Vietnam says "Good riddance!" to Chinese workers

If you say "Good riddance!" to someone or to a group of people, you are, basically, saying, "Good bye, I am so happy to see you leave!"  Or:  "We will be better now that you are gone!"  Did you ever hear of the phrase "to get rid of something"?  "Riddance" comes from the root of "rid".

China sent ships into Vietnamese territorial waters and has been trying to steal oil from this country.  The Vietnamese people are very upset and have been protesting (openly and publicly speaking out against this). China is now removing various workers from Vietnam.  Vietnam's response?  "Good riddance!"

An article about this story:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/chinese-ships-arrive-vietnam-pick-workers-23773490

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to evacuate - to remove people from a dangerous situation

a riot - when a protest becomes violent

chartered by - hired by, paid for by

unrest - protests, riots - when people are upset and start doing violent things because they are so upset

sovereignty claims - China seems to believe that many islands near other countries belong to China.  The other countries (and the rest of the world) disagree. Sovereignty means something belongs to a country.

will play well in China - will make the government of China look good to the Chinese people

a gesture - a move, an action

deploying the ships - sending the ships

reinforce the image as a victim - China wants to make it seem as if Vietnam is the bad guy, yet many Chinese people rioted against Japanese businesses a couple years ago and the Chinese government supported that violence.

a mob - a large group of violent people

nationals - people belonging to a country

overlapping territorial claims - both countries believe the area belongs to them; the area belongs to Vietnam

a standoff - nobody is winning and nobody is losing.  Go Vietnam!

an oil rig - a giant device to get oil from under the sea

labelled China's move as provocative - China is trying to start trouble.  Go Vietnam!

an impediment - an obstacle, something that might stop someone.  

deepening rather than alleviating - making things worse instead of better

prevailing - existing

to bode well - to look as if something good is going to happen

gangs intent on looting - basically, this is a lie.  Looting is when property is stolen. Often times American news sources will provide positive news about China because they are receiving funding from Chinese sources.  Go Vietnam!

authoritarian country - again, this is anti-Vietnam 'propaganda'.  I happen to know many people in this country and they would not describe the country as 'authoritarian.' China on the other hand...well, did you ever hear of Tiananmen Square?

cracked down - taken strict measures to stop something; again, there is no real journalism in America - every story is paid for by someone.

A tragedy in China - over 30 killed by terrorists in Kunming

(photo from scmp.com)

The Uighur or Uyghur people are an ancient people.  They speak a language similar to Turkish and appear to look "European." They are also Muslim. A majority of the Uighur people, however, currently live in China. Apparently the Uighur people would like to have their political independence - a country of their own.

Therefore, 10 Uighur terrorists, dressed in black, attacked a crowded train station in China in order to show their anger.

Here is an article about this terrible tragedy. (A tragedy is a horrible situation that results in death.)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/violent-terror-attack-at-chinese-train-station-by-knifewielding-men-leaves-28-dead-113-injured-9162709.html

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

terror - a feeling of extreme or deep fear; therefore a terrorist is someone who takes action to cause fear among groups of people

knife-wielding - to wield a knife or sword means to swing a knife or sword from side to side violently to kill one or more people; the term can also be used 'figuratively', for instance, a president wields power (exercises or uses power). i.e. The president of the US does not wield as much power as many people think. The powers of the president are limited by the Constitution.

an assailant - an attacker, someone who takes aggressive action to harm others

injured - wounded, harmed but still alive

to stab and to slash - to stab is to thrust a knife into another's body, to push it in; to slash is to cut sideways to cut the flesh open

stormed through - forced their way through aggressively, violently

ethnic separatists - there is a difference between ethnicity and race.  If you are Chinese, your race is Asian, your ethnicity is Chinese.  So the Uighur people belong to their own ethnic group.  They are also separatists - they wish to live separately of the Chinese people.

captured - caught

at random - they did not act deliberately or choose whom they were going to kill.  They just attacked people who were available.

exerted - used

resolutely crack down on - strongly punish

swollen with arrogance - they feel 'big' because they think they can act against the law - they are arrogant, they think they are above the law, overly proud

rounding up members - gathering people

confirmed - verified, proved

municipal - city

freaking out - slang for panicking, losing one's sense of calm and feeling very anxious and scared

to take refuge - to get to a safe place

chopping - swinging down with the knife to cut into people

motives - what causes a person or people to act

crack down the crimes - should be: crack down on the crimes

in accordance to the law - following the law

no tolerance - no forgiveness or mercy will be shown

simmering - when you heat water, it begins to simmer before it boils; so if something is simmering, it is ready to boil or become worse

heavy-handed security - very forceful actions to prevent protests or trouble

clashes - fights

unrest - violence

mob - a violent group of people

a vigilante - someone who takes action to punish someone he/she thinks is a criminal, instead of trusting the police to do it 

India leads the world in: slavery

Some shocking statistics were released recently about slavery around the world.  Yes, slavery - especially 'sexual slavery' (where women and children are forced to be prostitutes - a prostitute offers sex for money) - is thriving (strongly surviving) in the world.  What is especially shocking to me is that about half the cases of slavery in the world are in India.  India is supposed to be a developed nation and a democracy. According to this report about 15 million of the world's 30 million slaves are located in India.

