Caroline Finlay
Stories
June 16th, 2008
Vietnam: Detention of journalists sparks web debate
· 04:04 · East AsiaIt would seem like the press in Vietnam is getting freer and freer, but the arrest of two journalists and a once-renowned investigator shows that any recent progress is tenuous.
In the run up to Vietnam’s admission to the World Trade Organization in 2006, newspapers reported with never before seen gusto. In the biggest story since the arrest and execution of mob boss Nam Can, in mid 2006 the Project Management Unit 18 (PMU 18) scandal broke. Newspapers reported on ministry of transportation officials who were accused of embezzlement and bribery and for losing millions of foreign dollars. These reports made the international press and greatly embarrassed the Vietnamese Communist Party.
At the heart of the scandal was senior police officer in charge of investigating the case, Major General Pham Xuan Quac, now retired. He was hailed as a hero for his role in exposing corruption in the ministry of transportation. At one point he gave an interview to Thanh Nien reporter Nguyen Viet Chien, who then wrote of PMU 18 manager Bui Tien Dung’s attempts at bribery. Dung was arrested, along with deputy minister of transport Nguyen Viet Tien, who allocated 70 percent of ministry funds to the corrupt and inefficient PMU 18. The minister of transportation, Dao Dinh Binh, resigned but was not detained.
Newspaper reports reflected public outrage and labelled Dung, Tien and Binh as corrupt villains. Reports mentioned the call for justice, a bold step in a tightly controlled media. In the West it is illegal for the media to declare a person guilty or innocent before he or she is sentenced in court, so perhaps the Vietnamese media did go a step too far.
But this year the pendulum swung back. In early 2008, the PMU 18 officials went to trial, and Nguyen Viet Tien, accused of taking PMU 18 vehicles for personal use and of bribing an official in a land-scam, was cleared of all charges. In April, he was reinstated as a Communist Party member. In May, investigator Pham Xuan Quac and journalists Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai were arrested and charged with “abuse of power” and for printing false facts in the news in the story relating to Dung bribing a number of important persons.
There is a frenzy of discussion on the internet, with colleagues of Chien and Hai eloquently supporting them, both in print and online. Nguyen Cong Khe, editor of the Thanh Nien newspaper, stands by journalist Chien:
“Phóng viên của tôi không bao giờ bịa đặt, mà làm báo không cho phép chúng tôi bịa đặt. Chúng tôi chống tham nhũng hay chống tiêu cực phải dựa trên cơ sở của sự thật và được cơ quan chức năng chính thức cung cấp.
Ngay như bài “Bùi Tiến Dũng đã khai đưa tiền chạy án cho gần 40 nhân vật quan trọng” đăng trên Thanh Niên có đến hai vị tướng xác nhận, và chúng tôi có băng ghi âm. . . Chúng tôi thông tin là có nguồn tin cung cấp, chứng cứ.”
“The day that the article, “Bui Tien Dung said that he bribed nearly 40 important persons” was in Thanh Nien newspaper, we had as many as two pieces of supporting evidence and a signed statement. We are informing you that we have valid news sources and proof.”
Journalist Doan Hiep of Saigon Giai Phong, thinks the charges relation to a single story written by Chien, are overblown and unrealistic:
“Họ bị khởi tố về tội lợi dụng chức vụ quyền hạn trong khi thi hành công vụ nhưng cụ thể là lợi dụng thế nào thì chưa ai biết cả. Nếu theo báo Thanh Niên, sai phạm của anh Nguyễn Việt Chiến ở chỗ đưa tin Bùi Tiến Dũng khai đã đưa tiền chạy án cho gần 40 nhân vật quan trọng, thì không đáng phải xử lý hình sự. Hẳn bên trong đó phải còn điều gì khuất tất.”
