Vietnam’s media development given top priority
Recently hostile forces against Vietnam repeatedly accused Vietnam of
human rights violations, particularly violations of press freedom. To justify their
allegations, they said that some people in Vietnam have been banned from
using the Internet. From such groundless evidence, they hastily jumped to the
conclusion that there is no press freedom in Vietnam. They even demanded
that the Vietnamese State abolish regulations on use of the Internet and allow
law breakers all available means of communications, including the Internet to
distribute anti-government documents.
These slanders and absurd demands are unacceptable because they interfere
in Vietnam’s internal affairs. These actions not only violate the laws of an
independent and sovereign country, but also international law.
It is certain that these slanderous allegations convince nobody, because no
one can deny the strong development of the Vietnamese press during the last
20 years of renovation. Vietnam now has 600 publications, and 90 percent of
the nation has radio and television coverage. People have access to all the
diverse communication systems of a modern society.
When on-line
communication became popular throughout the world, Vietnam also quickly
gained access to this latest element of information technology. After five years
of opening the national Internet Gate, Vietnam’s IT development is equivalent
to that in many regional countries, with 250,000 subscribers, 1 million users
and 4,000 public Internet establishments. These achievements could not have
been fulfilled in such a short period of time without support of the Party and
State.
In fact, the Vietnamese State has never banned the Internet rather on the
contrary it has actively encouraged people to use it. The State even provides
favourable conditions for business to use and develop e-commerce. The
Internet has become an important form of communications in the
socio-economic life of the country and daily attracts more users.
The ill-intentioned and hostile forces have not accepted this reality. They have
deliberately distorted the facts in an attempt to protect reactionaries who use
the Internet as a tool to disseminate poisonous information against the
homeland. Vietnam has developed regulations to expand the use of the
Internet as well as TV programs via satellite. But Vietnam will resolutely
prohibit anyone using the Internet or any form of communication against the
country. Any sovereign nation in the world would take similar actions to ensure
national stability and sustainability. Even the US has applied tough measures
on Internet control. The US Congress also approved an Act allowing its
security agencies to bug telephone calls, e-mails and the Internet.
Recently in
its war in Iraq, the US banned American soldiers from disclosing information
through e-mails to their relatives.
Slander about Vietnam’s press repression, particularly on the Internet is sheer
fabrication and unjust. Vietnam can proudly declare that in this country people
from all walks of life, young and old alike, have access to information through
diverse forms of communication.
The latest demonstration of this was when
the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) appeared in Hanoi, all
newspapers, Radio, TV and Internet, daily provided timely and accurate
information to the community on the development of the disease. Thanks to on
time instructions and investment from the Party, State and Government plus
the rapid dissemination of accurate information by the press, Vietnam was the
first country in the world to control SARS and the international press praised
Vietnam for this achievement. And thanks to SARS control, the Vietnamese
have a safe life in peace and stability. For Vietnam, these are fundamental
human rights, which have been protected and developed. The Vietnamese
press has provided significantly to these successes.
Radio Voice Of Vietnam - May 6, 2003.
Third journalist beaten up in Vietnam
In Vietnam, a newspaper reporter says he was attacked after
taking photographs of a fight outside a bar in Ho Chi Minh City.
It is the third reported assault against journalists in Vietnam in
the past fortnight.
Duc Hien, a photo-journalist for a police newspaper says both he
and a police captain were attacked by two men after they arrived
at the scene.
On Wednesday, the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists wrote to Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong
expressing its concern over two recent attacks on reporters.
ABC Radio Australia News - May 3, 2003.
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