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Vietnamese boat people awaiting rescue.

Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants, or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made. The term came into common use during the late 1970s with the mass departure of Vietnamese refugees from Communist-controlled Vietnam, following the Vietnam War.

Overview[link]

Boats have historically been a widely used form of migration or escape for people of limited resources. Most boat people travel without formal right of entry to their destination, but on arrival may seek asylum for various reasons depending on the destination country's laws. They often risk their lives on dangerously crude and overcrowded boats to escape oppression or poverty in their home nations. Some choose to emigrate to better their lives—others, especially political refugees, may be fleeing for their lives.

Boat people from Haiti.

There is a myriad of places of the world where boat people have undertaken voyages. A particularly frequent destination has been the USA, which has been the objective of boat people from Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Since 1995, the US wet feet, dry feet policy has generally allowed Cubans who reach dry land in the U.S. to stay while those intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard are returned to Cuba. Elsewhere boat people have originated journeys in Morocco, Vietnam and Albania. Many boat people have been attacked by pirates on the high seas, or have been turned away by governments and forced to return, sometimes even to countries where they were also present illegally.

Boat people are frequently a source of controversy in the nation they seek to immigrate to, such as the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain and Australia. Boat people are often forcibly prevented from landing at their destination or they are subjected to mandatory detention after their arrival. Unlike the wave of Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s and early 1980s, most boat people arriving more recently in Western countries, Australia, or the United States have purchased their passage on large but overcrowded and frequently unseaworthy boats from illegal immigration operators, who may demand considerable sums from their desperate clients.

Vietnamese boat people[link]

A family of boat people rescued by a U.S Navy ship.

Rescued Vietnamese boat people being given water.

After the Vietnam War, many people in Cambodia, Laos, and especially Vietnam became refugees in the late 1970s and 1980s, after the fall of Saigon. In Vietnam, the new communist government sent many people who supported the old government in the South to "re-education camps", and others to "new economic zones." An estimated 1 million people were imprisoned with no formal charges or trials.^[1] According to published academic studies in the United States and Europe, 165,000 people died in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's re-education camps.^[1] Thousands were tortured or abused. Prisoners were incarcerated for as long as 17 years, with most terms ranging from three to 10 years.^[1] These factors, coupled with poverty and the total destruction of Vietnam, which happened during the Vietnam war, caused hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese to flee. In 1979, Vietnam was again at war (Sino-Vietnamese War) with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Many ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam, who felt that the government's policies directly targeted them, also became "boat people." On the open seas, the boat people had to face deadly storms,diseases, starvation, and elude pirates.

Escape route[link]

There were many methods employed by Vietnamese citizens to leave the country. Most were secret and done at night; some involved the bribing of top government officials.^[2] Some people bought places in large boats that held 400 passengers. Others organized smaller groups or went on makeshift rafts crudely made of wood. Others boarded fishing boats (fishing being a common occupation in Vietnam) and left that way. Many families were split up during this period because they could only afford to send one or a few members of the family. One method used involved middle-class refugees from Saigon, armed with forged identity documents, traveling approximately 1,100 km to Danang by road. On arrival, they would take refuge for up to two days in safe houses while waiting for fishing junks and trawlers to take small groups into international waters.^{[citation needed]} Planning for such a trip took many months and even years. Although these attempts often caused a depletion of resources, people usually had several false starts before they managed to escape.^[2]

The boats were not intended for navigating open waters, and would typically head for busy international shipping lanes some 240 km to the east. The lucky ones would succeed in being rescued by freighters and taken to Hong Kong, close to 2,200 km away.^[3] Others landed on the shores of surrounding Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The unlucky ones would continue their perilous journey at sea, sometimes lasting over 6 months long, suffering from hunger, thirst, disease, and pirates before finding safety. Rudolph Rummel estimates that nearly 500,000 of the 2 million Vietnamese boat people died during their escape with "50% not blamed on Vietnamese Government". Many other estimates are considerably lower ranging from 30,000 to 250,000.^[4]

Refugee camps[link]

The plight of the boat people became an international humanitarian crisis. There were untold miseries, rapes and murders on the South China Sea committed by Thai pirates who preyed on the refugees who had sold all their possessions and carried gold with them on the trips. The UNHCR, under the auspices of the United Nations, set up refugee camps in neighbouring countries to process the "boat people". They received the 1981 Nobel Peace Prize for this.

Camps were set up in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. According to stories told by the Vietnamese refugees, the conditions at the camps were poor. Women and children were often raped and beaten. Very little of the aid money donated primarily by the United States actually got to the refugees. Refugees at Thai camps were maltreated and many were brutally bullied by the Thai guards. Some 77% of refugee boats leaving in 1981 were attacked by Thais.^[5] 863 Vietnamese were known to have been raped, 763 people physically attacked and killed, and 489 people abducted.

