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Tag: Free Press

  • Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam’s Press Freedom Restrictions Highlighted In RSF’s Latest Report

    Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam’s Press Freedom Restrictions Highlighted In RSF’s Latest Report

    The Vietnam Briefing, which is released every Monday morning Vietnam time, looks at Vietnam’s social and political developments of the past week.

    Source:  The Vietnamese Magazine

    Vietnam ranks 174th in Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 press freedom index

    • On May 3, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released its annual ranking and evaluation of press freedom in 180 countries and territories around the world. Vietnam ranks 174th in RSF’s report this year, moving up one place from last year’s 175th position.
    • According to RSF’s evaluation, the press freedom ranking is based on the assessment of each country’s performance in five different indicators, including political, economic, legislative, social, and security. Vietnam ranks 173rd, 176th, 172nd, 170th, and 170th in each category, respectively.
    • In a press release following the publication of the World Press Freedom Index, RSF underscored how the increasing polarization of the media had fuelled divisions and created tensions within and between many countries at the international level. The press freedom advocate added that fake news, propaganda, and unregulated disinformation had created “disastrous effects” as well as “weakened” democracies around the world.
    • There are currently 41 journalists imprisoned in Vietnam, according to RSF’s index. They include the prominent journalist Pham Doan Trang, five members of the journalistic initiative Bao Sach (Clean Newspaper,) and three journalists of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN.)

    Vietnamese activist transferred to hospital for treatment of depression  as her mental health deteriorates

    • Nguyen Thuy Hanh, an activist popularly known for her founding of the 50K Fund, the monetary fund to assist the families of political prisoners in Vietnam, has been transferred to Central Mental Hospital No. 1 in Hanoi for depression treatment amid her worsening mental health condition, according to her husband Huynh Ngoc Chenh. Hanh was previously held in pretrial detention under investigation for “anti-State activities.”
    • According to Chenh, Hanh was reportedly transferred to the mental hospital at the end of April but he only learned about her situation after he was notified by the investigation authorities on May 6. The investigation police added that her pretrial detention term was temporarily suspended and the investigation process would resume as soon as she recovers from her illness.
    • Chenh also expressed concern on his Facebook that the Vietnamese authorities could use Hanh’s mental health conditions to forcibly make her stay in de facto police custody without having to bring her case to trial.
    • Previously, the Vietnamese activist and blogger Le Anh Hung was also forced to receive treatment in the Central Mental Hospital despite his family saying that he had no problems with his mental health. Hung has been held in the mental hospital since 2019 and his case has never been brought to trial. There were also reports that he was subjected to abuse and mistreatment during his treatment.
    • In the latest update on social media, Chenh said he was finally allowed to meet Nguyen Thuy Hanh on May 7 in the mental health facility after she was held incommunicado for 13 months. He wrote that Hanh got skinnier but still looked healthy and youthful.
    • Also according to Chenh, Hanh complained about the poor conditions of her place of detention; meanwhile, the depression medications prescribed for her personally, that Chenh sent to her every four months, were replaced by the detention center’s own medicines without notifying her or her family.

    Vietnamese Facebook user sentenced to eight years in prison for “distributing anti-State materials”

    • Vietnam’s State media on May 5 reported that a Vietnamese court in Tien Giang Province has sentenced Tran Hoang Huan, a local Facebook user, to eight years imprisonment and three years probation on charges of “making, storing, or distributing anti-State information and materials” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.
    • Huan’s indictment states that in the period between September 2020 and April 2021, he regularly accessed webpages having “poisonous and reactionary” content as well as foreign news channels that had a “hostile and defiant” attitude towards the Vietnamese government.
    • Consequently, Huan used the information obtained from these channels to write and publish a total of 186 posts on his personal Facebook account in order to “distort, slander and defame the Party and State  leaders” as well as “attack and insult the regime and deny the revolutionary achievements.”
    • In 2020, Huan was fined 12,5 million dong by the Tien Giang provincial authorities for “providing false information which distorts and defames the dignity of individuals and organizations.” He had previously received police summonses in 2016 and 2017 under the same charges.

