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  • 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 Seeks EU’s Support In Strengthening National Cybersecurity Apparatus

    Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam Seeks EU’s Support In Strengthening National Cybersecurity Apparatus

    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

    Day to remember: On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese government surrendered unconditionally as North Vietnam Army’s tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon and effortlessly occupied the city. The fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War and the 30-year struggle for control over Vietnam. It was followed by the new Communist authorities’ punishment and discrimination of the southern population, which later led to a mass exodus of nearly one million refugees fleeing Vietnam in the following decades.

    Vietnamese social media activist sentenced to 5 years in jail for “anti-State activities”

    • A Vietnamese court in Lam Dong Province on April 26 sentenced Dinh Van Hai, a social media and civil rights activist, to five years in prison and three years probation for allegedly “making, storing, and distributing propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” in accordance with Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Penal Code.
    • Hai, who is disabled, was first temporarily detained in 2017 after he participated in a peaceful rally in Ho Chi Minh City, protesting against the environmental disaster caused by the Taiwan-based Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. on Vietnam’s central coast. Since 2019, he has received a few police summons because of his online activism.
    • Dinh Van Hai was arrested by plainclothes police at the Phuoc Buu Pagoda on October 7, 2021, where he had taken refuge for the previous several months. The activist was later transferred to Lam Dong Provincial Police for pretrial detention while awaiting investigation.
    • According to the indictment, the evidence used to prosecute Hai was mostly collected on his personal Facebook account, including a total of 13 videos and 79 posts that contain “false and fabricated information” which aims to “distort history, the economic, social and political situation, as well as the socialism building agenda [in Vietnam.]”
    • It was reported that Hai did not have a defense lawyer for his trial, but only a legal representative sponsored by Vietnam’s Disabled People’s Organization. An unnamed relative of Dinh Van Hai told RFA in an interview that Hai claimed to be responsible for all the materials he published online, but that his intention was to make Vietnam a better and more developed country.
    • The United Nations Special Rapporteurs last November sent a mandate to the Vietnamese government to raise concerns over the arrest, detention, and denial of family visits of social media activists and human rights defenders in the country, including Dinh Van Hai. The UN rapporteurs also demanded Vietnam provide a legal basis as well as the explanations for their alleged activities of suppressing the fundamental civil rights of citizens.

    Jailed citizen journalist allowed family visitation after an opaque appellate hearing

    • Vietnamese citizen journalist Le Trong Hung, who had his sentence of five years in prison and five years probation upheld in a secret trial, was allowed to see his wife for the first time since his arrest more than a year ago, RFA reports.
    • Hung was arrested in March 2021 on charges of “distributing anti-State materials” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code shortly after his self-nomination for Vietnam’s National Assembly elections. Hung was able to see his family on April 22, three days after an appeals court in Hanoi upheld his sentence in a hearing that neither his lawyers nor his family was informed about in advance, said Hung’s wife, Do Le Na.
    • “My husband said that on April 19, the trial day, he was kidnapped and sent to the court. He did not agree to stand the trial as he hadn’t had a chance to see his lawyers,” Na told RFA, adding that her 40-minute meeting was closely monitored.
    • “They repeatedly reminded me and my husband not to mention the appeal trial,” she said. “They warned that our talk over the phone would be stopped and we would be kicked out if we talked about the trial.”
    • “I myself will keep speaking up and reaching out to human rights organizations and civilized countries which pay attention to the human rights situation in Vietnam. I want to point out how my husband has been treated and expose all of the Vietnamese government’s wrongdoings,” Na said.

    Human Rights Watch urges the Japanese Prime Minister to raise human rights issues during the Southeast Asia trip

    • Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a press release on April 26 urged Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his visit to Southeast Asia from late April to early May to put pressure on Southeast Asian governments, including Vietnam, to improve their human rights records.
    • Kishida is expected to travel to Vietnam during an extended visit to Southeast Asia, where he aims to coordinate regional responses to the Ukraine crisis as well as counter China’s rising assertiveness in the region, according to Reuters. The Japanese prime minister will pay an official visit to Vietnam from April 30 to May 1 and will meet the country’s prime minister and president, according to state media.
    • The rights advocate noted that Japan is “Vietnam’s most important bilateral donor” and that Kishida should express concerns regarding the Vietnamese Communist Party’s suppression of fundamental civil rights, press Vietnam “to respect freedom of online expression,” and “publicly urge the Vietnamese government to release everyone imprisoned for exercising their rights.”
    • According to HRW, “at least 51 people in Vietnam were put on trial, convicted, and sentenced to many years in prison” between the period December 2020 and April 2022 for simply exercising their basic human rights, including the freedom of expression, association, and religion.
    • “Japan proudly claims its commitment to protecting human rights on the global stage, but in practice, it does little to press rights-abusing governments in Asia to improve their records,” said Kanae Doi, Japan’s director of HRW. “Prime Minister Kishida’s Southeast Asia trip is an important opportunity to break with Tokyo’s longstanding public silence on abuses abroad and instead assert global leadership on rights issues.”
    • Meanwhile, the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights and the UN Environment Programme on April 22 expressed “grave concern” over Hanoi’s arrest and conviction of environmental human rights defenders on “tax evasion” charges.
    • “The use of income tax evasion charges to stifle critical voices is not a new practice in Vietnam. However, this time the charge of income tax evasion is being used against registered non-profit organizations whose work focuses on environmental protection,” said Cynthia Veliko, Southeast Asia Representative for the UN Human Rights Office in Bangkok.
    • On April 20, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and the International Federation for Human Rights also issued a joint urgent appeal for international intervention over the Vietnamese authorities’ alleged torture and ill-treatment of rights activist Trinh Ba Phuong. According to the appeal, Phuong was subjected to acts of torture throughout the investigation of his case. He was also reportedly hit by four security guards in sensitive areas of his body.

    Vietnam seeks EU’s assistance in building national cybersecurity protection

    • On April 28, Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security General To Lam met with Gunnar Wiegand, managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS), in Hanoi as he was asking for further support from the EU in cyber security protection, state media reports.
    • According to the minister, Vietnam has received significant assistance and shared experience from the EU in the building of the country’s Cybersecurity Law and related decrees.
    • To Lam also suggested the EU continue to support and share its experience regarding cyber security with Hanoi, as well as introduce and transfer technologies and equipment for cyber security protection and high-tech criminal prevention.
    • Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law, which became effective in January 2019, has worried the country’s dissidents, human rights activists, and the blogger community as they were afraid these laws have been utilized by the government to stifle critics.

    Vietnam’s National Assembly to hold its third session for the 2021-2026 term

    • According to General Secretary of Vietnam’s National Assembly Bui Cuong, the country’s legislative body will hold its third session for the 2021-2026 term from May 23 to June 17. According to state media, five bills and four resolutions will be discussed for approval in this session, while six other draft bills will be open for further discussions.
    • More specifically, the National Assembly will pass legislation and amendments related to the mobile police forces, insurance business, telecommunications and information industry, and intellectual property.
    • Vietnamese lawmakers are also expected to give their opinions and approve an additional four resolutions regarding vocational training programs for prison inmates, the legislative agenda for the next year, regulations of or National Assembly sessions, and specific development mechanisms for Khanh Hoa Province.
    • They will also examine reports on Vietnam’s socio-economic development and budget spending plans drafted in 2021, as well as monitor the implementation of those plans in the beginning months of 2022.

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    How the Russia-Ukraine War Is Impacting Vietnam’s Economy

    The Diplomat/ Thoi Nguyen/ April 28

    “Vietnam’s agriculture is one of the sectors that has suffered most from the Ukraine conflict and has been forced to find new ways to survive. Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, stated that Vietnamese business owners trading with Russia are worried about collecting payments after Russia’s exclusion from the SWIFT system. For example, the Phuc Sinh Group, a Vietnamese export business that engages in around $10 million in trade with Russia each year, has said that it is losing considerable revenue due to the Western sanctions.”

    Is Vietnam Going to Hold a Military Exercise With Russia?

    The Diplomat/ Carl Thayer/ April 27

    “Vietnam has yet to confirm or deny officially that the planning meeting took place. On April 21, for example, at a press conference, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang responded to a direct question from Channel News Asia about the reported Russia-Vietnam military exercises, in these words, “Viet Nam’s consistent policy is that all of its defense cooperation with other countries – including delegation exchange, joint training, and military exercises, games and contests – are meant to bolster friendship, solidarity, mutual trust, and understanding, for the sake of peace, cooperation, and development in the region and in the world.”

    Asia’s democrats testing their term limits

    Asia Times/ David Hutt/ April 27

    “Between 1986, after the death of the political boss Le Duan, and 2021, no Vietnamese senior leader had ever held office for more than two terms, and not one ever seriously attempted to do so.

    But last year all that was overridden by Nguyen Phu Trong, the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, who secured himself an unprecedented third term as party boss. He also parlayed an exception for his age, 11 years over the limit, which should have seen him step down at last year’s National Congress.”

