Identifying the peaceful evolution plot through the incident in Dak Lak

Identifying plots to exploit ethnic and religious issues for sabotage

The trick of exploiting ethnic and religious issues to incite secession in ethnic minority areas and divide the great national unity bloc is carried out by hostile forces regularly and continuously, sometimes secretly and sometimes openly. They also train a team of "henchmen" and build scenarios quite carefully and methodically. If we are negligent or lose our vigilance for just a minute, they will mobilize forces to cause disturbances, even armed violence. From there, they destabilize the situation, create a buzz and use human rights as an excuse to interfere in our internal affairs.

Regarding the incident in Dak Lak, as of June 23, 2023,A total of 84 defendants involved have been prosecuted., including: 75 defendants for the crime of "terrorism against the people's government" (according to Article 113 of the 2015 Penal Code), 7 defendants for the crime of "failure to report a crime" (Article 390 of the 2015 Penal Code), 1 defendant for the crime of concealing a crime (Article 389 of the 2015 Penal Code), 1 defendant for the crime of "Organizing or brokering for others to illegally exit, enter or stay in Vietnam" (Article 348 of the 2015 Penal Code).

Through initial investigation, the participants were mostly young people, who committed the act due to incitement and provocation through cyberspace and were incited to divide the Kinh people and ethnic minorities. The basic cause was the plot of hostile forces, exiled FULRO members inciting some ethnic minorities to divide with the Kinh people, causing disorder in the area and causing a stir abroad.

The Ministry of Public Security assessed that this was a terrorist attack against the people's government with extremely serious consequences. The acts of the subjects were very barbaric and inhumane, demonstrating their determination to carry out the crime to the end. The police force has documents and evidence proving that the case was also supported and directed by a number of organizations and individuals abroad, even sending subjects from abroad to illegally enter Vietnam to stage and direct terrorist attacks.

In recent years, in exile, FULRO organizations such as the “Mountain People’s Association” (MFI); “Montagnard Human Rights” (MHRO); “Unified Montagnards” (UMP) have been trying to propagate and sabotage the Party and State of Vietnam under the guise of inciting the Central Highlands people to fight for the establishment of an independent state. In the country, the remnants of FULRO forces have shown signs of reactivation when they took advantage of new religious phenomena such as “Ha Mon” and “Bo Dap Brau” to spread superstition and incite sabotage, complicating the security situation and social order in some localities.

One argument that hostile forces have continuously used year after year to incite the people of the Central Highlands is: Propaganda that "the Central Highlands land belongs to the Montagnards", "the Kinh people take the land of their compatriots in their own homeland"... This is not only an argument that deliberately denies the ethnic policies of the Party and State but also aims to divide the solidarity between the Kinh people and ethnic minorities, creating land claims, protests, riots, affecting socio-economic development, maintaining political security, and social order and safety.

They thoroughly distort to create and deepen the conflict between the Kinh and the Montagnards, taking advantage of some local officials' mistakes and shortcomings to incite people to gather to fight, cause trouble, and demonstrate. They take advantage of and focus on issues of ethnicity, religion, democracy, human rights, and land, considering these as "triggers" to incite "anti-Kinh" ideas of secession and autonomy.

Internationally, exiled reactionary organizations and bad elements have taken full advantage of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to spread false propaganda. They have taken advantage of international forums to accuse Vietnam of “oppressing and committing genocide against ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands”, calling on the US and the United Nations to intervene and exert diplomatic pressure on Vietnam.

How it worksreactionary organizations in exileand the number of bad subjects often proceed in the following steps: Propaganda, enticement, bribery, seduction, threats, incitement of people to follow them; taking advantage of religion, establishing illegal religious organizations and through proselytizing to promote secession; taking advantage of conflicts among the people, shortcomings in implementing the ethnic policies of our State, organizing riots, demonstrations, and complaints. At the same time, slandering our State for discrimination, discrimination, and oppression against ethnic minorities; sowing conflicts between ethnic minorities and Kinh people, dividing the great national unity bloc; increasing activities in international forums, including forums of the United Nations to promote prestige, distorting Vietnam's ethnic policies.

Be aware of news streams

Immediately after the incident in Dak Lak (June 11, 2023), reactionary organizations and opportunists created a "wave" of media on cyberspace to distort, falsify, and defame the regime and sabotage Vietnam. They especially took advantage of associations and groups on social networks to share and disrupt information. Many articles and comments expressed the gloating attitude of reactionary subjects at the sacrifices and losses of their compatriots. News sites of the reactionary organization Viet Tan and exiled reactionary organizations often use images to cut, stage, and distort the incident to post online in the form of clips.

Their purpose is to disrupt information, destabilize the situation and create conflicts and tensions between ethnic groups, dividing the great national unity bloc. Clips such as “Land grabbing everywhere in the Central Highlands”, “The situation of the oppressed Montagnards”, “When the Central Highlands is no longer home”, “CSCĐ oppresses and seizes land of the Montagnards”, etc. are shared by thousands of fake accounts on hundreds of groups, attracting a lot of viewers.

At first, when the information spread on social networks, many people followed and did not verify it, so they were somewhat confused and hesitant. However, immediately after that, media agencies, newspapers, television stations, the Ministry of Public Security's Electronic Information Portal, the Government, etc. promptly reported the news and images of the incident. This contributed significantly to the orientation of information, thereby mobilizing the strength of the masses in investigating and arresting criminals. With very quick and effective measures of the authorities, the active support and assistance of the people, especially in mobilizing people to surrender and arrest, after only 2 days of the incident, the situation in the area stabilized. The police arrested most of the participants and seized weapons, explosives, and supporting tools.

Regarding the incident, foreign news sites such as RFA, BBC Vietnamese, and VOA Vietnamese also regularly update the situation. Of course, interspersed in the news are articles and comments that are generalized and lacking in practicality. Many commentaries such as "What else does the Cu Kuin gunfire show and who does it serve?" (RFA), "Has Dak Lak returned to normal?" (VOA), "The story of the Central Highlands and the ethnic people of the mountains and forests in my heart" (BBC), "The shooting in Dak Lak: Are the Central Highlanders the poorest part of the population?", ... have reported information about the incident in a one-sided way. The purpose is to give the world a distorted view of the situation in Vietnam. From there, reactionary organizations call for intervention in Vietnam under the guise of civil rights, ethnicity, and democracy. This is a "slow and steady" trick in the peaceful evolution strategy that imperialist countries have long used to sabotage Vietnam.

Obviously, the incident that occurred in Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak province on June 11 caused serious consequences for human life, negatively affected local security and order, and showed the hooliganism and barbarism of the perpetrators.

For the people, propaganda to help them clearly identify the plots and tricks of hostile and reactionary forces that take advantage of ethnic issues to sabotage Vietnam is very necessary and must be carried out regularly. From there, raise awareness, contribute to preventing and stopping sabotage, join hands to protect the regime, protect the peaceful life of ethnic minorities in particular, and the Vietnamese people in general.