    Vietnam arrests high profile business leaders amid the government’s intensifying crackdowns on corruption

    • Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security on April 29 issued an arrest warrant and conducted a house search for Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, a businesswoman and the director of Advanced International Joint Stock Company (AIC), for her alleged involvement in corruption related to the construction of a hospital in  Dong Nai Province.
    • It was reported that she had traveled to Japan on a business trip since February last year and still has not returned to Vietnam.
    • However, according to an exclusive report published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on May 1, Nhan is also known for her role as a key middlewoman in promoting and facilitating Vietnam-Israel arms deals over the past decade. Haaretz wrote that the primary reason behind Nhan’s prosecution was to crack down on rampant corruption in arms purchases between Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense and Israel’s security exporters.
    • Russia has traditionally been one of Vietnam’s main arms suppliers. But Hanoi in recent years has sought to diversify and modernize its military weaponry amid Beijing’s intensifying aggression in the South China Sea, and most recently due to Western sanctions against Moscow as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
    • Hanoi’s latest crackdown on the country’s top business leaders, including the arrests of billionaire Trinh Van Quyet and property developer, Do Anh Dung, earlier this year, signaled the expansion of the Communist Party’s anti-corruption campaign against government bureaucrats, including high profile corporate leaders.
    • According to several analysts and entrepreneurs, the turmoil in Vietnam’s economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing the government to tackle corruption in an effort to speed up economic recovery. The World Bank said in a report that problems such as declining incomes, job losses, and inequalities, among other things, are cautionary signs for the Vietnamese government as the country faces a much more challenging phase of COVID-19 ahead.

    Vietnam protests as China declares annual South China Sea fishing ban

    RFA:

    • Hanoi has recently spoken up against China’s announcement of a unilateral fishing moratorium in the South China Sea, which began on May 1, and covers the waters north of 12 degrees north latitude in the South China Sea. Both  Vietnam and the Philippines claim this area as their “traditional fishing grounds.”
    • According to the spokesperson for Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry, Le Thi Thu Hang, Beijing’s imposed three-and-a-half-month fishing ban is “a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial jurisdiction.” The moratorium applies to part of the Gulf of Tonkin and the Paracel Islands, both claimed by  China and Vietnam.
    • “Vietnam requests China to respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its maritime zones when taking measures to conserve biological resources in the East Sea (South China Sea), without complicating peace, stability, and order in the East Sea,” Hang added.

    Vietnam and Japan agree to boost trade and security ties

    Reuters:

    • Japan and Vietnam agreed on Sunday to boost economic and security ties while calling for an end to the war in Ukraine, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during a Southeast Asia tour.
    • Chinh said the two “agreed to boost cooperation in post-pandemic trade, strengthen supply chains and energy transition, in accordance with mutual interests.” Japan is Vietnam’s largest provider of official development aid and third-largest source of foreign direct investment. Bilateral trade rose 8.4 percent last year to $42.9 billion, according to Vietnam’s customs data.
    • Kishida and Chinh said they discussed regional responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and disputes in the South China Sea, where China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei have competing territorial claims. Chinh also announced Vietnam’s donation of $500,000 in humanitarian aid to Ukraine via international organizations.

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    Vietnam and the new Pacific Trade Triangle

    East Asia Forum/ Tran Van Tho/ May 6

    “This trade pattern resembles a new Pacific Trade Triangle comprised of China, South Korea, and the United States, with Vietnam as the focal point. The trade triangle of the 1980s featured industrializing Asian economies such as South Korea and Taiwan, who imported intermediate and capital goods from Japan and exported final consumer goods to the United States.

    This led to large trade deficits with the former and surpluses with the latter, resulting in a trade conflict with the United States. Newly industrializing economies in Asia solved this problem by substituting imports from Japan for upgrades in their own industrial structures.

    The current Pacific Trade Triangle in which Vietnam is enmeshed is riskier. On the one hand, the United States may impose protectionist measures on trading partners with which it has large deficits. On the other hand, over-reliance on imports from China may bring about instability when changes in Chinese domestic policy affect trade with neighboring countries.”

    The Russia-Ukraine War: Unpacking Online Pro-Russia Narratives in Vietnam

    ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute/ Hoang Thi Ha, Dien Nguyen An Luong/ April 27

    “The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war following Moscow’s invasion on 24 February has sparked intense public debates on Vietnam’s social media. For Vietnam, the ramifications of the war are felt beyond the economic and diplomatic realms. It has become an online hotbed of conflicting and confounding narratives that demonstrate different worldviews and political leanings among Vietnamese netizens. Of note, those who support Russia and Putin have been as energized and engaged as those who are against the war and sympathetic towards Ukraine.”

    Vietnam unleashes the taxman on dissent

    Asia Times/ David Hutt/ May 4

    “Now ‘tax evasion’ is being added to the repressive mix. There is an ‘emerging and disturbing pattern in the use of Vietnam’s tax laws to criminalize environmental leaders, and follows the broader targeting of civil society leaders, as well as shrinking civil society space,’ said the International Federation for Human Rights and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights in a recent report.”

