Vietnamese version: Âm mưu Quyết Định 1334 của Nhà nước Cộng Sản Việt Nam…

1) An Introduction

After the fall of Vietnam, none of those who involved with the Republic of Vietnam could live in peace under the Vietnamese Communist regime.  To survive, day after day, the people of South Vietnam had to put on new faces and pretended to be ignorant. Any sounds of dog barking or knocking at the door at night could cause one to freak out in cold sweats thinking that the Communist police were at his or her door to arrest or kill him or her. All citizens and everything must be under local government’s strict management. Any actions that caused suspicion or displease to the Viet Cong rulers could result in death or imprisonment with less chance to survive. The “puppet army and puppet government” were deprived of all freedom, dignity, and property. Their future was no more than that of slaves while subjecting to cruel revenge from the victorious Vietnamese Communists.

Not only the parents but also their children were victims of the communists when they (children) were caught in the so-called “revolutionary résumé” stamped on their future as they were denied admissions into any universities or getting any decent jobs. In other words, children whose parents were involved with the former government faced very dark and uncertain future.

Even though one understood that escaping Vietnam for freedom meant facing deaths in multiple ways; one had to leave because no one could live in the living hell. At that time, the Vietnamese Communist Government used bitter and hatred words to condemn the escapees as “…traitors following the footprints of American imperialists for leftover butter and milk…”

Leaving the country meant leaving behind a homeland that was immersed in outdated and ragged Marxism-Leninism. That meant leaving behind the beloved Vietnam writhing under the worst dictatorship by party members and cadres who had no or little academic achievements, but possessed the egregiousness of the extremists and preoccupied with bad ideology, deceitfulness, and revenge! With such circumstances, it was predicted that the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) would soon bring the country to the brink of bankruptcy. However, luckily enough and thank to the dollars from the Vietnamese refugees abroad, the skin of Vietnamese people in the country has changed.  In addition, the changes in Vietnam followed the Vietnamese refugees’ achievements, especially the emerging and ongoing intellectual properties contributed by the refugees to their new countries.

What happened next was the shameless VCP (Vietnamese Communist Party) did a 180-degree change in its attitude; from insulting to caressing and praising in the flattering tone: “The Vietnamese abroad are the thousands-of-miles intestine and inseparable part of the nation”. On March 26, 2004 (nearly 19 years ago), the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam (VCP Politburo) issued Resolution 36 (Nghị Quyết 36, or NQ36) signed by Phan Diễn – a Member of the Politburo, Standing Committee of the Central Secretariat; to recruit Vietnamese refugees abroad to invest in Vietnam. Resolution 36 is the first document by the Politburo regarding “The tasks on Vietnamese living abroad.” The content of NQ36 was no different from the same old versions of the books of deception left by Hồ Chí Minh. The content of NQ36 had flattering words to seduce and promise to create the favorable conditions for the “thousands-of-miles intestine” to return to build the country, while inducing nostalgia and sense of attachment to the homeland. At the same time, to support its trick to lure Vietnamese overseas to return, VCP repeatedly released songs such as “Homeland is a bunch of sweet star fruits;” or the rhetoric of “Cultural exchange,” or the policy of “National harmony and reconciliation.”

Is it a redundant to talk about NQ36? No, not at all! In fact, it would be a shortcoming to address the communists’ conspiracies in Decision 1334 without discussing NQ36, served as the premise for Decision 1334.

2) NQ36 – Reasons for the VCP’s failures after nearly 19 years of operations:

– NQ36 targeted the first generation of Vietnamese refugees overseas. Most of those had countless experiences about the treacherous deceptions of the VCP. The Vietnamese openly distrusted the Communists by denouncing and condemning the conspiracies of NQ36. Vietnamese Nationalist Party has contributed its large part in denouncing the VCP by providing comments, analyses, radio and television discussions; and organizing conferences within the Vietnamese community to explain and point out the evil intentions of NQ36.

– Despite continuous efforts by the Politburo, there were only a few Viet Cong with concealed identity, and gullible Vietnamese returned to Vietnam. Some were deceived by the VCP, left Vietnam empty handed, and dared not look at others for fear of seeing others as embarrassing! An example was Trinh Vinh Binh, known as the eggroll king of the Netherlands, who filed lawsuits at an international court against the VCP for being exploited out of property and resources.