Most of the refugees came from the former South Vietnam. However, soon after the first wave between 1975–1978, North Vietnamese from seaside cities such as Haiphong started to escape and land in Hong Kong.

Vietnamese refugees resettling in Western countries[link]

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Escape boat saved by the Cap Anamur in late April 1984, placed in Troisdorf

Memorial and tribute of the Vietnamese refugees in Hamburg

The Orderly Departure Program from 1979 until 1994 helped to resettle refugees in the United States as well as other Western countries. In this program, refugees were asked to go back to Vietnam and waited for assessment. If they were deemed to be eligible to be re-settled in the US (according to criteria that the US government had established), they would be allowed to immigrate.

Humanitarian Operation (HO) was set up to benefit former South Vietnamese who were involved in the former regime or worked for the US. They were to be allowed to immigrate to the US if they had suffered persecution by the communist regime after 1975. Half-American children in Vietnam, descendants of servicemen, were also allowed to immigrate along with their mothers or foster parents. This program sparked a wave of rich Vietnamese parents buying the immigration rights from the real mothers or foster parents. They paid money (in the black market) to transfer the half-American children into their custody, then applied for visas to emigrate to the USA. Most of these half-American children were born of American soldiers and prostitutes. They were subject to discrimination, poverty, neglect and abuse. On November 15, 2005, the United States and Vietnam signed an agreement allowing additional Vietnamese to immigrate who were not able to do so before the humanitarian operation program ended in 1994. Effectively this new agreement was the extension and also final chapter of the HO program.

The Roman Catholic Church, given its long history with the Vietnamese people, facilitated the relocation of a massive number of Vietnamese boat people through its many Orders and charities. Of note was the work of the Vietnamese Refugee Office of Caritas Italiana, a major Catholic Italian charity, under the leadership of Monsignor Tran Van Hoai.

Hong Kong adopted the "port of first asylum policy" in July 1979 and received over 100,000 Vietnamese at the peak of emigration in the late 1980s. Many refugee camps were set up in its territories. Frequent violent clashes between the boat people and security forces caused public outcry and mounting concerns in the early 1990s since many camps were very close to high-density residential areas.

ISRAEL: On June 10, 1977, an Israeli cargo ship en route to Japan crossed paths with a boat full of 66 Vietnamese. They were out of food and water, were extremely lost and scared, and their boat was leaking. The Israeli captain and crew immediately offered food and water and decided to bring the passengers on board and transported them to Israel. There, Prime Minister Menachem Begin authorized their Israeli citizenship, comparing their situation to the plight of Jewish refugees seeking a haven during the Holocaust. Following this rescue, between 1977 and 1979, Israel welcomed over three hundred Vietnamese refugees.

As Begin explained to then-U.S. President Carter:

"We never have forgotten the boat with 900 Jews the St. Louis, having left Germany in the last weeks before the Second World War... traveling from harbor to harbor, from country to country, crying out for refuge. They were refused... Therefore it was natural… to give those people a haven in the land of Israel."

The government of Israel offered a ceremonious welcome, with Minister of Absorption David Levy uttering some words of rebuke to the rest of the world: "Let them do as we have. May they lend a hand to save women and children who are in the heart of the sea without a homeland, and lead them to safe shores."

.^[6]

The countries that accepted most of the Indochinese refugees were:

• The United States - 823,000
• Australia and Canada - 137,000 each
• France - 96,000
• Germany - 40,000
• The United Kingdom - 19,000
• Japan - 11,000

By the late 1980s, Western Europe, the United States and Australia received fewer Vietnamese refugees^{[citation needed]}. It became much harder for refugees to get visas to settle in those countries.

As hundreds of thousands of people were escaping out of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia by land and boat, countries of first asylum in South-East Asia were faced with the continuing exodus and the increasing reluctance by third countries to maintain resettlement opportunities for every exile, they threatened push-backs of the asylum seekers. In this crisis, the Comprehensive Plan of Action For Indochinese Refugees was adopted in June 1989. The cut-off date for refugees was March 14, 1989. Effective from this day, the Indochinese Boat people would no longer automatically be considered as prima facie refugees, but only asylum seekers and would have to be screened to qualify for refugee status. Those who were "screened-out" would be sent back to Vietnam and Laos, under an orderly and monitored repatriation program.

The refugees faced prospects of staying years in the camps and ultimate repatriation back to Vietnam. They were branded, rightly or wrongly, as economic refugees. By the mid-1990s, the number of refugees fleeing from Vietnam had significantly dwindled. Many refugee camps were shut down. Most of the well educated or those with genuine refugee status had already been accepted by receiving countries^{[citation needed]}.