Ly Thong, of Hanoi, believes the current situation is a symptom of a greater struggle within government. Ly writes in a comment to an article in the English language Asia Sentinel on May 20th,
“This is a sign of disunity between the factions wresting for power within the communist party. The powerful conservative faction headed by the pro-Chinese (and pro-Russian) faction Nong Duc Manh want to deal a heavy blow at the more radical faction who want to combat corruption and inch towards the Western democracies…”
Chuong, a Vietnamese-Canadian, eloquently criticizes the Vietnamese government from Ontario,
“Các nhà báo viết về vụ PMU 18 đều bị bắt, cộng thêm thiếu tướng Nguyễn Xuân Quắc cũng cùng chung số phận, tôi càng không biết Việt Nam nằm đâu trên thước đo công lý, công bằng xã hội và tự do dân chủ của người dân…”
One journalist, Huy Minh of the Vietnam News Agency, is taking it all in stride,
“Khi ông Nguyễn Việt Tiến còn bị giam giữ, tôi đã đọc một bài báo đăng tải hình ảnh ông Tiến cầm guitare và hát. Hình ảnh đó làm tôi chững lại và suy nghĩ, ông Tiến, trước hết cũng là một con người, với biết bao vui buồn của ông ấy…. Tôi chỉ có một câu hỏi thế này thôi: ‘Tại sao, trong vụ án này, lại có quá nhiều, quá nhiều người buồn đến vậy?. Tôi cũng đang như anh Việt Chiến, “bất lực trong cách giải thích” và cũng chẳng có gì cả, “ngoài những nỗi buồn”.’”
Minh has got something right, albeit unintentional. In Vietnam, the press is kept on a short leash, but occasionally a brave reporter is able to force change. These reporters knew better than anyone the tenuous ground on which they stood and took a calculated risk. Instead, drawing attention drawn to the fate of whistleblowers both highlights the press’ situation in Vietnam but also promotes fear of reporting the truth.
1 comment · »»May 10th, 2008
Vietnam: Netizen's Reactions to the Olympic Torch
· 04:30 · East AsiaVietnam’s history has been intertwined with that of China for thousands of years. Wave after wave of Chinese invaders have controlled Vietnam for more than half of the last two millennia, and the influence on Vietnamese language and culture has been stronger than that of any other neighbouring country. The Vietnamese follow Mahayana Buddhism, and Confucianism continues to influence the education system. The Mon-Khmer roots of the Vietnamese language are all but drowned under the pressure of a massive number of Chinese loan words, the adoption of Chinese tonal pronunciation, and until the Latin writing system was adopted, Chinese characters.
Perhaps it’s a human characteristic that the closer we are culturally, the greater we perceive our differences. The Chinese continue to fan the flames of World War II massacres and stoke anti-Japanese sentiment. The Vietnamese do the same – but direct their anger at China. Just as the PRC’s government has given tacit approval for anti-Japanese protests, anti-Chinese protests are the only ones likely to appear on Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh’s streets. Ask a random Vietnamese person, “Which country to you hate the most?” and the answer will most likely be, “China!”. The neighbours have put aside their differences in favour of trade, and in 2005, 17 years after China last invaded northern Vietnam, China became Vietnam’s biggest trading partner.
The Vietnamese have had another opportunity to vent their anti-Chinese feelings with the visit of the Olympics flame’s to Ho Chi Minh city, but unlike anti-Chinese protests in the west, their complaints have nothing to do with Tibet. Popular democracy and freedom protests tend to not be covered in Vietnam’s state-controlled media, and mention of Tibet and of the monks’ protests in Burma was minimal. Instead, the Vietnamese are fixated by the Spratly and Paracel islands, of almost negligible land area but with potential oil deposits, located in the South China Sea between Vietnam, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. All four powers claim and occupy a few of these bits of land sprinkled across one of the most travelled seas in the world.
Vietnamese youth protesting against Chinese claims to Spratly and Paracel Islands in December 2007. More images at Flickr.
Anti-China protests are led by Vietnam’s youth, who also make extensive use of the internet. The pressure from pro-Spratly youth led to reports of famous singer My Tam refusing to carry the Olympic torch. The following was posted as a picture file, not text, because net censors and their search engines cannot read it – showing bloggers are aware of Vietnam’s increasing internet censorship. I will refrain from posting the blogger’s name or url.