Here is an amazing documentary about the children of prostitutes in India and how they are expected to become prostitutes themselves.  This documentary won an Oscar and is worth watching.  I think the international community has to put pressure on the Indian government to change this type of problem.  The world simply cannot tolerate the lack of adequate concern and action for this type of situation.  The documentary is called:  Born into Brothels (a brothel is a place where women work as prostitutes).

Part of the problem might be the cultural and religious tradition of 'castes' and the belief in 'karma' in India.

A caste was a social class that a person was born into and which the person could never leave.  So for generations there was no social or economic mobility (movement up or down) in India. 

Furthermore, Hinduism involves the belief in 'karma.'  Karma is a religious concept meant to explain why bad things happen to good people.  Many Hindus believe that when a person dies, he/she becomes 'reincarnated.' To be reincarnated means to come back again in a different type of body (human or otherwise).  So if a person were born into a 'low' caste and had a hard life, it would be said, "Well, you deserve your suffering because in your previous life you must have done terrible things!'  So according to karma, we are all punished in this life for what we did in a past life.

So if a child is forced to work as a prostitute or a person is enslaved in India, the attitude might be, if the person believes in karma: "Well, that slave or prostitute must have done something terrible in a previous life, so he/she is suffering now."  In any case, that's my theory as to why slavery is so pervasive (all over the place) in India.  What's your theory? 

Here's the shocking article:

http://news.msn.com/world/30-million-people-are-slaves-half-in-india

Vocabulary from the article:

bonded labor - when a person is forced to serve a person as a slave because he/she owes the other person money.  In this type of slavery, the 'bonded' person never seems to be able to pay off his/her debt and remains a slave forever.

commercial sex exploitation - let's say that a woman or child in a third-world country is very poor.  This type of person might be recruited by or encouraged to join a 'brothel" - a place where men can come to have sex.  This is a form of 'exploitation' - poor and vulnerable people are being used to make money for others by becoming prostitutes.

trafficked - basically this means 'kidnapped' and forced to work as a prostitute

manual labor - hand labor, machine work or sewing etc.

an index - a chart or series of statistics

a quarry - a place where materials have to be dug out of the earth

a kiln - a type of oven that produces food or goods

to quantify - to give a number to, to count

hereditary slavery - you 'inherit' your position as a slave, a person who is born into slavery

staggering - shocking

domestic workers - maids, house-cleaners

to be lured into something - to be attracted into something by a false promise.  Let's say that someone says there is a good job for you teaching in a village, but when you go there you are kidnapped and forced to work as a prostitute.

coercion - force

indentured servitude - this means a person works for free for a number of years, usually to pay off a debt

prevalence - how common something is.  The flu is prevalent in the winter.  Slavery is more prevalent in India than any other country.

allocating resources - putting money aside to deal with a problem

to devise policy - to create policy

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Do you agree that a caste system in the past and the belief in karma might be reasons for the situation of slavery in India?

Why do you think slavery is allowed in India?  Who is at fault?  Is it the people who don't care?  Is it the government's fault?

When South Africa treated black Africans terribly during the apartheid era, the world began to boycott South African goods.  Do you think it is time for the world to tell India that enough is enough and that millions of people simply cannot be treated this way?  India is generating great wealth (for some).  Do you think it is time for the world to take action toward a country that does not seem to care about its own people?

Japanese Government Officials Will Continue Visiting A Controversial Shrine

Although World War II ended almost 70 years ago, various East Asian countries cannot forget some of the terrible things that happened.

For instance, many Koreans find it hard to forget that their country was occupied (Japanese soldiers had control of their land) from 1910 to 1945 and many Chinese cannot forget atrocities like Nanjing. (an atrocity is something horrible that happens involving the killing/murder of innocent people)

Here is an article about what the Japanese military did in Nanjing:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm

To many Americans, this attitude seems strange because the war ended so long ago.  Most, if not all of the people responsible for the war, are dead. Indeed, in Europe animosity (bad feelings) over World War II does not seem to exist.  It has become ancient history.

