Thammasat University students interested in ASEAN studies, Vietnam, political science, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 8 April Zoom webinar on Vietnam’s Elite Politics and Implications for Leadership Transition.
The event, on Friday, 8 April 2024 at 2pm Bangkok time, is presented by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
The TU Library collection includes several books about Vietnamese politics.
As explained on the event website,
About the Webinar
The unexpected resignation of Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on 21 March 2024 has left many Vietnam observers surprised. Thuong took office just one year ago, replacing his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who was also dismissed after less than two years in power. Thuong’s sudden departure is the latest in a series of high-profile dismissals and prosecutions since the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in early 2021. These events have raised concerns about the country’s traditionally stable political environment.
This webinar will examine the recent developments in Vietnam’s elite politics and their potential impact on the country’s political and economic future. It will also explore the role of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the influence of factionalism, and the ongoing anti-corruption campaign in shaping the power transition that will take place at the CPV’s 14th National Congress in early 2026.
About the Speakers
Tran Le Quynh is a Researcher at Amnesty International, London, where he is focusing on the impact of the energy transition on the world’s top EV makers. […]
Nguyen Khac Giang is a Visiting Fellow in the Vietnam Studies Programme of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and previously served as the Head of the Political Research Unit of the Hanoi-based Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR). […]
Students are invited to register at this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2917114408064/WN_KZ7hRlBLSraKFDJqAIXp-g#/
In March, The Diplomat reported:
Communist Party Directive Takes Aim At ‘Hostile Forces’ in Vietnam
Directive 24 calls on the Party to counter the influence of “hostile and reactionary forces” taking advantage of the country’s increased openness to the outside world.
The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has issued a broad-ranging directive calling for further restrictions against the activities of civil society groups, including trade unions, and increasing scrutiny of foreign organizations and Vietnamese nationals traveling abroad.
The document, known as Directive 24, was obtained by Project88, a Bangkok-based human rights organization focused on Vietnam, which examined it in a report released on Friday. While the organization was unable independently to verify the authenticity of the directive, references to it in several CPV media outlets suggest that it is genuine.
Directive 24, which the Politburo reportedly issued in July, seeks to contain and manage the supposed threat posed to Vietnam’s national security and the country’s economic opening.
As it stated in Project88’s English translation, “The comprehensive and deep international integration and implementation of trade agreements has created new difficulties and challenges for national security.”
This has provided openings for “hostile and reactionary forces” to “increase their sabotage and internal political transformation activities… forming ‘civil society’ alliances and networks, ‘independent trade unions,’ creating the premise for the formation of domestic political opposition groups.” […]
In Project88’s characterization, Directive 24 “frames all forms of international cooperation and commerce as threats to national security and articulates a disturbing plan to deal with these perceived threats.”
“The mask is off,” Ben Swanton, a co-director of Project88, said in a statement accompanying the report’s release. Vietnam’s leaders are saying that they intend to violate human rights as a matter of official policy. They are now directly implicated in abuses by the state and should be isolated, not embraced, by the international community.” […]
The same month, a report was posted on the website of Human Rights Watch:
Vietnam: New Wave of Arrests of Critics
Repression Spikes Amid Bid for Another UN Human Rights Council Term
(Bangkok) – The Vietnamese authorities arrested three prominent critics just days after Vietnam announced its candidacy for another term on the United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch said today. The police arrested Nguyen Chi Tuyen and Nguyen Vu Binh on February 29, 2024, and Hoang Viet Khanh on March 1, and charged them with conducting propaganda against the state.
The Vietnamese government should end its crackdown against bloggers, rights campaigners, and activists, and immediately release those held for exercising their basic civil and political rights. In 2022, the UN General Assembly elected Vietnam to a three-year term on the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which ends in 2025. It announced on February 26 that it will seek a new term when its term ends.
“The Vietnamese government likes to boast about its respect for human rights when seeking a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, but its brutal crushing of dissent sends the opposite message,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite Vietnam’s egregious treatment of rights advocates, the country’s donors and trade partners have done almost nothing to press the government about its rights abuses.”
Vietnam currently holds at least 163 political prisoners, Human Rights Watch said. During the first two months of 2024 alone, three activists – Danh Minh Quang, Nay Y Blang, and Phan Van Loc – were convicted and sentenced to between three years and six months, and seven years in prison. At least 24 other persons are in police custody on politically motivated charges awaiting trials.
The police arrested Nguyen Chi Tuyen (also known as Anh Chi), 49, on February 29 in Hanoi. He is a rights campaigner who uses social media, including YouTube and Facebook, to comment on social and political issues. His primary YouTube channel, Anh Chi Rau Den, has produced over 1,600 videos and is followed by 98,000 subscribers. His second YouTube channel, AC Media, has produced more than 1,000 videos and has almost 60,000 subscribers.
Nguyen Chi Tuyen was a founding member of the now closed No-U FC (No U-line Football Club), a soccer team whose members were outspoken against China’s territorial claims on maritime areas claimed by Vietnam. He helped organize and participated in many anti-China protests in the early 2010s, and pro-environmental protests in the mid-2010s. He joined fellow activists to provide humanitarian assistance to impoverished people in rural areas and victims of natural disasters.
He also openly supported imprisoned rights activists including Pham Doan Trang, Can Thi Theu, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, Nguyen Huu Vinh (Ba Sam), and Nguyen Lan Thang. Prior to Nguyen Lan Thang’s trial, Nguyen Chi Tuyen published an open letter in support of his friend. He wrote, “The only thing we did was to act in accordance with our conscience, speak up our thoughts, our desire, our longing.” […]
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)