    Vietnam’s cable car craze is driving environmental decline

    Southeast Asia Globe/ Govi Snell/ May 2

    “But the cable-car craze represents something bigger than the sum of the concrete pillars, steel, cables, and glass. The rapid development showcases how giant conglomerates are carving out space on Vietnam’s coasts and mountains for resorts and tourism complexes that some argue negatively impact the environment and have little benefit for local communities.

    Cable cars are often key features of these projects and enable thousands of people daily to visit some of the country’s most environmentally tenuous locales. Land is often cleared for construction and the high volume of tourists shuttled to now easily accessible destinations leads to waste buildup, putting pressure on the ecosystem.”

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    More from The Vietnamese Magazine. 
  • Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam “Concerned” About The Situation in Ukraine, Plans To Evacuate Its Citizens

    Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam “Concerned” About The Situation in Ukraine, Plans To Evacuate Its Citizens

    The Vietnam Briefing, which is released every Monday morning Vietnam time, looks at Vietnam’s social and political developments of the past week.

    Source: The Vietnamese Magazine

    Vietnamese courts approve appeal requests for local activists

    • On February 14, the Hanoi Supreme People’s Court sent a notice to attorney Dang Dinh Manh that on January 27 it had approved his application as a defense lawyer for the appeal trial of journalist Pham Doan Trang.
    • The court’s decision was followed by Doan Trang’s request for an appeal after her conviction of “distributing anti-state propaganda” and received nine years of imprisonment. The appeal hearing is expected to take place within 90 days of the approval day.
    • Also, the family of activist Do Nam Trung announced last week that the Hanoi Court on the same day had approved attorney Dang Dinh Manh as a defense lawyer for his appeal hearing. Trung was given a 10-year prison sentence for “distributing anti-state propaganda” last year, which was considered relatively harsh given his less well-known activism.
    • Meanwhile, attorney Manh also told RFA Vietnamese in an interview that he would defend Le Huu Minh Tuan, a member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), in his appeal hearing scheduled on February 28. Tuan was sentenced to an 11-year prison sentence in January 2021, along with two other members of IJAVN, on allegations of “distributing anti-state propaganda.
    • At the same time, Tran Quoc Khanh, who self-nominated himself as a candidate for Vietnam’s National Assembly elections last year, had his previous conviction upheld at an appeal trial on February 17. Khanh was sentenced to six and a half years of imprisonment last October under allegations of “distributing anti-state propaganda.”

    Vietnamese court to try another independent journalist on “anti-state” charges

    • The Hanoi People’s Court is scheduled to hold a trial on March 11 for the independent journalist Le Van Dung, commonly known by his pen name Le Dung Vova, on accusations of “distributing anti-state propaganda,” according to his defense lawyer Ha Huy Son.
    • Dung, 52, was detained in late June last year after the police issued a national warrant for his arrest. He was on the run when the investigation authorities announced their decision to prosecute and arrest him in May 2021.
    • Le Van Dung owned a Vietnamese language personal media channel, Chan Hung Nuoc Viet TV, where he reported and live-streamed his comments on different social and environmental issues. According to Dung’s family, the evidence used to prosecute him mostly consists of his online live streamings.
    • Attorney Son also told RFA Vietnamese during an interview that his client’s health and mentality remained stable.

    Local citizens assaulted over land rights disputes

    • Last week, a video showing a group of people wearing uniforms beating up several female protesters was widely circulated on Vietnamese social media. The conflict was later confirmed to have occurred at a construction site on February 18 in Hoang Hoa District, Thanh Hoa Province.
    • According to RFA’s investigation, the citizens who were assaulted during the conflict are members of a local family who had disputes over land ownership with an investment company called Flamingo. The company is carrying out a luxury resort project at the locality. Meanwhile, the attackers were said to be Flamingo’s security guards.
    • Tran Huy Hiep, who recorded the video, and who also has a land ownership dispute with Flamingo, said that his land was forcefully confiscated by the investment company without any compensation. When asked about whether or not his family had informed the provincial authorities of the conflict, Hiep said his family had contacted the district authorities, but that they claimed that “the land was owned by the local district government” and therefore it has the right to “sell that [land] to the company.”

