July 8, 2011
Hanoi – Banned political group Viet Tan on Friday defended its role in recent anti-China protests, denying accusations by the Vietnamese government that it was exploiting public discontent to ’plot’ against the state.
The US-based group said in a statement that ongoing protests against China’s territorial claims to parts of the South China Sea were motivated by ’sincere patriotism.’
On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said Viet Tan was taking advantage of the tensions.
She also praised the coverage of Viet Tan by state-run press, which has called the group ’subversive’ and accused it of ’playing the China card,’ and encouraging demonstrations ’aimed to disrupt public life and create disharmony amongst citizens.’ The demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi are now in their fifth week.
In Friday’s statement, Viet Tan said the communist government had ’mobilized state media and the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman to misrepresent the anti-China protests.’
The administration was ’unsure of how to handle the patriotic fervor sweeping the country,’ it said.
In an earlier interview with German Press Agency dpa, Carl Thayer, expert on Vietnam and South-East Asia at the Australian Defence Academy, said anti-China sentiment was no threat to the government.
The very fact that people were calling on the government to take action ’is reaffirming its legitimacy to handle foreign affairs,’ he said.
Tensions have risen in recent months, as Vietnam has accused its neighbour of harassing seismic survey ships and fishing boats in a contested area of the South China Sea, including the Spratlys.
The potentially mineral-rich islands are the subject of conflicting claims by China, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.
