Quê Me Quê Me: Action for democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
At the Fourth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in Istanbul (2-5 April), Venerable Thich Quang Do, Deputy Head of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and Communist Party veteran Hoang Minh Chinh were awarded the “Democracy Courage Tribute” alongside activists from Nepal, Uzbekistan and the Crimea (1). In the following interview with IBIB’s Penelope Faulkner (Y Lan), Thich Quang Do gives his reaction to this award, his views on the democracy movement in Vietnam and on the forthcoming 10th Communist Party Congress (18-25 April 2006). The interview was broadcast on Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese Service on Monday 10 April 2006.
Y Lan : How is your health and what are your living conditions today ?
Venerable Thich Quang Do : My living conditions are pretty much as usual. For the past few years, I have been living like a prisoner on a long leash. All day, I stay in my room. I eat one meal per day. The routine is exactly the same as when I was in prison. Outside my door, there is a stool. At lunchtime, around 11 am, they bring my food up from the kitchen and put it on the stool. I take the meal and eat it inside my room. When I’ve finished, I put my tray back on the stool. They come and take it away. Exactly like in prison.
I never go outside my room. Except twice a month, when I am taken to the hospital for my regular medical follow-up. Wherever I go, my “friends” the Security Police always go with me. The Communist Party says, Security Police (cong an) are the people’s friends. It’s true, they are very obliging, they take me from door to door and always escort me home. All day, they sit across the street from my pagoda, keeping watch over all movements and monitoring any visits.
Y Lan : What was your reaction on hearing that both you and Hoang Minh Chinh were awarded the “Democracy Courage Tribute” by over 600 democratic practitioners and scholars from 125 countries meeting at the World Movement for Democracy’s Fourth Assembly in Istanbul ?
Venerable Thich Quang Do : Of course, my immediate reaction was great happiness, and I am sure that Professor Hoang Minh Chinh felt the same. I am also sure that Hoang Minh Chinh and I are not the only ones to feel happy, but that all democrats and activists who sincerely aspire to pluralism and democracy for Vietnam share our joy, for this is the only path to development and progress for our people. All caring people in Vietnam welcome this good news, because it shows that democrats around the world support Vietnam’s democracy movement. It shows that we are not alone. That we have not been forgotten. That democrats, intellectuals and friends all over the globe are actively pledging their support and assistance to the movement for democratization in Vietnam.
So now, it is up to us. The process of democratization in Vietnam is entirely in the hands of the Vietnamese people. What is the driving force of our democracy movement ? Here again, I have cause to feel happy. Recently, we have seen not only elderly dissidents and Communist Party veterans, but also many young people, students and workers beginning to actively participate in the movement and call for democracy in Vietnam. This is a very positive sign. However, there remains one problem. Many people are afraid, they are apprehensive, they dare not openly express their views. That’s one of the shortcomings of our democracy movement. It’s because the Security Police’s repressive mechanisms are everywhere. Only the really courageous people dare speak out. And they live under permanent threat.
I sympathise with this problem. We monks, or the elderly dissidents and veterans are not bound by heavy family responsibilities. But it is hard for the young people and all those who have families to support. If they do anything that attracts the Police’s attention, they are placed under surveillance, threatened and isolated. Police seek every possible way of stifling their activities. If they have children, Police prevent their children from going to school and attending classes. They resort to every possible means of harassment. So, many people are afraid. In fact, fear has become a second nature for our people, they have been living in fear for the past 50 years. The very words “Security Police” terrify them, they fear “cong an” like the plague. That’s one of the main reasons why the democracy movement in Vietnam has been slow in developing. But with time, I believe people will see things more objectively. Especially, I place great hopes in the young people and the students. The fact that students and young people are beginning to speak out gives me great hope.
There will come a time when, as I have often said, the authorities will be unable to silence all of the people all of the time. The moment will come when the people will rise up, like water bursting its banks. Together, 80 million Vietnamese will speak with one voice to demand democracy and human rights. The government will be unable to ignore their demands, and will have to face up to this reality. Then, the situation in Vietnam will be forced to change, and a democratic process will emerge.
Y Lan : The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) will shortly be holding its 10th National Congress (18-25 April). Do you think that the Congress could lead to any new opening in terms of multi-party democracy and pluralism in Vietnam ? What strategies do you and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam have to address the current problems of Vietnam ?
Thich Quang Do : Just a few months ago, when preparations for the CPV’s 10th National Congress began, not only the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), but the majority of democrats, indeed all Vietnamese people who are truly concerned about democracy, saw signs of hope that changes might be in view.
However, these hopes were rapidly dashed by the CPV Central Committee’s 14th Plenum [in March]. The old CPV mindset emerged unchanged, in spite of a nationwide campaign launched by the CPV to canvass public opinion for inclusion in the CPV’s Political Report. This campaign had truly convinced people of the Party’s good faith and commitment to reform, and they seriously submitted their opinions and ideas. I followed this campaign very closely. All kinds of proposals were made by CPV veterans and former revolutionary heroes, Party officials from the highest ranks to the lower levels, by young people and students. There were many, many suggestions and ideas. People opened their hearts and sent in some very constructive proposals, deeply thoughtful and sincere. But when the Political Bureau made its official pronouncement on this campaign, they rejected all these proposals. They totally ignored all the sincere ideas aimed at developing our nation and creating a wholesome political basis to bring Vietnam out of poverty and into line with other nations in the world. These honest attempts to “speak plainly, speak the truth” were branded by the CPV as plots incited by imperialists, enemies, hostile forces, attempts to undermine the regime by “peaceful evolution”, to slander or sabotage the Party etc. As a result, they took none of these proposals into account.