– Eleven years later, on May 19, 2015, after realizing the failures of NQ36, the Party decided to put every effort to promote NQ36. This time, Directive 45/TU (CT45) was enacted by Lê Hồng Anh – a Member of the Politburo, Standing Committee of the Central Secretariat. There were warnings found in CT45 regarding the delay in implementations of NQ36.

– Seventeen years later, on August 12, 2021, the VCP still experienced total failures despite desperate attempts from all government branches to implement CT45 to further NQ36. The Politburo hold several secret meetings at Đồ Sơn resort to look for solutions for NQ36. A copy of “Conclusion of the Politburo on the tasks on Vietnamese people living abroad [Resolution 36] in the new situation” signed by Võ Văn Thưởng, a a Member of the Politburo, Standing Committee of the Central Secretariat, included a paragraph which admitted the defeats and failures as: “The tasks on Vietnamese living abroad [NQ36] still have limitations. There were places and certain times when the tasks did not receive proper attentions from agencies and organizations. The tasks to understand the community situations; exert instructions or request; coordinate the implementations of the guidelines and policies were not thorough, strict, and timely; (we) have not yet advanced the potential and strengths of the peoples abroad.”

– Four months later, on December 31, 2021, the Politburo assigned the responsibility to implement NQ36 to the government. The Government issued Resolution 169/CP (CP is the abbreviation for Chính Phủ, or Government) signed by Phạm Bình Minh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, purposely supported NQ36 once again: “Resolution 169 Promulgating Government’s Action Program to continue to strongly promote and implement NQ36, CT45, Conclusion 12 on the tasks on Vietnamese overseas between 2021-2026.”

For the period of 17 years between 2004 and 2021, the Politburo has mobilized all its internal and external resources, departments, and branches to recruit Vietnamese refugees to return home, do business, and so on; but most Vietnamese refugees ignored the deceitful VCP.

3) The new situations and new deceptions

– In September 2023, President Joe Biden visited Hanoi and raised US diplomacy to the highest level of  “comprehensive strategic partnership.” The Vietnamese Communists entered a new phase of relations with the superpower United States. There is no longer hindrance between the US and Vietnam. Both countries signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with details announced on the White House website as “Joint Leaders’ Statement: Elevating United States-Vietnam Relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”(1) A number of key points include: “The US will invest in the innovation economy, cooperate in science and technology, especially the semiconductor technology – Strengthen trade, investments, and economic cooperation – Nurture Vietnamese and Americans through educational and training cooperation.”

Based on the new development; on November 10, 2023, Vietnam issued Decision 1334/QĐ-TTg (QĐ1334), signed by Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang on behalf of Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính with central theme as: “Promoting the resources of the Vietnamese living abroad, serving the country’s developments in the new situation”.

In the past, the Vietnamese overseas have successfully opposed Resolution 36. Can they now apply those experiences to oppose Decision 1334? We need to analyze the differences.

– In general, NQ36 and Decision 1334 serve the same purpose. Both “promote the potential of Vietnamese living abroad;” but NQ36 targeted the first generation of Vietnamese refugees who had dreadful experiences with the VCP; whereas Decision 1334 targets the refugees’ second and third generations – the descendants with high qualifications in science and technologies who may not be fully aware of the evil schemes of the VCP and may easily fall into the “materialistic baits” ensnared by the VCP.

– The main reasons for the total failures of NQ36 were that the VCP targeted those who did not “reconcile” with the Communists. NQ36 did not focus on “specific outcomes,” or placed too much emphasis on the numbers to be achieved; except for attracting as many people as possible to do business in Vietnam. On the contrary, Decision 1334 emphasizes the importance of having the required number(s) of experts to start any companies.

– The United States must have known the scarcity of experts in semiconductor field in Vietnam, plus the high risks of investing in the country; but to minimize risks, the US will certainly cooperate with the VCP to recruit “human capital.”

– Per Decision 1334, the VCP must recruit enough human capital to develop any companies. Otherwise, any American company which aims at investing in Vietnam could flee the country as Intel did due to the lack of “resources”- an extremely important chain for the rise and fall of a semiconductor company.

– If the Vietnamese Communist Party could not recruit enough experts, no semiconductor companies would dare to invest in Vietnam. Therefore, the VCP’s semiconductor dream is not different from watching “the flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water.” As a result, by any means, the VCP must implement Decision 1334 to continue to show off its “achievements,” and maintain the party’s dictatorship.

