Key Events:
- Project88 Report: Vietnam Fails on Fulfilling Just Energy Transition
- Public Security Minister Boasts About Government Investment in Cybersecurity Police
- Human Rights Groups Urge Vietnam to Release Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen
Project88 Report: Vietnam Fails on Fulfilling Just Energy Transition
A report recently released by civil society organization Project88 found that Vietnam has continued to rely on coal-fired energy and a crackdown on civil society groups despite its commitment to transitioning into clean energy under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). JETP provides financial grants to developing countries to achieve net zero emissions.
The report, titled “Apocalypse soon? Vietnam’s unjust energy transition,” published on Aug. 15, also highlights the lack of transparency in Hanoi’s energy transition policy and how the bulk of the funding, which totals around $15.5 billion, comes in the form of commercial loans rather than in financial grants. The JETP grants only account for 2% of the promised funds. Project88 argues that the risks of putting the country into debt could make Hanoi hesitant to accept financial assistance.
Meanwhile, severe energy shortages, especially in northern Vietnamese provinces during the summer of 2023, have forced the country to prioritize energy security over its promise to eliminate fossil fuel energy. The crisis resulted in more coal imports for energy production. According to the report, coal imports in 2023 increased by 61% compared to the previous year, while domestic mine production as of March 2024 was 3.3% higher than before. Vietnam also announced the expansion of mining operations and the construction of new mines nationwide.
The regime’s crackdown on members of civil society, green energy advocates, and other stakeholders has also become another hurdle to Hanoi’s fulfillment of net zero emissions and its pledge to shy away from nonrenewable energy sources. In recent years, numerous climate activists and leaders of the green movement have been imprisoned on charges that range from “tax evasion” to be found that they obtained “appropriation of official documents.” Notably, Project88 cited multiple sources who confirmed that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had turned down a proposal to establish a working group to examine the “just” factor in the country’s energy transition.
Project88 has called on the government to allow the public to debate and monitor its policy-making process to make its energy transition more transparent and inclusive. At the same time, the governments that fund Vietnam’s energy transition might consider providing financial support through grants or concessional loans. “Without open and robust participation, there is no way that the JETP can truly be just,” the report notes.
Col. Gen. Luong Tam Quang, the public security minister, revealed in a questioning session of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Aug. 22 that his ministry had established cybersecurity and high-tech crime prevention forces in all 63 provinces and centrally-controlled cities across the country. He said these forces were equipped with essential skills and technology to “combat high-tech cyber criminals.” Quang added that cyber threats are a shared problem and that the public security ministry is ready to ratify the United Nations Cybercrime Treaty and other forms of cooperation.
One problem is that Vietnam has utilized its cybersecurity laws to curb freedom of expression, using financial penalties and the arrest of government critics on social media. The country passed its 2018 Cybersecurity Law, drafted by the Ministry of Public Security. It has also introduced similar decrees that impose fines and prison terms on those charged with “defamation” and “slandering government leaders and party officials.” According to Luong Tam Quang, the ministry has vowed to modernize its Cybersecurity and High-tech Crime Prevention force by 2025.
“Resolving high-tech cybercrimes is the responsibility of the entire political system, including other government ministries and branches,” Quang declared in the session. Meanwhile, the colonel general added that his ministry had implemented several solutions to deal with the issue, such as implementing the electronic identification of its citizens and integrating such data into the National Population Database, which is exclusively controlled and managed by the Ministry of Public Security. Additionally, other public security agencies will be equipped with the necessary skills and tools to fight off “these high-tech cyber criminals,” Quang added.
Human Rights Groups Urge Vietnam to Free Activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen
Numerous human rights advocacy groups have called on the Vietnamese government to end the criminalization of free speech and democracy activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen, also known as Anh Chi, after a court in Hanoi sentenced him to five years in prison on charges of “distributing anti-state propaganda.”
Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, the executive director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), told The Online Citizen that Vietnam had violated the right to freedom of expression guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its own Constitution with the conviction of Anh Chi. In her statement, Diez-Bacalso also called on the Vietnamese Government to “immediately release Anh Chi and to uphold people’s freedom of expression and right to information.”