There appeared to be some unwritten rules in Western countries. Officials gave preference to married couples, young families and women over 18 years old, leaving single men and minors to suffer at the camps for years. Among these unwanted, those who worked and studied hard and involved themselves in constructive refugee community activities were eventually accepted by the West by recommendations from UNHCR workers. Hong Kong was open about its willingness to take the remnants at its camp, but only some refugees took up the offer. Many refugees would have been accepted by Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, but hardly any wanted to settle in these countries.

The market reforms of Vietnam, the imminent return of Hong Kong to China by Britain and the financial incentives for voluntary return to Vietnam caused many boat people to return to Vietnam during the 1990s. Most remaining asylum seekers were voluntarily or forcibly repatriated to Vietnam, although a small number (about 2,500) were granted the right of abode by the Hong Kong Government in 2002. In 2008, the remaining refugees in the Philippines (around 200) were granted asylum in Canada, Norway and the United States, marking an end to the history of the boat people from Vietnam.

Literature[link]

• Martin Tsamenyi The Vietnamese boat people and international law, Nathan: Griffith University, 1981
• Steve Roberts From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America (novel, a.o. on Vietnamese family), 2009.
• Georges Claude Guilbert Après Hanoï: Les mémoires brouillés d'une princesse vietnamienne (novel, on Vietnamese woman and her boat people family), 2011.
• Kim Thúy Ru,2009
• Zhou, Min and Carl L. Bankston III Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998. ISBN 978-0-87154-995-2.

See also[link]

• Turtle Beach, 1992 Australian film about raising awareness for the plight of the boat people
• Boat People (film), a narrative film made by Hong Kong director Ann Hui, based on research on Vietnamese refugees
• Journey from the Fall, an independent film on the same subject
• Harragas, a type of North African boat people who cross the Mediterranean in tiny boats.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Boat people

• Through My Eyes Website Imperial War Museum - Online Exhibition (images, video and interviews with Vietnam War refugees, including Boat People)
• The Canadian Museum of Civilization - Boat People No Longer
• Boat people - a refugee crisis: CBC Archives footage
• Flight from Indochina: from UNHCR
• Boat People S.O.S
• Archive of Vietnamese Boatpeople
• Website of a Vietnamese Boat People
• Oral History Interviews with 15 Canadian Vietnamese Boat People
• Journey to Freedom - A recount of refugee experiences as featured on InÉdit
• Vietnam's boat people: 25 years of fears, hopes and dreams, CNN
• Sikiew and Panatnikhom (Thailand) Minor/Children Center
• Horrible Statistics of Thai Pirates vs Vietnamese Refugees
• Boats 4 People An example of mobilization in favor of boat-people

Duncan Hunter
Chairman of the House Committee on Armed Services
In office January 4, 2003 – January 4, 2007
Preceded by	Bob Stump
Succeeded by	Ike Skelton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 52nd district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Duncan D. Hunter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 45th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Dana Rohrabacher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 42nd district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Lionel Van Deerlin
Succeeded by	Daniel E. Lungren
Personal details
Born	Duncan Lee Hunter (1948-05-31) May 31, 1948 (age 64) Riverside, California
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lynne Hunter
Children	Duncan D. Hunter Samuel Hunter
Residence	Alpine, California
Alma mater	Western State University College of Law San Diego
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Southern Baptist
Signature
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1969-1971
Rank	First Lieutenant
Unit	Rangers (75th Ranger Regiment)
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Bronze Star Air Medal Vietnam Service Medal

Duncan Lee Hunter (born May 31, 1948) is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009.

Hunter was the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during the 108th and 109th Congress. Hunter sought the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States for 2008,^[1] but his campaign failed to attract significant voters or delegates in early primary and caucus states,^[2] and he dropped out after the Nevada Republican caucuses.^[3]

He was succeeded as Representative for the 52nd district by his son, Duncan D. Hunter.

Early life, education, military service, and family[link]

Hunter was born in Riverside, California to Lola L. (née Young) and Robert Olin Hunter.^[4] He graduated from Rubidoux High School in Riverside in 1966.^[5] He attended the University of Montana from 1966 to 1967,^[6] and then briefly the University of California, Santa Barbara,^[6] before being commissioned into the United States Army in 1969.^[7]

He served in South Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 during the Vietnam War^[8] in the Army Rangers' 75th Ranger Regiment, attached to the 173rd Airborne Brigade.^[9] He participated in 24 helicopter assaults^[7] as well as in a small-number of night-time reconnaissance patrols.^[10] He held the rank of First Lieutenant,^[8] and was awarded the Bronze Star,^[7] Air Medal,^[8] and service ribbons such as the Vietnam Service Medal.^[8] He has said, "I didn't do anything special in the U.S. Army, but I served with very special soldiers I will never forget."^[8]

Making use of the G.I. Bill in 1973, he enrolled at the San Diego campus of the Western State University College of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science in Law and Juris Doctor in 1976. Hunter worked farming and construction jobs to supplement his income while finishing his degree. He was admitted to the State Bar of California on December 22, 1976,^[11] but has held inactive status since January 1, 1983.^[11][12]

Hunter married Lynne Layh in 1973. Hunter's son, Duncan Duane Hunter (born 1976), a Captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and Afghanistan in 2007. On November 4, 2008, Duncan D. Hunter was elected to succeed his father as the congressional representative of the California's 52nd congressional district. Hunter has another son, Samuel.

