Why The Economist Vietnam Summit 2012 Should Be Re-examined

On January 11, The Economist is hosting a conference titled ‘Vietnam Summit 2012: A Path Into A New World.” The conference is important not only because prestigious speakers will include government ministry heads, ex-ambassadors, bank managers and influential businessmen, but also because the keynote speaker is Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung himself.

If you are planning to come (which means you’ll be dishing out between US$1320-US$1890 for a ticket), I respectfully request you consider a few issues before you hop on that plane.

This week it was announced that communist Vietnam had sent peaceful protestor Bui Thi Minh Hang to a concentration camp. Apparently the 2-year sentence, without trial, was delivered in revenge for voicing her opinion on issues related to the South China Sea. No this isn’t 1975, soviet-era Vietnam. This is 2012, and unfortunately Ms. BTMH is one of thousands in re-education camps around the country where inmates are drugged, tortured and forced to do hard labor. For many, the sentence is indefinite.

While moving on from its previous economic peak a couple of years ago, Vietnam has also been regressing politically since about 2008. Vietnam keeps numerous political prisoners, many of whom were arrested as recently as 2011, including journalists and bloggers.

Vietnam’s communist arm reaches beyond just Vietnamese nationals. In August of 2011 French-Vietnamese dissident blogger Pham Minh Hoang was sentenced to 3 years. In 2011, I (a non-Asian American citizen) was one of several foreign journalists to be harassed and detained in relation to gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Hanoi government.  Read my story here.

Hanoi continues to ruthlessly persecute Christian groups in the centre of the country, by imprisoning and beating church members and destroying church buildings and personal property.

An epidemic of police brutality, including torture and killing of citizens in custody (some of them small children) in 2011 has led to societal instability resulting in riots in several communities. In the beach resort of Mui Ne on June 12 more than 1000 residents gathered to attack the local police station in response to a brutal beating and torture of a man in custody.  The event was emblematic of several incidents around the country.

Vietnam has sought to tightly control the flow of information nationally, including banning blog posts about public matters. Facebook was blocked by the government in 2009. At present the Ministry of Information and Communications is considering extending the block to other critical international websites. Even this very blog is now blocked by government ISPs in many parts of Vietnam.

I do not mean to suggest that participants in the summit should not come. On the contrary, as a professional travel writer I believe free travel is an ideal way to exchange ideas, influence societies and promote democratic ideals. Likewise, as a Free Market Capitalist I believe free trade and international commerce is a key component of developing and maintaining liberty and freedom.

However, business conducted in countries which are communist—countries which are not free—must be done responsibly, otherwise these activities can and do cause more harm than good.

I ask that if you come for the Economist Vietnam Summit that you raise the issues of Vietnam’s abysmal human rights policies, and raise them repeatedly. Do not give Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung and his fellow Marxist government leaders a free pass. Let them know that if they want your substantial investment money, they must bring real freedom, democracy and liberty to the people of Vietnam. Don’t let them think that you will sit idly by and allow your investment to fund their repressive policies.

Adam Bray is a freelance writer and photographer for guidebooks published by: Insight Guides, DK Eyewitness, Berlitz, Thomas Cook, Time Out, AA, ThingsAsian, Footprint, and more. He has contributed to more than 25 books on travel in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. He has also contributed a variety of articles, interviews, photos and other content to BBC, CNN International and CNNGo.com.