From wearing matching shirts to praying at temples and communal houses, Red River residents have now taken to a central Hà Nội street to make their voices heard.
The Latest: In recent days, Facebook groups dedicated to residents of the Red River alluvial area have featured multiple posts and images showing citizens wearing matching red shirts while walking along Thanh Niên Street, which runs between West Lake and Trúc Bạch Lake, approximately three kilometers northwest of Hoàn Kiếm Lake.
On June 23, the 6,800-member Facebook group “Residents of the Red River Landscape Boulevard Project — 200,000 Households” called on citizens to wear matching shirts for a “peaceful walk” to express their desire to protect existing residential communities.
- The planned activity was scheduled to take place from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. on June 27 on Thanh Niên Street. Although the post—which included images of a previous, similar activity—was quickly removed.
- Luật Khoa successfully secured screenshots before its deletion.
The Details: As in previous street actions, residents wore matching red shirts printed with slogans such as “Harmonious development must preserve residential communities,” “Petition to keep existing residential areas,” and “Planning is the future, but it must not erase history.”
According to a post in the same Facebook group on June 21, residents of Hồng Hà Ward held a morning “sports and exercise” activity on Thanh Niên Street, walking and jogging in their matching shirts.
- The account noted that while the activity was peaceful, participants received “special attention with the presence of dozens of police officers, several police vans, and many plainclothes security officers on the streets and roads on both sides of Thanh Niên Street.”
- Security forces did not prevent the residents from wearing the shirts or walking, but officers advised the citizens to return home and write petitions rather than gathering, citing public order and security concerns.
- The account also claimed that the activity has become a daily occurrence, noting that “the number of participants is not large, but we believe more people will support and join us soon.”
Online Coverage: These demonstrations follow a series of similar posts online.
- On May 20, a Facebook account named Lê Manh posted a video showing residents wearing matching shirts while walking in the street.
- On June 16, an account in the 29,600-member group “Red River Boulevard — Red River City; West Lake — Hà Nội Residents Association” posted text and images saying that residents of Hồng Hà Ward had “worn shirts saying they love Uncle Tô Lâm and gone into the streets to ask to be allowed to stay peacefully in their homes.”
It remains unclear exactly when these activities began or the total number of participants involved.
Luật Khoa has not yet received a response from the Facebook accounts contacted for further clarification.
Expert View: Speaking to Luật Khoa about the activity, Nguyễn Quang A of the Civil Society Forum observed the situation, stating, “in the context of widespread repression, this tactic is a wise approach by residents. It appears to have begun taking on some organization, with people wearing the same shirts and using slogans—a form of subtle protest.”
- However, Quang A emphasized that the scale of participation is critical. If only a few dozen people join, as shown in the images posted by residents, “security can block them from leaving their homes and prevent them from gathering, and that is the end of it.” A gathering of thousands would challenge security forces.
- He added, “Without organization and without skillful organizing, it will be difficult to succeed,” suggesting that actions must follow a careful plan across multiple platforms and locations; coordinating on Facebook or Zalo would be easy to suppress.
- He concluded that “in any case, the above sign is encouraging,” adding that “if someone could simply help residents learn to use Signal to communicate and coordinate, that alone would be an important improvement in civic awareness.”
The Background: For several weeks, residents in areas affected by the Red River Landscape Boulevard Project have carried out a range of activities to oppose the project’s investment policy.
- Affected residents have repeatedly submitted petitions, open letters, personal appeals, emergency posts, and other written requests. They have also hung banners and slogans, demanding an end to mass clearances, prioritization for existing residential communities and villages, and fair compensation.
- In areas like Hồng Hà Ward and Hải Bối Commune, residents have worn their matching slogan shirts to communal houses and temples to pray to local deities for the preservation of their villages.
- Furthermore, a nonprofit website titled “Red River Communities” was recently launched to provide residents with guidance on filing petitions, though the site is currently inaccessible from within Việt Nam.
While residents have indicated that state agencies received some of their petitions, they also reported that civil defense forces have removed their banners.
The Red River Project: On May 11, 2026, the Hà Nội People’s Council unanimously approved the investment policy for the Red River Landscape Boulevard Project, with 100 percent of attending delegates voting in favor.
- The initiative is a strategic megaproject designed to redesign urban spaces along the Red River and elevate the quality of the capital’s central urban areas.
- The project runs through 16 communes and wards, using about 11,418 hectares of land, with a preliminary total investment of around 736.963 trillion đồng, or $28 billion. It is expected to displace or affect roughly 200,000 residents.
Compared to previous iterations of the investment policy, this new version has removed three wards—Vĩnh Tuy, Hoàng Mai, and Vĩnh Hưng—from the project area, subsequently reducing the total investment by approximately 118 trillion đồng.
Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 24, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