Hunter's family attends First Baptist Church of Alpine, which is affiliated with the San Diego Southern Baptist Association. Hunter's Alpine, California home burned down during the October 2003 Cedar Fire. The loss topped $500,000, but insurance covered most of it.^[13] Hunter was critical of then-Governor Gray Davis's response to the fire.^[14]

He has a brother, John Hunter, who has worked as a weapons scientist.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Initial election and re-elections[link]

In 1980, Hunter was recruited to run for Congress in what was then the 42nd District against 18-year incumbent Democrat Lionel Van Deerlin. Hunter was initially an underdog in a district where Democrats outnumbered Republicans by almost 2 to 1. However, his attacks on Van Deerlin's record on national defense gained traction in a district dominated by military bases and personnel. Van Deerlin did not respond quickly enough, and Hunter narrowly defeated him. He was one of many Republicans swept into office from historically Democratic districts as a result of the "Reagan revolution"; Van Deerlin had been the district's only congressman since its creation in 1963. After the 1980 census, many of the more Democratic areas were cut out of Hunter's district, and he hasn't faced serious opposition since. His district was renumbered as the 45th District in 1983 and the 52nd in 1993.

In the 2006 general election, he defeated Navy veteran/minister John Rinaldi, a Democrat, and Michael Benoit,^[15] a Libertarian. Hunter was re-elected with 65 percent of the vote, a 33-point margin over Rinaldi.

On March 20, 2007, Hunter announced that, as part of his presidential bid, he would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives in 2008.^[16] After his son, Duncan D. Hunter, announced his candidacy for his father's seat, the younger Hunter was recalled by the United States Marine Corps to serve in the Operation Enduring Freedom — Afghanistan. During Duncan D. Hunter's active service, his wife, Margaret Hunter, campaigned on his behalf. On June 3, 2008 Duncan D. Hunter won 72% of the Republican Primary vote and became the Republican nominee to replace his father representing the 52nd District.^[16]

House Armed Services Committee[link]

Hunter became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 2002. As such, he sponsored legislation authorizing defense department fiscal year activities from FY2004 to FY2007. During consideration of the FY2006 Defense Authorization Act, Hunter offered an amendment to the bill clarifying enacted policy restricting women from direct combat units. Hunter's amendment codified existing Army policy enacted in 1994 under former Defense Secretary Les Aspin that prohibited women from submitting or migrating into combat units or operations. The amendment was subsequently withdrawn in order for a study to be conducted on the rationale and future implementation of the policy.^[17]

In November 2004, Hunter and Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner withheld their support for a bill creating a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) until specific conditions were met. Hunter argued that the military is the biggest consumer of intelligence and any reforms enacted, including the creation of a DNI, must not endanger the lives of troops on the battlefield. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which created the DNI position, was passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush later that year.

In a House Armed Services Committee hearing on November 9, 2005, Hunter strongly criticized a Defense Logistics Agency "prime vendor" buying program that led to the purchase of $20 ice cube trays and a tiny refrigerator for $22,797 (initially exposed by The State). Hunter stated that he wanted explanations from the companies in question and the government purchasing agents who had approved the purchases, accusing the latter of "absolute incompetence." He further stated that the purchases are "a real slap in the face to the guy making $13,000 a year who is engaged in a firefight in Ramadi," and claimed that "A fairly large amount of incompetence is embedded into the system."^[18][19]

On November 18, 2005, in response to Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha's resolution to terminate the deployment of United States forces in Iraq, to redeploy the forces already involved in Iraq, and to "pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy",^[20] Hunter and other Republicans drafted a two-sentence counter-resolution that read:

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.

Democrats condemned the bill as a political stunt; they made much of the fact that Hunter himself didn't support his own resolution. The bill was defeated, 3-403, in the House of Representatives.

Hunter became ranking member of the committee when Democrats took control of the House in 2007.

