Lesson 1: The reactionary organization Viet Tan and its illusions
(Baonghean)As reported by Nghe An Newspaper, over two days (January 8-9, 2013), the People's Court of Nghe An province tried and sentenced 14 individuals to a total of 82 years in prison for the crime of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government," orchestrated and directed by the Viet Tan organization. So what is the Viet Tan organization? What are its origins, purposes, and methods of operation? Nghe An Newspaper will provide some information to help readers and the public better understand this reactionary organization…
The war is long over, and the Vietnamese people have closed the chapter on their tragic and heroic past to integrate and develop. However, hostile forces have not abandoned their subversive plots in all areas and by all means to destabilize the political system. They even harbor the delusion of wanting to change the political system, to eliminate the leading role of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and to overthrow the people's government in Vietnam. A prime example of these hostile forces is the "Vietnam Revolutionary Renewal Party," abbreviated as "Viet Tan."
The Security Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security (Vietnam) has investigated and clarified that the Viet Tan organization, formerly composed of former South Vietnamese soldiers, officials, and civil servants who fled before and after 1975, was led by Hoang Co Minh, a former Brigadier General and Vice Admiral of the Saigon Navy. The process of establishing the Viet Tan organization unfolded as follows: On April 30, 1980, in California (USA), Hoang Co Minh, along with Dang Quoc Hien, Duong Van Tu, Nguyen Kim, Truong Tan Loc, and Nguyen Huy (all officers of the former Saigon regime), established the "Overseas Militia Force" to oppose the Vietnamese revolution through armed activities. In 1981, Hoang Co Minh merged with the "Free Vietnamese" organization in Japan led by Ly Thai Hung and the "Vietnam Renaissance" organization to form the "National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam," headed by Hoang Co Minh. In 1982, in the mountainous region of Udon Thani (Thailand), Hoang Co Minh established the "Vietnam Revolutionary Renewal Party," abbreviated as "Viet Tan," to command all activities of the "National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam." Viet Tan's platform and charter clearly stated its purpose: "to end the dictatorial one-party rule of the Vietnamese Communist Party...", and to carry out armed terrorist activities and sabotage the socialist regime of Vietnam. Despite its seemingly grand and impressive organizational structure, Hoang Co Minh and his accomplices were merely a group of terrorists, fraudsters, power-hungry individuals, and those seeking money obtained through the "collection" and deception of some overseas Vietnamese. In reality, Minh and his unemployed "comrades" in the US established the exiled reactionary organization Viet Tan simply out of the illusion of continuing to be "bosses."
The Viet Tan organization has exploited a small number of overseas Vietnamese for personal reasons, driven by resentment, dissatisfaction, and some harboring illusions and nostalgia for the old regime, to entice and manipulate them. Besides financial exploitation, Viet Tan spares no effort in glorifying them, calling them "democracy fighters," "progressive intellectuals," and "knights of the era" to create illusions for this group. Since its inception, Viet Tan has defrauded many overseas Vietnamese and carried out activities aimed at dividing, attacking, threatening, and even using violence against political organizations or individuals who do not comply with them. In the United States, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has even launched a special investigation into some of Viet Tan's leaders for illegal business activities and tax evasion. Foreign media have also exposed Viet Tan's deceptive tactics against overseas Vietnamese.
Driven by their insane ambitions, from their base in Udon (Thailand), from 1982 to 1989, the "Viet Tan" group launched three campaigns: "Eastward Advance 1," "Eastward Advance 2," and "Eastward Advance 3," infiltrating armed groups into Vietnam to establish "secret bases," carrying out riots and terrorist activities with the aim of overthrowing the Vietnamese people's government. Vietnamese security forces, in coordination with the Lao armed forces, surrounded, pursued, captured, and eliminated these stubborn individuals, including Hoang Co Minh, seizing numerous weapons and other equipment.
However, this group of exiled reactionary remnants still refuses to abandon their plots and ambitions against the Vietnamese people's government. Driven by their insane delusions, they devise many schemes to attract public attention. Abroad, Viet Tan launched a "yellow flag campaign" to rekindle anti-Vietnam sentiment among some exiled Vietnamese reactionaries; they exploited the "Vietnamese American Political Action Committee" (VPAC) to spread propaganda against our State. On September 19, 2004, in Berlin (Federal Republic of Germany), they held a "launch ceremony," publicly establishing the Viet Tan organization, and subsequently made announcements in several places around the world such as the United States, Norway, France, Belgium, etc., to gather forces, build prestige, and carry out their conspiracies and intentions against Vietnam. This organization also formed "cross-river" groups and "national alliance groups" with the aim of sending people back to Vietnam to carry out terrorist activities, distribute leaflets, etc., in order to incite riots and cause panic among the people. For example, in mid-2007, Viet Tan sent accomplices to Vietnam to carry out the "Eastward Advance 7" campaign, distributing leaflets calling for a boycott of the 12th National Assembly elections. More brazenly, they planned to publicly establish the Viet Tan organization in Vietnam by the end of 2008. At the same time, they continued to send reactionary, disgruntled, and politically opportunistic individuals under the guise of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals such as Nguyen Quoc Quan, Nguyen Ngoc Duc, Nguyen Thi Thanh Van… to infiltrate Vietnam both openly and illegally through the Vietnam-Cambodia border.
