaned child soldier to psychologically scarred survivor, was emotionally difficult.

“I went into it willing myself to be strong,” said Ung, who was sponsored by a church group after the war and resettled in Vermont and is now a human-rights activist. “I prepped myself for the hard scenes, the bombs and the soldiers and the land mines. But I found that the scenes that broke me the most were the first scenes with the family sitting down together for dinner. It was as simple as that. To see all nine of us at a table, just eating a meal — moments like that brought it back to what it’s all about, which is the love of family and all of us trying to survive together.”

Shooting the film in Cambodia in what became the largest production in the country since the war, Jolie drew upon every tool she had learned directing her previous features, 2011’s “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” 2014’s “Unbroken” and 2015’s “By the Sea.”

“I think I settled more into a voice,” she said. “Maybe it’s because of Maddox, I don't know, but I feel like I broke from the box a little bit and I felt bolder in the choices. I think just that little bit more confidence than I had before helped me to stay calm and let things happen on set.”

As for Maddox, Jolie said that working on the film, on which he is credited as an executive producer, put him more deeply in touch with his Cambodian heritage. “I never wanted to press on him that he had to be connected or had to love Cambodia,” she said. “That had to come naturally, and he had to confront a lot of hard realities of what his birth parents had probably lived through. But what happened was, yes, there was a lot to learn but he made something. He created something with his fellow countrymen. He was part of a Cambodian crew, part of a Cambodian film, as a Cambodian.”

Though it’s safe to say that “First They Killed My Father” is not a film that most Hollywood studios would have jumped at the idea of making, Netflix agreed early on to back it. “It is true that this type of film would be difficult to make at a major studio because it it lacks star power and is in a foreign language,” said Scott Stuber, who oversees Netflix’s growing slate of original feature films. “We are fortunate because, for us, we have over 100 million members around the world who have unique and diverse tastes, and we have seen the power of good storytelling traveling globally.”

That said, Jolie is aware that a film about a genocide that took place decades ago in a country many Americans would have difficulty finding on a map may not necessarily be the easiest sell to domestic audiences, particularly these days. As someone who is deeply concerned with the rest of the world, she says the strain of isolationism that has taken hold in this country’s political life troubles her.

I think America is built on diversity and when we are at our best we are engaging in the world, pushing, representing something.— Angelina Jolie
“Maybe it’s because I wake up in the morning and my children are from many different countries and we travel in the world,” she said. “I live in the world. I’m proud to be American but I’m also proud to be Cambodian. I’m proud my daughter [Zahara] is Ethiopian. I think America is built on diversity and when we are at our best we are engaging in the world, pushing, representing something. And when we’re not able to do that, the damage that can have — how that spreads into all the other crises and conflicts and human-rights abuses in the world — is something we all need to be very aware of.”

Clearly energized by her experience making “First They Killed My Father,” Jolie said she is eager to find another project to direct. “I prefer being behind the camera,” she said. “I’ve never loved being in front of the camera. I’m much happier when I’m watching other people work.”

But she is looking for the right thing to spark her interest. Asked if she has ever considered trying to tackle a big-budget studio franchise film, like a superhero movie, she paused.

“I don’t know how good I’d be on that,” she said. “Those are more the ones I’d act in — that’s funny, isn’t it? But no, when you give two years of your life, I want to learn something. I want to be immersed in a culture or be learning about history.

“To direct something, you have to be so passionate. You have to live and die for it if you want to make it great. Some people are passionate about those big entertainment ones or new technologies. I’m passionate about country and culture and human beings.”

This film told the truth thing about Vietnamese soldiers in Cambodia, we saved and rescued them from Khmer Rouge.
 
I have theories about that:

1. I think its a logistical issue because Vietnam have mandatory services & probably don't want to take reserves ammo from their regulars.

2. What doesn't make sense military wise, make sense government wise (& vice versa.) Some government official probably have it in their bright idea to use minimum resources to train someone so they can bulge the numbers of soldiers trained on paper.

3. Corruption probably?...

People are focusing too much on those 3 bullets thing. It just a government funded program about teaching the youth some military drills and discipline, inducting patriotism and communism in a few speedy classes. It’s not about forming a military unit.

Communist ideology is that the people (farmers, workers, students…) should be ready to protect the revolution against all enemies, so the population need a military/weapon training to be able to defend the communism and the party. To put that communist theory into practical is another thing, training dozens or hundreds of thousands students will need a huge budget and a lot of time. That why you see a SYMBOLIC training, speedy basic training and the 3 bullets thing. So at the end of the day, the communist party would say they have tens millions of people ready to defend the revolution.

