Tay Nguyen Events and News on Press
From dgm405@coombs.anu.edu.au Thu May 13 09:20:06 2004
Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 13:24:31 +1000
From: David Marr <dgm405@coombs.anu.edu.au>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Tay Nguyen Events
Reading accumulated email after returning from a brief trip to Vietnam, I encountered the brief VSG exchange about the 10 April events in the central highlands.
What struck me first in Vietnam was how quickly reports of the demonstrations and confrontations in multiple locations managed to reach the outside world. And embassies in Hanoi were exchanging information by Monday the 12th. At first I wondered if demonstration organizers might possess radio transmitters or cell phones with satellite connections, but it seems more likely they relied on Internet shops, which were presumably cut off quickly by the police, and maybe long distance telephone.
I encountered a number of Vietnamese who had heard the BBC broadcasts, and Tay Nguyen was being talked about extensively by the 13th. The SRV Foreign Ministry issued its first statement for foreign consumption on the 12th, but I believe Tuoi Tre on 17 April was the first to give an account for domestic consumption. Most newspapers followed soon after -- the similarity of language suggesting careful prepping by the authorities.
There was a media desire both to play down the troubles and point to sinister foreign provocateurs. Thus Tuoi Tre repeatedly labeled events as `Kich Tay Nguyen', and quoted people who said they joined demonstrations only because they had been promised 500,000 dong or an airplane ride to the US. This became the dominant chorus, as papers stressed how almost everyone had returned home rapidly, ashamed of their credulity. The Viet Nam News (19-4-04) comfortably asserted that all was again "peace and hard work" after the first rains had arrived to "wash away the dust and calm frayed nerves".
On the other hand, Thanh Nien (18-4-04) spoke of some thousands (hang ngan) of minority people, of all ages and both genders, from 39 communes in 17 districts, converging on specific towns with food and water, sometimes riding on tractors and motorbikes. This obviously required considerable prior local communication and organization, yet all newspapers preferred to excoriate Ksor Kok in faraway North Carolina. I could not help but recall similar French colonial characterizations of simple-minded Vietnamese peasants being duped by nasty agitators based in Moscow.
Also like the French 70 years ago, today's newspapers refused to discuss or even acknowledge underlying grievances. For the Tay Nguyen minority demonstrators, I'd say these are freedom of religion, return of land taken by the Kinh, and affirmation of cultural difference. I was dismayed (but not surprised) to hear otherwise open-minded Vietnamese friends dismissing or downgrading these grievances. They also anticipated a major government crackdown, and felt no inclination to criticize this publicly.
David Marr
From jhannah@u.washington.edu Thu May 13 09:20:14 2004
Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 04:03:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joe Hannah <jhannah@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Tay Nguyen Events
Thank you Dr. Marr, for the interesting anecdotes, analysis, and reflections.
I would like to add that Tuoi Tre also printed an article based on an interview with an ethnic minority (Ede?) protestant minister, on or about March 22. (Sorry for the lack of accuracy -- I gave my only copy ofthe article away...) This minister downplayed all talk of ethnic and religious strife. He maintained that there was perfect religious freedom in Buon Me Thuot province, citing the increasing size of his "flock" as evidence. All accusations to the contrary were obviously maliscious gossip from people who don't live in the area.
The organization of the article, its question/answer interview format, and other textual cues led me to the same conclusion as Dr. Marr -- this was part of a carefully managed media release.
Joe Hannah
From hhtai@fas.harvard.edu Thu May 13 09:20:48 2004
Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 08:07:03 -0400
From: Tam Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Tay Nguyen Events
I don't know whether newspapers refuse to discuss certain topics or have been told not to do so, or to discuss them only along certain lines. But with regard to Tuoi Tre coverage, I was once told a lesson in how to read a paper. What seemed to me a totally boring article was re-interpreted in a far more subversive way. It's like law: you don't outlaw something that is never committed because it's never even conceived of. So when a paper reports that there is perfect religious freedom, etc... some readers will understand this to mean there has been widespread complaints of religious repression.