“Lo ngai về tình hình bất ổn chính trị liên quan đến ngọn đuốc, MT đã bị ép buộc cầm đuốc trong ngày 29/4. . . .Vì tin tức MT từ chối rước đuốc đã nhanh chóng lan truyền trên mạng internet, forum…trên đài truyền hình và báo chí nước ngoài gây nên 1 làn sóng xôn xao và hoang manh rất lớn. Tin tức cho biết MT sẽ kh được duyệt xét xuất cảnh trong thời gian rước đuốc cũng như có thể gặp khó khăn sau này.”
“You should be very worried about the current state of affairs and the unacceptable policy regarding the torch relay - MT [My Tam] will be forced to carry the torch on 29/4… Because the news of MT refusing to carry the torch spread quickly through the internet and on forums…on television and in foreign newspapers, it caused a tumultuous and alarming impact wave. The news told us that MT will not be able to get permission to leave the country during the torch procession and that she may face difficulties in the future.”
The government’s reaction to a popular a internet dissent was to nip it in the bud and make a point of having My Tam carry the torch. The pop artist was later pictured smiling on April 29th when she took her turn on the streets of Ho Chi Minh city between the Chinese guards in their blue jumpsuits.
Protests were also a possibility during the torch relay, but they were very small and easily controlled.
Blogger haivuong63 posted this article outlining an effective protest[vn] at the torch relay. Again, the cautious language shows haivuong63 is aware of net censors and of promoting protests.
theo tôi mục đích cần xác định rõ hòng có thái độ thích hợp… là lên tiếng về sự xâm lấn biển đảo nước ta của nhà cầm quyền Trung Hoa…cụ thể là Hoàng Sa và Trường Sa thân yêu. Vậy không nên lầm lẫn với việc ngăn cản buổi rước đuốc…Hãy xác định đây là cuộc biểu tình ôn hoà vì Hoàng Sa - Trường Sa. Chúng ta không nên phản đối ngọn đuốc thể thao dù đã bị bắc kinh lợi dụng…
according to me, the protest must have a clear goal and an appropriate manner, which is to raise our voices about China’s invasion of Vietnam’s sea and land areas… specifically in our beloved Spratly and Paracel islands. Because of this we shouldn’t act wrongly by hampering the torch procession…We must intend this to be a protest gentle protest for Spratly and Paracel. We shouldn’t oppose the Olympic torch even though it has been taken advantage of by Beijing.
Many Vietnamese people remain deeply suspicious of their increasingly powerful northern neighbours, shown by blogger Ngu Yen’s stinging reply to vuonghai63:
Con thấy mình có biểu tình cũng không thể lấy lại được 2 quần đảo, vì nhà nước mình đã chấp nhận im lặng, và tụi TQ thì quá mạnh về quân sự. Thật ra nếu nó muốn đánh chiếm VN, nó đã có thể. Hơn nữa, bộ trưởng quốc phòng mới của TQ là một kẻ kiêu căng ngạo mạn, lại hiếu chiến. Nhà nước mình không thể thay đổi được gì vì gián điệp Trung Quốc đầy rẫy và nắm các chức vụ chủ chốt trong bộ máy nhà nước. . .
I feel that if we have a protest that we still wouldn’t be able to get the two island chains back because our country has already silently accepted the situation and because gang-like China’s military is too strong. Truthfully, if it wanted to invade Vietnam, then it could. Furthermore, China’s new defence minister is an arrogant, self-important and trigger-happy man. Our country can’t do a single thing [about Spratly and Paracel] because China’s spies are everywhere and hold key posts in the government’s machinery.
The Vietnamese people feel empowered at the opportunity to protest a historically bellicose neighbour, but that highlights the fact that protests at home are so few and far between, and any protest can be dangerous. Blogger Dong A SG protested for Spratly and Paracel in January 2008 and was arrested and held incognito for alarming the blogging community. The official reason for the arrest was tax evasion, but shortly before being arrested, bloggers report Dong A SG as having visited pro-Spratley and Paracel blogger Dieu Cay.
