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The Color of Death: Legacy of Agent Orange Still Plagues Vietnam After Decades of Peace_我的网站

一 | 　　8月26日，中国太平（HK00966）在香港召开2026年中期业绩发布会，集团副董事长、总经理李可东致辞，副总经理杨明刚、白凯，董事会秘书张若晗，太平人寿总经理王旭泽、太平财险总经理（拟任）彭云苹、太平资产副总经理（主持工作）李冠莹等参加。 On August 10, 1961, American forces for the first time spayed Agent Orange in Vietnam as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand.,Here’s a closer look into this highly toxic defoliant chemical, the use of which by the US military during the 1955-1975 Vietnam War resulted in up to one million people being disabled, according to the Red Cross of Vietnam’s estimates.,What is Agent Orange?,The defoliant derived its name from the color of the orange-striped US gallon barrels in which the chemical was shipped and stored.,It was created in 1940 and used in the United States as an agricultural defoliant, as it had the ability to kill some plants while leaving others unaffected.,Using the Defense Production Act of 1950, the US government prodded several American companies to make Agent Orange for military use. A 50:50 mixture of the herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, the defoliant contains an extremely toxic dioxin compound.,Effects of Agent Orange,A 50:50 mixture of the 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, Agent Orange contains the Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD, the most toxic of the dioxins, classified as a human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency.,Even short-term exposure to TCDD can cause cancer, liver problems and a severe acne-like skin disease, known as chloracne. The dioxin is also linked to type 2 diabetes, immune system dysfunction, nerve disorders, muscular dysfunction, hormone disruption and heart disease.,Additionally, the chemical can cause miscarriages, spina bifida and other problems with fetal brain and nervous system development.,Use of Agent Orange in Vietnam,During the 1955-1975 Vietnam war, the first US defoliation missions were launched near the Vietnamese village of Dak To in 1961.,The goal was to remove cover and concealment used by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, so as to reveal hidden bases, communications centers and potential targets, and to improve visibility in tracking troop movements.,More than 13 million gallons (about 59 million liters) of Agent Orange was used by the US military in Vietnam, or almost two-thirds of the total amount of herbicides used during the entire Vietnam War.,The chemical was available in slightly different mixtures, sometimes referred to as Agent Orange I, Agent Orange II, Agent Orange III and “Super Orange”.,End of Agent Orange?,In 1969, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) urged the Pentagon to end its use of herbicides containing dioxin, specifically Agent Orange, something that the Department of Defense (DoD) eventually did.,Even so, the defoliation campaign continued, with the US military switching to Agent White, a chemical herbicide that did not contain the dioxin contaminant.,In May 1970, the US Air Force (USAF) flew its last defoliation mission, and almost a year later, the DoD announced that all crop destruction missions would also cease.,The remaining 2.22 million gallons of Agent Orange were moved by the USAF to Johnston Island Atoll in the South Pacific, where they were incinerated.,Legacy,The Vietnamese government said that up to four million people in the country were exposed to Agent Orange, and as many as three million people had suffered illness because of the defoliant.,The Vietnam Red Cross in turn pointed out that the defoliant had affected at least 150,000 children, and that babies in Vietnam are still being born with birth defects due to Agent Orange. In this regard, numerous studies revealed that dioxin levels are still in place in the blood samples of the citizens of both North and South Vietnam.,The chemical also caused immense environmental damage in Vietnam, with more than 3,100,000 hectares (31,000 km2) of forest being defoliated ( for comparison's sake, Taiwan measures 36,197 km2).,Opinion & AnalysisAnniversary of Agent Orange Disaster: Only United Can We Relieve the Suffering of Many Generations10:21 GMT,Agent Orange-related issues also emerged in the US after an increasing number of returning Vietnam veterans and their families began to report a range of health problems, including skin irritations, miscarriages, psychological symptoms, type 2 diabetes, birth defects in children and cancers such as Hodgkin’s disease, prostate cancer and leukemia.,1979 saw a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 2.4 million US veterans, who were exposed to Agent Orange during their service in Vietnam. In 1984, seven major US chemical companies that manufactured the defoliant agreed to pay $180 million in damages to the veterans or their next of kin.,Vietnam War,The 1955-1975 Vietnam War, which involved Laos and Cambodia, pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong revolutionary organization against South Vietnam, supported by Washington.,Preconditions for the war pertained to the desire of North Vietnam, which defeated the French colonial administration in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist authority, like in the Soviet Union or China. The South Vietnamese government, for its part, sought to preserve a Vietnam more closely aligned with the West.,The US was concerned over the spread of communism to South Vietnam and then to the rest of Asia, which prompted Washington to end money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese government.,On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese boats attacked a US Navy destroyer, the USS Maddox, patrolling in the Gulf of Tonkin near Vietnam, in what was used by the White House as a pretext to escalate the war and send American combat units to the South East Asian country. However, the US costs and casualties in the war prompted Washington to withdraw American troops by 1973, and a couple of years later, South Vietnam fell to a full-scale invasion by the North.,An array of war crimes was committed by the US military during the war, including the My Lai massacre, in which up to 504 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians, including women, children, and infants, were killed by US Army soldiers on March 16, 1968.,Another war crime pertains to Operation Speedy Express, conducted by the US Army in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta between December 1968 and May 1969 as part of the American military’s effort to pacify the Viet Cong. The operation led to 5,000 to 7,000 casualties who were reported to have been civilians.。　　2026年上半年，中国太平紧扣“防风险、强管理、促发展、保安全”的工作主线，强基固本、苦练内功、提质增效，业务发展稳中有进，经营质效向优向好，价值转型取得实效。