    The Archdiocese of Hanoi calls for respect for religious freedom in a letter to authorities

    Agenzia Fides:

    • On February 24, the Catholic Church in Hanoi sent a letter of urgent complaint to various Vietnamese provincial and national authorities and called on the People’s Committee of Hoa Binh Province to respect the religious freedom and pastoral activities of the Catholic faithful in the province.
    • The letter was published four days after two people entered the Vu Ban Church in Hoa Binh Province, taking the microphone from the pulpit and ordering those attending mass to disperse for “pandemic control” reasons. The people are the secretary of the Communist Party of the city of Vu Ban City, Pham Hong Duc, and vice-president of its People’s Committee, Pham Van Chien.
    • In the published letter, the Archdiocese of Hanoi said: “This is a disrespectful act, an abuse of power that seriously violates the right to religious freedom, the right to the religious practice of bishops, priests and laypeople.”
    • The statement also said that this gesture “is unacceptable in a country where the rule of law prevails” and it “has aroused indignation and the pain of those who attended the mass as well as all those who saw the images on the web and social media.”

    The Vietnamese government, “concerned” about the situation in Ukraine, plans to evacuate citizens

    • In a statement on February 25, the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang said Vietnam “is concerned about the armed conflict in Ukraine” and that it called on involved sides “to exercise restraint, abide by the United Nations Charter and basic principles of international law,” among other things.
    • The country, however, did not condemn Russia’s military operations against Ukraine while only describing the invasion as “armed conflict” on state media.
    • At the same time, Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered the Ministry of Transport to prepare plans to evacuate Vietnamese citizens and their families in Ukraine, VnExpress reports. According to government numbers, there are about 7,000 Vietnamese people living in Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Odessa, and Kyiv.

    U.S. envoy for climate vows to help Vietnam meet key COP26 commitment

    VnExpress:

    • The U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, has expressed his appreciation for Vietnam’s COP26 commitments and reaffirmed the U.S. pledge to assist the country with this effort.
    • Kerry, who paid a four-day visit to Vietnam starting February 22, said the U.S. stood ready to assist Vietnam in reviewing, adjusting its strategy, and planning towards the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, a key commitment announced by Vietnam’s leaders at COP26 in the United Kingdom last November.
    • He also added the United States would continue to work closely with Vietnam on specific and timely measures, especially in developing renewable energy and reducing emissions, formulating policies to phase out coal power, and developing sustainable infrastructure.

    Forbes Vietnam removes a man from its Under 30 list following harassment allegations

    VnExpress:

    • Ngo Hoang Anh, 22, has been removed from the Forbes Vietnam Under 30 list, the magazine announced Thursday. The Forbes list published on February 14 honors Anh in the field of science and education, but it drew a backlash after several high school classmates said they had been verbally harassed by him.
    • “Regarding the case of Ngo Hoang Anh, after carefully considering all aspects of the issue, including the inspirational spirit of the list and Ngo Hoang Anh’s wishes in an email sent to the magazine, Forbes Vietnam decided to withdraw him from Year 2022 Under 30 list.”
    • The Forbes Vietnam 30 Under 30 listing has been honoring Vietnamese youth in several areas including businesses and startups, science and education, social activities, art, entertainment, and sports.

    Vietnam Hit by Fuel Shortages as Hundreds of Retailers Run Dry

    Bloomberg:

    “Vietnam is suffering from fuel shortages with hundreds of retailers forced to halt sales, prompting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to order an investigation of the market, including imports and exports of gasoline.

    Nearly 300 petrol and oil retailers across the country have stopped product sales, according to the trade ministry, which carried out a round of inspections. Reasons ranged from insufficient supplies from wholesalers and distributors to workers contracting Covid-19, it said. Local media have published photos of shuttered petrol stations displaying signs that they had run out of gasoline.”

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    On Ukraine crisis, Vietnam media stray from typical pro-Russia coverage

    RFA/ RFA Staff/ February 24

    “When the so-called Euromaidan protest movement rocked Ukraine in 2014, followed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict that led to the annexation of Crimea by Russia, Vietnamese state-run media generally blamed the crisis on “the West.” Fault was seen to lie with the U.S. and on NATO expansion aimed at bringing Ukraine out of Russia’s sphere of influence.

    Today, the picture is different.”

    Looking beyond the tip of Vietnam’s corruption iceberg

    East Asia Forum/ Hai Hong Nguyen/ February 23

    “With public attention increasing, the Viet A case will serve as a ‘test kit’ for Trong and the CPV’s anti-corruption efforts. Vietnamese netizens are embroiled in the question of the true perpetrators behind this multi-million-dollar case. Some suspect the case is wholesale ‘state manipulation’ beyond just a few bad actors. Regardless, Phan Dinh Trac, an assistant to Trong in the CSCC and Head of the Central Commission for Internal Affairs (CCIA), recently affirmed that the CCIA would pursue the Viet A and other grand corruption cases to the end despite mounting pressure.”