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    More from The Vietnamese Magazine.
  • Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam Votes Against The Suspension Of Russia’s Membership In The UN Human Rights Council

    Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam Votes Against The Suspension Of Russia’s Membership In The UN Human Rights Council

    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

    Jailed rights activist marks one year in pretrial detention

    RFA:

    • Nguyen Thuy Hanh, a Vietnamese human rights activist well known for founding the 50K Fund, a private finance initiative to help raise money for families of jailed prisoners of conscience, marked her first year in pretrial detention on April 7.
    • Hanh was arrested on April 7, 2021, by police in Hanoi for investigation for allegedly “distributing propaganda against the State.”
    • In 2020, Vietnamese authorities blocked her bank account after she raised about 500 million dong (US$21,600) to support the family of Le Dinh Kinh, the elderly leader of Dong Tam Village, who was shot dead by security forces during a police raid in January 2020.
    • Hanh had self-nominated herself to run for a seat in Vietnam’s National Assembly elections in 2016 but was disqualified by the authorities.
    • Hanh’s husband, Huynh Ngoc Chenh, said his wife was very depressed before her arrest and that the family is concerned that her psychological condition could worsen.
    • “My wife Hanh was suffering from serious depression and was being treated by a doctor in Saigon [Ho Chi Minh City] when she was arrested,” Chenh told RFA. “After a while, the detention center allowed us to send her some medicine.”
    • But authorities have not informed Hanh’s family about her current mental state while in detention. The family later coincidentally learned from other patients there that she was submitted to a month-long stay in a mental hospital.“We don’t know anything about her health conditions now,” Chenh said.

    Families of Dong Tam death-row inmates allowed family visits in prison

    • The families of Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc on April 2 were allowed personal visitations at the Temporary Detention Center Number 2 in Thuong Tin District, Hanoi, after months of restricted visitations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to an update from Le Dinh Cong’s daughter Nguyen Thi Duyen.
    • In her Facebook’s status, Duyen wrote that her father and uncle’s mental state remained in “very good” condition; however, she added that Le Dinh Cong had been infected with a severe skin fungus while in prison and asked her to send him some medications. Cong also told his daughter that he had never “personally viewed himself as a death row inmate.”
    • Le Dinh Cong and Le Dinh Chuc are the two sons of Dong Tam Village leader Le Dinh Kinh. They were sentenced to death by the Hanoi People Court during a trial on September 14, 2020, following the police raid of Dong Tam Village that resulted in the deaths of Kinh and three police officers. The Hanoi High Court upheld the sentencing in an appeal hearing on March 8, 2021.

    Australian government urges Vietnam to release political prisoner Chau Van Kham

    • The Australian government is urging Vietnam to free Chau Van Kham, a 72-year-old Vietnamese-born Australian serving a 12-year prison sentence for his involvement in a pro-democracy group, due to concerns about his old age and deteriorating health, Associated Press reports.
    • Kham was convicted of terrorism charges in 2019 by a court in Ho Chi Minh City for his support of the pro-democracy, political party Viet Tan. Hanoi accused Viet Tan of being a “terrorist group” but the organization called the charges “baseless” and said Kham’s legal proceedings were a sham.
    • Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she had argued for Kham’s release in a conversation with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi last year and in a phone call with Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son last week.
    • “In relation to Mr. Chau Van Kham, respecting the Vietnamese legal system and we do, our concern though is his age. He is in his 70s, he is unwell,” Payne told reporters. “We have sought an appropriate consideration of his circumstances given those facts and to have him allowed to return to Australia,” Payne said.

    Human Rights Watch urges European Union to pressure Vietnam over its human rights record

    • Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a press statement on April 4 has called on the European Union to pressure Hanoi to “comply with its human rights obligations, end its crackdown on activists, and release all political prisoners.”
    • The statement was made before a bilateral human rights dialogue between the EU and Vietnam is to be held in Brussels on April 6, 2022, according to HRW.
    • The rights advocate has underscored numerous arrests and the imprisonment of social and environmental activists in Vietnam over alleged tax evasion charges.
    • The Vietnamese authorities arrested and imprisoned Mai Phan Loi, a journalist, and Dang Dinh Bach, a lawyer, as they were trying to join the Domestic Advisory Group, an independent body set up under the agreement between the EU and Vietnam to monitor the implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
    • “The EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue shouldn’t be just another box-ticking exercise,” said Claudio Francavilla, EU advocate at Human Rights Watch. “The Vietnamese government has undertaken binding obligations to respect human rights, and the EU should be adamant that Vietnam’s increased repression will carry consequences for Vietnam’s leadership.”