二 | 集团实现归母净利润128.73亿港元，同比增长90.3%。

三 | 普通股股东应占权益1036.38亿港元，较去年末增长8.9%。总资产超2.1万亿港元，较2025年末增长9.1%。

四 | 承保端表现良好。

五 | 保险服务收入589.26亿港元，同比增长5.3%。保险服务业绩128.76亿港元，同比增长4.5%。寿险合同服务边际2，307.1亿港元，较2025年末增长6.8%。产再综合成本率96.8%。投资端显著提升。总投资收益479.52亿港元，同比增长120.5%。净投资业绩96.94亿港元，显著优于去年同期。集团投资资产规模稳步增长，资产结构保持稳健。净投资收益、总投资收益均实现同比提升，权益资产表现大幅好于去年同期。　　上半年，中国太平服务国家战略成效显著，职责使命不断彰显。支持香港国际金融中心建设方面，积极参与香港首个五年规划公众咨询、建言献策，高度关注支持北部都会区建设。集团债券“南向通”首笔投资交易落地，太平金控旗下基金成功入选香港特区政府创投创科基金优化计划。积极做好香港特区政府“广东院舍照顾服务计划”承办工作，服务港籍长者人数超1300人。参与粤港澳大湾区建设方面，承保的跨境车数量同比增长15%，保持市场领先地位，港澳洪涝巨灾模型取得重要进展，大湾区“专属+N”人身保险产品进一步丰富。集团养老社区入住港澳长者数持续增长，广州木棉人家继去年入选香港特区政府“广东院舍照顾服务计划”后，已有该计划下长者入住。生态圈建设方面。集团自建康养社区稳健运营，在住长者人数持续增加，居家养老试点工作顺利推进。太平医疗健康基金、太平科创基金累计投资151家国家级和省级专精特新医疗和科创企业。启动共享服务生态圈建设，线上服务开始试运营。

六 | 　　发布会上，中国太平还公布了集团“十五五”规划的主要内容，明确未来一个时期集团战略愿景是建设最具价值成长、值得客户信赖的世界一流保险集团，提出了价值创造成效显著、功能作用更加突出、客户信赖度明显提高、数智化建设全面深化、风控合规有力有效等五个方面的发展目标，强调战略布局是依托医康养、金融科技、共享服务三大生态圈，打通“保险保障+客户服务+科技赋能”全链条，更好满足客户多层次多样化保障需求。