    President Phuc Wants To Solidify Vietnam’s Strategic Ties With Singapore

    Eurasia Review/ Veeramalla Anjaiah/ February 25

    “With a population of about 100 million people and a dynamic market profile (low-cost labor, rapid-growing economy, and strategic location among other strengths), Vietnam is an appealing target for Singapore partners to establish businesses.

    Vietnam needs a strong supporter like Singapore in its conflict with China. The aggressive behavior of China in the SCS and growing tensions between China and the US are threatening the peace and security in the region.”

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    More from The Vietnamese Magazine
  • Vietnam Briefing: Vietnamese Activists Receive Speech Freedom Awards; Vietnam Steps Up Crackdown On NGO

    Vietnam Briefing: Vietnamese Activists Receive Speech Freedom Awards; Vietnam Steps Up Crackdown On NGO

    Source:  The Vietnamese Magazine

    The Vietnam Briefing, which is released every Monday morning Vietnam time, looks at Vietnam’s social and political developments of the past week.

    Pham Doan Trang was awarded the 2022 Canada-United Kingdom Media Freedom Award

    • On February 10, Vietnamese human rights defender and journalist Pham Doan Trang was awarded the 2022 Canada-United Kingdom Media Freedom Award. The result was announced during the third Global Media Freedom Conference in Tallinn, Estonia.
    • Pham Doan Trang spent 434 days in detention before being sentenced to nine years imprisonment for allegedly conducting “anti-state propaganda.” Doan Trang’s family and her lawyers have reportedly not been able to visit her since she was convicted last year.
    • The Media Freedom Award, launched in 2020 at the second Global Conference for Media Freedom, honors and recognizes “the work of those who have defended journalists, or championed media freedom at a local level.” Doan Trang is the second recipient of this award; the Belarusian Association of Journalists received this prestigious prize in 2020.

    Mai Khoi Do Nguyen, a Vietnamese singer and activist, received the Freedom of Speech Award 2022

    • On February 9, Mai Khoi Do Nguyen, a Vietnamese singer and democracy activist, was named one of the laureates in the Four Freedoms Awards 2022, an annual award presented by the Roosevelt Institute. Mai Khoi received the Freedom of Speech award this year for bringing to the forefront “the importance of freedom of expression, social justice and improving the human rights situation in Vietnam,” according to the Four Freedoms’ website.
    • The prizes are awarded each year to the people whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to the principles presented by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his historic speech to Congress on January 6, 1941, which were regarded as essential to democracy: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
    • Upon awarding her the Freedom of Speech Award, the committee added that Mai Khoi “emphasizes the right of everyone to make their own choices,” while she draws public attention to “equal opportunities for women and the LGBTI+ community, gender-based violence, freedom of expression, and the environment.” Furthermore, she also called attention to the Formosa Plastics disaster in 2016 that resulted in environmental damage and which had an economic impact on local fishermen.

    Vietnamese Dominican priest killed while administering the sacrament of confession forgave his murderer

    • Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh, the 41-year-old Vietnamese Dominican priest killed while listening to confessions and celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the diocese of Kon Tum on January 29, forgave his murderer just before he died, according to the missionary news agency Fides.
    • The news was reported to Fides by Msgr. Aloisio Nguyen Hung Vi, the bishop of the diocese of Kon Tum. On February 7, together with other priests, the bishop visited the community of Sa Loong, part of the Dak Mot parish, where Father Joseph Tran Ngoc Thanh carried out his pastoral service and was later murdered, Fides reports.
    • Local police subsequently arrested the murderer, Nguyen Van Kien, and declared he was mentally ill. But several rights groups and individuals blamed the incident on the Vietnamese government for nurturing hostility against religions. This serious incident has nevertheless received scant media coverage in Vietnam.

