Locked in paralysis: Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign and tightened public sphere
Locked in paralysis: Vietnam's anti-corruption campaign and tightened public sphere
WRITTEN BY DR MAI TRUONG
30 July 2024
Vietnam’s Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong passed away on 19 July 2024, at the age of 80. He left behind two major legacies: a vigorous anti-corruption campaign and significant efforts to tighten the Vietnamese Communist Party’s (VCP) grip on civil society, which has left Vietnam in a state of inactivity.
Since the 12th Congress of the VCP in 2016, Vietnam’s political system has been dominated by the conservative faction led by Nguyen Phu Trong. Trong, a hardline ideologue, was re-elected as the general party secretary in 2016 after defeating the then-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
By 2016, Trong recognised that the VCP's power and legitimacy faced threats on two fronts, partly due to Nguyen Tan Dung's policies prioritising economic development above all else. First, Dung’s nepotism and cronyism were believed to exacerbate corruption within the party and public sector, which could weaken the VCP from within. Second, Dung's emphasis on prioritising economic development led the country to accommodate civil society to a certain extent in return for favourable trade agreements with Western partners. This unintentionally spurred collective action incidents and the growth of civil society organisations that posed a potential threat to the VCP’s authority. Consequently, after assuming power, Trong responded to these dual challenges by simultaneously launching an anti-corruption campaign and gradually tightening the VCP’s control over civil society.
Recently, many prominent democracy advocates, including Pham Doan Trang, who received the 2024 PEN America Freedom to Write Award, have been detained, and many of the previously mentioned blogs and websites have been shut down.
Among the two responses, the VCP’s anti-corruption campaign has garnered more significant attention from the international media and observers of Vietnamese politics due to its rapid success in toppling senior leaders. This campaign serves dual purposes: purging the party of corruption while serving as a tool for political infighting. Therefore, it reinforces the party’s ideological factions and empowers the public security sector.
The VCP has gradually tightened its grip on the public sphere since 2016, effectively weakening civil society organisations as of 2024. The anti-corruption campaign, combined with efforts to tighten control over the public sphere has left Vietnam in a state of paralysis, where individuals and organisations are hesitant to take initiatives.
End of the 'hundreds of flowers blossoming' period
In the early 2010s, Vietnam witnessed a blossoming of civil society organisations (CSOs). These organisations, which can be legally registered or unregistered with the state, represent a diverse range of citizen-led initiatives. Activists often refer to the period between 2000 and 2015 as a time of 'hundreds of flowers blossoming', a metaphor suggesting a flourishing of diverse initiatives and organisations. However, this period seems to have come to an end.
Since taking office in 2016, Trong has implemented measures to address perceived threats of 'self-evolution' and 'self-transformation' within civil society. Initiatives such as Resolution 04 – NQ/TW (2016) and Resolution 35-NQ/TW (2018) that emphasise protecting the Party’s ideological foundation and countering erroneous and hostile viewpoints have facilitated increased crackdowns on CSOs. Notably, the establishment of Forces 47, a large cyberspace military unit focused on combating 'wrong views' on the internet, has played a significant role in these efforts.
The very first targets of these efforts have been unregistered organisations and activists involved in politically sensitive issues such as democracy, multiparty elections, and human rights. Democracy activists typically face harsher repression compared to those focusing on other issues. However, before the 12th VCP Congress in 2016, pro-democracy advocates had some degree of operational space. For example, between 2000 and 2010, several overtly political democracy groups emerged, such as the Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights, the Association of Former Political and Religious Prisoners, the Committee for Human Rights, and Bloc 8406. Three political parties were even formed to openly oppose the VCP, including the Vietnamese Progressive Party, the Vietnamese Democratic Party, and the People’s Democratic Party. Between late 2008 and late 2010, the growing popularity of the internet led to a surge in politically oriented blogs and websites such as Bauxite Vietnam, Dân Luận (People Discuss), Dân Làm Báo (Citizen Journalist), and Anh Ba Sàm (the Gossiper).
However, since 2016, Vietnam's nascent democracy movement has faced severe repression, resulting in its gradual suppression. The government has significantly increased arrests of pro-democracy activists. Recently, many prominent democracy advocates, including Pham Doan Trang, who received the 2024 PEN America Freedom to Write Award, have been detained, and many of the previously mentioned blogs and websites have been shut down. Political organisations and parties that emerged in the late 2000s have been dismantled, with their leaders and members either imprisoned or forced into political exile abroad.