On January 31, 2007, Hunter held a press conference on the 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test, stating that it "represents the commencement of a new era of military competition in space." He contended that the United States' ability to engage in warfare depends heavily on its space assets, and opined that the country must take steps to "ensure our forces cannot be targeted through an adversarial space strike."^[21]

On April 25, 2007, after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared "the war is lost", Hunter wrote "my highest obligation is, like yours, owed to our forces in uniform, especially during this time of war.... Given your position of leadership within the United States Government, I find your pronouncement of failure irresponsible and disserving to America's armed forces. In light of the fact that this statement has both been used by our adversaries and has exhibited a marked lack of leadership to U.S. troops, I call on you to resign your leadership position".^[22] Hunter further wrote that Reid's declaration "can have no effect but to demoralize the brave men and women, who are honorably fulfilling their mission in Iraq, and to encourage our adversaries.... Even if you sincerely believe it to be true, your pronouncement of failure will undoubtedly be used by terrorist leaders to rally their followers — inevitably leading to increased attacks on U.S. and coalition forces".

According to the July 2007 edition of Pacific Flyer, Hunter and Cunningham had pressured the Department of Defense to "... advise DARPA to put an immediate halt to bureaucratic delays and get on with the DuPont Aerospace DP-2 testing." The DP-2 is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing, or VTOL, aircraft designed by DuPont Aerospace to transport special operations forces, but has been repeatedly rejected by the United States Navy, United States Army, United States Air Force, NASA, and DARPA. The design, of which all four constructed models have crashed, has had $63 million appropriated to it since 1991, not including a suggested $6 million for fiscal year 2008. Despite the rejections and reports by multiple military and civilian experts that the aircraft will not fly or hover and will incinerate Special Operations forces rappelling out of the aircraft, Hunter has allegedly repeatedly added funding for the DP-2 in "earmarks" and defended the aircraft in recent testimony to the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology. Hunter received $36,000 in donations from DuPont Aerospace.^[23] According to his testimony before Congress,^[24] Hunter compared the lack of success of the DP-2 to the trials of perfecting the V-22 Osprey. He alleged that such long-term testing is necessary to keep American forces equipped with the best technology.

Other legislative actions[link]

Duncan Hunter's earlier congressional photo.

On December 8, 2006, Hunter introduced H.R. 6375, which would have required the defense department to post the purpose of all congressional earmarks in annual defense bills, along with the location and a grade according to the utility of the earmark.

Hunter introduced H.R. 552, The Right to Life Act, on February 2, 2005. The purpose of the bill is to "implement equal protection... for the right to life of each born and preborn human person." In the 109th Congress, the legislation collected 101 cosponsors.^[25] Hunter states that The Right to Life Act "would legally define “personhood” as the moment of conception and, therefore, guarantee all constitutional rights and protections, including life, to the unborn without utilizing a constitutional amendment."^[26] Hearings for H.R. 552 were scheduled for December 12, 2006, but were cancelled right before the House adjourned.^[27]

On April 28, 2004, Hunter introduced legislation that he said could "turn parents into prosecuting attorneys fighting a wave of obscenity."^[28] HR 6390 IH, also called the "Parents Empowerment Act",^[29] would allow the parent or guardian of a minor to sue in federal court anyone who knowingly disseminates material "that is harmful to minors", or specifically, "any pornographic communication, picture, image, graphic image file, article, recording, writing, or other pornographic matter of any kind",^[30] if it is distributed in a way that "a reasonable person can expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material and the minor, as a result to exposure to the material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare."^[31]

In 1994, Hunter legislatively mandated the construction of 14 miles (23 km) of security fencing on the international land border separating San Diego County and Tijuana, Mexico. In 2005, Hunter introduced legislation calling for the construction of a reinforced fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, citing crime statistics as measures of San Diego-Tijuana fence's success.^[32] After successfully adding an amendment to a House-passed^[33] bill that ultimately stalled in House-Senate negotiations, Hunter's amendment was later incorporated into H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act, introduced by New York Congressman Peter T. King.^[34][35] He has said that if he becomes President, the 754-mile (1,213 km) double layer border fence will be built in less than 12 months.

Hunter repeatedly voted against international trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).^[36]

Cunningham/Wilkes[link]

Hunter was not implicated in the Duke Cunningham/Brent R. Wilkes congressional bribery scandal. In December 2005, Hunter directed that the contributions his campaign received from Wilkes and Wade be given to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.^[37] "We had options," said Bruce Young, treasurer for Hunter's re-election campaign. "We could keep the money, send it back, send it to the government or send it to a charity. We just felt that because of the situation, we would rather not have the money."^[38] More than 100 members of the House and Senate — Republicans and Democrats — accepted money from Wilkes, former MZM Inc. president Mitchell Wade, their relatives, employees or political action committees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group.

