Vietnam Eases Border Trade Restrictions With China to Help Virus-Hit Businesses

‘Unhealthy Partisanship’: Move Afoot to Improve the Workings of Parliament

Canada’s Parliament is increasingly moving away from forming decisions based on debates, with decisions instead largely dictated by parties or party leaders, says a veteran MP. A recent report backs up this view, showing the majority of MPs believe that “unhealthy partisanship” has become more prevalent in Parliament, with democratic practices declining, particularly in the areas of MP independence and debates. In the current minority Parliament, some MPs are working toward modernizing the House in order to increase efficiency and eliminate parliamentary dysfunction, among other issues that have long plagued the legislative body. Engaged in the discussions is Conservative MP Michael Chong, who has been committed to democratic reform ever since he was elected in 2004. In his view, Parliament has increasingly gravitated toward conformity to the point that new…

HANOI/LANG SON—Vietnam has eased restrictions on cross-border trade with China to prop up economic activities hit by the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Feb. 20.

China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and the Southeast Asian country’s manufacturing sector relies on it for materials and equipment. China is also Vietnam’s key market for farm produce.

Vietnam early this month stopped issuing visas for Chinese tourists and partially closed the borders to prevent the spread of the virus.

Authorities in the northern province of Lang Son on Thursday reopened Tan Thanh border, one of the main borders between the two countries, to facilitate the flow of goods, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

At the nearby Huu Nghi border, hundreds of trucks were seen on Thursday preparing to transport goods to China after being stuck since Feb. 5, according to Reuters witnesses. All customs officials were seen wearing face masks and truck drivers wearing protective gears before crossing the border.

“Things start to go well again when the trucks are allowed to go through the border now,” 51-year-old truck driver Nguyen Trong Cang told Reuters. “The paperwork and procedure has been made convenient for us drivers, so the first steps have been good but the road ahead is going to be tough still.”

“The outbreak has affected us greatly,” Cang said. “Some of our trucks have been held up here since early this month.”

The ministry said, however, that cross-border trade had not been fully restored as “the COVID-19 outbreak is anticipated to last for a long time.”

“Customs clearance will take a longer time due to the strict measures taken to prevent the disease,” the ministry said.

A survey of American Chamber of Commerce members in Vietnam last week showed U.S. manufacturing firms operating in the country are suffering supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Vietnamese government said on Friday it will stick to this year’s economic growth target of 6.8 percent and take steps to ease the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health said on Thursday that 15 out of 16 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country have now been cured, while 28 suspected cases are being quarantined at local hospitals.

By Khanh Vu and Minh Nguyen

This article is from the Internet:Vietnam Eases Border Trade Restrictions With China to Help Virus-Hit Businesses

Shaking Hands With Bad State Actors Not Smart ‘Chess’

News Analysis Diplomatic relations is a chess game, one that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t play very well when he had a friendly handshake with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, says former cabinet minister and longtime MP David Kilgour. “You need to know how to move your pieces in a way that you’re going to serve your country and its interests, and not serve the interests of the other country, which is trying to hurt you in every way it can,” Kilgour says. Images of Trudeau greeting Zarif with a friendly handshake and bowing his head on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14 was shared widely by Iranian state media, with critics raising concerns that the prime minister is being used as a propaganda prop by…