Even critical voices with ties to the regime have become targets in efforts to curb 'self-evolution' and 'self-transformation.' In June 2024, Truong Huy San, a journalist known by his pen name Huy Duc who successfully manoeuvred within the limited space of independent thinking for many years, was arrested. Conversations with activists indicate that even those who had stopped their activism for years have been targeted.
By now, Vietnam’s pro-democracy movement has effectively been weakened. Indeed, many activists have chosen to leave the country and advocate for democracy from abroad due to the shrinking political opportunities at home. They believe that this 'advocacy from outside' will persist until conditions for political change improve within Vietnam.
Closing space for NGOs
NGOs, which previously operated in a relatively secure environment due to their legal registration with the state, are also encountering significant challenges. In 2020, the VCP issued a new decree that imposed stricter regulations on foreign financial support for local NGOs and also tightened restrictions on foreign NGOs and their registration processes within the country. Due to an escalating anti-corruption campaign, local governments have become exceedingly cautious and reluctant to approve projects that involve foreign funding or foreign organisations, fearing legal repercussions. Consequently, many organisations have not implemented any activities for months or have been forced to shut down.
In addition, the party-state has utilised vague tax laws about nonprofits as a legal tool to suppress these organisations. Over the past three years, several local NGO leaders focused on environmental issues have been arrested for alleged tax evasion. Among them are Nguy Thi Khanh, Vietnam's first recipient of the esteemed Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018; Hoang Thi Minh Hong, former head of the now-disbanded NGO Change and a recipient of Vietnam's WeChoice Awards in 2019; and, Dang Dinh Bach, a prominent environmental lawyer. The arrests of internationally and nationally recognised activists signal the VCP’s determination to tighten control over local NGOs.
The ambiguous nature of these tax policies is prompting many local NGOs to consider alternative legal statuses, such as social enterprises, to avoid potential legal repercussions. This uncertainty has sparked an identity crisis within the NGO community about their naming and registration. Conversations with young and ambitious citizens who are passionate about community activities have revealed that these vague tax issues are causing them to reconsider whether to register as traditional NGOs, social clubs, or social enterprises. Looking ahead, the landscape suggests a dwindling number of both international and local NGOs, a stark contrast to the period from the 2000s to the early 2010s when working for NGOs offered a promising career path for new graduates. Today, however, this avenue appears increasingly untenable.
End of political allies
Navigating Vietnam's political landscape demands that CSOs build ties with government officials. However, recent arrests of key government allies like Nguyen Van Binh and Vu Minh Tien, who worked closely with NGOs and international organisations on labour reforms, pose challenges for CSOs advocating for workers' rights. Notably, Binh, director-general of the Ministry of Labor's legal department, was detained on April 24, 2024, while Tien, head of policy at the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and director of the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions, was arrested a month later for 'deliberate disclosure of classified information’.
At the local level, some NGO activists fear that the uncertainty surrounding the anti-corruption campaigns may lead government officials who previously supported their activities to become targets themselves. This means the loss of supporters and allies for these NGOs. Consequently, NGOs are compelled to continually seek new alliances and supporters, a challenging task as government officials are increasingly hesitant to collaborate due to the unpredictable political environment.
Undoubtedly, the intensified crackdown on civil society in Vietnam has rendered terms like 'activists' and 'civil society organisations' highly sensitive.
The VCP's anti-corruption campaign and its tightened control over the public sphere have plunged Vietnam into a state of paralysis. The anti-corruption campaign has inadvertently stalled both bureaucratic processes and the economy. Simultaneously, the intensified crackdown on civil society has led to the closure of organisations and hindered activists from carrying out their initiatives. Many activists are suspending their work, awaiting a more favourable political climate in the future. However, with the VCP increasingly prioritising protecting its power above all else, exemplified by the appointment of To Lam — former Minister of Public Security — as the acting party general secretary and state president, and Police Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang — To Lam’s principal deputy — as head of the Ministry of Public Security, alongside the significant representation of public security officials in the Politburo, advocates for social causes may face prolonged challenges.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Dr Mai Truong is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Marquette University in Wisconsin, United States. She studies authoritarian politics, protests, and social movements in Southeast Asia. Her publications appear in Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, and Asian Politics & Policies among other peer-reviewed journals. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Arizona and a master’s in international development studies from the University of Sussex. Image credit: President of Russia