    Journalists in Vietnam are still prosecuted for practicing their profession

    • A court in Ho Chi Minh City on April 5 sentenced Nguyen Hoai Nam, a former state journalist, to three years and six months in jail for criticizing local authorities for their handling of a corruption case he uncovered as a reporter, RFA reports.
    • Nam used to work for the Ho Chi Minh City Law Newspaper. In 2018, the journalist investigated and submitted evidence of wrongdoing among employees of the Vietnam Internal Waterways Agency to the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security.
    • Among the employees at the state-owned agency who were identified in Nam’s reporting, 14 were unpunished despite having been allegedly proven guilty in a bribery case. Nam later wrote on Facebook that the court’s handling of the case was insufficient and that investigators were trying to “cover it up and allow the defendants to slip away.”
    • On April 2, 2021, the journalist was arrested and found guilty on charges of “abusing freedom and democracy to infringe on the legal interests of the state, organizations, and individuals,” a violation under Article 331 of Vietnam’s Penal Code. The court concluded that Nam’s posts also violated anti-defamation laws.
    • In a press statement on April 8, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Vietnamese authorities to “release journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam immediately and unconditionally, and stop imprisoning members of the press.”
    • “Vietnamese authorities must free journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam, who was wrongfully sentenced to prison for doing his job as an independent journalist,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop treating journalists who report in the public interest as criminals, and should ensure that members of the press do not face prison for their work.”
    • Meanwhile, the provincial court of Quang Tri on April 7 announced its conviction of Phan Bui Bao Thy, another state journalist who was previously accused of slandering the province’s leaders.
    • According to the court’s decision, Thy was subjected to 12 months of correctional supervision; Le Anh Dung and Nguyen Huy, two of Thy’s accomplices, were each subjected to 18 months of correctional training.

    Vingroup seeks financing from the U.S. government for its expansion

    Vietnamese automaker Vinfast announced that it will seek financing from the United States government to help with its expansion of a planned manufacturing facility in North Carolina, Reuters reported with information from Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, who spoke to a group including reporters on April 9.

    • “It is also one of our financing options, but we need to prove to them that we are qualified,” Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong said.
    • The automaker said on April 7 that its Singapore-based holding company had filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. securities regulators, Reuters reported.
    • Vingroup, which is popularly known for its role as a contractor of key development projects in Vietnam, has recently placed its bet on the electric vehicle manufacturing venture amid the Vietnamese government’s wide crackdown on real estate developers over the alleged market and economic manipulation.
    • The latest example of this crackdown is the arrest of Do Anh Dung, chairman of the real estate developer Tan Hoang Minh, who is being investigated over allegations of “committing fraud.” Tan Hoang Minh was also involved in the manipulation of land prices in the auctions of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project in Ho Chi Minh City.
    • In 2021, the company offered a hefty 2.4 billion dong (US$106,242) for a square meter of Thu Thiem land but then withdrew from the auction. The price suggested by Tan Hoang Minh was 130 times higher than the compensation rate for the seized lands of Thu Thiem citizens (about $797.)

    Vietnam votes against the resolution to suspend Russia’s membership in theUnited Nations Human Rights Council

    • On April 7, the UN General Assembly voted to approve the U.S. -led effort to suspend Russia from the 47-member Human Rights Council over its invasion and alleged killing of civilians in Ukraine. Vietnam joined 23 UN members, including China, Cuba, North Korea, and Laos, in voting against the resolution.
    • Hanoi’s objection to the UN resolution was in stark contrast to the speech made by Vietnamese Representative to the UN Dang Hoang Giang at the 11th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly, where he called on involved parties to “reduce tension, apply ceasefire and resume dialogue in order to seek long-term solutions to differences.”
    • “Vietnam opposes all actions of attacking civilians and violations of humanitarian and human rights laws,” Giang added as he emphasized the need to “verify recent information in a transparent, open and objective manner with the cooperation of all relevant sides.”
    • In an interview with RFA Vietnamese, Carl Thayer, emeritus professor of politics at the University of New South Wales, said that Vietnam “has shot itself in the foot” for its decision and that there would be “a drop off of support” from the United States and other Western countries since they were disappointed with Hanoi’s support for Moscow.
    • According to The Vietnamese Magazine’s observations, state-run media in the country has reported on the suspension of Russia’s membership in the Human Rights Council but avoided mentioning Vietnam’s opposition to the move.

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    Russia’s Ties to Southeast Asia and How They Affect the Ukraine War: Part 3, Singapore and Vietnam

    Council on Foreign Relations/ Joshua Kurlantzick/ April 7

    “Yet Russia remains the cornerstone of Vietnam’s military platforms, and, interestingly, there seem to be some divisions within the Vietnamese public about the Ukraine war as well. As To Minh So notes, “a Gallup International Poll in 2017 on perceptions of Global Leaders found that Vietnamese [were] more favorable of Putin than Russians, with 89 percent approving his leadership.” However, To Minh So also notes that, during the Ukraine war, public opinion in Vietnam appears less supportive of Putin, as much as can be judged via the state media (which has not called the war “an invasion”) and other outlets in an authoritarian country. Still, given the extensive level of public support for Putin just five years ago (and after Putin’s 2014 invasion of Crimea), it is easy to imagine that the Vietnamese public is heavily divided on how to view the Ukraine conflict.”

