Hanoi/Berlin: Vietnam’s foreign ministry on Thursday expressed regret over a statement from Germany accusing Vietnam of kidnapping a former oil executive, and said Hanoi wants to develop a “strategic relationship” with Germany.
Germany’s foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Vietnam of kidnapping Trinh Xuan Thanh, a former executive at state oil company PetroVietnam, who faces charges of financial mismanagement in Vietnam.
Berlin ordered a Vietnamese intelligence officer to leave Germany within 48 hours in response, and demanded that Thanh, a former executive at state oil company PetroVietnam, be allowed to return. He faces charges of financial mismanagement in Vietnam.
“I feel sorry about the statement on August 2 of the German foreign ministry spokesperson,” Vietnamese foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters in Hanoi.
“Vietnam very much respects and wants to develop the strategic partnership relation between Vietnam and Germany,” she added.
Germany’s foreign ministry said it was considering further action to an “unprecedented ... breach of German and international law” over the abduction of Thanh, who is accused of causing around $150 million (Dh550 million) in losses at PetroVietnam.
After a 10-month international manhunt, Thanh turned himself in on Monday, police in Vietnam said, without saying why. The ministry of public security said he is under investigation, the foreign ministry spokesperson.
It was not immediately clear whether Thanh has legal representation. Closed-door trials are common in Vietnam where the one-party state keeps a tight clamp on dissent.
A person at Thanh’s house, located in an upmarket residential area on the outskirts Hanoi, declined to comment and told Reuters none of Thanh’s family members were home.
Social media interrupted
Some residents in Hanoi said they could not access social network platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter late on Wednesday and early on Thursday, but they said the sites were now back to normal.
It was not immediately clear why the social network platforms were inaccessible and whether it was in relation to Germany’s accusations.
It is not unusual for social media to be temporarily closed in Vietnam where authorities often censor news.
Nguyen Quang A, a retired computer scientist and vocal government critic, said on his Facebook page someone had tried unsuccessfully to hack his account 16 times early on Thursday.
He said in comments on his Facebook page the kidnapping was “stupid” and would cause severe diplomatic consequences.
Other activists have also publicly criticised the government over the kidnapping allegations.
Within Vietnam itself, YouTube and Facebook account for two-thirds of the digital media advertising share in Vietnam, according to local agency Isobar Vietnam.
Vietnam has stepped up measures in recent months to silence bloggers and critics whose voices over various issues have been amplified by social media in a country that is among Facebook’s top 10 by users.
Outcry over Lexus
Thanh, 51, was a former high flyer at PetroVietnam Construction JSC, part of the state energy company PetroVietnam.
He came to public attention in mid-2016 when he was found to have a luxury Lexus car with a government license plate, causing an outcry in a country where officials are expected to live modestly.
That prompted the head of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, to order an investigation into his career and how he had been given promotions despite the alleged losses at PetroVietnam Construction.
Thanh took sick leave last year and went abroad, vanishing from the public eye until now.
Germany’s Sueddeutsche newspaper reported he had requested asylum after his arrival in Germany and had been due to appear at a hearing about the request on July 24.
The German foreign ministry statement noted that Vietnamese officials had requested Thanh’s extradition on the margins of the G20 summit, when Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
