Subject: THAI BINH : Reuter News !
From: ducvu@netcom.com (Siemens Rolm)
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 21:42:40 GMT
Message-id: <ducvuEG3wB4.IrH@netcom.com>

Vietnam plays down reports of unrest in countryside
 09:36 a.m. Sep 04, 1997 Eastern

 By John Chalmers

 HANOI, Sept 4 (Reuter) - Vietnam moved to play down reports of popular
unrest in a rural northern province on Thursday, dubbing some of them
distortions of the truth and insisting that there was no movement against
the central government.

 It said life in the coastal province of Thai Binh, where there has been
an outcry over local tax levels and corruption, had returned to normal --
but the area would still be off-limits to foreign journalists.

 ``...the incidents occurring in some places in Thai Binh province 
indicated that this was the discontent of some people with a number 
of local junior officials,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Tran Quang 
Hoan told a news briefing.

 ``There is absolutely nothing such as a so-called people's uprising 
against the government, as some distorting reports have said.''

 Hoan said local people had filed complaints rather than protested and he
shrugged off reports that local officials had died in violence as ``sheer
fabrication.''

 Residents and officials in Thai Binh, which lies around 80 km (50 miles)
southeast of Hanoi, said last week that the situation there was still 
highly charged.

 They said some 1,200 members of a crack police force had been deployed 
around trouble hot-spots, but had so far not intervened.

 The troubles erupted in May when thousands of villagers converged on 
the provincial capital in anger over alleged corruption and an increase
in local levies.

 Sources in the province, which has traditionally been considered a 
cradle of
the communist country's revolution, say the situation turned violent 
in late May and June when the people felt that their grievances were
not being addressed.

 Hoan said a small number of officials had been punished for corruption, 
other
cases were under investigation so that ``correct and severe'' punishments 
could be applied and local taxes had been adjusted to a more appropriate
level.

 ``These activities have received the people's consent...'' he said. 
``That's why, generally speaking, the situation has become more stable. 
All activities in production and life in the localities are taking place 
normally.''

 However, replying to a written question on whether foreign journalists 
would now be allowed to visit Thai Binh, he said the local authorities 
did not want the presence of outsiders because they needed to concentrate
on their work.

 ``And they therefore would like to invite the journalists to visit the
province on another occasion,'' he said.

 Hoan then read out a list of economic achievements in Thai Binh, one of 
the poorest areas of the country. The list included figures for rice 
yields per with televisions.

 The spokesman denied reports of unrest spreading to other areas. He said
people in other provinces had similar grievances, but they were in no way
linked to developments in Thai Binh.

 Diplomats say the government is deeply concerned by the problems, which 
have focused attention on rural issues such as falling commodity prices, 
widespreadunder-employment and a widening wealth gap between provinces 
and cities.

REUTER@