So I cannot see multi-party democracy and pluralism emerging in the immediate future.
Concerning the UBCV, we have been calling for democracy and pluralism for a long time. In early 2001, the UBCV launched an appeal to all Vietnamese to rally together in a common movement for democracy. We shall continue to pursue this strategy, whether [the Party] opens up to democracy or not. The Buddhist proposals are based on this “Appeal for Democracy” and its 8-point transition plan for democratic change. We shall keep on appealing until these proposals can be realized.
Any movement, organisation or political party which takes up these proposals and initiates a peaceful multi-party, democratic process will have the UBCV’s warm approval and full moral support. This has always been our strategy, it has not changed.
I would like to say a few words here about the 2 million members of the Communist Party of Vietnam. We can’t lump all CPV members together, or tar them with the same brush. I believe that the great majority of CPV members are genuinely concerned about their country and the future of their people. But there is a group of 13-14 members of the Political Bureau, and a hundred or so members of the Central Committee who are completely impermeable to change. This group can be divided into two categories. The first consists of CPV members who are completely unscrupulous, they have lost all notion of right and wrong. We can hope for nothing from these people, for they care only about their own privileges and powers, nothing else. The second category consists of CPV members who still have some scruples, we can call them “men of conscience”, although they only have a shred of conscience left. Buddhism teaches that all sentient beings who possess just a shred of conscience still have the potential capacity to achieve enlightenment. One day, they will suddenly see the light. Then, they will chose the right path and follow it to the end.
For the moment, these people have not yet seen the light. These CPV members who still have some scruples continue to claim adherence to Marxism-Leninism. At least, that’s what they say. But deep down inside, they know that this doctrine is worthless and obsolete. The whole world has discarded it. In Vietnam too, many people have suggested getting rid of Marxism-Leninism once and for all. Even former high-ranking CPV veterans and revolutionary heroes are saying that Vietnam can only develop if Marxist-Leninist ideology is abandoned. The Party’s leaders can see what’s happened around the world, yet they still cling to this old doctrine. Why ? Are they trying to drag Vietnam down into the abyss ? The CPV members who still have some scruples can see the truth of this. But they are on the horns of a dilemma. If they abandon Marxism-Leninism, then the CPV has no reason to exist. More important, CPV members will lose their power, because they will be forced to abrogate Article 4 of the Constitution which enshrines the political monopoly of the Communist Party of Vietnam. When they incorporated Article 4 in the Constitution, the Communist Party awarded itself full powers to rule unchallenged over the entire country, people and society. The CPV has enjoyed these absolute powers for decades, using Marxist-Leninist ideology as a pretext to impose one-Party rule. So it’s a question of maintaining power. If they lose the Party, they lose power. If they lose power, they will also lose all the cash, capital, assets, property and wealth that they have stolen from the Vietnamese people over the past 60 years. Indeed, they not only risk losing their possessions, but their very lives and security will be in danger.
So they are afraid. That’s why, at any price… they will do anything to preserve Marxist-Leninist rule. Even if they have to sell Vietnamese land and territorial waters to China, they will. In fact, they have already done so. Today, the survival of the CPV is completely in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. As if we needed any proof, the CCP’s No. 4 official, Jia Quinglin (2) came to Vietnam to attend the Central Committee’s 14th Plenum and issue orders to the leaders of the CPV.
So if we look at these two categories of CPV members, those who are absolutely unscrupulous and those who still have a modicum of good sense, we can see clearly that their sole aim for the time being is to ensure the survival of the Communist Party and preserve their own interests. Not the interests of the 2 million CPV members, but the interests of the top-ranking group of 100 people or so. They stick together in order to preserve their powers and privileges, and maintain the status quo. There’s no way they will ever let go.
That’s why we have not yet achieved democracy and pluralism in Vietnam.
But that doesn’t mean that we won’t achieve them in the near future ! Eighty million Vietnamese won’t accept this situation for ever. There will come a point when even the most faithful CPV members will abandon the Party. Indeed, many of them have already done so. Many of today’s CPV veterans and revolutionary heroes joined the Party during the resistance movement for independence against colonial rule. But in the aftermath, they observed that the Party had not fulfilled its promises and had taken advantage of their patriotic ideals to propagate its own Marxist-Leninist agenda. Today, these people have split away from the Party, they no longer support the Party’s line. They were once good and faithful Party members. But now they have seen the truth, and realize they have been betrayed.
I believe that, very soon, not only a small minority, but the whole 80-million Vietnamese population will no longer submit [to the Party’s monopoly]. I am quite convinced, they will refuse to remain silent, and they will not permit the CPV continue oppressing the people any longer. Indeed, it is my conviction that this 10th Congress will be the very last National Communist Party Congress in Vietnam.
For the situation today has completely changed. I have been living under Communism since 1975, a mere 30 years. Yet so much has changed since then. In 1975, the Communists were all-powerful, they ruled over Heaven and Earth and even gave orders to the Gods… (laugh). But today it’s different, they don’t wield the same powers. And in another 10, 20 years, the situation will have changed even more.
In my opinion, the forthcoming 10th Congress will be the very last CPV Congress. We will not see an 11th Communist Party Congress in Vietnam.
(1) See “World Movement for Democracy awards “Democracy Courage Tribute” to Vietnamese dissidents Thich Quang Do and Hoang Minh Chinh” (Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, 6 April 2006)
(2) Jia Qinglin, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