    Vietnamese environmentalist and NGO founder arrested and prosecuted on “tax evasion” charges

    • State media on February 9 reported that the Hanoi Police investigation department had officially prosecuted Nguy Thi Khanh, a Vietnamese environmentalist and NGO founder, on “tax evasion” charges in accordance with Article 200 of Vietnam’s Penal code.
    • Khanh, the founder of Green Innovation and Development Center (GreenID) and a recipient of the Goldman environmental prize in 2018, was reportedly detained last month, but her detention was only confirmed by state media on February 9. Khanh’s organization had campaigned for Vietnam to adopt greener and more sustainable energy production alternatives while pressuring the government to cut down on fossil fuel-generated energy.
    • She was the latest activist to be prosecuted by the Vietnamese authorities for tax-related crimes. Last month, Dang Dinh Bach, director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Center, was sentenced to five years in prison for “tax evasion.” Previously, Mai Phan Loi, a former journalist and the director of the Center for Media in Educating Community, also received four years imprisonment for the same charge.
    • In a 2020 interview with AFP, Khanh acknowledged the risks that her activism brought. “When we got global recognition, these vested interest groups recognized us as their enemy and they are very powerful,” she said.
    • Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told The Guardian regarding Khanh’s arrest: “Now that Hanoi has finished imprisoning all the political dissidents while the world was distracted by COVID-19, the state’s repressive apparatus is turning on the environmental and social NGOs.”

    Vietnam a ‘country of particular concern,’ US religious freedom agency says

    RFA reports:

    • Despite some improvements, Vietnam remains a “country of particular concern” the 15th consecutive year in terms of allowing its citizens to freely practice their religion, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
    • The commission said a new law adopted in Vietnam in 2018 was a “notable improvement” to a previous ordinance but remains overly restrictive and has been applied unevenly across the country. Meanwhile, Hanoi continued cracking down on unregistered independent religious groups and publicly labeled many as “bizarre or wrong.”
    • “Authorities continued to actively persecute independent religious minority communities, including Protestant Hmong and Montagnard Christians, Hoa Hao Buddhists, the Unified Buddhists, Cao Dai followers, Catholics and Falun Gong practitioners,” the report said.
    • “Ethnic minority communities faced especially egregious persecution for the peaceful practice of their faith, including physical assault, banishment, detention, imprisonment, and forced renunciation of faith,” it added.

    Former journalist prosecuted for “defaming provincial police leaders”

    • Doan Tu Tan, a 40-year-old former journalist, was prosecuted on February 5 for “abusing democratic freedom to infringe on state and individuals’ legal rights,” state media reported.
    • According to the police, Tan allegedly used several untraceable phone numbers to send hoax messages to leaders in Bac Giang Province, spreading rumors and accusing the police heads of the local Luc Ngan District of wrongdoings. The police concluded that Tan’s messages were “defamatory and slanderous” of the local police leaders.
    • The former journalist was previously convicted and sentenced to three-year imprisonment for “receiving bribes” and is currently awaiting the execution of his sentence. There is no clear evidence that Tan’s accusations about police officials had any correlation to his previous conviction.

    Le Chi Thanh, the former policeman, appealed his conviction of “resisting law enforcement officers”

    • Le Chi Thanh, a former policeman who was sentenced to two-years in prison for “resisting law enforcement officers on duty,” has filed an appeal against the Thu Duc court’s verdict, his lawyer Dang Dinh Manh told RFA Vietnamese on February 10.
    • Attorney Manh added that Thanh had also been prosecuted for another charge of “abusing democratic freedom” by the investigative unit of Binh Thuan Police Department. Thanh used to be a correctional officer in the Binh Thuan Province Police Department, where he accused its leaders of corruption and other wrongdoings.
    • Thanh is expected to be transferred to Binh Thuan after his appeal trial, according to attorney Manh. His appeal hearing date has not been announced yet.

    Vietnam warns of hospitals strain as COVID-19 cases spike after the holiday

    Reuters reports:

    “Vietnam warned on Thursday that its healthcare system could become overloaded, after seeing a surge in new daily coronavirus infections following its week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

    The Southeast Asian country reported nearly 24,000 new cases on Wednesday, compared to about 15,000 per day in the week before the annual holiday, when millions of people traveled to their rural homes and to tourist hotspots.

    “Increased traveling will lead to the risk of more infections among the community, including the risk of spreading the Omicron variant,” the health ministry said in a statement.”

    Vietnam Releases Guidance on Implementation of COP26 Commitments

    Mayer Brown:

    “At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021 (COP26), Vietnam’s prime minister announced that the country would target achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and phase out coal power generation by 2040.

