Vietnam Court Jails Internet User Who Called for Fundamental Changes to Communist Governance
Key Events:
- Court Jails Internet User Due to Promotion of Fundamental Changes to Vietnam’s Political System
- General Secretary To Lam Meets President Joe Biden in New York, Seeks to Deepen Ties
- Cuban Government Awards To Lam Jose Marti Medal During State Visit
- Kien Giang Police Arrest Mother and Daughter For Alleged Participation in ‘Provisional National Government of Vietnam’
Vietnam Court Jails Internet User Due to Promotion of Fundamental Changes to the Country's Political System
A court in Lam Dong Province on Sept. 24 opened a trial for Hoang Viet Khanh, 41, a social media user living in Duc Trong District. It sentenced him to eight years on charges of “making, storing, and distributing information, documents, and items critical of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Penal Code. After his sentence, Khanh also must serve an additional three years of house arrest.
Hoang Viet Khanh has a Facebook account with over 45,000 followers, and he often shares his commentaries on different social, economic, and political issues. On Feb. 19, 2024, the Security Investigation Bureau of the Lam Dong Provincial Police Department arrested and prosecuted him under Article 117 due to his alleged spreading of “anti-state” materials.
The court’s indictment alleges that he used this account to “spread false information,” “distort history and the policies of the party and the state,” and “slander senior leaders of the party.” According to the prosecutors, a total of 126 postings and one video clip that Khanh shared on his personal social media account contained information that “counter the policies of the party and the state in economic and socio-political fields.” The judging panel announced in its verdict that Khanh's activities “pose a danger to society and national security and negatively affect political security and social order.”
Among the cited articles that Khanh shared on his Facebook page, a posting published on April 30, 2019, which marked the 1975 victory of Communist forces in the Vietnam War, proposed a four-point suggestion to the National Assembly that allegedly sought to promote fundamental changes to Vietnam’s political landscape.
The post called for replacing the socialist country’s national flag and anthem and encouraged the regime to cremate Ho Chi Minh’s body under Ho’s official last will and testament. It also urged the party to abolish Article 4 in the Constitution, which enshrined the Communist Party’s role as a leading force of the state and society.
General Secretary To Lam Meets President Joe Biden in New York, Seeks to Deepen Ties
General Secretary To Lam held talks with U.S. President Joe Biden in New York on Sept. 25 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, a year after President Biden visited Hanoi and agreed to elevate bilateral relations into a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest status in Vietnam’s diplomatic scale.
To Lam, who assumed the most influential position of the Vietnamese Communist Party in August, told Biden he appreciated Washington’s “historic contributions” to the pivotal upgrade of diplomatic ties with Hanoi.
In a White House statement released after the meeting, President Biden reiterated Washington’s commitment to “a strong, prosperous, resilient, and independent Vietnam.” Both leaders acknowledged the importance of joint efforts to maintain “a free and open Indo-Pacific” and uphold peace and stability, particularly in the South China Sea.
The visit of Vietnamese Communist Party Chief To Lam, a former police general, to the U.S., where he met with multiple international leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, signified the country’s declared foreign policy of non-alignment that adheres to international law and a balance between the great powers.
According to public readouts, human rights concerns remained absent from the dialogue of both leaders. Before the meeting, California Congresswoman Michelle Steel criticized the Biden administration for leniency on Hanoi’s human rights record. It urged the U.S. president to address the human rights abuses during To Lam’s leadership when he was the top police officer. Congresswoman Steel previously sent a letter to the interim president of Columbia University, Katrina Armstrong, demanding the university postpone the former police general’s discussion session with Columbia University students due to his record of human rights abuses.
During the discussions, the U.S. president suggested possible cooperation with Vietnam on various issues involving economics, technology, diplomacy, and security. He also hailed progress on cybersecurity between the two countries and said he expected to move towards “building secure and resilient semiconductor supply chains and strengthening our technology partnership.”
To Lam also met with major American companies, including Meta, Boeing, and SpaceX, and reportedly told them to support Hanoi’s lobbying efforts to have Washington remove its designation as a “non-market economy.”
Cuban Government Awards To Lam Jose Marti Medal During State Visit
A Vietnamese delegation led by To Lam touched down in Havana on Sept. 25, beginning a state visit to one of Hanoi’s long-standing Communist partners at the invitation of the First Secretary of the Communist Party and President Miguel Diaz Canel Bermudez. Hanoi established relations with Havana on December 2, 1960, as ideological partners. This is Lam’s first visit to Cuba as a Communist Party general secretary, and Vietnam’s state media called the visit “a testament to the traditional solidarity and friendly relationship.”.
On Sept. 26, the Vietnamese president and the communist party chief held talks with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Diaz-Canel, and the two leaders paid a visit to Mariel, a commercial port and a free trade zone near the capital, where Vietnamese firms operate. According to AFP, To Lam said Vietnam wanted Cuba to “continue its sustainable development and become self-sufficient in all areas,” he gestured to Hanoi’s willingness to help its South American counterpart “overcome difficulties.” Both leaders signed bilateral agreements, including in health and agriculture.
