News Brief #1 Saigon on the Eve of the Olympic Torch Relay On April 28, 2008, amidst preparations for the highly anticipated arrival of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay through the streets of Saigon, Vietnamese citizens have become increasing aware of the heighten sense of unease among the city’s public security officials. Around 9pm, security police swamped the historic Saigon Norte Dame Basilica, the downtown Opera House, and the Bach Dang station in anticipation of large scale protests. When they realized they had been mistaken, security police encircled the Saigon Opera House and the Chinese Consulate. Currently there is a large police presence at each location numbering in the thousands. Cars passing by are being inspected. Police have also cordoned off the major boulevards of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Pham Ngoc Thach, Tran Hung Dao and Le Loi. Students and youth in Saigon continue to form small groups to follow the deployment of security officials and look for the best locations to gather without prior coordination. Perhaps this is what has worried security officials. They have tried to detain or isolate those believed to be youth leaders. In the last 24 hours, blogger Dong A, college student Le Ngoc Ho Diep, college student Hoang Duc Tuong, among others, have been detained at their local police station. Police have also prevented democracy activists from across the country from gathering in to Saigon to protest China including writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia and Pham Thi Thanh Nghien in Hai Phong; Nguyen Phuong Anh, Lu Thi Thu Duyen in Hanoi; Trinh Thi Phuong Thuy, wife of imprisoned democracy activist Nguyen Phong, in Hue; and engineer Do Nam Hai in Saigon. The unease of Vietnamese security officials and discontent among the populace led Beijing to make a concession in the last 24 hours. Olympic organizers modified the torch relay map, which had visibly portrayed the Spratly and Paracel Islands as part of China. The edited maps can be seen at http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/map/. ************************************************************** Radio New Horizon www.radiochantroimoi.com http://radiochantroimoi.wordpress.com/ News Brief #2 Outpouring of Patriotism in Hanoi and Saigon Consideration for Beijing by Communist Party and Government At 9 o’clock in Hanoi on April 29, 2008, about 150 people including democracy activists, aggrieved farmers and families of fishermen from Thanh Hoa province that were killed by the Chinese navy on the Eastern sea, gathered in front of Dong Xuan market protesting against Chinese aggression and invasion of the Spratly and Paracel islands. The protests brought banners, including a large black and white showing five Olympic rings rendered as handcuffs. They also brought megaphones to call for people to participate. Only 15 minutes later, more than 300 security police rushed in to snatch slogans; tearing down banners; twisting arms and bashing people in the protest. Please listen to the report from poet Tran Duc Thach: http://www.radiochantroimoi.com/audio/2008/04/ducthach2.mp3/ The police later arrested all those who were thought organizing the protest, including writer Nguyen Xuan Nghia, teacher Vu Hung, students Ngo Quynh and Tien Nam, Vi Duc Hoi, Kim Thu….at level 1, Dong Xuan Market. At 10 o’clock, police escorted all those that were arrested by cars back to Hanoi’s police station at 87 Tran Hung Dao Street. Meanwhile, those remain had moved to Dong Xuan market rather than going home. At 10:30am on April 29, security police came to arrest more than 100 people in front of Dong Xuan market including poet Tran Duc Thach, Do Duy Thong, Chau, Kieu, Nguyen Ba Dang, Tuc, students Nhat, Toan, Vy and all fishermen from Thanh Hoa, aggrieved farmers from Mai Xuan Thuong, teacher delegation from Ha Dong, students from Hai Phong…etc. Everyone was packed into police cars and transported back to Hanoi’s police station at 87 Tran Hung Dao Street for interrogation. The brutal nature of 300 police astounded the protest. People were shocked by the determination of the Vietnamese authorities and the police in trying to repress patriots, to save face for Beijing. But these brutalities were not able to deter the people. Please listen to democracy activist Duong Thi Xuan announced the sentiments of the protest at Dong Xuan market: http://www.radiochantroimoi.com/audio/2008/04/DuongTXuan.mp3/ In the mean time, the situation in Saigon becomes tenser. Police is now allowed to burst into shops along the street to arrest people without the need for warrant. As it comes closer to the ceremonial sites and toward the end of the Olympic Torch Relay, only Chinese tourists can be seen walking around freely, whereas all Vietnamese are watched with suspicion. Some were sent away, others were taken into police custody. Updated at 3pm Vietnam, April 29, 2008.   more »