The mission of these individuals is to train, gather forces, motivate and encourage their accomplices domestically, disrupt public order and security, distribute leaflets against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and recruit relatives to join the organization... Many members of the Viet Tan organization have been prosecuted and tried by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for treason, banditry, and terrorism. However, the remnants of Viet Tan have not abandoned armed activities, inciting riots and protests against Vietnam. Therefore, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security has listed Viet Tan as a terrorist organization and notified the United States on April 4, 2007.
When armed and terrorist activities in Vietnam failed, Viet Tan shifted its operations to a "peaceful evolution" approach, employing "non-violent" struggle. However, it did not abandon its goal of eliminating the Communist Party and overthrowing the people's government in Vietnam. Taking advantage of the Party and State's reform policies, Viet Tan continued to send numerous individuals into Vietnam under various guises such as visiting relatives, tourism, investment, trade, education, and repatriation, in order to organize propaganda, develop its forces, and openly operate within the country. Simultaneously, they thoroughly exploited information technology to search for, contact, entice, and recruit individuals within the country as members of the organization, assigning these individuals tasks such as disseminating reactionary articles and documents on the Internet, exploiting issues of maritime sovereignty and combating corruption, etc., to incite and provoke public protests, instigate workers to strike, and carry out subversive activities against our state. Recently, the Viet Tan organization, led by Do Hoang Diem, along with key figures such as Luong Van My, also known as "Duong" or "Tran," Nguyen Kim, also known as "Tan," Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, also known as "Thao," Nguyen Ngoc Duc, also known as "Quang," Nguyen Hoang Thanh Tam, also known as "Thanh," Ngo Trong Duc, also known as "Minh," Nguyen Quang Quan, etc., have traveled to several Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Laos, the Philippines, and Cambodia to recruit and entice individuals from within Vietnam to join the Viet Tan organization abroad for training. Viet Tan's plan is to demand pluralism and a multi-party opposition through various methods and tactics, openly establishing Viet Tan within the country under the guise of "non-violent struggle" and "national renewal," aiming to eliminate the role of the Communist Party of Vietnam, overthrow the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, destroy the achievements of the revolution, and undermine the people's government that generations of Vietnamese people have shed so much blood and intellect to regain.
The defendants at the trial.
Returning to the case of the 14 defendants recently tried and sentenced to 82 years in prison by the People's Court of Nghe An province for the crime of "activities aimed at overthrowing the people's government" under Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 79 of the Penal Code: Between early 2009 and the end of 2011, these individuals were repeatedly taken abroad by the Viet Tan organization for training, instruction, and introduction to its principles, objectives, and action plans aimed at overthrowing the people's government through "peaceful evolution." A notable example is the "Quang Trung 711" training course in Thailand from July 25th to 30th, 2011. The training course's content included methods of "non-violent" struggle and propaganda, instruction on "the history of the Viet Tan organization and its websites," "firewall bypass and cybersecurity programs," "information on international and Vietnamese situations," "methods of recruiting members," "inciting 'victims of injustice,' 'leadership skills,' and "how to deal with security agencies," etc. All expenses for trips to Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, the United States, and other locations, as well as the training courses, were covered by the leaders of the "Viet Tan" organization abroad. After completing the training, these individuals were formally "inducted" into the Viet Tan organization. They were also provided with money and equipment such as computers, cameras, hidden cameras, and telephones, and instructed to use pseudonyms to carry out criminal activities in Vietnam to avoid detection by authorities.
Upon returning to Vietnam, they carried out the following tasks: propagating and developing their forces, inciting the masses to cause unrest and instability, writing articles distorting the Party's views and policies, and exploiting the anti-corruption campaign as a pretext to carry out political schemes under the direction and manipulation of key Viet Tan elements abroad. The actions of these individuals were part of Viet Tan's "illusory" ambition to overthrow the people's government and eliminate the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam. This is clearly demonstrated in the defendants' testimonies during their interactions with the investigating authorities and at the trial. Particularly noteworthy is the testimony of defendant Ho Duc Hoa (alias Thin), born in 1974, residing in Hamlet 4, Quynh Vinh Commune, Quynh Luu District, Nghe An Province – a key participant and active member of the Viet Tan organization. During training sessions, Hoa Khai received lectures from core members of Viet Tan on "non-violent struggle methods," clearly outlining Viet Tan's objectives: "Using non-violent struggle methods to eliminate the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam and implement a multi-party system," and "Viet Tan's activities have four stages: preparation; building forces; crossing the border to raise its flag and publicly establishing Viet Tan within the country; and the final stage, mobilizing the masses to force the Communist Party of Vietnam to accept and implement a multi-party system..."
Thus, despite numerous transformations and support from forces hostile to Vietnam, for decades, Viet Tan has remained merely a mixed group of small individuals with anti-nationalist ideologies, serving only as a tool for foreign powers to undermine the country. The shift from "armed" and "terrorist" activities to "peaceful" and "non-violent" ones is simply a change in modus operandi, employing more sophisticated methods of "peaceful evolution" under the guise of "democracy," "human rights," and "green revolution," as has occurred in several countries around the world. The essence and purpose of this exiled, reactionary, and terrorist organization remain unchanged. This is not a new tactic, but a long-standing method employed by the Viet Tan against our revolution; its ultimate goal is to overthrow the people's government – the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The conspiracies, schemes, and delusions of these fanatical, insidious, and cunning reactionary forces are so extreme that, more than ever, all strata of the people must raise their revolutionary vigilance, prevent and crush all their terrorist and subversive plots and plans to protect our Party – the vanguard of the working class, the laboring people, and the Vietnamese nation; and protect our State – a state of the people, by the people, and for the people!
(to be continued)
PVPL Group
