Vietnamese Americans Convene in the White House
Prior to President Bush’s Trip to Hanoi for APEC SummitFriday October 20, 8:38 pm ET
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Calling for political freedom in Vietnam, a peaceful rally was held before the White House with over 300 Vietnamese American activists and community leaders from California, Houston, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington DC requesting President Bush to publicly support the Vietnamese people’s aspiration for freedom and democracy during his visit to Vietnam for the APEC summit in November.
The government of Vietnam hopes that the summit will propel them into the WTO, but with constant human rights violations and a closed society, questions remain whether Vietnam will play by the rules. Prior to the rally, a group of 20 Vietnamese American leaders met privately with administration officials to urge the president to link political freedom with economic change at the APEC summit. The briefing at the White House was organized by the Vietnamese American Public Affairs Committee (VPAC) with participation from the Vietnam Reform Party (Viet Tan), National Congress of Vietnamese Americans (NCVA), Vietnam Review, and community groups.
With Vietnam under the public eye before the APEC summit and WTO accession, authorities have launched a limited crackdown against political dissent. Observers are aware that the situation may worsen as Vietnam leaves the public eye and the government feels less restrained in repressing opposing views. But Vietnamese citizens are not standing still. In recent days, an Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights was formed bringing together a broad coalition of in-country pro-democracy and religious freedom groups. Yesterday, a committee of workers announced the formation of Vietnam’s first independent trade union.
President Bush’s visit to Hanoi comes at a time of significant socio- political unrest in the country. “It is critical that the President publicly stand with the Vietnamese people and give moral support to the growing democracy movement,” said Binh Vo, president of VPAC.
The private meeting at the White House concluded at 11:10 a.m. and the rally ended at 2:00 p.m.
Source: Coalition for Democracy in Vietnam