    Why Vietnam Holds the Trump Card in the US-Vietnam Partnership

    The Diplomat/ Khang Vu/ April 5

    “Vietnam seems to well understand its strong bargaining leverage and thus its refusal to raise the relationship to the level of a strategic partnership is based on the confidence of its importance in the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. In other words, Vietnam’s reluctance does not hurt the positive outlook of U.S.-Vietnam relations. As U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet put it in his recent visit to Vietnam, bilateral exchanges show “the ever-growing strength of the United States-Vietnam relationship.” This explains why some Vietnamese officials claimed the partnership is already strategic in practice thanks to the current level of cooperation.”

    Will Vietnam Be Able to Wean Itself Off Russian Arms?

    Fulcrum/ Le Hong Hiep/ April 4

    “Nevertheless, relying on a single source of arms will subject Vietnam to serious risks. Apart from the above-mentioned issues, Moscow’s increasingly close ties with Beijing is another source of risk that Hanoi should be mindful of, given the intensifying South China Sea dispute. Putting in place plans to wean itself off Russian arms will only become increasingly important to Vietnam. The compatibility issue means that this needs to be done in phases, matching the retirement of old Russian platforms with the procurement of new platforms from other suppliers. During this process, in addition to improving domestic arms production capabilities, further strengthening its strategic ties with potential alternative suppliers will also help Hanoi better manage its diversification efforts.”

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    More from The Vietnamese Magazine. 
  • Vietnam Briefing: Ambassadors In Vietnam Call On Hanoi To Support Ukraine

    Vietnam Briefing: Ambassadors In Vietnam Call On Hanoi To Support Ukraine

    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

    Ambassadors in Vietnam call on Hanoi to support Ukraine in the midst of Russia’s invasion

    RFA:

    • Nearly two dozen ambassadors from the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom serving in Vietnam have called on Hanoi to support Ukraine in an op-ed published on March 8. The call was publicized following Vietnam’s abstention in the United Nations’ resolution condemning Russian aggression against a sovereign country.
    • The diplomats also acknowledged Vietnam’s special relationship to Russia due to its shared history with the Soviet Union. “The Soviet Union helped Vietnam in times of need when others did not,” wrote the op-ed signed by 22 ambassadors in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi. “But the Soviet Union is long gone and we are in a new era,” they added.
    • “But in this time of crisis we must all focus on the fundamental question of whether it is justified for Russia, a big country, to bully and invade its neighbor Ukraine, in order to try and redraw boundaries on the map against international rules,” the letter noted.
    • In conclusion, the diplomats implored Vietnam to share their view that de-escalation and withdrawal are the right actions for legal and humanitarian reasons as well as the correct political choice for Russia and the international community for the sake of peace and stability.

    Vietnamese police continue investigation into local monastery over “abuse of democratic freedom” charges

    • State media on March 8 quoted a police officer in Long An Province Police as saying that they had continued their search and further investigations into Tinh That Bong Lai, a local monastery and orphanage, over accusations of “abusing democratic freedom,” “committing fraud,” and “incest.”
    • Previously, the police had conducted an investigation into the monastery and arrested four of its monks and nuns, including head monk Le Tung Van, for “abusing democratic freedom.” Van was later granted bail and put under house arrest due to his old age.
    • Three other monks, Le Thanh Hoan Nguyen, Le Thanh Nhat Nguyen, and Le Thanh Trung Duong were recently transferred to a provincial detention center and had their detention duration extended for another month to comply with a further police investigation.
    • Attorney Dang Dinh Manh, who registered as one of Tinh That Bong Lai’s defense attorneys, told RFA on January 21 that the nuns and monks living inside the monastery were “completely isolated from the outside world,” referring to the heavy police presence guarding the facility.
    • Several independent observers claim that the Vietnamese authorities have deployed these charges to legitimize their suppression of religious freedom.

    Vietnamese villagers protesting over land rights attacked by plainclothes individuals

    RFA:

    • More than 100 Vietnamese villagers demanding title to their land were assaulted on March 7 by attackers wearing civilian clothes while police looked on and refused to intervene, according to local sources.
    • The attack took place in Dien Ban Town, located in central Vietnam’s Quang Nam Province. It came after petitioners set up tents and raised banners in front of the town’s People’s Committee headquarters, asking for their right to land plots for which they paid five years ago, RFA quoted a local source as saying.
    • A group of around 30 men wearing face masks, helmets, and civilian clothes later arrived and attacked the group, beating petitioners including children and elderly women, said Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, a local petitioner. “They even sprayed us with fire extinguishers and took away our tents, illegally detaining protesters and taking them to a nearby police station,” she added.
    • Individuals associated with the police have frequently been used by Vietnamese authorities in the past to break up land-rights protests or attack political dissidents or members of unsanctioned religious groups.