Now that Vietnam has entered the WTO it doesn’t face the international human rights pressure it used to, and at the same time Vietnam is under pressure from trade partner China. This a combination that may even eliminate the one doorway for Vietnamese youth to practice activism - anti-Chinese activism.
This article was originally posted on China Beat
6 comments · »»January 6th, 2008
Vietnam: Regulating the Street Economy
· 15:05 · East AsiaA recent draft legislation aimed at improving traffic flow on Hanoi’s streets has sparked an internet debate and brought Vietnam’s huge economic divide into focus.
Vietnam Hanoi street vendor by Flickr User somefool (old school).
Street vendors are an integral part of Hanoi culture. Hanoi’s Old Quarter alone is estimated to have almost 2000 casual vendors. Many travel on foot carrying baskets or pushing rickety old carts, while others slowly ride their laden bicycles through Hanoi’s busy streets. They peddle everything from flowers to fruit, to hot meals and even clothing and costume jewelry. It’s true that they hamper traffic, especially during the afternoon commute when homeward bound office workers stop in the roadways to shop. They also make walking down a Hanoi sidewalk nearly impossible. This is an inconvenience that Hanoi’s legislating bodies appear to have become annoyed with.
These vendors are poor. They often wake up hours before dawn to ride into the city on one-speed bicycles or to buy the slightly cheaper produce available in Hanoi’s early-hours market. Many are stick-thin from the exertion of peddling or walking their wares through Hanoi’s streets in the tropical heat. Owning a house or sending a child to university is a dream as unattainable to them as traveling to space is for the average American. The draft legislature could take away what little livelihood they have, increasing Vietnam’s already stark economic disparity. The Euromonitor states that in 2007 Vietnam’s richest two decile’s share of total income is almost 50%, while the bottom two deciles’ share is a paltry 5.5%.
Street Food Vendors in Hanoi.
In a news story posted on www.VNExpress.net on December 21st, the vice-chairman of the People’s Committee in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district, Lam Quoc Hung, stated that,
Bởi quận có tới hơn 2.000 người bán hàng rong nên rất khó cho lực lượng chức năng kiểm soát. Song ông cũng đề xuất, trên một số tuyến đường trung tâm có khả năng kinh doanh hàng hóa, hàng ăn uống thì cần được tận dụng kinh doanh.
Because the urban district has almost 2000 vendors, it’s quite difficult to regulate them. However, he [Hung] also proposed that a few central roads that are conducive to selling wares and foodstuffs should be made the most of.
The city’s vice-chairman, Nguyen Van Khoi, took a harder line,
nguyên tắc là đường phục vụ đi lại chứ không để kinh doanh.
The purpose of roadways is for transportation, definitely not for business.
The result of a conference held on December 21st to discuss vendor restrictions came to the conclusion that,
loại dịch vụ hàng rong, hàng ăn uống được phép hoạt động trong ngõ, phố không tên để phục vụ nhu cầu người dân, cũng như tránh ảnh hưởng quá lớn đền bộ phận người nghèo có thu nhập chính từ kinh doanh hàng rong.
Peddlers and food vendors have rights to operate in alleys and streets that do not have names in order to serve the needs of the people and also to avoid having a large influence on the poor whose main earnings come from street-peddling.
The vast majority of Hanoi’s roads have names, not numbers. Only small alleyways, sometimes less than a meter wide, remain unnamed. The majority of VNExpress’ readers disagree with both of these government workers – a VNExpress survey states that 57% or readers do not support the proposed draft legislation, while 40% do.