    As a follow-up to this announcement, on 30 January 2022 the Vietnam government issued Notice no. 30/TB-VPCP identifying the following eight areas of focus for implementing Vietnam’s COP26 commitments:

    1. conversion from fossil fuel to green/clean energy sources;
    2. reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in various sectors/industries;
    3. reduction of methane emissions, especially in agriculture and waste management sectors;
    4. R&D and use of electric vehicles;
    5. sustainable management, use of existing forests, and increase of afforestation for carbon absorption;
    6. R&D and use of construction materials and urban development for sustainable and green development;
    7. public relations campaigns directed at the public and business communities to enhance awareness and support for the government’s implementation of COP26 commitments; and
    8. acceleration of digital (economy) conversion for climate change.”

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    Prospects and challenges for Vietnam’s economy in 2022

    East Asia Forum/ David Dapice/ February 11

    “The big question now is if these developments will tarnish Vietnam’s hard-won reputation as a reliable supplier and alternative to China for manufactured exports? Despite factory closures, exports rose 19 percent in 2021 to an astonishing US$336 billion — while GDP was only US$271 billion in 2020 and grew only slightly in 2021. The high level of foreign direct investment (FDI) did not grow nor shrink much. The rapid increase in vaccinations — about 60 percent fully vaccinated by early 2022 — suggests that factory closures will be modest in 2022.

    But labour shortages may be more of a problem, as workers fear another round of factory closures and travel restrictions. There were troubles hiring even in 2019 as labour force growth slowed. Global pressures to reduce risk and increase resilience in supply chains are another headwind. While the momentum of past FDI commitments will keep export growth high in 2022, there are questions about later years.”

    The Biden Administration and Southeast Asia: One Year in Review

    ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute/ Hoang Thi Ha, Ian Storey/ February 11

    “The Biden administration’s record in Southeast Asia was also mixed, though generally positive. Due to the above-mentioned priorities, Washington’s engagement with the region was slow to start, causing much frustration in Southeast Asian capitals. In the second half of the year, however, momentum picked up as a flurry of senior officials visited the region, and culminated in a virtual US-ASEAN Summit and an American president’s full attendance at the East Asia Summit for the first time since President Barack Obama in 2016.”

    Why Won’t Vietnam Teach the History of the Sino-Vietnamese War?

    The Diplomat/ Travis Vincent/ February 9

    “According to Professor Tuong Vu from the University of Oregon, the Sino-Vietnamese war still divides Hanoi’s leadership today. One faction puts the blame on Le Duan, a former party leader known for being anti-China, while the other faction believes the party was wrong all along for having trusted China too much.

    “Allowing any discussion of the war threatens to deepen that rift and the survival of the party and would expose the mistakes of party leadership,” Vu said via email. “Teaching children about this war might over time create public pressure that forces the party to move away from China and closer to the U.S., which it does not want to.”

    Inequity and corruption taint Vietnam’s return to international travel

    Southeast Asia Globe/ Govi Snell/ February 3

    “Despite the easing of restrictions, some are still frustrated by the inequity: the high cost of entry, often fueled by corruption, turned travel to the country into a luxury. Further, while travel restrictions aligned with the government’s ‘Zero-Covid’ policy, once cases of the virus ballooned in the summer of 2021 the continued barriers felt increasingly unreasonable.”

    Rhino horns pierce a wall between crime and affluence in Vietnam

    Southeast Asia Globe/ Govi Snell/ January 19

    “Among the target rhino users in the country – rich, middle-aged individuals – Nam sees very little stigma and low perception of risk for using the illegal product. The government focuses on making big seizures of illegal wildlife products rather than seeking out and punishing consumers, he stated. The combined factors make lowering demand for rhino horn difficult.”

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    More from The Vietnamese Magazine.

  • LIV’s Trinh Huu Long in Al Jazeera: Vietnam’s battalions of ‘cyber-armies’ silencing online dissent

    Force 47 also known as Vietnam’s cyber armies under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) hacks anti-government websites and asserts its control over online content by spreading pro-government messages in order to stamp out any form of dissent.

    Excerpt:

    Growing marking of 96 million people

    As Vietnamese searched for more information about what happened in Dong Tam a week ago, some Facebook users reported receiving the message online: “Due to legal requirements in your country, we have restricted access to your profile on Facebook. This means that other people in your country cannot see your profile, and may not be able to interact with you over Messenger.”

    Vietnam has a population of 96 million. With more than 60 million Facebook users, it is the platform’s one of the fastest-growing markets.

    Newspaper - Vietnam
    Reporters Without Borders ranks Vietnam near the bottom of its 2019 World Press Freedom Index at 176 out of 180 countries listed [Luong Thai Linh/EPA]

    “Facebook is the main source of independent news now in Vietnam,” said Trinh Huu Long, a co-founder of Legal Initiatives for Vietnam.

