Duc H. Vu's Blog: A call for protest from 20 civic organizations in Vietnam

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

A call for protest from 20 civic organizations in Vietnam

Dear all patriotic people of Vietnam,

On May 2, 2014, Chinese authorities have blatantly placed the HD-981 exploration rig and deployed a large number of ships, including military vessels, to invade and conduct activities in the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of Vietnam. China also bans all vessels from entering the area where the HD-981 rig is operating within a radius of one nautical mile from May 5 through August 15, 2014. And, on May 3 and 4, Chinese ships with the support of aircrafts had attacked Vietnam’s fishing and patrol vessels.

Those actions go against the laws and international rules, seriously violating Vietnam's sovereignty. Those are the acts of invasion and occupation of Vietnam territorial waters.

Facing this critical situation, all the people of Vietnam those who are concerned about the fate of the country are outraged, strongly condemn the unruly actions of the Chinese authorities, and demand aggressive actions from the State of Vietnam to confront the problems and to end the common practice of solely making diplomatic statements while Vietnam’s waters and territories continue to be invaded and occupied.

Instead of uniting people throughout the country to defend the national sovereignty, the Vietnamese authorities continue to suppress the patriots who stand up against the invaders. Only three days after Chinese territorial encroachment, police urgently arrested the prominent blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh, known as Anh Ba Sam, who is our close companion in all our protests for protesting against Chinese hegemony, supporting farmers in reclaiming their lands, helping the petitioners in seeking for justice, and advocating for those who fight for a common cause: Ethnicity - Democracy - Human Rights.

The recently urgent arrest of blogger Anh Ba Sam - Nguyen Huu Vinh, a patriot who bravely stands up against foreign invasion, at this time resembles the arrest of blogger Dieu Cay - Nguyen Van Hai, happened just a few days before the planned protest against the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Hanoi and Saigon. It is an ongoing policy that has resulted in the arrests of dozens of people, who are seemingly deemed to be a conflict to China’s interest, in recent years, including those who wear T-shirt imprinted the message against the bauxite mining and those who make peaceful protests. Moreover, the police confiscate T-shirts with the slogan “Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands belong to Vietnam” and beat the owners; memorial service for those who died in the conflicts with China has been disrupted; state-sanctioned media are instructed to practice “self-censorship” in order to avoid making harm to the Vietnam-Sino relationship described by the State as a norm of the “Sixteen Golden Words and Four Goodnesses.”

How can we trust a government that fails to protect the Fatherland but also represses the citizens who want to express patriotism and the need for national defense?

No. A spineless government that ignores the serious threats of foreign invasion but continuously arrests and detains protesters against foreign invasion can never be a patriotic government.

Facing the disaster of national sovereignty being violated, human rights trampled, and patriots imprisoned, we cannot sit still.

We, 20 civic and independent groups and associations in Vietnam whose signatures are listed below, jointly call upon all of you to participate in the demonstrations on Sunday, May 11, 2014, in Hanoi and Saigon for the following purposes.

1. To protest against, and to condemn, the acts of aggression by the Chinese authorities.

2. To demand the State of Vietnam to implement appropriate and effective measures, along with the strength of the entire Vietnamese People, to actually stop the Chinese invasion of Vietnam's territorial waters immediately.

3. To demand freedom for blogger Anh Ba Sam - Nguyen Huu Vinh and those are imprisoned for expressing patriotism against China’s invasion such as Dieu Cay - Nguyen Van Hai, Bui Thi Minh Hang, Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Viet Khang, Tran Vu Anh Binh, and Dinh Nguyen Dinh.

Time: 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 11, 2014.

Locations:

• In Hanoi: Chinese Embassy, 46 Hoang Dieu Street, Ba Dinh District.

• In Saigon: Youth Cultural House, 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street.

Together, let us send the message below to all of our compatriots and the world community.

We wholeheartedly appreciate and strongly support those who make sacrifices to defend our country. We do not accept any members of the ruling elite those who take side or tolerate with the acts of aggression by the Chinese authorities. We support leaders with national patriotism when the country is at skate by publicly standing up against the aggression of the Chinese authorities and demanding the release of the patriots jailed for protesting against China’s invasion. Finally, we determine to fight for the freedom of the Vietnamese citizens imprisoned for acting against foreign invasion.

Co-signed by:

1. Basam News

2. Vietnam Path Movement

3. Danlambao

4. Dan Luan

5. Vietnam Civil Society Forum

6. Vietnamese Political and Religious Prisoners Fellowship Association

7. Democracy Brotherhood

8. Religious Rights Defender Association

9. Bau Bi Tuong than association

10. Hoi Dong Lien Ton

11. 8406 Block