Bloggers seem to concur with this statistic. Mr. Joe, a graphic designer, posts on his Yahoo 360° Blog:
Tại sao nhưng người soạn thảo dự luật không làm cho mềm dẻo hơn. Có thể làm từng bước như: quy định giờ bán , vệ sinh,…Nếu chũng ta làm mạnh tay người dân cũng sẽ chấp hành. Nhưng như vậy chúng ta đồng thời cũng tước đi nguồn tài chĩnh duy nhất của rất nhiều gia đình…… Thực sư hàng rong đã giúp người mua tiết kiệm được nhiều thời gian. Giúp người bán có thể kiếm thêm được tiền từ lao động của mình. Có khả năng giảm thiểu các tắc giao thông…..
Why don’t the legislators make it more flexible. Maybe do it in steps like: regulating hours of operation and cleanliness… If we use a strong hand the people will still implement it. It we do it [like the legislators propose] then at the same time we’ll take away the main source of income for a huge number of families… Truthfully, street vendors help customers save a lot of time. It helps vendors earn money from their own labors. It has the ability to reduce traffic congestion…
On the My Hanoi forum, under the topic, “Food stalls and street vendors,” contributor Lambarca
defends Hanoi’s street culture by mentioning street vendors and cafes in more developed countries:
Hầu hết tất cả các công chức của các công sở ở Bangkok đều ăn trưa ở các quán ăn nhỏ trên hè phố Bangkok (thường là dưới các hình thức quầy di động, thậm chí là gánh hàng rong). Mọi người, đặc biệt là khách du lịch đều khoái chí dạo phố phường Bangkok chỉ vì họ có thể tìm được mọi thứ và được nếm mọi thức ăn đặc sản trên các vỉa hè Bangkok. Hiện tượng đó đã trở thành một nét văn hóa không thể thiếu được của Thái Lan, trong đó có Bangkok, và cũng là một trong những lý do để người nước ngoài đến với Thái Lan và quay trở lại Thái Lan.
Hàn Quốc, có khu phố quần áo được bày bán trên đường. Tại Seoul và Tokyo có rất nhiều khu phố và nhiều con phố được coi là khu mua bán vỉa hè…mà đó là hình thức sinh hoạt kinh tế đô thị tự nhiên, xe cộ vẫn tấp nập đi lại.
“Còn Paris hoa lệ thì sao? Có lẽ điều này khỏi phải bàn, nếu chúng ta đều hiểu về nước Pháp và văn hóa Pháp: Có lẽ ít ai dám chối bỏ thực tế là vỉa hè Paris chính là nơi nghỉ ngơi thư giãn thú vị nhất, sinh hoạt gần gũi của hàng triệu người dân Paris.
Almost all of Bangkok’s civil servants eat lunch at small roadside food vendors (usually from rolling food-carts, and even from vendors on foot). Everyone, especially tourists, are overjoyed to stroll Bangkok’s streets just to find and sample Bangkok’s street food specialties. This phenomenon has become an irremovable cultural feature of Thailand, including Bangkok, and also one of the many reasons foreigners come to, and come back to, Thailand.Korea has a roadside area for displaying and selling clothing. In Seoul and Tokyo there are many districts and roads that could be called street-vendor districts…but that’s a natural economic activity and a great number of vehicles can still get past.
And what about magnificent Paris? Maybe this point is best avoided, if we all knew about France and French culture: perhaps few would deny the truth that Paris’ roads are the most interesting place to sit and relax, a pastime dear to the hearts of a few million Parisians..
The regulations banning street vendors were to have gone into effect at the beginning of 2008, but massive public outcry, some of it online, has prevented implementation until at least after the Tet holiday in February, allowing vendors to work during their busiest season.
2 comments · »»August 18th, 2007
Vietnam: Web Censorship
· 09:08 · East AsiaWhen I began considering posting on Global Voices from Vietnam, the first thought that came to mind was what exactly was I allowed to post? What topics could I cover, and which ones should I avoid?
The media in communist Vietnam is state controlled, and although the internet isn’t as heavily monitored as the ‘net in China, a ministry exists that’s responsible for making sure web content is in line with the Party’s ideals.