Those students shouldn’t be consider any military asset like a military reserve or militia, but they could be useful to carry supplies, filling sand bags or digging trenches or any labor jobs…. Obviously it would be suicidal to send any of them to combat, the same thing apply for the boyscouts and army cadets around the world. (Gosh I was in the army cadet when I was a kid and no way we were ready to fight despite wearing uniform and doing drill…were are just kids….lol)
 
Clearly that you look at China-Vietnam relationship from Western (german) point of view. Vietnamese do not see it that way.

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I think it is a question of where one's immediate interests and loyalty lie.

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Opportunities abound for Vietnamese & Chinese enterprises

Last update: 07:48 | 21/09/2017

Ms. Doan Thi Thu Thuy, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, tells VET's Hai Van about cooperation between enterprises from Vietnam and China.


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What potential is there for Vietnamese enterprises to cooperate with Chinese enterprises?

Vietnam is on the way to integrating into the global economy. It is involved in 16 free trade agreements (FTAs) and the ASEAN Economic Community, which boosts its strengths as well as trade and economic cooperation.

Vietnam’s GDP grew 6.21 per cent in 2016. Total trade turnover was $351 billion, an increase of 6.63 per cent against 2015, which is evidence of successful integration.

What are the advantages for Vietnamese enterprises in cooperating with China?

Vietnam and China have strengths in terms of geography location, sharing a long border.

The Chinese market has significant potential and bears certain similarities with the Vietnamese market, Vietnamese culture, and Vietnamese consumers.

Trade turnover between the two countries has been rising significantly and sustainably. China has been Vietnam’s largest trading partner since 2004.

Total trade turnover between the two stood at $71.97 billion in 2016, up 8.06 per cent against 2015.

They are boosting cooperation in order to reach the targeted $100 billion in trade this year, according to both governments.

Notably, Guang Xi is an important province for Vietnam to export Vietnamese products into China and it’s also a gateway for China to export products to ASEAN.

Convenient transport links, including road and sea, and cooperation between Vietnamese and Guang Xi authorities have provided a great foundation for development.

Trade between Guang Xi and Vietnam reached $13.2 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 4.2 per cent year-on-year.

Vietnam imported over $7.68 billion and Guang Xi $5.5 billion, increases of 0.2 per cent and 10.3 per cent, respectively.

Can you evaluate the quality of Vietnamese enterprises attending the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO)?

Four sectors in Vietnam were represented at the recent CAEXPO 14: processed agricultural products, machinery, electronic products, and construction materials.

There were more than a hundred Vietnamese enterprises taking part, introducing special Vietnamese products to international enterprises.

At the same time, Vietnamese enterprises sought cooperation with Chinese enterprises and those from ASEAN. Trade is always one of the most important activities.

Vietnamese enterprises connected with enterprises from China and Guang Xi, to effectively explore economic support and boost specific cooperation now and into the future.

What do Vietnamese businesses need to pay attention to when exporting to China?

In China as well as in all international markets, it is necessary to pay attention to product quality and price.

What opportunities do you expect to come the way of Vietnamese enterprises through this business exchange?

Business exchange is a necessary activity for both Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises, where they can carefully research partners.

I expect that Vietnamese enterprises will have many cooperation opportunities to export their products to China.

VN Economic Times
 
People are focusing too much on those 3 bullets thing. It just a government funded program about teaching the youth some military drills and discipline, inducting patriotism and communism in a few speedy classes. It’s not about forming a military unit.

Communist ideology is that the people (farmers, workers, students…) should be ready to protect the revolution against all enemies, so the population need a military/weapon training to be able to defend the communism and the party. To put that communist theory into practical is another thing, training dozens or hundreds of thousands students will need a huge budget and a lot of time. That why you see a SYMBOLIC training, speedy basic training and the 3 bullets thing. So at the end of the day, the communist party would say they have tens millions of people ready to defend the revolution.

Those students shouldn’t be consider any military asset like a military reserve or militia, but they could be useful to carry supplies, filling sand bags or digging trenches or any labor jobs…. Obviously it would be suicidal to send any of them to combat, the same thing apply for the boyscouts and army cadets around the world. (Gosh I was in the army cadet when I was a kid and no way we were ready to fight despite wearing uniform and doing drill…were are just kids….lol)

I don't think all the military training for students are nonsense. Forget the battle of Quang Tri where almost soldiers in there are students from North Vietnam univer, they proved they fought well in front of massive pressure, If I remember right, they only got 3 months training in Thai Nguyen.
 
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