Surviving life on Vietnam's blacklist
Art is a casualty of tyranny. Just ask Don
Duong.
A once-esteemed Vietnamese actor, Duong
recently has performed in American films. He
starred in "Green Dragon" (2001) as a refugee
who leaves South Vietnam before its conquest
in 1975. ("Green Dragon" depicts the "first
wave" of over 100,000 refugees in 1975. Two
million more would flee Vietnam.) In last
year's "We Were Soldiers," Duong played a
North Vietnamese colonel in the 1965 Battle of
Ia Drang.
Vietnam was none too pleased with these
films, which neither exalt Stalinist North
Vietnam nor demonize American troops.
The state-controlled People's Army newspaper
wrote last September, "By being a
propagandist and a lackey of hostile forces,
smearing the image of the People's Army
soldiers and smearing the Vietnamese people,
Don Duong has sold his conscience at a cheap
price and has become a traitor."
"Don Duong has lost his honor among the
people and has become an instrument in the
hands of forces hostile to the Vietnamese
nation," echoed Luu Trong Hong, deputy chair
of the National Film Censorship Council.
Duong Minh Dau of the Ho Chi Minh City
Cinema Association likewise accused Duong of
"turning his back on his country and his
people," and government spokeswoman Phan
Thuy Thanh added that he "offended the
Vietnamese people."
"Green Dragon" director Timothy Bui notes
how the regime attacked Duong on the local
level: "It was a constant, daily defamation of
his character. They have these loudspeakers
that blast throughout the neighborhoods like
the morning news over in the United States. It
would always be about him and how he was a
traitor."
Vietnam's cultural police known as PA-25
detained Duong for interrogations of up to
eight hours. The latter-day inquisitors ordered
him to sign a confession of his "crimes," but he
refused.
The Ministry of Culture recommended
confiscation of Duong's passport and a
five-year prohibition on acting. His movement
and access to roles remain restricted.
This persecution derives from a totalitarian
dogma evident in provisions such as these
from Vietnam's constitution:
"The Communist Party of Vietnam, the
vanguard of the Vietnamese working
class, the faithful representative of the
rights and interests of the working class,
the toiling people, and the whole nation,
acting upon the Marxist-Leninist doctrine
and Ho Chi Minh's thought, is the force
leading the State and society" (Article 4).
"The State undertakes the overall
administration of cultural activities. The
propagation of all reactionary and
depraved thought and culture is
forbidden; superstitions and harmful
customs are to be eliminated" (Article 30).
"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 fine lifestyle of the Vietnamese"
(Article 33).
Not much room for appearing in Hollywood
films there.
Duong's persecution also has stigmatized his
two adolescent sons.
"At school, it was very, very hard on the
children," according to Bui. "They actually
were called in, which is outrageous, by the
principal to be interrogated."
In response, Duong wrote a letter to his sons
that appeared in November in the Los Angeles
Times (since he couldn't defend himself in his
own country's media).
"I always am proud to be Vietnamese," he
wrote. "I have done nothing that bothers my
conscience, have done nothing that is
untruthful, have done nothing that I would
want to take back."
Thanks to efforts by Bui and others in the
entertainment industry, Duong is in the
process of emigrating from Vietnam with his
family. The tragic irony is that Duong could
have stayed in America on previous visits but
returned to Vietnam every time, insisting it
was his home.
"He's never been given the right to defend
himself because there's only one perception, so
it's hard to live with that on a daily basis," Bui
remarks.
Vietnam's commissars refer to April 30, 1975,
as South Vietnam's "liberation" and national
"reunification." Vietnam's exiles give it another
name: "Black April."
Don Duong is one more example of why it has
been given that name
By Myles Kantor - WorldNetDaily.com - March 08, 2003.
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