From jhannah@u.washington.edu Thu May 13 09:22:04 2004
Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 10:41:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joe Hannah <jhannah@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: Tay Nguyen Events
I whole heartedly agree -- reading Vietnamese State press is an art form.
I haven't decided if the religious freedom article was to counter(internal) complaints of religious persecution or (external) accusations of religious persecution. I imagine a little of both.
However, the article would never be convincing to those in the Central Highlands who claim they are being persecuted, and I have yet to meet a Saigonese who would voice a complaint that minority peoples may be prevented from practicing Protestant Christianity. (Though I do know a number who might be convinced it does, in fact, take place.) So I guess my analysis would come down more on the side that says the article is meant to counter the accusations of others (such as VOA, BBC, US Congress, etc.). Whatever the case, the press (i.e., the State) seemed to think it was necessary to enlighten the population to its liberal policies through this first-hand account. "Why" that was seen as necessary is the interesting question for me.
Joe Hannah
From dduffy@email.unc.edu Mon Apr 19 17:22:20 2004
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 08:40:33 -0400
From: Dan Duffy <dduffy@email.unc.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: query about VN press in US: coverage of Central Highlands?
I wonder if anyone else has found coverage of the recent riots at Buon Me Thuot in the Vietnamese-language press in the US? I haven't found any in my hasty reading before breakfast.
On the one hand, that's not surprising. When people leave VN they get to split into national minorities, with the Kinh calling themselves VN and everyone else going their own way with a sigh of relief. Everyone gets a break from the mainland Se Asian racial order as they move on to contend with the US one.
On the other hand, it is surprising. The highlander challenge to the Ha Noi state has enjoyed some success since 1975, both making appeals to international discourses on human rights and religious freedom and moving people on the ground in Viet Nam.
The Buddhists and the Catholics who have been working along these lines get a lot of overseas press attention, as do the beaux gestes of revanchiste RVN activists like the man who drops flyers from airplanes on Communist capitals all over the world, and the old man who takes a bulldozer or a pistol to the long-suffering Paris embassy every year.
It would seem that the VN press in the US would be all over the Buon Me Thuot riots, if not to support their fellow Vietnamese national minorities, at least to embarass Ha Noi. Please tell me I have missed lots of obvious stuff, and where it is -
Dan Duffy
From sdenney@uclink4.berkeley.edu Mon Apr 19 17:22:29 2004
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:47:36 -0700
From: Stephen Denney <sdenney@uclink4.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: query about VN press in US: coverage of Central Highlands?
I don't know about the overseas Vietnamese press, but I have read quite a lot of reports on this matter, including from the press in Vietnam, which I would be happy to forward to Dan or others on the VSG list (those who are on my vnnews-l list would have already received the reports).
Just curious, Dan, don't alot of Vietnamese highlander refugees live in your area? I don't know know if they might have their own newspapers, although I have read some reports citing the Montagnard Foundation which I believe is based in North Carolina.
- Steve Denney
From malves98@yahoo.com Mon Apr 19 17:22:38 2004
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 11:13:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mark J. Alves <malves98@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: query about VN press in US: coverage of Central Highlands?
Steve,
I would very much appreciate any information about developments in Vietnam regarding the conflict with the ethnic minorities.
Here's a bit on the anxiety of Montagnard in North Carolina.
http://www.miami.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/8414960.htm?1c
Mark Alves
From ProschanF@folklife.si.edu Mon Apr 19 17:22:48 2004
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2004 14:45:47 -0400
From: Frank Proschan <ProschanF@folklife.si.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: query about VN press in US: coverage of Central Highlands?
The Montagnard Foundation, Inc. is located in Spartanburg, SOUTH Carolina, and is the creation of a Mr. Kok Ksor. The larger number of Central Highlanders is resident in North Carolina, but the foundation is not. The Vietnamese government over the years has been more accurate in identifying the man and the foundation as the thorns in their side and less accurate in identifying his home state.
Frank Proschan
Save Our Sounds
postal mail:
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
Victor Building Suite 4100, MRC 0953
Washington, DC 20013-7012