PROTESTS INTENSIFY
A patriotic movement against agreements on Vietnam-China land and sea territory treaties signed by leaders of the two Communist regimes have been intensifying during the last few weeks. Vietnamese patriots in Vietnam and overseas are raising their voices louder and louder in fierce criticisms against the Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) and its government for the so-called shameful concession of Vietnam territory to China.
Communist leaders and government officials apparently are trying to shunt sensible questions regarding the treaties, and only release general unspecific statements which are casting more doubt on the true intention of the Party top ranking.
Though protests and inquiries, even accusations have been raised for the last few months and becoming fiercer, not until late January did Hanoi say something about the controversial treaties. On January 28, 2002, Le Cong Phung, Deputy Foreign Minister, made a few statements in an interview with a reporter of the state-run VNN news agency and published only on VNN online, obviously aimed at the overseas Vietnamese only. He and the colluding reporter evaded the key issues by equivocal questions and statements, keeping away from details of the articles in the two agreements.
On Tuesday, February 5, 2002, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh officially touched on the border issue. She said in the routine meeting with the press that "the Vietnam-China land border treaty, which was reached through negotiations in a friendly and frank manner, with mutual respect and understanding, is fair and satisfactory to both sides."
No less ambiguous, she went on that the signing of the treaty on December 12, 1999 in Hanoi "was of great importance as it laid the ground for turning the land border between the two countries into a border of ever-lasting peace, friendship and stability.... This is also a new step forward in building a regional environment of peace and stability, thus helping each country focus its efforts on national construction ands development."
Ms. Phan Thuy Thanh was no more specific on other statements and explanations, but reiterating the vague arguments framed by her superiors and the propaganda branch. To the question about "concession," she said that negotiations "have conformed to the fundamental principles of international law as registered in the United Nations Charter ad the Statement on principles governing friendly ties among nations. They have consistently respected each other's national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and promoted equality, mutual interest and non-intervention into each other's internal affairs."
Official statements of the VCP government assert that Hanoi and Beijing based their negotiations on the Conventions of 1887 and 1895 between France and China. But no details of disputed sites on border lines and how they are settled have ever been elucidated, while Hanoi officials rely on explanations of unimportant matter - such as how to determine border lines on rivers and streams, obviously to avoid touching on the key and sensitive questions.
So far, no one in the VCP and its government hierarchy outside the 15-member Politburo has ever learned about the content of the two agreements. They are classified as national top secret documents. No more than a short report was released on state-run newspapers after the two agreements were signed.
The first time the shameful concession was known to the public a few months ago by many party veterans' open letters of complaint, in which they criticized the secret deals and demanded explanations by VCP top leaders about the treaties and why the full texts and maps had not been made public to the national assembly and citizens. The complaints incited many others to speak up. Well-known dissidents, including retired NVA General Tran Do, retired NVA Colonel Pham Que Duong, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Mr. Hoang Minh Chinh, Ms. Duong Thu Huong a writer, Prof. Tran Khue, Lawyer Le Chi Quang... and others as individuals or groups. They expressed their concerns in overt arguments sent to the top Party leaders.
Many Vietnamese American lawyers affirm that the two agreements are illegal, as international laws and regulations are concerned. Though not specified in the Communist 1992 Constitution, a covenant regarding national territory must be informed to the national assembly and all citizens before it could be ratified, as foreign relation traditions dictate. One that is signed secretly especially between political parties, which do not represent the people, is certainly invalid.
An article published in the French magazine L'Express, on Jan. 24, by Ms. Sylvaine Pasquier, "Chine et Vietnam, Le Scandale des Frontieres" (China and Vietnam, the Scandal of the Borders) refers to the event as an "Odious Bargaining, High Treachery."
According to Bui Tin, former North Vietnam Colonel, once editor-in-chief of Nhan Dan, the Party official newspaper, now an exile in France, Hanoi leaders led by Le Kha Phieu, former Party general secretary, had to sign the agreements under China's high pressure. He said VCP leaders secretly visited China to negotiate on the borders dispute because Hanoi has to rely on Communist China as an ideological protector since the Soviet bloc collapsed and disintegrated. Furthermore, China raises economic pressure against Vietnam by exporting to Vietnam dirt-cheap products including motorbikes, electronic appliances and even raw eggs and beef.
Other sources believe that Le Kha Phieu was playing the key role in the negotiations. He felt his post as general secretary was in danger, so he had to lean on his Chinese comrades for support. Chinese Communist leaders then forced him to concede in a short time. But at last, Phieu still lost his post.
Most of complaints against Hanoi "selling out the fatherland territory" are based on unwritten but reliable sources close to the Party Central Committee. There are differences in details of how large is the land and sea areas lost to China, but Hanoi is unable to justify its position.
More reliable is a long report by Dr. Tran Dai Sy, a famous scientist and literature scholar in France. He was on a trip to Vietnam in September, 2001, and visited the Nam Quan (South Gate), a historic frontier post, built a thousand years ago and has been cited in classic and modern poetry. Now he said China has moved the border line 1.5 kilometers southward into Vietnam and Hanoi yielded to China's claim. The Nam Quan now belongs to Beijing.
On this undeniable complaint, Hanoi reluctantly admits its wrongdoing but said the border line is displaced only 200 meters. Dr. Sy's reports has proved that Hanoi is lying, one among hundreds of lies regarding the border concessions.
The protests in Vietnam and overseas Vietnamese community are going on.
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