Attn : Count Jacques Rogge President Subject: Request to De-politicise the Beijing2008 Olympics Dear Mr. President, First of all, I am proud and delighted to inform you that I will be one of sixty Vietnamese nationals carrying the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch through Ho Chi Minh City on the coming 29th April 2008. It is my great honour to have been chosen as a bearer of the Olympic torch – the symbol of olympism, of peace and of solidarity of all people in the world – which will be relayed in Vietnam for the first time. However, after studying closely the Planned Route Map for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relay published on the official website of the BOCOG, I find that the torch that I will bear is not the torch of pure olympism, but it is a torch of an olympism politicized by the the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (“BOCOG”). Even in hosting the 2008 Olympic and Paralymic games, China has not missed the opportunity to politicize the Olympic and Paralymic Games. Via the official website of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China deceives the world that they have sovereignty over the Paracel islands, an area which China illegitimately took from Vietnam in 1974. I will prove this to you through the following: ... Le Minh Phieu A Beijing 2008 Olympic torch-bearer Ph.D Candidate at Center for European and International Documentation and Research Post-graduate School of Law – Bordeaux IV – Montesquieu University Avenue Léon Duguit, 33600 Pessac, France Published by Andrew Lam at New America Media on April 14, 2008; http://blogs.newamericamedia.org/andrew-lam/1144/letter-to-mr-president-of-olympic-international-committe UPDATE: Mr. Le Minh Phieu was interviewed by RFA yesterday and has decided to appear in the torch relay. Vigils are being planned to coincide with the Olympic torch presence in Saigon on April 29.    more »

China: Verdict on Activist Hu Jia statement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on April 3, 2008: The United States is dismayed by the sentence of three and a half years in prison announced today in the case of prominent Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia under the specious charge of 'inciting subversion of state power.' Mr. Hu has consistently worked within China’s legal system to protect the rights of his fellow citizens. These types of activities support China’s efforts to institute the rule of law and should be applauded, not suppressed or punished. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi for Hu’s immediate release during her February visit to China, and U.S. officials continue to take every opportunity to raise our concerns about Mr. Hu’s case with Chinese officials at all levels, both in Beijing and in Washington, D.C. In this Olympic year, we urge China to seize the opportunity to put its best face forward and take steps to improve its record on human rights and religious freedom. Interview by the BBC World Service Christopher R. Hill, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Jakarta, Indonesia April 4, 2008 QUESTION: The situation in Tibet has drawn the attention of your government recently. Yesterday China jailed a human rights activist for three and a half years. Where do you stand on the position of China’s hosting of the Olympics now? It was supposed to improve their human rights track record, and it doesn’t seem to have done that. ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL: Well, first of all, we’re obviously very concerned about the developments in recent weeks. We’ve been especially concerned about the outbreak of violence and the apparent lack of restraint we’ve seen. The amount of destruction in Lhasa was certainly cause for great concern. We would like to see a much greater effort in dialogue. We know there were some efforts in the past between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities. We think this is the way to go, and we’d like to see some greater restraint. With respect to the Olympics, our President has been pretty clear that we don’t think it is appropriate to be boycotting Olympics or Olympic ceremonies. We don’t think this is going to solve a problem. And, as Secretary Rice made clear, we think that sort of activity can really be taken as great insult by the Chinese people, by 1.3 billion Chinese people. And I think it’s very important for people outside of China to understand the degree to which the Chinese are very proud of hosting these Olympics. This is not some government issue versus a popular issue. Everyone in China is very proud of this. And so people who sort of put this issue at play -- that is, talk about boycotting the Olympics in some respects -- need to understand that they are doing so in a way that could really cause problems with the sensitivities of Chinese people at large, not just the Chinese government. Jean Libby, editor of VietAm Review, compares this contradiction with a similar one of Christopher Hill and the State Dept.'s 2007 country report on Vietnam. Criticism from Vo Van Ai, director of QueMe, Action for Democracy in Vietnam was published by VietAm Review on March 13, 2008.    more »