As tensions rise over Chinese claims of sovereignty on the Paracel and Spratly islands: Buddhist dissident Thich Quang Do calls for democratic rights and freedoms to guarantee territorial integrity in Vietnam

PARIS, 28th December 2007 (IBIB) – In the wake of widespread demonstrations staged by students and young people outside Chinese Embassies in Hanoi and Saigon, and strong protests by the Vietnamese community overseas, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, prominent dissident and Deputy leader of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) has issued a strong statement on the controversy over the disputed Paracel and Spratly archipelagos. Sent clandestinely from the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon, it was received by the International Buddhist Information Bureau in Paris today.

Writing on behalf of the UBCV’s Bi-Cameral leadership (the Institute of the Sangha and the Institute for the Dissemination of the Dharma), Thich Quang Do called on the Hanoi authorities to “pass the reins of power to the people in a society based on the separation of the three powers, multi-party democracy and the rule of law” as the best way to safeguard Vietnam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Because “three million Communist Party members and a 500,000-strong army have neither the authority nor the power to defend the homeland by military means, nor sufficient prestige and courage to expand political and diplomatic efforts to mobilize international support in our defence… they need the full participation of the 85 million Vietnamese population and the support of the Vietnamese Diaspora worldwide”. As a first step, Hanoi must “immediately abrogate Article 4 of the Vietnamese Constitution [on the political monopoly of the Communist Party], and enable all sectors of the Vietnamese population, including all religious and political families, to freely and fully participate in the process of national salvation”. The UBCV Deputy leader also called on Hanoi to summon the people for a “Dien Hong” Conference for the XXIst century” to initiate a process of reconciliation and democratic change.

Thich Quang Do emphasized the role of Buddhism as an essential element in this process: “With our responsibility as Vietnamese citizens, and as representatives of a religion that has contributed to the foundation and development of our nation over the past 2,000 years, the Council of the Bi-Cameral Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam cannot stand by silently whilst our country is in danger. We therefore solemnly appeal to the Vietnamese intelligentsia, inside and outside Vietnam, to stand together and rally forces to save our nation. The Council of the Bi-Cameral Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam pledges to give its active support to every peaceful effort to protect our homeland and our people”.

The full text of the statement is below:

For the first time in thirty two years, breaking free from silence and oppression, students and young people in Vietnam, along with the Vietnamese Diaspora worldwide have taken to the streets in a spontaneous, common movement to express the unwavering determination that has inspired Vietnamese culture for thousands of years: “We will not allow foreigners to invade our lands”. Today, their cry echoes beyond our shores to the confines of our seas: “We will not let foreigners invade our territorial waters”.

Sixty-two years ago, this cry was immortalized in a popular refrain: “Compatriots take heed, our homeland is in danger!”. These words were on the lips of our whole population as they rose up to win independence after one hundred years of French colonial rule.

Today, aware of the dangers threatening our homeland,

the Council of the Bi-Cameral Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam

– concerned that, since 1956, following stateless Communist ideology under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, the Hanoi authorities have renounced their sovereignty over Vietnamese territories, erased the sea-borders traced by our ancestors, and given away our lands and waters in offering to China. In 1956, Foreign Minister Ung Van Khiem declared that Vietnam recognized China’s claim to sovereignty of the Paracel (Hoang Sa) and the Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelagos. Subsequently, on 14.9.1958, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong sent a diplomatic note to Chinese Prime Minister Chu En Lai to confirm in writing Vietnam’s official recognition of Chinese sovereignty over the Paracels and Spratlys;

– disturbed that under two recent Vietnam-China border treaties, i.e. the land border treaty signed on 30.12.1999 and the Tonkin Gulf Treaty (sea border) signed on 25.12.2000, Vietnam conceded thousands of square kilometers of lands and seas that our forefathers painstakingly founded and sacrificed their lives to defend;

– whereas, from 2004 onwards, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has shown itself to be cowardly and spineless, making no efforts whatsoever to protect the people’s security. It is incapable of protecting the lives and basic security of Vietnamese fishermen earning their livelihood on the seas between Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai in the vicinity of the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos;

– whereas the Communist Party and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are solely concerned with protecting Socialism, not with protecting our homeland’s borders, nor ensuring the security and happiness of 85 million Vietnamese; they are concerned about losing the Party, not the Nation.

1. To all Vietnamese at home and abroad to rally together in a united movement to defend our territorial sovereignty and our people. We urge Vietnamese inside the country to stand firmly together to demand the right to life and the right to participate in safeguarding and protecting our country. We urge Vietnamese overseas to wholeheartedly support the struggle movement in Vietnam, and mobilize the international community to clarify the issue of Vietnamese sovereignty and support initiatives to defend and protect our territorial integrity;

2. To the Vietnamese Communist Party and government to draw lessons from the democratic example handed down by our forefathers when the country was in danger, and apply this lesson to the XXI Century by urgently summoning a “Diên Hồng Conference” (1) in order to:

2.1 – recognize that three million Communist Party members and a 500,000-strong army have not enough authority or power to defend the homeland by military means, nor sufficient prestige and courage to expand political and diplomatic efforts to mobilize international support in our defence. To succeed, they need the participation of the 85 million Vietnamese population and the support of the Vietnamese Diaspora worldwide;

2.2 – having recognized this fact, to immediately abrogate Article 4 of the Vietnamese Constitution [on the political monopoly of the Communist Party], and thus enable all sectors of the Vietnamese population, including all religious and political families, to freely and fully participate in the process of national salvation;

2.3 – convene an Assembly of the entire population with representatives of all religious communities and different political parties founded since the beginning of the XX century to initiate a process of reconciliation, settle all rivalries and antagonisms stemming from imported ideologies that have torn our society apart for the past 60 years, and prepare for a democratic transition, to pass the reins of power to the people in a society based on the separation of the three powers, multi-party democracy and the rule of law.

Throughout our history, whenever the whole population has risen up to push back foreign aggression, a period of peaceful rule has ensued in which our territories have been preserved, sovereignty protected, our independence guaranteed, and our civilization has flourished. This quintessential law is our guiding principle. It has inspired us constantly to defend our sovereignty and cultural identity, and protect the freedom, welfare and happiness of our people. This is why, only when the voice and the will of the whole people speak out as one can foreign aggression be successfully repelled. The history of Vietnam is eloquent proof of this ineluctable truth.

With our responsibility as Vietnamese citizens, and as representatives of a religion that has contributed to the foundation and development of our nation over the past 2,000 years, the Council of the Bi-Cameral Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam cannot stand by silently whilst our country is in danger. We therefore call upon the Vietnamese intelligentsia, inside and outside Vietnam, to stand together and rally forces to save our nation. The Council of the Bi-Cameral Institute of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam pledges to give its active support to every peaceful effort to protect our homeland and our people.

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(1) In 1283, Vietnam was threatened with invasion by the powerful army of the Yuan Dynasty led by Khublai Khan. Knowing the terrible costs his people would suffer, King Tran Nhan Tong summoned the elders from all over the country to a conference at the Dien Hong Palace to ask them whether they wanted to fight or surrender. All said they wanted to fight. The Vietnamese successfully defeated the 500,000-strong Mongolian army, and the “Dien Hong Conference” became a symbol of Vietnamese democracy and the people’s determination to fight for freedom and independence.