In the evening of that same day, Miguel Díaz Canel Bermudez awarded To Lam the Jose Marti Medal, named after a Cuban poet and philosopher, to “recognize the contributions of General Secretary and President To Lam to the development of solidarity, friendship, and relations between the party, state and people of Vietnam and Cuba.” State media noted that this was the most prestigious award for a Communist South American country. The award ceremony took place at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana.
Kien Giang Police Arrest Mother and Daughter For Alleged Participation in ‘Provisional National Government of Vietnam’
Two Vietnamese women, a mother, and her daughter, were arrested due to their alleged connection to the “Provisional National Government of Vietnam,” a U.S.-based organization the Ministry of Public Security classifies as a “terrorist” group, the Kien Giang Provincial Police Department announced. On Sept. 27, the police apprehended Tran Thi Hong Duyen, 40, and Bui Thi Anh Ngoc, 66, who live in Kien Giang’s Rach Gia City, and charged them with “organizing activities to overthrow the people’s administration” under Article 109 of the Penal Code.
State media reported that Duyen used social media to learn about and contact several members of the “Provisional National Government of Vietnam” since 2018. After her application to join the organization was accepted, Duyen was given an alias to mobilize and attract people to join the organization. She also allegedly invited her mother, Ngoc, to join the group. The police accused both women of “sharing distorted and fabricated information on social networks to insult leaders and oppose the state.”
The Security Investigation Bureau of the Kien Giang Provincial Police announced they had seized many documents and equipment as evidence of their purported “subversion” activities. Previously, on Sept. 22, the Kien Giang Police also detained Nguyen Ngoc Chau, 63, on similar charges. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), at least seven people were arrested for allegedly membership in this group in September.
Quick Takes
Three Jailed Activists Begin Hunger Strike to Demand Release of All Political Prisoners
Three prisoners of conscience, Trinh Ba Tu, Bui Van Thuan, and Dang Dinh Bach, began a hunger strike on Sept. 28 to demand the release of all Vietnamese political prisoners and end the inhumane treatment of Thai Van Thuy and Nguyen Van Du, two other activists currently imprisoned in Nghe An Province’s Prison Camp No. 6, their family members wrote on social media. Land rights activist Trinh Ba Tu informed his sister and sister-in-law about the strike in a phone call on Sept. 7. Tu said during the phone call that their ultimate goals were to urge the government to democratize the country and establish a state based on the rule of law, ending a one-party monopoly on power.
Former Prisoner of Conscience Huynh Thi To Nga Flees to Thailand to Escape Police Harassment
Huynh Thi To Nga, a medical worker and social media critic, revealed on Facebook that she and her family had fled Vietnam for Thailand due to relentless police harassment and intimidation. In 2019, security agents kidnapped Nga at the hospital where she worked. The government later sentenced her to five years in prison under Article 117 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes the “distribution of anti-state propaganda.” The medical worker said she left the country nearly six months ago but did not disclose her journey to anyone. According to Nga’s posting, she fled because of the Ho Chi Minh City Police’s continued monitoring and harassment of her neighbors and family following her release in March 2023. The security officers also questioned Nga’s husband and children after she left, pressuring them to disclose her whereabouts.
Human Rights Groups Criticize Hanoi’s Adoption of UPR Recommendations
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights delivered an oral statement criticizing the Vietnamese government’s selective adoption of the UPR recommendations on Sept. 27 at the 57th Human Rights Council, stating it “shows the government is determined to pursue a path of repression of independent civil society for another UPR cycle.” Vietnam accepted 85% of the recommendations presented during its fourth UPR cycle last May. Still, the government rejected proposals calling for the amendment or repeal of Articles 117 and 331 of the Penal Code, two pieces of legislation frequently used to silence dissidents and government critics. The statement also raised concerns over the imminent extradition of Y Quynh Bdap, a Montagnard activist, if Thailand approves Hanoi’s repatriation request.
Hanoi Woman Fined for Posting a Map Containing Beijing’s Self-Claimed ‘Nine-Dash Line’
The Hanoi authorities on Sept. 23 fined a Facebook user named P.T.H. 30 million dong (US$1,219) under a cybersecurity decree due to her posting of a map containing China’s “nine-dash line” maritime claim in the South China Sea. According to state media, the Hanoi social media user apologized and explained that she was unaware of the “nine-dash line,” or the “cow tongue line,” as the Vietnamese call it, in the photo she uploaded online. The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications chief inspector said the woman was disciplined for “providing information and images that violate national sovereignty” under Decree 15/2020, a cybersecurity legislation frequently used to fine internet users accused of “spreading false information.”
Vietnam Insight: Learn more about Vietnam
Why are European Renewable Giants Fleeing Vietnam?
DW/ David Hutt/ Sept. 24
“One of Vietnam's persistent challenges is connecting planned renewable energy projects to the national grid. Much of ,the country's existing infrastructure is not equipped to handle the influx of new renewable energy sources.
Despite ambitious renewable energy goals, a significant portion of Vietnam's energy still comes from coal-fired power stations. While the government has pledged to reduce its dependence on coal, the path to transition has been slow and uncertain.
Funding is another significant hurdle. In May, the Vietnamese government approved a long-awaited power development plan, known as PDP8, which outlines a doubling of power generation capacity to more than 150 GW by 2030.
While most of this new capacity is expected to come from renewable sources, the plan requires an estimated $134 billion in funding for new power plants and grid improvements.”