VI:N.California Support Protests in VN

PRESS RELEASE

Week Dedicated to Support the Spirit of the Protests in Thai
                      Binh and Xuan Loc

In recent months, a number of large, organized protests against
oppression has sprung up in Vietnam. The geographic nature of
these demonstrations, encompassing both northern and southern
provinces, demonstrates the widespread resentment against the
authoritative Vietnamese government.  As part of a concerted
effort of overseas Vietnamese around the world to support these
protests, the Vietnamese community in Northern California,
consisting of over forty-five organizations, has proclaimed
August 18th-25th as the "Week Dedicated to Support the Spirit of
the Protests in Thai Binh and Xuan Loc."

As part of the week-long activities, the Vietnamese
community is organizing a rally in front of the County Yard
of Santa Clara County at 70 West Hedding on Monday, April
25th at 12:00 noon.

The purpose of the rally is to bring to international attention
the spirit of the demonstrations in Vietnam: democratic
representation and religious freedom. Following the rally, the
participants will present a proclamation supporting the protests
to elected officials. They will subsequently march to the office
of the San Jose Mercury News to ask the newspaper for more
reporting on these events and to thank SJMN for its support of the
Vietnamese community in the past.  Additionally, the participants
will also meet with representatives from other media agencies
such as KGO, ABC, CBS, and NBC.

The rally on Monday follows a flag raising ceremony within the
Vietnamese community at the same location on Sunday, August 24th
at 12:00 PM as part of the overwhelming support for the protests
in Vietnam.  Over two hundred people, as well as numerous
Vietnamese organizations and media organizations, are expected to
participate in the flag raising ceremony.

Beginning in early May, people in Thai Binh, a northern
province situated near Hanoi, publicly denounced the
government's policies of compulsory labor and heavy
taxation, as well as the corruption and autocratic behavior
of government officials towards local residents.  In June,
thousands of people staged a peaceful demonstration in front
of the office of the People's Committee of Thai Binh, the
provincial administrative headquarters.  Similar protests
began against district administrative offices. These
protests effectively halted the administrative operations of
several districts within the province.

Many of the demonstrations and sit-ins lasted beyond July 20
- the date of the National Assembly elections.  As a result,
a total of 52 hamlets did not have a functioning People's
Committee and, thus, did not hold elections.

Hanoi recognized the seriousness of these protests and the
potential for them to become a national outcry for reforms.  The
government quickly dispatched military and anti-demonstration
Public Security units into the province. Pham The Duyet, a member
of the Politburo from Thai Binh, was sent in to resolve the
situation.  Measures were taken to restore order.  A number of
local officials, used as scapegoats, were demoted to pacify the
public.  At the same time, the government quietly arrested and
detained hundreds of people deemed to be leaders or organizers of
the protests.  Forced confessions by some detainees were
broadcasted on local television.

The government did not admit of these protests to foreign
journalists until July 24 - more than two months later.  The
demonstrations in the North have reportedly spread to the
neighboring provinces of Hung Yen, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An.

In the South, the Catholic community of Xuan Loc district
strongly protested an order issued by the government on April 1,
1997, prohibiting many of the activities of the Progressive
Catholic Association, which includes numerous smaller
organizations.  The banned activities have traditional been
carried out by the Catholic Association solely for religious
purposes with no interference to the state.  The nine hundred
thousand strong Catholic community in Xuan Loc, the second
largest in Vietnam, has publicly expressed their discontent over
the new, arbitrary order.  Father Nguyen Minh Nhat has reportedly
refused to obey the new order and called upon his followers to do
the same.

The Vietnamese community strongly condemns the oppression of the
people in Vietnam by the Vietnamese Communist government. We
support the demand for democracy, religious freedom, and
administrative reforms from the Vietnamese people in general and
the denizens of Thai Binh and Xuan Loc in particular.  We call
upon the international community to support these grassroots
demonstrations against totalitarianism.  The spirit of Thai Binh
and Xuan Loc is the spirit of liberty and truth.

Contact Person: Mr. Ngo Trong Duc
                Work-408-544-2117
                Home-408-251-6672