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GETTY IMAGES
US President Joe Biden visited Hanoi in September last year

By Jonathan HeadBBC
BBC News

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If countries can be said to go in and
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out of fashion, then Vietnam is
certainly having its moment in an
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spotlight.
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Once better known for sitting quietly
in the strategic shadows, its leaders
almost unknown to the rest of the
world, Vietnam is now being courted
by everyone.
US President Joe Biden and and
Chinese leader Xi Jinping both visited
last year. The US saw its relationship
with Vietnam elevated to the highest
level possible, that of a
"comprehensive strategic partnership".
Vietnam has agreed to 18 existing or
planned free trade arrangements. Its
collaboration is being sought on
climate change, supply chain resilience,
Create
pandemic preparedness and a host of
other issues.
a free
It is viewed as a vital regional player in
BBC
the growing US-China rivalry; in the
South China Sea, where it contests
account
China's claim to some island groups;
and as the best alternative to China for
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outsourcing manufacturing.
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What has not changed is the iron grip
account?

the Communist Party keeps on power,

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and over all forms of political

expression.
Vietnam is one of only five Communist,
one-party states left in the world. No
political opposition is permitted.
Dissidents are routinely jailed and the
repression has become even more
severe in recent years. Decision-
making at the top of the party is
shrouded in secrecy.
However, a leaked internal document
from the Politburo of the Central
Committee, the highest decision-
making body in Vietnam, has shone a
Create
rare light on what the party's most

a free
senior leaders think about all these
international partnerships.

BBC
The document, known as Directive 24,
was obtained by Project88, a human
account
rights organisation focussed on
Vietnam. References to it in several
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party publications suggest it is
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genuine. account?

It was issued by the Politburo

Sign in last July,

and contains dire warnings about the

threat posed to national security from
"hostile and reactionary forces"
brought to Vietnam through its
growing international ties.
These, Directive 24 argues, will
"increase their sabotage and internal
political transformation activities…
forming 'civil society' alliances and
networks, 'independent trade unions',
creating the premise for the formation
of domestic political opposition
groups".
Create
The document urges party officials at

a free
all levels to be rigorous in countering
these influences. It warns that for all

BBC
Vietnam's apparent economic
successes, "security in the economy,

account
finance, currency, foreign investment,
energy, labour is not firm, there is a
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latent risk of foreign dependence,
manipulation, and seizures
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'sensitive areas'".
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This is alarmist stuff. In none of its
public pronouncements has the
Vietnamese government sounded so
insecure. So what does it mean?
 Create
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GETTY IMAGES
The document was signed off by the Vietnamese

BBC
Communist Party's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong

Ben Swanton, co-director of Project88,

account
is in no doubt that Directive 24 heralds
the start of an even harsher campaign
Registerand civil
against human rights activists
society groups. Already have an
account?
He cites the nine orders Sign
at the
in end of
the document to party officials, to
police social media to counter "false
propaganda", to "not allow the
formation of independent political
organisations", and to be alert for
people taking advantage of the
increased contact with international
institutions to stir up "colour
revolutions" and "street revolutions".
"The mask is off," says Ben Swanton.
"Vietnam's rulers are saying they
intend to violate human rights as a
matter of policy."
US denies Cold War with China in

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historic Vietnam visit
Xi in Vietnam to rekindle a love-hate
relationship a free
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Not everyone sees it this way.
"Directive 24 does not signal a new
account
wave of internal repression against civil
society and pro-democracy activists so
Register
much as business as usual, that is, the
Already have an
continuing repression ofaccount?
these
activists," says Carlyle Thayer,
Sign in emeritus
professor of politics at the University
of New South Wales and a renowned
scholar on Vietnam.
He cites the timing of the directive,
published right after the US and
Vietnam had agreed to their higher-
level partnership, and just two months
before President Biden's visit.
This was a momentous decision, he
says, driven by the party's fear that the
impact of the Covid pandemic and the
economic slowdown in China would
prevent Vietnam from reaching its goal
of becoming a developed, high-income
Create
country by 2045. It needed closer ties

a free
with the US to move its fast-growing
economy up to the next level.

BBC
Hardliners inside the party feared the
US would inevitably encourage pro-
account
democracy sentiment in Vietnam, and
threaten the party's monopoly on
Register
power.
Already have an
Professor Thayer believes the
account?

combative language used inin

Sign Directive
24 was intended to reassure hardliners
that this would not happen. He thinks
the decision to have General Secretary
Nguyen Phu Trong, not just the most
powerful political figure in Vietnam
but also a known communist
ideologue, personally sign the new
partnership was intended do the same
thing.
What Directive 24 does illustrate
clearly is the dilemma Vietnam's
communist leaders face as their
country becomes a global
manufacturing and trading
powerhouse.
Create
Vietnam is not large enough to do

a free
what China has done, and seal itself off
behind its own "great firewall". Social
BBC
media platforms like Facebook are
easily accessible there; Vietnam needs
account
foreign investment and technology to
keep growing quickly and cannot
Register
afford to cut itself off.
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account?
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GETTY IMAGES
Vietnam hopes to become a developed, high-income

BBC
country by 2045

Some of the free trade deals Vietnam

account
has agreed to, like the big one with the
EU finalised in 2020, come with human
Register
and labour rights clauses attached to
them. Vietnam has also ratified
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have an
account?
of the International Labour
Sign in
Organization's (ILO) conventions,
though notably not the one requiring
freedom of assembly.
But Directive 24 suggests it is
reluctant to honour these clauses.
In it, the party demands explicit limits
on how independent trade unions can
be, ordering officials to "strictly pilot
the establishment of … employee
organisations; take proactive initiatives
when participating in the International
Labour Organization's Convention that
protects freedom of association and
the right to organise, ensuring the
ongoing leadership of the Party,
Create
leadership of party cells, and
government management at all levels."
a free
In other words, yes to co-operation

BBC
with the ILO, a firm no to any trade
union which is not controlled by the
party.
account
Ben Swanton argues that Directive 24
Register
shows would-be Western partners of
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Vietnam that their agreements
account? on
human or labour rights areSignnothing
in
more than a fig-leaf, politely covering
the deals they have made with a
political system incapable of
respecting individual rights.
Which civil society groups, he asks, will
be allowed to monitor these free trade
agreements, when we have already
seen six environmental and climate
campaigners jailed on spurious
grounds at a time when Vietnam has
just signed a huge energy transition
partnership with Western
governments?
There was a time, several decades ago,
when one party Marxist-Leninist states
Create
were thought by many to be the future,

a free
bringing modernity, progress and
economic fairness to the world's
poorest societies.
BBC
Today they are a historical anomaly.
account
Even China is seen as a political model
by very few, however admired its
economic successes may Register
be.
Already have an
Vietnam's leaders are hoping
account?to pull

off something of a conjuring

Sign intrick;

maintaining the strict control they

have long held over the political lives
of their people, while at the same time
exposing them to all the ideas and
inspirations that may come from
overseas, in the hope that these will
keep the economic fires burning bright.
Related Topics
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