What will the Party do to the Community overseas to fulfill Decision 1334?

– The VCP will recruit engineers and experts through employment agencies where skillful local agents could find and contact those they look for.
– Through “parties” hosted by US companies where Vietnamese communist cadres/officials will come to socialize and build networking systems. Then, the communists will contact and invite specific individuals for targeted professions in Vietnam.
– The VCP will contact top people of companies with the possibility of investments in semiconductor field, and will offer “good” incentives.
– Vietnam will organize spring festivals, youth summer camps; recruit the talented; host seminars to invite experts abroad to come and give presentations, and so on.
– The VCP will use “fraternal” cities of the US and Vietnam to begin the pro-communist communities to oppose the legitimate communities of Vietnamese refugees overseas.
– Vietnamese Communist officials will utilize the most attractive “materialistic” tricks, the sweetest but flattery words to praise and invite Vietnamese experts to work in Vietnam. This time, the VCP targets experts in various technological fields, especially semiconductors; those who are second and third generations of Vietnamese refugees and who may not fluent in Vietnamese.

4) Suggestions for actions against Decision 1334

Point out the differences between actions against NQ36 and Decision 1334.

In the past, actions against NQ36 were successful thanks to:

– The powerful condemnations of NQ36 by various anti-communist organizations and political parties in the refugee community.
– The first generation of Vietnamese refugees was the target of NQ36. This generation was easy to connect and sympathize with each other.
– It was not difficult to invite large numbers of Vietnamese to participate in conferences, gatherings, meetings hosted by the Vietnamese community. 
– The radio and TV discussions in Vietnamese language produced specific outcomes.

In general, all efforts to denounce the evil plot of NQ 36 were quite favorable and successful.

Actions taken against NQ36 may not quite effective against Decision1334 due to:

– The difficulty in inviting the second or third generations to attend the older generation’s discussions on the conspiracies of Decision 1334.
– Due to language barrier, it could be difficult to convey the messages to the second and third generations using Vietnamese TV and radios.
– As a result, the analytical articles in Vietnamese posted on the internet and press about the conspiracies of Decision1334 might not be youth’s favorites.

– The key issue is to help young people of second and third generations of refugees to understand thoroughly the conspiracies of Decision 1334. Otherwise, they could be deceived by the communists; the same way some of our forefathers were during the anti-French period of 1945 when the term “independence” was used by Hồ Chí Minh to trick the forefathers into working for the Communists.

5) Some suggestions for actions against Decision 1334

– This is not a one-time job, but needs to be consistent. Every household of Vietnamese abroad must be informed of the VCP’s evil schemes evidenced by Decision 1334; thereby asking parents of the first generation of refugees to explain and convince their children to not listen to the communists’ enticements to work for Vietnam.
– Build a “network” of the second and third generations through online media (i.e., email, Facebook, Twitter [X], Instagram, and so on).
– Translate into English and email articles on VCP’s schemes to further young peoples’ deeper understanding of the root of issues in order to make their own decisions on whether to work in Vietnam.
– Request and host conferences, seminars, discussions in English for students and the Vietnamese Student Associations of US universities and colleges to help younger generations to be fully aware of the VCP’s schemes expressed in Decision 1334.
– Collect short pieces of news about negative experiences of those doing business in Vietnam; translate the specific news into English; and post them on social media, email, Facebook, Twitter [X], Instagram to inform young people.
– Host online events and invite experts to present and discuss topics related to Decision 1334.
– Decision 1334 is the only chance of survival of the Communist Party, with the help of the US. If each and every organization and community – equipped with its own initiatives – could join and take actions together; Decision 1334 will definitely be defeated.

Coming to Vietnam to work will not be an opportunity for advancements, but can be disastrous for one’s future and career due to the dictator VCP’s notoriously known for its “Juicing the lemon, discarding the peel.” The law in Vietnam equals the law of the jungle, talent is not equal to cunning and deceit… The VCP has created a society of habitual fraudulence, deception, and betrayal. The opened and sincere heart of young individuals growing up in the civilized European and American societies will not be different from the figure of a sheep getting lost in the midst of the wolves that are Vietnamese Communists.

From the United States on December 23, 2023
Lê Thành Nhân (lethanhnhan@vietquoc.org)

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(1) US President Biden and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong announced the US-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership