A well-known Vietnamese blogger said it was “painful” to quit her online writing, which had been critical of the government, but she agreed to stop so she could be released from detention.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 31, who blogged as “Me Nam,” or “Mushroom's Mother,” was arrested Sept. 3. She was the last of three bloggers recently arrested and released for what the government says were legitimate national security reasons.
“They told me not to use that blog. They said that was a political plot by some Vietnamese… that that was what incited me,” she said. “I accepted everything so I could go home.”
“Stopping a blog is simple—you just close it,” she said. “But today when I had to announce that I won’t blog anymore, it was painful.”
Being in prison for “10 days and nine nights—it was terrible,” she said in an interview.
In her last blog posting, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh wrote a farewell letter to her readers.
In the entry, she explains that the hardship she endured in prison caused her to give up writing.
"Through what happened to me in the last few days, I painfully recognize that how we express patriotism still depends on the regime," she said.
"Participants…must abide by the rules of the game, and in my current position, I don’t have a choice."
Mining at issue
On 27 August, blogger Bui Thanh Hieu, also known as Nguoi Buon Gio, was arrested in Hanoi.
A day later journalist Pham Doan Trang, who worked for one of the most visited semi-official news Web sites, VietnamNet, was also arrested. She also ran a well-read personal blog.
All three opposed China's claims of sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel islands in the South China Sea, which Vietnam, among other governments, also claims.
They also criticized a government plan to partner with a Chinese state-owned firm to exploit bauxite reserves in Vietnam's Central Highlands.
Bauxite mining drew national attention last year when war hero Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap urged the government to reconsider it. Hanoi doesn’t want anti-China sentiments to get out of hand, and it tightly controls the country’s media.
Officials said “their plan to exploit bauxite is in the interest of the whole country, not of some individual group,” Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh said. “But I’m upset because this information isn’t open to the public.
She said she was questioned several times in July this year when she wore a T-shirt opposing the bauxite mine and asserting that the Spratly and Paracel islands belong to Vietnam.
Pledge to be ‘more subtle’
Bui Thanh Hieu, 37, the blogger also known as Nguoi Buon Gio or “Wind Trader,” was released Sept. 5.
He was arrested in late August after blogging critically about the planned bauxite mine and Vietnam’s disputed claim to islands in the South China Sea.
“I will continue reading blogs. I might continue writing, but I will write in a more subtle way. I will write in a way that is more suitable for my situation,” he said in an interview.
Police searched Hieu's house after his arrest and confiscated two of his computers and other personal belongings, the Free Journalists Network of Vietnam (FJNV), an independent press freedom group, said.
Pham Doan Trang, 31, was released Sept. 6 after being arrested in late August. Her blog, titled “Ridiculous,” covered the same topics.
Hanoi’s new watchdog
On Sept. 3, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the arrests and said in a statement that Trang had recently reported on territorial disputes with China.
It cited the FJNV as saying Trang also shared sensitive information with bloggers and other journalists about a Chinese advisor for economic and trade issues who called on his Vietnamese counterparts to discipline certain local newspapers and journalists.
The Vietnamese government created the Administration Agency for Radio, Television, and Electronics Information in 2008 and charged it with with monitoring the Internet and bloggers.
In recent months, authorities have blocked local access to Singapore-based Yahoo 360°, according to CPJ. The site was nearly exclusively popular with Vietnamese bloggers.
Yahoo recently introduced a new version of its service called Yahoo 360+, but many bloggers do not trust the site's privacy provisions and have moved to WordPress or social networking sites such as Facebook and Multiply.
RFA
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Vietnam Communist Party Web site fined
ReplyDeleteAuthorities have fined the editor of the official Communist Party Web site for running an article that seemed to endorse China's position in a sensitive territorial dispute that has stirred nationalist passions in Vietnam.
The piece, which appeared on the Web site on Sept. 4, described a Chinese military exercise on the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It quoted a Chinese officer who said the purpose of the mission was to "defend the fatherland's southern sea frontier."
Editor Dao Duy Quat was fined 30 million dong ($1,700) for reprinting the article, which originally appeared in a Chinese newspaper, said Nguyen Van Hung, chief inspector at the Ministry of Information and Communications.
Hung said Quat had violated a government decree that prohibits publication of unauthorized information.
The editor was not available for comment Wednesday.
The story unleashed a wave of protests in Vietnam's flourishing blogosphere.
"Only blind people did not see how dangerous it was to publish such an article on the online newspaper of the Party," blogger and writer Nguyen Quang Lap wrote.
The party Web site ran an apology, saying the article was a "mistake that caused regrettable consequences and created discontent among readers."
The largely uninhabited islands in the South China Sea, claimed by both Vietnam and China, straddle busy sea lanes and are believed to have large oil and natural gas reserves.
Many Vietnamese are deeply suspicious of their giant northern neighbor's territorial and natural resources ambitions.
Chinese involvement with a bauxite mine in Vietnam's Central Highlands has also prompted widespread concern among Vietnamese bloggers, as has another territorial dispute with China over the Spratly Islands.
Recently, two Vietnamese bloggers and an online journalist were detained for posting entries critical of the government's handling of relations with China.
Vietnam releases detained blogger
ReplyDeleteA Vietnamese blogger detained by police has said she was freed after promising she would quit writing her blog, which has been critical of the government.
Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh is the last of three bloggers recently detained and then released by police.
A Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the three had been arrested legally for national security reasons.
Analysts say the authorities want to prevent blogs becoming a news source and a tool for opposition groups.
On 27 August, blogger Bui Thanh Hieu, also known as Nguoi Buon Gio, was arrested in Hanoi.
A day later journalist Pham Doan Trang, who worked for one of the most visited semi-official news websites in the country - VietnamNet, was also detained by the security police. She too ran a well-read personal blog.
Blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was arrested on 2 September in the central city of Nha Trang. All three have now been released.
Internet popularity
As official media generally stay silent on any subjects deemed sensitive and controversial by the ruling Communist Party, many Vietnamese have turned to the internet to share information and discuss topics of interest.
Analysts say the communist government fears it can not control the more than two million personal blogs in Vietnam as they become increasingly popular as an information medium.
"The Vietnam Communist Party and its security apparatus cannot tolerate matters they do not control. Territorial surveillance, bloc wardens and informers work when suspects are territorially based," says Vietnam analyst, Carlyle Thayer, from the Australian Defence Force Academy.
"Cyberspace represents a more formidable challenge because anonymous citizens can post their views and exchange ideas with others both inside and outside Vietnam."
Territorial disputes with Beijing over the Paracel and Spratly islands, alongside corruption and religious freedom, are among the most talked about topics.
The Vietnamese government does not want anti-China sentiments to get out of hand, but this is not the only reason for the authorities' concern.
Some people inside the country point out that blogs can also serve as a networking tool for groups with a different agenda from the Communist Party to organise face-to-face meetings.
"Online activities may make the authorities wary, but offline ones are what they're disturbed about," says a Ho Chi Minh City-based journalist who wishes to remain anonymous.
"They cannot control the internet, but they can and will punish whoever wants to act on the ideas they consider reactionary," the journalist says.
In his opinion, the latest developments might be part of the ongoing crackdown on political dissidents that saw dozens interrogated and detained in the last couple of months.
Among them are human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh, businessman Tran Huynh Duy Thuc and democracy activist Nguyen Tien Trung.