The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday 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.
The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 be allowed to return to Germany.
It is unclear if the Vietnamese intelligence officer has left Germany yet.
“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.”
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 about US$150 million in losses at PetroVietnam.
After a 10-month international manhunt, Thanh turned himself in on Monday, Vietnamese police said, without saying why. The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security said he is under investigation, the foreign ministry spokesperson said.
A person at Thanh’s house, located in an up-market residential area on the outskirts Hanoi, declined to comment and told reporters none of Thanh’s family members were home.
Some residents in Hanoi said they could not access social network platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter late on Wednesday and early yesterday, 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 yesterday.
He said in comments on his Facebook page the kidnapping was “stupid” and would cause severe diplomatic consequences.
Other activists have also publicly criticized the government over the kidnapping allegations.
Thanh, 51, was a former high flyer at PetroVietnam Construction JSC. He came to public attention in the middle of last year 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 of Vietnam, 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.
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