{"id":44235,"date":"2024-01-04T14:14:14","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T22:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sweet-pascal.52-27-215-206.plesk.page\/vietnamese-authorities-now-seeking-small-fish-in-widening-crackdown\/"},"modified":"2024-01-04T14:14:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T22:14:14","slug":"vietnamese-authorities-now-seeking-small-fish-in-widening-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/vietnamese-authorities-now-seeking-small-fish-in-widening-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnamese authorities now seeking \u2018small fish\u2019 in widening crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a campaign targeting outspoken critics of the ruling Communist Party largely complete, authorities in Vietnam say they are now turning their attention to the country\u2019s \u201csmall fish,\u201d according to political and human rights activists.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Over the past six months, authorities have been conducting a dragnet of Vietnam\u2019s activist community, \u201cinviting\u201d people to police stations for warnings, forcing them to meet with security officers at restaurants and cafes, and even arresting them in their homes \u2013 as was the case with <\/span>YouTuber Phan Van Bach<\/span><\/a> on Dec. 29.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

In conversations with RFA Vietnamese, three rights campaigners in Vietnam who asked to be identified only by their first initial, citing security concerns, said they had been summoned many times over the past few months by security officers who questioned them about their activities \u2013 some of which had occurred several years earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Mr. L, a resident of the capital Hanoi, said he had been \u201cinvited\u201d for conversations with police twice in the second half of 2023 alone.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThey claimed they had already arrested all the \u2018prominent\u2019 activists and bluntly said that it was time to catch the \u2018small fish,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAfter threatening me in that way, they started using psycho tactics, advising me that I should \u2018think about [the safety of] my family.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Mr. L said that after the second warning, he had \u201cstopped all activities,\u201d fearing that he could end up detained, or worse.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cIf I am arrested now, my family would fall apart,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Besides him, Mr. L said, \u201calmost everyone\u201d who had previously spoken out about Vietnam\u2019s socio-political issues had been told to meet with security forces.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThey began to check on the remaining people \u2013 even those who used to post stories online or take part in [pro-democracy and human rights] activities,\u201d he said. \u201cAll were invited.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Mr. L said anyone using YouTube to post videos about sensitive topics was told to stop or face arrest, and that if police were repeatedly ignored after issuing a summons, \u201cthey will go straight to that person\u2019s home [to arrest them].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Targeted \u2018whether active or not\u2019<\/p>\n\n

Another activist, who gave his name as Mr. H, told RFA of a similar situation in Vietnam\u2019s commercial capital, Ho Chi Minh City.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

He said that while he had refrained from taking part in pro-democracy and human rights activities or criticizing the government for two to three years, he had recently been invited to three separate meetings with police.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThey grilled me about things I had done in the past,\u201d he said, adding that police had also asked him about his Facebook account, as well as foreign media reports about his activities.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThey threatened me, saying my file was \u2018completed\u2019 and that they could imprison me at their discretion at any time,\u201d Mr. H said. \u201cI heard that there is currently a campaign underway to arrest all people who have engaged in any previous activism, regardless of whether they are still active or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Mr. B, another human rights activist in Ho Chi Minh City, described a similar situation, noting that even though YouTuber Phan Van Bach had ceased activities in recent years, \u201cthey did not spare him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cMany [who were targeted] were confused, as they had quit [activism] but were still arrested,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Eradicating the democratic movement<\/p>\n\n

Commenting on the current situation of activists in Vietnam, rights researcher Minh Trang suggested that Vietnam\u2019s security forces \u201cno longer differentiate between active and inactive activists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

She said that tactics used by authorities that include \u201creminding, warning and threatening\u201d activists to stop appear to be working.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cAll the prominent activists in Vietnam have been arrested or migrated to another country to live,\u201d she said. \u201cTherefore, the authorities are inviting those who are left to meetings to collect information, create records, and make new arrests. Their goal is to eradicate the democratic movement and civil society activities in Vietnam.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Nguyen Tien Trung, an activist who authorities sought to arrest throughout 2023 before he fled to Germany as a refugee in December, said the Communist Party wants to \u201chunt down and wipe out\u201d political dissidents because they worry that global developments beyond their control could negatively affect Vietnam and \u201ccause unrest\u201d at any time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe government is afraid that when upheavals take place, and there is a democratic force waiting to take over the leadership, the people will stand up \u2026 and remove the totalitarian one-party regime,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

He noted that the war in Ukraine could impact food and oil prices in Vietnam, while potential conflicts resulting from China\u2019s territorial claims over Taiwan and the South China Sea could have profound political implications.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Communist Party itself gained power after the end of World War II amid a power grab in the country at that time,\u201d he said. \u201cTherefore, the authorities want to destroy all \u2018sprouts and seedlings\u2019 of the democratic leadership so that there is no opposition waiting to lead a popular revolution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tin t\u1eeb RFA Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a campaign targeting outspoken critics of the ruling Communist Party largely complete, authorities in Vietnam say they are now turning their attention to the country\u2019s \u201csmall fish,\u201d according to political and human rights activists. Over the past six months, authorities have been conducting a dragnet of Vietnam\u2019s activist community, \u201cinviting\u201d people to police stations …<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82,239],"tags":[246,251],"class_list":["post-44235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","category-vietnam","tag-english","tag-rfa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}