~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
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Sore subject

The jailing of a young nationalist reflects the continuing sensitivity of ties with China

HANOI - It was a quick, quiet surrender. Wedged in a corner of a busy Hanoi Internet café, Le Chi Quang turned to find no less than 30 policemen waiting to arrest him. The unemployed law graduate knew that he had been under surveillance for months, after going on-line with harsh criticism of Vietnam's leadership. Yet Quang had refused to alter his habits, spending up to four hours a day, five days a week at the same Internet café until his arrest in February. On November 8 he was convicted of spreading anti-government propaganda and given a four-year jail term for his rare defiance.

At 32 years old, Quang is far younger than the retired war veterans, greying academics and religious leaders who dominate Vietnam's tiny community of political dissidents. But his youth counted against him. In a nation where 63% of the population is under 30 years old, the ruling Communist Party views any sign of youthful protest via the Internet as particularly threatening to political stability. Ironically, however, Quang's case helps illustrate just how little the party currently has to fear. Home-grown dissidents like Quang, as well as the overseas Vietnamese groups agitating on-line, have won few converts--despite their latest attempts to tap into the emotions forged by the country's war-scarred history, including residual resentment of China.

For potential foreign investors assessing political stability, this comes as fresh evidence that most Vietnamese--especially youth--are focused on pursuing the economic and educational opportunities that peace and reforms have brought. Quang's main crime: accusing the Communist Party of surrendering some land and sea rights to China in border agreements signed in 1999 and 2000. "Our nation has always had heroes who raise the flag and unite the people to defeat the enemy," Quang wrote in one essay posted on-line. "But now those people who sell out the country are welcomed as national heroes."

Harsh words, yet they have failed to make much impact. The average Vietnamese is much more upset over the latest government proposals to restrict motorbike use, while venting perennial disgust with government corruption. Even the activists are getting discouraged. "The indifference reflects that the patriotism of the people has declined alarmingly, " lamented Nguyen Vu Binh, a Hanoi writer and democracy advocate who has criticized the land pact with China. He was arrested in September, but no charges have yet been filed against him.

Fear and futility

A more realistic explanation lies in fear and futility. Protest "is risky, and if you are pragmatic, you'll see it will bring you nowhere," says one Hanoi intellectual. Such calculations stem not only from the regime's harsh reaction to dissent, but from the lack of leadership and strategy offered by dissident groups themselves. And the public supports peace. Hanoi negotiators maintain that they got a fair deal with China, gaining 113 out of 227 kilometres of disputed border and divided ownership of a famed waterfall.

So if Quang is just a speck on the political map, why bother with him? Clearly the government worries about the Internet's potential for damage. While it is still a largely urban phenomenon with some 4,000 Internet cafés and 250,000 subscribers nationwide, the network is expanding and Vietnam hopes to register 3 million users by 2005. But some analysts say that this latest jail sentence also points above all to the continuing sensitivity of Vietnam-China relations. "The government doesn't want China to feel that the young people in Vietnam are against China," explains one party insider. Acutely aware of China's geopolitical importance as one of its last remaining communist comrades, Vietnam's leaders seek absolute control over public opinion. That's one reason why the national assembly has yet to engage in a public debate over the sea-border pact signed with China in 2000, but not yet ratified by the assembly.

Overall, both conservatives and reformers are looking to China for a safe blueprint to accelerate Vietnam's transition to a market economy. But while the land-border agreement has lubricated dialogue on economic reforms, it has not blunted the pain of Chinese goods flooding into the local market, partly through cross-border smuggling. Before going to prison, Quang also warned of China's potential to squash Vietnam's economy, pointing to fierce export competition from cheap goods. But even if some party stalwarts might privately agree with him, it would be political suicide to say so. In firmly marking the borders of debate, the regime seems determined to hold its ground.

By Margot Cohen - The Far Eastern Economic Review - November 14, 2002.


Press groups pressure Vietnam to release cyber-dissident

HANOI - The World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum called Wednesday for the release of Vietnamese cyber-dissident Le Chi Quang, jailed for criticizing the communist regime. In a joint letter to Vietnam's president, Tran Duc Luong, the two industry associations said Quang's imprisonment was a "grave violation of his right to freedom of expression." "We are greatly concerned that Mr. Quang's arrest signifies yet more repressive measures against those who would criticize the government."

Quang, a 32-year-old computer instructor, was sentenced on Friday to four years in jail followed by three years of house arrest after being found guilty of "offenses against the State and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam." "We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that Mr. Quang is immediately released from jail and that all charges against him are dropped," the Paris-based organizations said. "We urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that in the future, Vietnam fully respects international standards of freedom of expression."

International human rights groups have questioned the legality of Quang's trial, saying his lawyer was not allowed to present a defense before the People's Court. Foreign reporters and international observers were also barred from the hearing in the Vietnamese capital. After the trial, former soldier Tran Dung Dien read aloud a statement protesting the proceedings and was promptly arrested, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Government officials could not be immediately contacted for information of Dien's fate.

Quang had been accused of breaching anti-government legislation after posting articles on the Internet criticizing land and sea border agreements forged between Vietnam and China in 1999 and 2000. He had also come out in favor of democracy, a taboo subject in Vietnam, and incurred the wrath of the authorities for posting an article online praising well-known dissidents Nguyen Thanh Giang and Vu Cao Quan. Quang was arrested Feb. 21 in a Hanoi cyber cafe.

Diplomats said his relatively harsh sentence was a deliberate warning to other intellectuals and dissidents to discourage them from using the Web to circulate news or opinion banned from the tightly controlled state press. At least two other cyber-dissidents have also been arrested this year. Rights groups have long charged the communist authorities with smothering all political dissent and routinely jailing democracy activists or critics of the regime.

Agence France Presse - November 13, 2002