Chinese de facto Invasion of Vietnam

CHINESE DE FACTO INVASION OF VIETNAM

Recently I, an expatriate Vietnamese living in the U.S., have become vocally displeased with the Hanoi regime. I have made my views known through my postings on the Internet. A few days ago, I, besides others, was contacted by RFA (Radio Free Asia) for my views on the brutalization of the Vietnamese fishermen by the Chinese naval forces in the East Sea, aka South China Sea. Since the interview was short, I didn’t have the opportunity to articulate fully what I thought of the situation in the larger context of the threat China is posing to the existence of Vietnam as a sovereign nation. I, therefore, decided to recapture from memory the interview in writing and expand from there. This exercise was done with love for my country of birth, not from vanity.

1. What do I think about the Chinese naval forces of attacking and arresting the Vietnamese fishermen while they were plying their trade in the waters hitherto regarded as Vietnamese territory?

I was outraged. I was infuriated. And I was concerned. The Chinese are committing unlawful acts in addition to being nakedly bullying. Their acts are not befitting at all of a bigger and caring brother image that they have always portrayed themselves to the Vietnamese.

2. What do I think about the demands of ransom from the Chinese authorities?

I think they are absurd and laughable. Are the Chinese naval forces moonlighting as pirates? Definitely the Vietnamese fishermen should not pay any fines. The Hanoi regime must bring this matter to the attention of the United Nations, besides demanding unconditional release of the fishermen and their boats and payments for confiscated catches.

3. What do I think about the response to date of Hanoi regime?

The response has been absurdly muted and timid, resulting in increasing acts of aggression and violence towards the fishermen.

4. The Vietnamese authorities have advised the fishermen that if they are under attack from the Chinese war vessels, they should immediately inform the Vietnamese authorities for help. Do you think the advice is sound?

Of course it is not sound. Life under the Vietnamese communist rule is like an endless enactment of a play in the tradition of theater of the absurd. How can the Vietnamese fishermen receive any help from Vietnamese Navy when there are no Vietnamese patrol boats in sight? And the reason there are no Vietnamese patrol boats is that they are all scared of the Chinese naval forces and stay away from sites where the Vietnamese fishermen are working. Now look at the response from the Philippines and Indonesia. The Chinese did try to attack and harass the fishermen from these countries who also fished in the waters considered part of their territories. When these incidents occurred, the Philippines and Indonesia vigorously protested to China and immediately dispatched naval forces of their own to the area. China has henceforth backed down and no longer harasses the fishing boats belonging to the fishermen from the Philippines and China.

5. What can the Vietnamese, inland and overseas, do to help the Vietnamese fishermen?

To donate money to help them restart their livelihood. To demand immediate action from the Vietnamese authorities to stop Chinese unlawful acts of aggression. To demonstrate against the Chinese and bring to the attention of the world of Chinese territorial ambitions

6. What do I want to address the Vietnamese inland and overseas?

Get united and fight against the Chinese. Bring down the Vietnamese communists first since it appears that they are not doing anything to protect territorial integrity and to protect the citizens. It looks like the VC are in cahoots with the Chinese. It looks like the VC are selling out our country. The ceding of land along the northern border with China, the granting of permits to the Chinese in bauxite mining in the highlands, the presence of a large number of Chinese soldiers under the guise of laborers in Vietnam—these so-called “laborers” live in enclaves which are off-limits to the local Vietnamese, the ceding of maritime rights to the Chinese in the East Sea, and the Chinese de facto annexation of the Paracel and Spratly Islands. What would happen if one day conflicts between the so-called Chinese “laborers” and the Vietnamese who resent their presence erupt in bloodshed? In my opinion, China would then launch a full-scale take-over of Vietnam under the pretext of protecting their nationals. Who will come to our aid? There is a clear and present danger to the existence of Vietnam as an independent entity and to the Vietnamese as a separate people. We certainly don’t want to be assimilated by the Chinese as other peoples were. We need to fight now before it is too late.

Wissai
July 20, 2009________________________________________________________________________