2008 Presidential campaign[link]

On October 30, 2006, Hunter announced his intention to consider running for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Throughout 2006, his Peace Through Strength PAC raised funds and ran advertising expressing his issues of border security and fair trade. Hunter formally announced his presidential candidacy in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on January 25, 2007.^[39]

Wikinews has related news: Duncan Hunter, Presidential candidate, speaks to Wikinews

During 2007, Hunter did well in some county- and state-level straw polls, including a victory at the first GOP Texas Straw Poll on September 1^[40] but those results did not transfer to regular polls at national or state levels. Some major polls did not even list Hunter as an option along with Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, or Rudy Giuliani.^[41] When national polls did list Hunter, he consistently got three percent or less support among Republicans.

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter and aviation legend Chuck Yeager both endorsed Hunter as their choice for President, but Hunter received little support from the Republican establishment. Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who was also seeking the Republican nomination for President, stated that Hunter might play a role in a potential Huckabee administration, noting that he is "extraordinarily well qualified to be Secretary of Defense."^[42]

As the caucus and primary season got underway, Hunter began being excluded from Republican debate forums. On January 7, 2008, he held a press conference where reporters thought he would announce his withdrawal. Instead, he surprised pundits by first lambasting ABC News and Fox News not allowing him to participate in previous days' televised debates and then declaring that he would not withdraw from the presidential race: "I am not going to let some arrogant knucklehead executive in a glass office 10 stories above a mall in New York City decide the outcome of this election."^[43][44]

In the Iowa caucuses Hunter finished in seventh place with 524 votes, or one percent of the total. In the New Hampshire primary he finished in seventh and last place again with 1,220 votes, or less than one percent of the total votes cast. In the Wyoming caucuses he had his best showing, coming in third and scoring 1 delegate to the Republican National Convention. However, in the Michigan primary, Hunter once again placed last, coming in eighth behind "Uncommited" (which received 15,000 more votes than Hunter). On the last day of his campaign, Hunter won just two percent of the vote in the Nevada caucuses, and in the South Carolina primary he received only 0.2 percent of the vote, putting him in last place in both states. He withdrew from the race that night, on January 19, 2008. Hunter subsequently endorsed Huckabee for the Republican nomination.^[45]

Political positions[link]

Duncan Hunter is a self-described "true conservative". Hunter voted with a majority of the Republicans 88.7 percent of the time.^[46] He was a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Documentaries, topic pages and databases[link]

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile from SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Collected news stories and commentary from The New York Times
• Genealogy of Duncan Hunter
• Vote 2008: Duncan Hunter from PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
• Duncan Hunter at the Open Directory Project

Media coverage[link]

• USA Today — Duncan Hunter associated with Randy "Duke" Cunningham/Brent Wilkes scandal, November 29, 2005.
• MonksMedia Radio Network – Duncan Hunter Supporters Radio

Official sites for 2008 presidential campaign[link]

• MySpace

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Andy Lau 劉德華
Andy Lau being interviewed at the 29th Hong Kong International Film Festival (2005).
Chinese name	劉德華 (Traditional)
Chinese name	刘德华 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Liú Déhuá (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Lau4 Dak1 Waa4 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Xinhui, Guangdong
Born	(1961-09-27) 27 September 1961 (age 50)[1] Tai Po, Hong Kong
Other name(s)	Wah Zai (華仔) Lau Wah (劉華) Ngau Wah (牛華)
Occupation	Singer, actor, film producer, and presenter
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s)	Singing
Label(s)	Capital Artist(1985) EMI(1986-1989, 2002-2004) Polygram(1990-1993) Warner Music(1993-1995) Music Impact(1995-2000) Multi-Talent(2000-2002) Ever Song (2004-2005) Focus Music (2005-2007) East Asia Music(2007-present)
Years active	1981 - present
Associated acts	Five Tiger Generals
Spouse(s)	Carol Chu 朱丽倩 (2008 - present)
Children	1 daughter
Official Website	www.andylau.com
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film 1998 Made in Hong Kong 2011 Gallants 2012 A Simple Life Best Actor 2000 Running Out of Time 2004 Running on Karma 2012 A Simple Life Best Supporting Actor 2008 Protégé Best Original Film Song 2003 Infernal Affairs Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Actor 2001 A Fighter's Blues Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Actor 2003 Running on Karma Golden Horse Awards Best Actor 2003 Infernal Affairs III 2011 A Simple Life Golden Rooster Awards Best Media Rooster for 2009 TVB Anniversary Awards My Most Memorable Male Leading Role 1999 The Return of the Condor Heroes Other awards Panasonic Awards 2007 1st Asian Film Awards 2007 Box Office Star of Asia Award

Andy Lau Tak-Wah MH, JP^[2] (born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time.^[3] In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop (四大天王) along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai.^[4]

Biography[link]

