The Giấy Vụn publisher in Vietnam has entered into an agreement with Viet Ecology Press overseas to publish Ngô Thế Vinh’s second ecology book Cửu Long Cạn Dòng Biển Đông Dậy Sóng / The Nine Dragons Drained Dry The East Sea In Turmoil. This author’s first book, a travelogue, is known to the readers under the title Mekong Dòng Sông Nghẽn Mạch / Mekong The Occluding River.
Cover of ‘The Nine Dragons Drained Dry The East Sea In Turmoil’ written by Ngô Thế Vinh.
Cửu Long Cạn Dòng Biển Đông Dậy Sóng was first published in the United States by Văn Nghệ in 2000. It is now in its third edition. For the first time, this book is being published in Vietnam to reach the nation’s readers. As indicated by its title, the book deals with two principal issues: Cửu Long Cạn Dòng / The Nine Dragons Drained Dry sounds the alarm about the threats posed to the Mekong by the hydroelectric dams in the Mekong Cascades that are being built on the river’s mainstream in Yunnan, China. While doing so, the Beijing government has turned a blind eye to all the devastating effects that befall the Mekong River’s ecology and the livelihood of the 70 million people who inhabit along her current. The second issue Biển Đông Dậy Sóng / The East Sea In Turmoil discusses the naval engagements between Vietnam and China at the Paracel Islands in 1974 and the Spratly Islands in 1988. Those military conflicts are the direct results of a policy of relentless land and sea territorial expansionism by the Chinese leaders that runs the risk of turning the East Sea into a potential powder keg. Cửu Long Cạn Dòng Biển Đông Dậy Sóng proves to be a prophetic work that still remains relevant to the current world events.
Giấy Vụn is an “underground” publisher operating without a government license. It is managed by two young poets Bùi Chát and Lý Đợi of the Mở Miệng group. Along with the more than 40 titles published by Giấy Vụn in Vietnam, Cửu Long Cạn Dòng Biển Đông Dậy Sóng will not be displayed at bookstores or offered for sale to the public but will be circulated mainly by hand from one individual to another. Abroad, it is available at the bookstores or online at www.amazon.com ISBN 978-1-4995-2731-5.