    “The government has been working with Facebook to try to control content posted by dissidents and independent voices,” he added.

    Searches for protests in Hong Kong have also been affected. Many, like Anh Chi, blame the cybersecurity law for the filtered information.

    “They know people in Vietnam are active on social media, and they follow the news, especially with what’s happening in Hong Kong every day,” he said. “The government fears that one day people in Vietnam will join such protests.”

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    Vietnams battalions of cyber armies silencing online dissent Freedom of the Press News Al Jazeera
    Vietnam’s battalions of ‘cyber-armies’ silencing online dissent _ Freedom of the Press News _ Al Jazeera.pdf
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  • LIV on Qurium Vi Tran: “We Are Trying To Help People That Want Political Pluralism In Vietnam”

    Legal Initiatives for VIETNAM co-director Vi Tran recalls why she stopped working as a lawyer in California to pursue activism for her motherland, Vietnam. Her works including as co-founders for 2 online magazines, Luật khoa and The Vietnamese- where she is an editor-in-chief, revolves around her mission that is “To speak up for those that can’t”.

    Excerpt:

    She stopped working as a lawyer in California five years ago and started volunteering with a group of human rights in Vietnam to advocate for a democratic movement in the country. Vi Tran co-founded the independent magazine Luat Khoa in 2014 and, in 2017, the newspaper The Vietnamese , where she is editor-in-chief. Her mission: “To speak up for those that can’t”.

    Vi Tran does not regret leaving her job in California and moving to Taiwan. A lot of people, including her own family, she says, don’t see things this way: “They may think that I am crazy, but there is one life to live”. Vi thinks that the Vietnamese people deserves a better regime: “I believe all Vietnamese should have their human rights respected”.

    According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Vietnam is the 6th most censored country on the world, with 11 journalists imprisoned. Reporters Without Borders states that in Vietnam “all media follow the Communist Party’s orders”. The only source of independently-reported information is bloggers and citizen-journalists, who are being subjected to persecution and prison.

    “I admire the bloggers who went to jail to keep their faith and belief in free press and freedom of expression”, Vi says. Pham Doan Trang, Luat Khoa’s co-founder, was also detained in February 2018 and now she lives at an undisclosed location. Except for her, the writers and editors of Luat Khoa and The Vietnamese have not been persecuted. Vi assures that her team takes security very seriously: “We could relocate our colleagues if we think they face danger”.

    But Luat Khoa and The Vietnamese have suffered another types of persecution: the websites are blocked in Vietnam since December 2017, one month after the birth of The Vietnamese. Vi suspects that was “because we attempted to get more publications in English, to give international readers about Vietnam, so the government blocked us”.

    Why are Luat Khoa and The Vietnamese so uncomfortable to the government? Luat Khoa is the “Law Magazine”, it talks about law, geopolitics, human rights and so and is written in Vietnamese. It has about ten regular writers, and five part-time writers that work in The Vietnamese as well. Some of them (30%) are lawyers and 80% live in Vietnam.

    “We are trying to help people that want political pluralism in Vietnam”

    Protests in Vietnam. June 10, 2018

    The Vietnamese is different from Luat Khoa. It is written in English and it acts on the basis that information about Vietnam is rather limited, foreigners often look into things that were produced by state-owned media. Vi says: “We needed to have an English site, to share with our international friends what is going on in Vietnam and give people a better idea of our movement”. The intention is “to educate people online via a website”.

    According to Vi, Vietnam is “an authoritarian regime that controls every single aspect of people’s life; there is no open Internet, it is under government control, so people are wanting the information”. There are revolutionary and oppositional forces in Vietnam, people that want to see changes, that want political pluralism. “We are trying to help them”, she says.

    Because of her current health problems, Vi Tran lives in California again. But she still works for The Vietnamese: “I am so grateful to be able to bring my compatriots stories to a larger stage and advocate for their rights”, she says. And adds: “I have tremendous love for my country and my people, no matter how far away I live away from them”.

    “Government blocks us but people want to access our information and find a way”.

    Hers is a matter of pure patriotic vision: “I have seen a lot of courageous people from Vietnam keep fighting for our human rights and civil rights, and I want to join them to push our democracy forwards”. For her, living to contribute to her country is no regrets: “I will continue to advocate and fight for Vietnam’s democracy until the day I pass away”.

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    Vi Tran We are trying to help people that want political pluralism in Vietnam Qurium Media Foundation
    Vi Tran_ “We are trying to help people that want political pluralism in Vietnam” – Qurium Media Foundation.pdf
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