“Read, prepare, and stay alert,” Red River residents emphasized.
The Latest: In recent days, Facebook groups for residents living along the Red River have circulated posts compiling seven arguments that government-backed online commentators commonly use during the rollout of the Red River Landscape Boulevard project.
Some of the posts were quickly removed, but Luật Khoa Magazine captured screenshots of them.
A compiler of the posts stated that these were “personal experiences” and that the post was “not meant to incite opposition or smear anyone.” They emphasized that their position was to “support the state’s development policies, uphold the law, and speak out only to protect my lawful and legitimate rights and interests.”
The Details: The compilation identified seven common arguments used by online commentators.
- First, they argue that land along the Red River is mostly illegally occupied or encroached land; that residents are lucky not to have been fined; and that because the land belongs to the state, “the state can take whatever area it wants,” while residents are “only staying there temporarily and should not speak too loudly.”
- Second, they say that the Red River area is full of slums and disorderly neighborhoods, while the Red River planning project has been calculated by the state for 20 years and represents Hà Nội’s last chance to redesign the entire area.
- Third, they argue that Red River residents must accept sacrificing their interests for the future of their children and grandchildren.
- Fourth, they claim that compensation is already adequate and that residents should not be greedy. They reject demands for on-site resettlement, saying residents should not expect to move “from slums and corrugated-roof houses into luxury apartments.”
- Fifth, they threaten residents with power cuts, water cuts, metal fencing, or even imprisonment if they resist. They also argue that no piece of land is worth more than one’s life and that as long as people are alive, they can live anywhere.
- Sixth, they advise residents to accept the inevitable and let businesses proceed, warning that the more residents raise objections, the faster the project will be pushed forward.
- Seventh, when online commentators run out of arguments, someone else will “jump in” to help, telling others to stop arguing because “the truth is already clear to everyone, so why bother debating with these idiots?”
The Residents’ Opposition: In recent weeks, residents in areas affected by the project have carried out multiple activities opposing the investment policy.
- Residents in the affected zone have repeatedly submitted petitions, open letters, personal appeals, emergency pleas, and social media posts while also hanging banners and slogans.
- Their main demands are to avoid sweeping land clearance, prioritize the preservation of existing villages and residential communities, and provide fair compensation.
- Many residents of ancient villages along the Red River have been especially vocal in opposing sweeping clearance, calling for the preservation of old villages amid concerns over cultural rupture.
- A nonprofit website called “Cộng đồng ven sông Hồng,” or “Red River Riverside Community,” has also recently appeared to provide residents with information and guidance on how to submit petitions.
- Following that, posts began appearing in resident groups calling on people to “remain extremely calm” and avoid making statements that insult the state’s planning policy for the Red River project.
- Other posts reminded residents to filter information carefully and beware of “reactionaries” inciting unrest.
The Background: In Việt Nam, online commentators are people who help steer, guide, or rebut public opinion online, especially on sensitive political and social issues. They may include social opinion collaborators working under propaganda agencies, Force 47, Steering Committee 35, and possibly some private online-commentary services.
- On Jan. 8, 2016, the General Department of Politics issued Directive No. 47/CT-CT on “organizing forces in the military to fight wrongful, hostile, and politically opportunistic views in cyberspace,” commonly known as “Force 47.”
- The force is tasked with protecting the party’s ideological foundation and rebutting views deemed “wrongful” or “hostile.”
- By the end of 2017, Force 47 had more than 10,000 members.
- Steering Committee 35, meanwhile, was established in 2018 and includes both armed and civilian forces. Many use real-name accounts, and the network may number in the hundreds of thousands.
In online discussion spaces, government-backed commentator groups often sharply criticize and denounce people who criticize the Communist Party.
- Fulbright University Việt Nam—a university established with support from both the United States government, which provided financial backing, and the Vietnamese government, which granted land, according to information on its website—has faced waves of attacks from online commentators who portray it as a breeding ground for “color revolution,” reactionary forces, and hostile elements.
Why It Matters: On May 11, 2026, the Hà Nội People’s Council approved the investment policy for the Red River Landscape Boulevard project, with 100 percent of attending delegates voting in favor. The project is a strategic megaproject aimed at redesigning urban space along the Red River and improving the quality of Hà Nội’s central urban core.
- The project will pass through 16 communes and wards, cover about 11,418 hectares of land, and require a preliminary investment of about 736.963 trillion đồng, or $28 billion. It is expected to affect about 200,000 residents. Compared with an earlier proposal, the new investment policy removed three wards from the project area—Vĩnh Tuy, Hoàng Mai, and Vĩnh Hưng—and reduced the total preliminary investment by about 118 trillion đồng.
- On May 27, state media reported that the Đại Quang Minh–THACO–Hòa Phát consortium, the investor behind the Red River Landscape Boulevard project, had sent a document to the Hà Nội People’s Committee proposing that land clearance be shortened to 2.5 months, angering residents.
- On May 30, the Government Office issued Official Dispatch No. 4975 to the chairman of the Hà Nội People’s Committee, asking the city to direct agencies to properly handle public communication, compensation, support, and resettlement during land recovery while ensuring residents’ rights and interests.
- On June 6, state media reported that on June 3, the Hà Nội People’s Committee had officially selected the investor for the project: a consortium of Đại Quang Minh, Trường Hải, and Hòa Phát. The decision replaced a previous investor approval document issued in December 2025.
Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 9, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
