Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui

“ In the current context, cooperation in this field(strategic ties) should be enhanced to cope with challenges, such as terrorism, transnational crimes, maritime security and safety, including the increased friendly exchanges between the two armed forces”. — Vietnam President Truong Tan Song, October 09, 2011

HANOI — Vietnamese immigration officers said Tuesday they were refusing to stamp entry visas into controversial new Chinese passports which feature a map of Beijing's claim to almost all of the South China Sea.

German Economy Minister Philipp Rösler was left outside a Catholic orphanage during the Vietnam War and later taken to Germany where he was adopted. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview, he talked about his feelings about his upcoming visit to the country of his birth as a member of the German government.

In Hugh White's latest book, "The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power", the Australian professor argues that, for the sake of regional peace, the United States and China should carve up Asia between them. In particular, the US should consider ceding Indochina to China, the former defence official added.

China's vice President Xi Jinping, likely to take over as top leader late next year, will visit Vietnam for three days from Tuesday in what could be a test of how he handles festering territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Shimon Peres on Wednesday began the first visit by an Israeli president to Vietnam, about 18 months after Hanoi postponed the trip following condemnation of Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

Fresh from a crisis meeting with France on the euro, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to embark Monday on a visit to Vietnam and Mongolia hoping to push deals on trade and precious raw materials.

HO CHI MINH CITY — Nearly four decades after the end of a war which divided Vietnam, a debate over national reconciliation between former foes has been rekindled by tensions with China.

TAIPEI - Taiwan lodged a protest with Vietnam on Wednesday for labelling the island a Chinese province in some official documents.

Sri Lanka could attract investments from Vietnam if the path is clear and the two nations could increase two-way trade and tourism rapidly, Ton Sinh Thanh, Hanoi's envoy heading a newly re-opened embassy in Colombo, said.

The U.S. government Thursday said it has strongly protested Vietnam's treatment of a U.S. diplomat who was detained and wrestled to the ground while attempting to visit a dissident Roman Catholic priest—a development that could further inflame concerns in the U.S. about the Southeast Asian nation's human rights record.

Three weeks ago, an exhibition opened at the Vietnam Military History Museum. On one side of a long hall, the mementos of Vietnam's 25 years of war against the United States and France - letters of surrender, quotations from Ho Chi Minh, hand grenades and AK-47 rifles - lined the walls. Nothing new there.

The US and Vietnam pledged on Thursday to deepen their relationship despite their differences over human rights.

Vietnam has become an attractive destination for Swiss investors. Switzerland attaches great importance to expanding economic relation with Vietnam, which is one of the seven prioritised countries receiving Switzerland’s development assistance.