Government Seizes Peasants' Rice Fields for Golf Course

* Clash between villagers and police result in one dead

Thousands of peasants in Kim No, Phuc Yen province, an area north of Hanoi, fighting to preserve their rice fields, clashed with hundreds of Public Security cadres and army troops dressed in riot gear on May 13, 1996.

At the beginning of the year, the Hanoi government announced its decision to sell the Kim No food-planting fields to Korean developers, Daeha, to build a luxury golf course to accommodate foreign vacationers. Given the general food shortage in northern Vietnam and offered no replacement fields to plant rice, residents of Kim No promptly petitioned the government to change its mind. The request went nowhere except for landing three villagers in jail in February.

Early in the day on May 13th, according to witness accounts, about 500 Public Security cadres and army troops (claiming to be "army workers" and dressed in civilian clothes) had expected trouble and came fully equipped with tear gas, riot shields, and electric prongs. They approached the fields and started to uproot rice plants. A village woman discovered the destruction in action and tried to stop the perpetrators. She was immediately beaten unconscious, and fell into a water hole and was later found dead at the site.

Thousands of villagers, awakened to what was happening, vented their anger at the attackers with rocks, forks, sickles, poles and everything else they had. The melee lasted for several hours with some of the troops being detained and later released by the villagers.

Kim No and surrounding areas were quickly surrounded by more Public Security and army troops. The government launched its own counter-attack to "secure" the area. The four people sent by the village to negotiate with the government were promptly arrested. Despite the ensuing blockade of the area, news of the attack spread across Hanoi and the vicinity within days. Foreign reporters later found scores of village women and children with teeth knocked out, black eyes, and deep bruises.

Only one of the state-run newspapers reported the incident six days later. The Youths newspaper said the riot was set off by a number of "bad elements." Under the current Land Laws, the state is the sole owner of all lands in Vietnam. People are allowed to "borrow" land from the state for food planting. Also under this system, foreign companies can buy land from the state, but not the Vietnamese people.

Under the Communist Party’s teachings, however, "the people are the OWNERS, the Party is the LEADER, and the government are the MANAGERS" of all national resources. In this case, villagers of Kim No lost both their land and their teeth in exchange for their untouched title: the owners.