The Human Rights Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit organization that promotes freedom in closed societies, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Aug. 19 that it condemned the sentencing of Nguyen Chi Tuyen under Article 117 of the Penal Code. It also called on the Hanoi regime to “drop all charges and immediately and unconditionally release him.” The group added, “This sentence is yet another alarming example of the ongoing erosion of freedom of expression in the country.”
ARTICLE 19, an advocacy group promoting global freedom of expression, announced on Aug. 22 that Tuyen’s sentencing indicates that free expression “is in crisis in Vietnam.” It also encouraged the global community to pressure Hanoi to “repeal its repressive laws and uphold human rights.”
Quick takes:
According to Bui Van Cuong, chairman of the parliamentary office, the National Assembly will convene on Aug. 26 in an extraordinary session to appoint high-level governance positions. The National Assembly Organization Law 2014 states that the parliament can nominate and dismiss critical officials in this legislative body, including the prime minister and the state president. The extraordinary session will be held at the National Assembly House in Hanoi.
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Urges the Release of Faithful Montagnards:
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress has urged Vietnam to release two religious Montagnards on the International Day for Victims of Violence Based on Religion or Belief on Aug. 22. On X, the commission raised concerns over the persecution of Y Yich and Y Pum Bya, two Montagnard Christians imprisoned on “subversion” charges due to their religious activities. Meanwhile, on Aug. 24, Stephen Schneck, chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), also called on the State Department and Thai authorities to suspend the possible extradition of Christian rights activist Y Quynh Bdap to Vietnam, where “he would be at severe risk of torture and inhumane treatment.”
Vietnam Listed Among Countries that Restrict the Freedom of Movement of Political Dissidents:
Freedom House, a Washington-based nonprofit advocate for freedom of expression, listed Hanoi among the 55 governments restricting political dissidents’ right to free movement in a report titled “No Way In or Out: Authoritarian Controls on the Freedom of Movement.” The report notes that although freedom of movement is guaranteed in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, authoritarian regimes across the globe have curtailed the fundamental rights of journalists, democracy activists, former political prisoners, and dissidents by denying them passports or imposing exit bans.
Fulbright University Vietnam Condemns ‘Disinformation’ Attempts After Being Accused of Launching a ‘Color Revolution’:
Fulbright University Vietnam, an independent and not-for-profit education institution, published an announcement on Aug. 14 condemning the spread of disinformation on social media that accused it of launching an anti-government movement. The announcement was made after several influential pro-government figures and fan pages said the university is “a hub for raising reactionary forces” and is “launching a color revolution” following the recent political turmoil in Bangladesh. Fulbright University said it was “established based on extensive cooperation between Vietnam and the United States” and will always be “committed to serving Vietnamese society and respecting Vietnam’s laws.”
Russian President Putin’s Visit to Hanoi: Vietnam’s ‘Bamboo Diplomacy’ In Action
Fulcrum/ Ian Storey/ Aug. 23
“In the current context of an increasingly contested international environment, [Vladimir] Putin’s visit was also viewed by the CPV as further validation of its bamboo diplomacy. Hanoi has refused to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine War, and in so doing has managed to keep on good terms with all the major players and stakeholders in the conflict. Most significantly, over the past nine months, Vietnam has played host to the leaders of the ‘Big Three’: US President Joe Biden in September 2023; Chinese President Xi Jinping in December 2023; and President Putin in June 2024. Since the outbreak of the conflict, no other country has achieved this impressive feat.”
Vietnam’s New Ruler: Hardman, Capitalist, Hedonist
The Economist/ Aug. 21
“But Mr Lam’s connections to the private sector suggest that he may be sensitive to the concerns of the bourgeoisie. The austere Trong developed few links with business, preferring his ideological obsessions. In contrast the Ministry of Public Security that Mr Lam ran until recently is a player in the economy, owning several conglomerates and a telecoms firm. And To Dung, Mr Lam’s brother, is a business owner who has acquired interests in several industries including property, energy and rare earths, as well as the Piaggio distributorship in Vespa-mad Vietnam.”