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The Ho Chi Minh City Police Department on Nov. 9 announced the arrest of Tran Khac Duc, 29, a member of the pro-democracy group Tập hợp dân chủ đa nguyên (Pluralistic Democratic Association), established in 1982. State media reported that Duc was charged with “making, storing, and distributing materials and information aimed at opposing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 117 of the Penal Code. He was detained and indicted on Sept. 20.
Nguyen Gia Kieng, the leader of the French-based Pluralistic Democratic Association, confirmed Duc’s arrest with Radio Free Asia (RFA), saying that he has been detained for over 45 days. However, the police only announced his detention recently. Kieng added that the police had started to harass and assault many members of this organization over the past 12 months. This pro-democracy group’s mission is to advocate for the democratization of Vietnam through nonviolent, peaceful means.
According to the police, Tran Khac Duc has contacted and received directives from leaders of the Pluralistic Democratic Association to conduct anti-state activities. Duc was accused of managing this group’s website and drafting, posting, and sharing articles that contained content that insulted state leaders and revolutionary heroes, distorted history, denied revolutionary achievements, and sabotaged the “great national unity.” The police also alleged that Duc had developed a network of domestic personnel for this organization, which “directly affected national security and Ho Chi Minh City’s internal security.”
The Security Investigation Bureau of Ho Chi Minh City Police declared they were continuing to investigate the activities of Tran Khac Duc and other individuals related to this organization.
The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), in a statement issued on Nov. 5, condemned a Hanoi court’s 12-year sentencing of independent blogger Duong Van Thai and urged Vietnamese authorities to free all journalists arrested due to their reporting. Thai was convicted under Article 117 of the Penal Code in a trial on Oct. 30. His conviction has drawn widespread criticisms from press freedom advocacy organizations and foreign diplomatic missions in Vietnam.
IFJ’s statement pointed out that Hanoi-sponsored agents allegedly kidnapped Thai in Thailand in April 2023 and forcibly returned him to Vietnam despite his official refugee status. Thai was reported missing days after he live-streamed a discussion of the trial of another independent blogger and journalist, Nguyen Lan Thang. The federation also mentioned the similar situation of Nguyen Vu Binh, a journalist, who received a seven-year prison sentence under Article 117 due to his comments regarding economic and socio-political problems in the country.
“Vietnamese journalists continue to face opaque arrests and trials to the detriment of all independent bloggers and media workers,” IFJ said in their statement, which urged the authorities to immediately release Duong Van Thai and allow him to leave Vietnam. “Free media cannot exist where journalists face over a decade in prison for their reporting.”
Vietnamese senior leaders on Nov. 7 extended congratulatory messages to President-elect Donald Trump and affirmed that relations with Washington remain of “strategic importance” to Hanoi.
Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated Trump on his election victory and expressed their hope that under his coming leadership, the Vietnam-US partnership will continue to develop “for the benefits and aspirations of their people and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.” On the same day, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan also sent her congratulations to Vice President-elect JD Vance.
Donald Trump arrived in Vietnam in 2017 to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Danang. In February 2019, Trump landed in Hanoi for the second North Korea-United States Summit, where he met with leader Kim Jong-un to discuss progress on denuclearization in the Korean peninsula following their previous talks in Singapore the previous year.
According to supply chain experts and government officials, an imminent Trump presidency could unveil a new era of uncertainty for Vietnamese exporters due to potential U.S. protectionist policies. Hanoi also has an enormous trade surplus with Washington, estimated at $90 billion as of September, the fourth biggest after China, the EU, and Mexico.
Two senior government officials revealed to Reuters that Vietnam preferred upholding the status quo in trade policy, which they expected under a Democratic president, to the volatility under Trump’, who threatened to impose tariffs of up to 20% on all imports. Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the U.S. reached $100 billion over the first nine months of this year. Another diplomat based in Hanoi told Reuters that Hanoi could narrow the trade surplus with Washington by importing liquified natural gas (LNG) and signing military equipment deals with American companies.
Vietnam might also strategically mitigate the headwinds by opening the doors for investment from American firms. Last October, the Trump Organization announced a $1.5 billion investment plan for the development of a grand-scale hospitality project in Hung Yen, the home province of General Secretary To Lam. This complex includes a five-star hotel, golf courses, and other residential estates.
A court in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 4 began hearing the appeals of tycoon Truong My Lan against her death sentence following a conviction on multiple charges of “committing fraud,” “giving bribes,” and “embezzlement.” Lan was ordered to return nearly $27 billion to the Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), equivalent to the amount she received through loans from this bank. In the second phase, Lan received an additional life sentence for allegedly laundering $18 billion and illegally transferring $1.5 billion abroad. The appellate hearing is expected to last until Nov. 25.
The newly appointed President Luong Cuong will lead a high-ranking delegation on a state visit to Chile between Nov. 9-12. The delegation will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2024 Summit in Peru between Nov. 12 and 16, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cuong’s visit to these South American countries is his first foreign trip since he was appointed state president last October.
Radio Free Asia/ Zachary Abuza/ Nov. 7
“Vietnam’s chronic and growing trade surpluses with the United States are now likely to be at the forefront of the bilateral relationship.
In 2017, the first full year of the Trump presidency, Vietnam had a $38.3 billion trade surplus with the United States. By 2020, Trump’s last full year in office, that trade surplus had ballooned to $69.7 billion, according to the U.S. Census data.
That prompted the Trump administration to label Vietnam a “currency manipulator”. The Biden administration quickly resolved the currency dispute with Hanoi, but the trade deficit continued to balloon.”
South China Morning Post/ Maria Siow/ Nov. 7
“Vietnam’s continued silence on a complaint from Malaysia over a disputed reef expansion in the South China Sea reflects a careful diplomatic strategy to avoid “jeopardising” its relationship with its neighbour, analysts say, as divisions within Asean give China an advantage in stalling regional agreements.
On Tuesday, reports emerged that Malaysia had sent a complaint letter to Vietnam over its alleged expansion of a South China Sea reef that both countries claim as their own, in a rare bilateral escalation not involving China.
Malaysia’s letter was sent to Vietnam’s foreign ministry in early October but had so far received no reply, two officials told Reuters.”
PEN America/ Oct. 29
“The Vietnamese government continues to heavily restrict freedom of expression, with writers, journalists, and human rights defenders facing harassment, arbitrary detention, and harsh prison sentences under vague anti-state laws. Reprisals like those against Pham Doan Trang reflect the grim reality of these ongoing rights violations.
PEN America, alongside PEN International and the Vietnamese PEN Abroad Centre, submitted a report to the Universal Periodic Review and delivered an oral statement in Geneva in February with examples of how Vietnam has failed on human rights and continues to arrest, charge, and imprison writers, journalists and activists for their speech. This pattern of repression placed Vietnam tied for third place in the 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Index, with 19 writers imprisoned.
While Vietnam has said it is “embracing” the Universal Periodic Review, it rejected specific recommendations to repeal laws that infringe on free expression, including articles of the 2015 Penal Code and Cybersecurity Law that have been used to silence critics. Amending these laws would not only be a clear signal that Vietnam is indeed taking its human rights obligations seriously, but also a crucial step toward fostering a truly free environment for speech and dissent. It is clear that the pattern of imprisoning, releasing, and then either re-imprisoning or arresting other writers, journalists, and activists will remain a relentless cycle until there is systemic change.”
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It has become widely recognized that the Vietnamese government is steadily eroding the right to free speech and expression. This
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