    Pham Doan Trang featured as a recipient of the 2022 International Women of Courage Award

    • On March 8, the U.S. Department of State announced a list of 12 women recipients of the 2022 International Women of Courage Award (IWOC). This year, Vietnamese journalist Pham Doan Trang has been featured as one of the award recipients for her works and advocacy of “human rights, rule of law, and the inclusion of all voices in political spaces in Vietnam.”
    • In its 16th year, the IWOC Award has honored women around the world who “have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equity and equality, and the empowerment of women and girls, in all their diversity,” writes the media note. The awardees have been recognized especially for their sacrifice due to the risky nature of their work.
    • According to the State Department, the awardees are nominated by U.S. diplomatic missions in their host countries and the finalists are chosen and approved by senior State Department officials. The First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, will deliver her remarks at the IWOC ceremony recognizing this year’s IWOC awardees.
    • Meanwhile, in an interview with RFA on International Women’s Day on March 8, activist and singer Mai Khoi said that up to 63 percent of Vietnamese women have experienced a certain type of violence, and the lack of government attention to this important issue.
    • “The most important thing is every Vietnamese woman needs to understand her rights,” Mai Khoi said in the interview. “Once they have a good understanding, they will use their rights properly and not allow violence and abuse. They will also be able to become the person they would like to be.”

    German Consul General meets with local activists in Vietnam’s Central Highlands

    VOA News:

    • On March 9, Josefine Wallat, consul general at the Consulate of Germany in Ho Chi Minh City, held a meeting with Vietnamese human rights and religious freedom activists in Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province.
    • On the next day, Wallat visited the families of Ngo Van Dung and Huynh Thuc Vy, two local prisoners of conscience in the region, and  Pham Ngoc Thach of the Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church. During the visit, she asked about the conditions and overall health of the political prisoners. “I am truly glad that they [the German consulate] care about us, even though we live in a rural area,” said Huynh Thi Kim Nga, wife of Ngo Van Dung.
    • Dung was a citizen journalist and also a member of the Hien Phap (Constitution) group, an organization established with an aim to educate Vietnamese citizens of their constitutional rights. He was arrested in 2018 under “disrupting security” charges and sentenced to five years in prison. Huynh Thuc Vy was a freelance blogger who was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for spraying paint on Vietnam’s national flag.
    • According to the activists and the prisoners’ families, the local authorities did not harass and prevent them from meeting with the German consul general. But the activists noticed that there seemed to be secret surveillance from the public security forces.

    Vietnam Prime Minister pays tribute to martyrs of the Spratly reefs skirmish

    VnExpress:

    • Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid tribute on March 12 to soldiers who died defending the Johnson South Reef, or Gac Ma in Vietnamese, against China 34 years ago.
    • Chinh laid floral tributes and burned incense at the Gac Ma memorial site in the central province of Khanh Hoa, which commemorates the 64 Vietnamese soldiers who died defending the reefs in the Spratly Archipelago on March 14, 1988. Vietnam subsequently lost the battle and Gac Ma was later controlled by Chinese forces.

    Two military officials arrested for being involved in Vietnam’s COVID-19 testing kit fraud

    VnExpress:

    “Two officials at the Military Medical Academy in Hanoi were arrested Tuesday for their involvement in the test kit fraud of Viet A Technology Corporation.

    Colonel Ho Anh Son, deputy director of the academy’s Military Medical Research Institute, is being investigated for “embezzlement” and “abuse of power and official position” in line with the Penal Code, while Senior Colonel Nguyen Van Hieu, head of the Equipment and Supplies Department, is under investigation for “violating regulations on bidding, causing serious consequences.””

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    Ukraine: Putin’s Vietnam?

    WhoWhatWhy/ William Dowell/ March 10

    “The irony is that, in contrast to Vietnam, Ukraine really has strategic importance. It is the keystone to security in Europe, effectively a buffer that separates today’s Russia from its former satellite colonies in Eastern Europe. Short-range nuclear missiles stationed in Ukraine could hold most of the capitals of Europe hostage to Putin’s ambitions. Likewise, if Ukraine were to fall in NATO’s camp, similar missiles could threaten Russia’s heartland.”