Andy Lau was born in Tai Po, Hong Kong, with origins in Xinhui, Guangdong. As a young boy Lau had to fetch water for his family up to eight times a day because their house was not equipped with plumbing.^[5] He later graduated from a Band One Secondary School, Ho Lap College in San Po Kong, Kowloon.^[6] He also practices Chinese calligraphy.^[7] Lau converted to Buddhism in the 1980s.^[8] He was raised in a nominally Buddhist household and is now a follower of the Lingyan Mountain Temple in Taiwan.^[9]

In 2008, Lau married Malaysian Chinese Carol Chu after 24 years of speculation over their relationship.^[10] The couple registered their marriage in Clark County, Nevada, in the United States.^[10] On 9 May 2012, Chu gave birth to his first child, a daughter.^[11]

Career[link]

Dramatic acting[link]

In 1981, Lau signed up for the artist training program offered by TVB, which is where his acting career began.^[1] The lead role which led to his initial popularity was in the 1982 TVB series The Emissary. In 1983, Lau's role as "Yang Guo" in the TVB series The Return of the Condor Heroes further increased his popularity. From then on, he would take on many of the lead roles in many of the TVB series.

In September 1983, TVB was looking to increase their ratings in competition with Korea and Japan for the best variety show. The station then created the show TVB All-star challenge (星光熠熠勁爭輝) featuring almost the entire lineup of the most popular actors and singers at the time.^[12] Lau along with Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong were branded as "TVB's Five Tigers" (無線五虎將) due to their popularity on the show.^[12]

In the late 80s, Lau left TVB due to contract problems. TVB wanted to bind him to an exclusive five-year contract which Lau refused to sign, so TVB blacklisted him. He then focused on his film career.^[5]

Film acting[link]

Lau's wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong

In 1981, Lau made a guest appearance in one of Susanna Kwan's music video and caught the eye of the manager Teddy Robin.^[13] Teddy Robin then gave Lau a chance to play a small role in the movie Once Upon a Rainbow.^[13] This was the first step in Lau's film acting career.^[13] He was then given a role in Ann Hui's 1982 film, Boat People.^[1] Later in 1983 he had his first leading role in a Shaw Brothers film called On the Wrong Track.^[14]

One of his early leading roles included the more serious 1988 film The Truth (法內情). However, Lau is best known in movies for his (often) recurring roles as a "Heroic Gangster" such as Wong Kar-wai's 1988 film, As Tears Go By and Johnnie To's 1990 film, A Moment of Romance.

Though a respectable actor, Lau in the early days was known more for his good looks. The people he works with say he is an idol, but he has claimed to be an artist.^[3] Lau has proved his acting skills in many of his movies. His first major acting prize came with A Fighter's Blues, which was his first Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Actor.^[15] He would win the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor award that year for Running out of Time.^[16] In 2004, he won the prestigious Golden Horse Award for his performance in Infernal Affairs III, the sequel to the popular Infernal Affairs.^[17] Western audiences may also be familiar with his performance in the House of Flying Daggers.

In 2005, Lau was awarded "No.1 Box Office Actor 1985-2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years.^[5][7] The aforementioned figure is as compared to the first runner-up Stephen Chow's (HKD 1,317,452,311) and second runner-up Jackie Chan's (HKD 894,090,962). "I've never imagine that it would be as much as 1.7 billion!" he told the reporters. For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on June 1, 2005 at the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.^[18] In 2007, Lau was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" by the Nielsen Company (ACNielsen).^[2]

Film producer[link]

In 1991 Lau has set up his own film production company called Teamwork Motion Pictures Limited, which in 2002 was renamed to Focus Group Holdings Limited. His contributions in the film industry as well as his involvement in nurturing new talents in the Asian film industry led him to being awarded the "Asian Filmmaker of the Year" in the Pusan International Film Festival in 2006.^[2] Some of the films he produced include the award-winning Made in Hong Kong and the mainland digital film Crazy Stone.

Musical career[link]

Andy Lau in concert 2011

Lau released his first album "Only Know that I Still Love You" (只知道此刻愛你) under Capital Artists in 1985.^[5] However, his first album was not a big hit.^[5] Despite having a voice not traditionally associated with popular music, his hard work and perseverance resulted in him being one of the most successful singers. His singing career reached stellar status in 1990 with the release of the album entitled "Would It Be Possible" (可不可以), and his subsequent releases only solidified his status as a marketable singer.^[5] For that song, he would win his first 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. He would then win at least one RTHK award category every year consecutively until the year 2007.

From Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards, he has won the “Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 7 times and the “Asia Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 15 times.^[5] He also entered into Guinness World Records for "Most Awards Won By A Cantopop Male Artist". By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards.^[5]

Many of his songs quickly topped the music charts, not only in Hong Kong, but also in Taiwan, Mainland China, and in many different parts of Asia. Some of the most notable hits by Lau include "The Days We Spent Together" (一起走過的日子), "If You Are My Legend" (如果你是我的傳說), "The Tide" (潮水), "Forget Love Potion" (忘情水), "True Forever" (真永遠), "Chinese people" (中國人), "Love You Forever" (愛你一萬年), "You Are My Woman" (你是我的女人), "Secret Admiration" (暗裡著迷). Besides singing in Cantonese and Mandarin, he also sang in other languages, such as English, Japanese, Malay, and Taiwanese. One example of a Hokkien song was (世界第一等).^[19]

Since the early 1990s, Lau, along with Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai have been referred by the Chinese media as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王).^[4]

Lau sang alongside Jackie Chan during a part of the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on August 24, 2008. In addition Lau, who has been supporting the disabled athletes in Hong Kong for more than a decade, was appointed as the Goodwill ambassador for the 2008 Summer Paralympics.^[20] He led other performers in singing and performing the song "Everyone is No.1" at the Beijing National Stadium just a few hours before the 2008 Paralympics opening ceremony began to show his support for the disabled athletes.^[21] He also sang the theme song "Flying with the Dream" with Han Hong during the Paralympics opening ceremony on September 6, 2008.^[20]

Appearance in other media[link]

Lau is alleged to have been featured as a non-player character (NPC) as a random pedestrian in a sandbox-style action video game called PROTOTYPE. On 6 July, the Hong Kong local newspapers Headline Daily and Sing Tao Daily reported on Lau's cameo.^[22]

Community[link]

In 1994, Lau established the "Andy Lau Charity Foundation" which helps people in need and promotes a wide range of youth education services.^[2] In 1999, he was awarded the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World", being the 3rd person from Hong Kong at that time to bestow this distinguished honor.^[2] In 2008, Lau took a main role in putting together the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign for donation relief toward the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.^[23] It was one of the largest and most ambitious charity event ever assembled in the territory.

Lau has been noted for his active involvement in charity works throughout his 30 years of showbiz career and was honored "Justice of Peace" by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2008.^[24] In May 2010, he received the "World Outstanding Chinese" award and an "honorary doctorate" from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.^[25]

Incidents[link]

Yang Li-juan fan case[link]

Lau experienced unexpected notoriety with his encounter with a 29 year old fan from mainland China, Yang Li-juan (楊麗娟), who had idolized the star for 13 years.^[26] After her parents sold the family house to pay for a trip to Hong Kong, Yang finally met Lau on March 26, 2007.^[27] One day later, Yang's father committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea in Hong Kong, leaving a suicide note chiding Lau for not having taken his daughter more seriously.^[27]

Awards and nominations[link]

Hong Kong Film Awards

Won[link]

• 1998 Best Film for Made in Hong Kong (Producer)
• 2000 Best Actor for Running Out of Time
• 2003 Best Original Film Song for Infernal Affairs (Singer with Tony Leung ^{[disambiguation needed ]})
• 2004 Best Actor for Running on Karma
• 2008 Best Supporting Actor for Protégé
• 2011 Best Film for Gallants (Producer)
• 2012 Best Film for A Simple Life (Producer)
• 2012 Best Actor for A Simple Life

Nominations[link]

Best Actor[link]

• 1989 Best Actor Nomination for As Tears Go By
• 1992 Best Actor Nomination for Lee Rock
• 1996 Best Actor Nomination for Full Throttle
• 2001 Best Actor Nomination for A Fighter's Blues
• 2002 Best Actor Nomination for Love on a Diet
• 2003 Best Actor Nomination for Infernal Affairs
• 2006 Best Actor Nomination for Wait 'Til You're Older
• 2008 Best Actor Nomination for The Warlords

Best Original Film Song[link]

• 1992 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Casino Raiders II (Singer)
• 1995 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Heaven and Earth ^{[disambiguation needed ]} (Singer)
• 1996 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Full Throttle (Singer/Lyricist)
• 1998 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Island of Greed (Singer)
• 1999 Best Original Film Song Nomination for The Longest Summer (Singer)
• 1999 Best Original Film Song Nomination for A True Mob Story (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2002 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin Soccer (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2006 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Wait 'Til You're Older (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2008 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Brothers (Singer with Eason Chan/Lyricist)
• 2012 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin (Singer/Lyricist)

Other Nominations[link]

• 1983 Best New Performer Nomination for Boat People
• 1999 Best Film Nomination for The Longest Summer (Producer)
• 2007 Best Asian Film Nomination for Crazy Stone (Producer)

(11 Best Actor Nominations, 11 Best Original Film Song Nominations, 4 Best Film Nominations, 1 Best Supporting Actor Nomination, 1 Best New Performer Nomination, 1 Best Asia Film Nomination)

References[link]

External links[link]

	Hong Kong portal
	Biography portal
	Film portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Lau

• Andy Lau's Official Website (Chinese) (English)
• Andy Lau at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy World Club
• Andy Lau interview.