In the letter, the association said that "a dissident could be exiled, but criticism could not be contained, because Mr. Hoat and other dissidents who have been exiled because they dared speak out their ideas will be replaced by the other brave."

Professor Hoat was released on September 1, 1998 after 20 years in the Vietnamese Communist prison. He was sent from a prison camp in North Vietnam directly to Noi Bai Airport near Hanoi for a flight to the USA. He is living in America with his wife and children.

The association has awarded Hoat the 1998 Golden Pen Prize for Freedom of Press. It also launched a campaign to pressure Hanoi for Hoat's freedom months ago. An official of the association said that it welcomed the decision to release Mr. Hoat but that is not enough. Mr. Hoat, he said, must have his right to live and work in freedom in his fatherland.

Few people expect that Hanoi would respond favorably.

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Rankings of the 1998 Transparency International survey on corruption are in the list below. Countries perceived as the least corrupt are listed first.

1. Denmark. 2. Finland. 3. Sweden. 4. New Zealand. 5. Iceland. 6. Canada. 7. Singapore. 8. Netherlands. 8. Norway. 10. Switzerland. 11. Australia. 11. Luxembourg. 11. United Kingdom. 14. Ireland. 15. Germany. 16. Hong Kong. 17. Austria. 17.United States. 19. Israel. 20. Chile. 21. France. 22. Portugal. 23. Botswana. 23. Spain. 25. Japan. 26. Estonia. 27. Costa Rica. 28.Belgium. 29. Malaysia. 29. Namibia. 29. Taiwan. 32. South Africa. 33. Hungary. 33. Mauritius. 33. Tunisia. 36. Greece. 37.Czech Republic. 38. Jordan. 39. Italy. 39. Poland. 41. Peru. 42. Uruguay. 43. South Korea. 43. Zimbabwe. 45. Malawi. 46.Brazil. 47. Belarus. 48. Slovak Republic. 49. Jamaica. 50. Morocco. 51. El Salvador. 52. China. 52. Zambia. 54. Turkey. 55.Ghana. 55. Mexico. 55. Philippines. 55. Senegal. 59. Cote d'Ivoire. 59. Guatemala. 61. Argentina. 61. Nicaragua. 61. Romania. 61. Thailand. 61. Yugoslavia. 66. Bulgaria. 66. Egypt. 66. India. 69. Bolivia. 69. Ukraine. 71. Latvia. 71. Pakistan. 73. Uganda. 74. Kenya. 74. VIETNAM. 76. Russia. 77. Ecuador. 77. Venezuela. 79. Colombia. 80. Indonesia. 81. Nigeria. 81. Tanzania. 83.Honduras. 84. Paraguay. 85. Cameroon.

Many Vietnamese believe that if the survey were done more intensively, Vietnam under the Communist regime would be listed at a much lower rank, probably below Cameroon.

The former South Vietnamese government were criticized for corruption. However, if a similar survey had been conducted before 1975, South Vietnam would have been listed somewhere below Taiwan and probably above South Korea.

On Monday, September 28, 1998, Mr. Do Muoi, former secretary general of the Vietnam Communist Party, admitted that the anti-corruption campaign launched last year failed to attain its minimum objectives. Speaking to a party members gathering in Hung Yen province, Mr. Muoi said that the evil is corroding the party's popularity and is threatening his party's ruling power.

Mr Do Muoi should have said so 40 years ago when corruption was still curable. Today, his party members have already turned the people against themselves.

SAIGON.- A high-level delegation of the China Communist Party led by Mr. Wei Jianxing, a member of the party politburo standing committee, ended a six-day official visit to Vietnam on Tuesday, September 22. Wei Jianxing held talks with the Vietnamese Communist leaders, including general-secretary of the communist party of Vietnam Le Kha Phieu and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.

They exchanged views on how to further develop the friendly relations and cooperation between the two parties, two countries and two peoples. Wei said that his delegation was deeply impressed by the reform and economic construction currently going on in Vietnam. Le Kha Phieu accepted the invitation to visit Mainland China in the near future.  

The delegation will also visit New Zealand and Australia.  

This year, Hanoi news agency VNA reported that a get-together to mark the 49th anniversary of Chinese National Day (Oct. 1) was held in Vung Tau City of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on Sept. 28. Present at the event, held by the provincial chapter of the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Viet Nam-China Friendship Association (VCFA), were members of the Party Provincial Committee and the provincial chapter of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front, the Chinese Consul General in Saigon and representatives of provincial agencies.

A photo exhibition on Chinese land and people was held on Sept. 30 in the southern province of Dong Thap on this occasion.  

Those were friendly gestures that the Vietnamese Communist had not offered to their Chinese comrades since the 1979 bloody conflict. People in North Vietnam still remember the night of October 16,1964 when Communist China carried out the test of its nuclear device for the first time. Hundred thousands of Hanoi residents were ordered to attend a huge evening meeting to celebrate the successful test.  

HANOI.- An official of Hanoi's Health Ministry said Wednesday, Sept 23, 1998 that more than 40 percent of Vietnamese children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition. This official from the Children's Nutrition Center told AFP that insufficient caloric intake as well as inadequate variation in diet were chiefly responsible for malnutrition among young children.

Lack of knowledge about adequate prenatal care and high incidence of disease among children were also to blame for poor nutrition, the official said.

Although levels of malnutrition have fallen from more than 51 percent in 1985 to 40 percent today, health experts say Vietnam still has a long way to go to ensure its young population is properly fed.

The report came as Vietnamese émigrés' children outside Vietnam are celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, the annual traditional Vietnamese Children's Day, on the Full Moon (15th day) of the Eighth Moon, lunar calendar. This year of the Tiger, the date is on October 5, Gregorian calendar.

Although the Communist government has reported rapid economic growth in recent years, a great number of the young citizens are still suffering from lack of medical care and education. Many could not afford school fees which are rather high to poor peasants.

Even if they could, in many rural schools, children have to sit on dirt floors and blackboards are no more than whitewashed earthen walls with charcoal for chalk.

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