July 1, 2011
ORANGE, CA — Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) today met with Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, the Vietnamese democracy activist and writer recently released from imprisonment by the communist government in Vietnam. Ms. Thuy, in Orange County, expressed her appreciation to Royce and others who have worked for her release.
“Tran Khai Thanh Thuy has been leading the fight for democracy and human rights in Vietnam. She has paid a great price, including physical assault by communist government thugs. Her release is great news for Vietnamese-Americans and all committed to freedom,” Royce said.
Ms. Thuy met Royce, a senior member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, in his Orange, California office. “We discussed strategies for advancing this struggle and she expressed her appreciation for all the support she has received from Orange County,” Royce said.
Royce has long supported Tran Khai Thanh Thuy and other Vietnamese dissidents. Royce invited Ms. Thuy to testify via satellite before his Asian Pacific Congressional Advisory Council in 2009. In March, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung expressing concern over the continued detention of Ms. Thuy and other individuals imprisoned for their democracy advocacy, calling for their immediate release.
Royce said today, “We can’t stop confronting the communist government over its human rights abuses. Pressure works. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy has been released. Many, many other brave Vietnamese men and women are in jail for believing in freedom. Let’s double Orange County’s commitment to their struggle.”
Royce is the author of H.Res. 16, which calls on the State Department to list Vietnam as a “Country of Particular Concern” with respect to religious freedom, and H.R. 156, which would impose sanctions on individuals who are complicit in human rights abuses in Vietnam.