On the website of Guang ming ri bao, a Chinese-version newspaper in Malaysia, on May 8 run an article about a Vietnamese girl who was sold for 18,000 ringgit (more than VND72 million) to an old man in a Gombak district market in Malaysia.

After the article was published, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dzung strongly criticised the Malaysian press over the case. “We were depressed after reading the article on the selling of the Vietnamese bribe in Malaysia,” said Mr Dzung. “The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia is co-operating with Malaysian functional agencies to investigate the case. In recent times, in the global integration trend, many Vietnamese women get married to foreigners. However, the marriage must be made on the basis of voluntariness and adherence to Vietnamese law and the resident country’s law. All actions relating to illegal marriage intermediation must be strictly banned.”