Many of my Asian students have different theories as to why World War II has not been forgotten in Asia.  Many of my Korean and Chinese students say that Japan never fully or sincerely apologized for what they did in the war.  Many of those students also claim that the war is not reported accurately (truthfully) in Japanese history books.  Some of my Japanese students, however, tell me that an apology was issued (given) but that there are political reasons as to why the war has not been forgotten.

One of the most controversial issues causing problems between Japan and China and Korea involves the Yasukuni War Shrine. 

Each year Japanese politicians visit the shrine to pay respect to the Japanese young men who died in World War II.  China and Korea object to this because they believe that many of the Japanese war dead committed terrible actions against people in China and Korea

(A controversial issue or topic is a topic that people like to argue about.  A shrine is like a holy or sacred place).

Here is a brief article stating that members of the Japanese government will continue to visit the shrine since they feel this is an "internal" Japanese matter.  Basically they are saying that every country has the right to do what it wants inside of itself.  If Japanese politicians want to honor their war dead, no other country has the right to tell them not to.

The article:

http://japandailypress.com/ldp-policy-chief-pledges-to-continue-visiting-yasukuni-shrine-despite-asian-protests-1328688


Vocabulary from the article:

to pledge - to promise.

a ruling party - the political party that has power currently.

a memorial - a place people go to remember something from the past.  In Brooklyn there is an amazing memorial to American soldiers who died in the 1770s and 80s in the Revolutionary War. Specifically, the memorial is for Americans who were taken prisoner by the English and who died on prison ships.  It's been a favorite place of mine to visit over the years. http://www.prisonshipmartyrs.com/Introduction.html

the outcry - complaints; when people speak out against what they feel is wrong

protests - when people take action to show that they disapprove of some policy or action

a mass visit - many people visited at one time

convicted of war crimes - after WWII the USA held war-crimes trials and found 14 Japanese soldiers guilty.  These soldiers were convicted by an American court.

a symbol - something that represents something else

a past aggression - a warlike action taken in the past

to be colonized - America was colonized initially by England.  Colonization is when a stronger country takes land from a weaker country and tries to duplicate itself there.  To colonize a country is to take it over and to try to make it look like your own country to serve your own country.

to be vocal in condemning something - to be very loud about saying something is wrong

the principle of non-interference - a principle is a starting point or a basic belief that can be shared by many people.  In 1972 both countries agreed not to interfere in each other's internal affairs.

tremendous sufferings - it should be tremendous suffering.  Suffering is non-countable.

a landmark apology - a famous apology.

The policy chief said... - Basically this politician seems to be saying that Japan feared becoming a colony of Western countries and this was why Japan developed its military and attacked other countries.

to revise an apology - to change an apology

an atrocity - something horrible that involves the killing/murder of innocent people.  The term is usually used in relation to something horrible that happened in a war.

to elaborate - to add details. Without elaborating - without adding details.

post-war - after the war.  So Abe seems to be saying that he might agree that some Japanese soldiers or military leaders had been war criminals.

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What do you think?  Does Japan have a right to honor its war dead?  Should China and Korea continue protesting this action each year?

US To Take Action against Chinese Cyber-theft?

Apparently the Chinese government has been condoning (approving) the hacking of US corporate computers so that Chinese companies can steal American business secrets.  It looks as if the president of the United States has finally realized this is a serious problem and he is threatening to take action against China.

http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CDA4I86B80%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011&page=1

Vocabulary to help you with the article (I listed interesting words from the first page of the article):

unrelenting - non-stop, it won't stop

a campaign - a major effort

prompting - causing to prompt - to cause

new measures - new attempts to stop Chinese cyber-theft

a fine - if someone is given a fine, they have to pay money as a punishment

espionage - spying

to be guilty - the opposite of to be innocent; if you are guilty of something, you did something wrong

anonymity - to be anonymous means to hide your name or identity

not authorized to do something - they do not have permission to speak about these matters

breaches - violations

that compromised companies - that violated the security and secret information of the companies

to be flawed - to have mistakes in it

a torrent of details - a lot of details, a torrent is like a river

alleged - apparent, is someone is alleged to have done something, people are claiming he/she did something

retaliation - revenge, to get even, to hurt someone who has hurt you

where the red line is - the person is saying we need to set standards for the Chinese and tell them that if they violate these standards we will punish them

repercussions - negative consequences, a repercussion is something bad that happens after someone does something wrong

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1)  Considering the fact that the USA cannot start a war against China, what do you think Obama should do?

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Yes, I'm the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway.
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

If this page is useful to you, please buy the book (it's quite inexpensive and useful!!!!). If you don't have an e-reader, drop me a line at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll send you a free copy via Word file. Let me know whether you have Word 2010 or an earlier version.
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Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia two years ago :P

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/