Vietnam

| VIETNAM

Vietnam has announced the construction of a park dedicated to the soldiers of Russia, China, Cuba, Laos, and Cambodia who backed the communist North during the war against the United States. This marks a turning point in its official historical narrative, which until now had emphasised nationalism and downplayed foreign assistance. The project is part of a strategic  balancing act with the great powers – ideologically, Vietnam embraces China’s rhetoric, but economically, it must maintain access to the US market.


After a five-year hiatus, passenger rail service between Hanoi and Nanning restarted yesterday. The two countries recently announced a new high-speed railway to Haiphong Port, part of joint plans to boost tourism and regional trade.

| 26/05/2025
| VIETNAM – CHINA
by Steve Suwannarat

Life expectancy in Vietnam tops 74 years, but chronic diseases are up among the over 60s, particularly men. Public health authorities are grappling with high costs, inadequate services, and a rapid demographic transition. By  2050, one in four Vietnamese will be elderly.

| 23/05/2025
| VIETNAM

Just days after the death of Pope Francis and during the conclave that elected Leo XIV, a statue of the Virgin Mary — who appeared in support of persecuted Vietnamese Catholics — was placed just a short distance from the Dome of St Peter’s. The Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City said: “May she intercede for the Pope and for all our communities around the world.”

| 18/05/2025
| ECCLESIA IN ASIA
by Lisa Bongiovanni

The ILO reports a 10 per cent drop in informal work in Vietnam, but many complain that workers in large, export-oriented companies still suffer from job insecurity and lower wages. Manufacturing employs some 17 million people. Set to come into force on 1 July 2025, Vietnam’s new trade union law remains controversial.

| 01/05/2025
| VIETNAM
by Anna Pozzi

On the day of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Saigon and the reunification of the country, the experience of the Scalabrinian missionaries who stand by the families arriving in the big city from the countryside.

| 30/04/2025
| VIETNAM
by Giorgio Bernardelli

In Vietnamese churches, public memorial services are being held for the pontiff. On behalf of the communist authorities, a government official burnt incense in his memory at the headquarters of the Bishops' Conference. No cardinal from this lively and courageous Church will be at the conclave, but everyone remembers Francis’s suggestion that his successor will certainly go to Vietnam.

| 27/04/2025
| ECCLESIA IN ASIA
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“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”