There is a legal basis for censorship in Vietnam’s 1992 Constitution , but it’s not without contradiction. Article 69 states, “The citizens shall enjoy freedom of opinion and speech…in accordance with the provision of the law.” The “provision of the law” is defined by Article 33, stating, “The State shall strictly ban all activities in the fields of culture and information that are detrimental to national interests, and destructive of the personality, morals, and the fine lifestyle of the Vietnamese.” Enforcement of this portion of the law falls onto the recently formed Ministry of Information (MoI), formerly the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The MoI is aided by Vietnam’s Center for Internet Security (CIS), which also produces antivirus software. The CIS is located in Hanoi’s Technical University, Vietnam’s top university. In a recent interview, director Nguyen Tu Quang stated that the CIS is fully prepared to provide technical support to internet monitors to aid in their “battle” to cut down “dark” websites. He further states that, (translated from Vietnamese)
Dark blogs have a lot in common with dark web pages, but if we don’t keep blogs in check, they could have a much greater influence on society…The problem of monitoring less-than-wholesome websites has been a difficult one….I think blogs and web sites need to be based on a partnership between technology and monitoring so that we can censor and restrict negative content and uphold our strength.”
Regarding his CIS’s role in internet monitoring, Quang feels that,
Now a lot of people are worried that it’s too difficult to find and deal with the owners of illegal blogs. But I’m positive that we can use technology to track down the home addresses of dark weblogs… Our goal isn’t to take down thousands of illegal blogs, but to find a way to prevent them from going up in the first place. If we take measures to punish and admonish bloggers, then the next time someone thinks about putting a picture or article up on the web, he or she will think very carefully.
Blogger Nguyen Tien Trung of Ho Chi Minh City has learned exactly what he can and can’t post. He wrote an open letter to the Ministry of Education reprimanding their political science education in Vietnam, and now web searches for his name from Vietnam lead to some blocked pages, but his Yahoo! 360° blog is accessible.
I can understand why the internet monitors may be a little antsy about Trung; In the August 10th entry he actually uses Ho Chi Minh’s quotes to support of his progressive political views. (Translated from Vietnamese)
Why stage a revolution? Uncle Ho said, ‘peace, independence, unity, democracy and prosperity.’ but perhaps few people understand his far-reaching implication. The first three goals he mentions are peace, independence and unity, then we must continue, without delay, onto democracy and prosperity. Uncle Ho was very wise to put democracy before prosperity. If we don’t have democracy then we can never have true prosperity and development.
In a May, 2007 entry on censorship Trung says,
Master Ho Chi Minh said, ‘the purpose of democracy is to allow the people to open their mouths and speak. Article 69 of the constitution also says that ‘the citizens shall enjoy freedom of speech.’ But in reality that’s not true…
It seems that even those who’ve gained the attention of the MoI can continue to post controversial material, but it’s a dangerous game to play. Trung has mentioned having a government officer constantly parked outside of his house.
The expat blog scene focuses mostly on food or travel, but the best known expat blogger turned actor, Joe Ruelle, recently touched on censorship and in a humorous entry to his Vietnamese language Yahoo! 360° blog.
Everyone knows that blogging in Vietnam has its difficulties. But when I heard that Yahoo and Microsoft joined hands to monitor blogs with software to change ‘sensitive’ words into the names of Vietnamese dishes, I had to wonder…. Blog monitoring methods must be compatible with the internet community and flexible – not like this free range duck that Yahoo! Vietnam put into use yesterday morning. So angry! Tell the directors of Yahoo to get rid of their sautéed pumpkin green software immediately. If not, then I’m going to go to their office and take a rice cake and then go from restaurant to restaurant until all those boiled snails admit their fried rice mistake and Vietnamese pancake out a method that’s more fish sauce.
I have a pretty good idea of where the blog censorship line is, and I won’t even toe it like Trung. I may, however, to take a lesson from Joe and mention a few bowls of rice-noodle soup on my blog every now and then.
7 comments · »»
About Caroline Finlay
I've been a US expat in Hanoi for the past 2 years. I used to work as an engineer, and now I'm trying to be a writer. Other GV sites
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