    School Closures and Child Labour: The Pandemic’s Social Cost

    Fulcrum/ Thai Long, Phi Minh Hong/ March 11

    “Most countries do not officially report child labour statistics, but the available data paints a sobering picture. UNICEF’s database, published by Save the Children, shows that child labour – defined as the proportion of the population aged 5 to 17 years involved in work – is significant in the ASEAN region. However, the problem varies in severity across countries. Between 2012 and 2019, child labour incidence was recorded at 28.2 percent in Laos and 13.1 percent in Vietnam. Cambodia’s rate of 12.6 percent is identical to the global average. ASEAN countries have implemented excellent policies to reduce poverty and raise awareness about child development over the past years, but COVID-19 might have slowed down or even reversed the progress made.”

    Russian Invasion of Ukraine Poses Geopolitical Quandaries for Vietnam

    Fulcrum/ Phan Xuan Dung/ March 2

    “Hanoi’s problem is that many of the parties involved in the conflict have healthy and cooperative relationships with Vietnam. Russia is a comprehensive strategic partner and Vietnam’s largest weapons supplier. The US enjoys growing security and defence cooperation with Vietnam. Ukraine has a comprehensive partnership with Vietnam and the two countries have been stepping up bilateral cooperation on various issues. Vietnam’s business and trade connections with Europe are also thriving. Hanoi would want to avoid rocking the boat in any of these relationships.”

    Why the Russia-Ukraine War is Not the Same as the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979

    The Diplomat/ Khang Vu/ March 1

    “The difference in Vietnam having an official ally while Ukraine does not renders infeasible any attempts to use the Sino-Vietnamese war to predict Russian behavior. We cannot even guess if China’s invasion of Vietnam would have been limited in the absence of a Vietnam-Soviet alliance, or whether China would have invaded had Hanoi never tilted to the Soviet side in the first place. Counterfactual reasoning is rarely easy.”

    Vietnam’s crackdown target: citizens who can inspire others
    RFA/ Zachary Abuza/ March 7

    “In fact, security forces are increasingly surgical in who they target: people who have the ability to mobilize their fellow citizens.

    That speaks to the insecurities and vulnerabilities of the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP), which rose to power not just through their leadership in the anti-colonial struggle against the French and Americans, but through their ability to mobilize the population. That remains a key function of the party.”

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  • Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam Abstains From Condemning Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

    Vietnam Briefing: Vietnam Abstains From Condemning Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

    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 abstained from United Nations’ resolution condemning Russian aggression

    • On March 2, as the UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vietnam remained one of 35 countries that abstained. It is also one of the only two countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN,) together with Laos, that chose not to publicly vote in favor of the resolution.
    • In the resolution, the UN stated that it deplored “the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.” It also demanded that Russia “immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine” and “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces.”
    • Vietnamese Ambassador at the UN Dang Hoang Giang on March 1 made a speech during its special session on the situation in Ukraine, calling on involved parties to “stop the use of force, resume dialogue, and seek longterm solutions to differences.”
    • He also mentioned the need to “ensure security and safety of the people and protect essential infrastructure in accordance with international humanitarian law” and asked the international community to “continue providing humanitarian aid for civilians.”
    • Nataliya Zhynkina, chargé d’affaires a.i. at the Embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam, wrote in a Facebook status that she was “deeply disappointed” about its abstention.
    • As Russia’s closest partner and ally, the Vietnamese government has been largely silent on voicing its support for Ukraine while refraining from criticizing Russia for its unprovoked attacks on a sovereign state. Meanwhile, local pro-government internet users have also been seen widely supporting the Kremlin’s manufactured reasons for its invasion.

    Vietnamese scholars, lawyers, and activists show support for Ukrainian people

    Radio Free Asia:

    • Two groups of Vietnamese scholars, attorneys, and representatives from civil society organizations voiced support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invading army. It strikes a markedly different tone than their government’s stance, which has largely been silent on the war.
    • In a letter to Nataliya Zhynkina, three dozen Vietnamese declared themselves “freedom lovers” and urged Ukrainians to resist Russia in defense of their “young democracy,” which emerged from an authoritarian past.
    • Among the signatories were members of the Civil Society Forum, Nguyen Trong Vinh Club, Le Hieu Dang Club, Lap Quyen Dan, and Vietnam Independent Writers Initiative. They noted that while Vietnam is a communist country, many Vietnamese believe that independence and democracy — values that Ukrainians are protecting — are important.
    • The letter and a second one a group of attorneys wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin circulated among closed groups on Facebook. They stand in sharp contrast to the Vietnamese government’s overarching passivity to the conflict.
    • The two letters also criticized Vietnamese who support Putin’s actions in Ukraine. “Given invasion threats from China, as Vietnamese people, they should have empathized with Ukrainian people instead of supporting Putin’s invasion,” Mac Van Trang, an expert on sociopolitical issues in Vietnam, said about the pro-Russia stance of several Vietnamese groups. “How stupid and narrowminded they are!”
    • Meanwhile, on March 4, a group of local activists and civil society organizations gave donations worth more than 200 million dong (US$8,755) to the Ukrainian Embassy in Vietnam via its chargé d’affaires Nataliya Zhynkina. The donations were locally raised and “surpassed 200 million after one day,” one of the organizers wrote. “We understand and […] share the losses that the Ukrainian people and its government have been bearing,” he added.

    Vietnamese activist arrested on allegations of “distributing anti-state materials”

    • Vietnam’s state media on March 1 reported that Ho Chi Minh City Police had arrested Tran Van Bang, a local dissident, and pro-democracy activist, for investigations of his alleged activities of “storing, making, and posting online materials that propagandize, distort, and defame the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” It added that his posts had “intended to defy the government and negatively affect social security and order.”
    • Bang was subsequently prosecuted under Article 117 of Vietnam’s 2015 Penal Code, which penalizes anyone who “distributes anti-state materials.”According to the police, the investigation agency had conducted a search of his house and “collected a number of books and materials containing anti-state information.”
    • Following Bang’s arrest, his attorney – Dang Dinh Manh – told RFA that he was in the process of registering to defend his client. Attorney Manh added that he would be allowed visitation to his client only after the police finished its investigation.
    • Bang, 61, is a member of the Le Hieu Dang Club, a local organization advocating for democracy and the protection of Vietnam’s sovereignty, and also a regular attendee at several anti-China protests in Vietnam. In 2015, he was assaulted by security forces at an anti-China rally in Ho Chi Minh City.

    Vietnamese court postponed the trial of former journalist

    • On March 3, the Hanoi People’s Court announced that the trial of former independent journalist Le Van Dung was postponed after one of the judges tested positive for COVID-19, according to attorney Ha Huy Son.
    • Previously, Dung had his trial scheduled on March 11 on accusations of “distributing anti-state propaganda.” The new trial date will be announced later, Son added.
    • Commonly known by his pen name Le Dung Vova, Dung was detained in late June last year after the police issued a national warrant for his arrest. He 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.

    China announces South China Sea drills close to Vietnam coast

    Reuters:

    “In a statement late on Friday, the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration said the drills would start from the same day and last until March 15.

    It provided coordinates for an area roughly halfway between Hainan’s Sanya and the Vietnamese city of Hue. Sanya is home to a major Chinese naval base.”

    Salinization in Mekong Delta in Vietnam to a spike in March

    Radio Free Asia:

    “On Feb. 7, Vietnam’s Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR) said that the Mekong Delta had been suffering from early salinity intrusion since the beginning of the dry season as China had been limiting water discharge from its upstream hydropower plants.

    According to SIWRR, China’s decision to cut water discharge from its storage reservoirs to generate electricity has been one of the key causes of the salinity levels.”

    Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam

    Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: The Diplomatic Dilemma Facing Vietnam

    The Diplomat/ Hai Hong Nguyen/ March 4

    “Prima facie, these statements reveal that Vietnam faces a dilemma in how to respond to the war in Ukraine. Reading between the lines, however, Vietnam is sending different messages not only on Russia and Ukraine but also with regard to other potential future conflicts.”

    ASEAN needs to uphold principles, not neutrality, in Ukraine war

    Nikkei Asia/ Huong Le Thu/ March 2

    “Still, ASEAN’s muted response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine is disappointing. Even more so was the joint statement by ASEAN foreign ministers calling for restraint from “all parties.”

    Trying to remain impartial when one country is bombing the unarmed civilians of another country does nothing to uphold the principle of neutrality. It is, in fact, a blurring of black and white.”

    ASEAN response to Ukraine crisis a show of ‘diplomatic cowardice’

    RFA/ Zachary Abuza/ March 2

    “Already riddled with divisions over Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, the damming of the Mekong, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, and the 2021 coup d’êtat in Myanmar, ASEAN, through its toothless response to the Russian invasion, yet again is proving inept in collectively addressing a security issue with potential implications for Southeast Asia.”

    What’s in a Name: The Promise and Peril of a US-Vietnam ‘Strategic Partnership’

    The Diplomat/ Phuong Vu/ March 2

    “It should not be controversial to point out that Vietnam and the U.S. share a deeper, more multi-faceted relationship than some nations higher up in Hanoi’s diplomatic hierarchy. Since 2013, the U.S.-Vietnam comprehensive partnership has made significant strides. In 2020, bilateral trade reached $92.2 billion, more than nine times higher than Vietnam’s trade with India. The U.S. is Vietnam’s 11th largest investor, with nearly $10 billion invested in the country.”

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  • 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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