A new Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

[Carl Robinson]

Autonomy protests, including the kidnapping of local officials, have broken out in remote Dien Bien Phu, scene of the epic battle between the Viet Minh and French in 1954.    

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13284122.

This remains a remote region -- but also one of the loveliest in Vietnam.

Best,

Carl

 

[Carl Robinson]

Here is latest from Dien Bien Phu with troops used to suppress the Hmong protesters.   Quite a comprehensive piece from AFP's Hanoi correspondent.   Note outside reports say 28 killed and hundreds missing.   I presume these Hmong are the same as across the nearby border in Laos and note how Hanoi is blaming "outsiders" for instigating the protest.    Best, Carl 

  

Vietnam troops use force at rare Hmong protest

by Ian Timberlake

HANOI, May 5, 2011 (AFP) - Vietnamese soldiers clashed with ethnic Hmong after thousands staged a rare protest in a remote mountain area calling for greater autonomy and religious freedom, a military source said Thursday.

The Vietnamese army sent troop reinforcements after the demonstrations broke out several days ago in Dien Bien province in the far northwest of the communist nation near the border with China and Laos.

Soldiers "had to disperse the crowd by force", according to the military source, who did not provide details of any casualties or the number of troops involved.

"Minor clashes occurred between the Hmong and security forces," he added.

Protesters numbered in their thousands and "the army had to intervene to prevent these troubles from spreading", the source said.

It is Vietnam's worst known case of ethnic unrest since protests in 2001 and 2004 in the Central Highlands by the Montagnards, about 1,700 of whom fled to Cambodia after troops crushed protests against land confiscation and religious persecution.

The mainly Christian Hmong are a Southeast Asian ethnic group who helped US forces against North Vietnam during the secret wartime campaign in Laos and faced retribution after the communist takeover.

The isolated but scenic Dien Bien region is normally popular with Vietnamese travellers, some of whom warned each other on a chat room to stay away from the area because of a "Hmong uprising".

Other postings on the same topic had been removed, as sometimes happens in Vietnam when controversial issues are reported online.

The US-based Center for Public Policy Analysis, an outspoken supporter of the Hmong cause whose claims cannot be independently verified, said 28 protesters had been killed and hundreds were missing.

In a statement from the Center, Christy Lee, executive director of the Washington-based campaign group Hmong Advance, cited "credible reports" of a major crackdown.

The operation was in response to Hmong people's protests for land reform, their opposition to illegal logging, "or because of their independent Christian and Animist religious beliefs", Lee said.

A local official in Muong Nhe district, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Dien Bien town, told AFP that more than 3,000 Hmong were still gathered on Thursday.

"The situation is complicated," he said, denying their action was a protest. "We don't know what they want."

AFP reached the province's police chief but the line went dead when he was asked about the gathering. He said things were "good" in the area.

Local authorities had detained several people and opened an investigation, the military source said, adding the Hmong were "incited" by local people wishing to exploit the May 7 anniversary of Vietnam's victory over French colonial forces at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

"We are very concerned," the military source said. "On Thursday the situation is generally stable but we don't know what will happen tomorrow.

"The Hmong called for freedom of belief and the setting up of a locally autonomous region," the source said.

Vietnam is a one-party state dominated by the majority Kinh ethnic group. Public gatherings are strictly controlled and all traditional media are linked to the regime.

The country's 53 minority groups number nearly 10 million out of a population of 86 million, according to a 2009 World Bank report which listed almost 790,000 Hmong.

That report said Vietnam's ethnic minorities have a poverty rate more than five times that of the majority. But the government has said reducing ethnic poverty has been a constant priority over recent few years.

[Carl Robinson]

Here is report from Washington-based Centre for Public Policy Analysis which has lots more details on the military side of this operation, including

use of helicopter gunships.    By the way, anniversary of the victory of Dien Bien Phu is on the 7th of May, or this coming Saturday.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1105/S00090/vietnam-laos-uprising-28-hmong-protesters-killed.htm.

Best,

Carl

[Carl Robinson]

Here is latest on situation in Dien Bien Phu.  Reuters story is quite well-backgrounded.   Looks too like US Embassy is asking questions. 

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE7450Q120110506?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0.

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-06/u-s-probes-reports-of-deaths-after-hmong-protests-in-vietnam.html.

[Carl Robinson]

Here is another slightly different take on the entire situation out at Dien Bien Phu -- some sort of religious cult thing, apparently, or millenarianism.

They believe the world will end on 21 May. 

http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/vietnam/article_112169.html.

Best,

Carl

[Moyal-Sharrock]

Carl   Thanks for picking up this credible version. A Hmong messianic cult with nationalistic colouring sounds believable, and makes the grotesque helicopter-borne response worthy of Westmorland and even worse.   Peter     ___________________________________________________ Dr Peter D. Sharrock   Senior Teaching Fellow in the Art & Archaeology of Southeast Asia School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) London University ps...@soas.ac.uk   --- On Sat, 7/5/11, Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Carl Robinson]

Here is an interview with the FT's Hanoi correspondent Ben Bland, whose reportage I often praise, speaking with Radio Australia about the Dien Bien Phu "uprising"  and about which he is quite sceptical given the shortage of reliable information, plus the banning of foreign journalists from the region.   So, if Jesus Christ does show up on 21 May, we won't be able to hear about it.

Here is a critical graf on the situation with my added italics:

  ... but I understand from sources within the government and diplomatic sources that in this case it's some sort of religious uprising and there's been a suggestion that it may be connected to the Millenarianism movement in the province and the government said in a statement that the protesters might be gathering because they believe the super natural force would come to the province and grant happiness to all the people and the government claims that outside forces were manipulating this to encourage the Hmong to act against the government and set up an autonomous region. Now the diplomats I've spoken to do believe that there is some sort of Millenarianism movement there and that there is an expectation that Jesus Christ may come back to the area later in the month and that's why people started gathering and that's why they've been reluctant to go home and why the Vietnamese government decided to send in security forces to encourage the people to disperse.

For more:   http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201105/s3211539.htm.

It's very interesting how this story has developed and the best thing we can say about the Vang Pao lobbyist is that they got the ball rolling.   Hanoi would do better just telling people what's really going on.    

A brief report from official forces gives weight to some sort of encampment of people and not very healthy conditions.

 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1637872.php/Vietnam-officials-Babies-die-from-poor-conditions-at-protest-camp.

Best,

Carl