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Vietnamese Delegation visits  European Parliament

On February 21.2011 a delegation of Vietnamese visited the European Parliament in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and a central city, together with Strasbourg, for the European Union. The International Organization for the Development of Vietnam had been able to make an appointment with Mr. Ing. Wim van de Camp and Mr. Jeroen Lenaers, assistant to Mrs. Ria Oomen-Ruijten, who could not be present at that time. Mr. Van de Camp and Mrs. Oomen-Ruijten are both members of the Christian Democratic Party (CDA) in The Netherlands. They represent their party in the European Parliament and Wim van de Camp is delegation leader. In the European Parliament, the CDA is part of the EVP (European People´s Party).

Mr. Van de Camp sees the European Union as a community of shared values, where democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights are guaranteed. He is involved in the China delegation, the Commission for the Internal Market and Protection of Consumers (IMCO) and the Commission for Freedom and Rights of the Citizen, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Mr. Lenaers represented Mrs. Ria Oomen-Ruijten (represented at this meeting by Mr. Lenaers) deals with countries outside of the EU, especially Turkey, in relation to this country´s process of joining the EU.

The Vietnamese delegation consisted of Dr. Robert  Nguyen Le (US), Drs. Tuan Ngo (The Netherlands),  three Vietnamese from France (Mr. Tran Dang Ly, Mr. Duong Tan Hai & Mr. Nguyen Van Minh) and one from Belgium (Mr. Tran Quy Phong). The delegation was accompanied and assisted by Mr. Henk Beekman and Drs. Wim Koetsier, advisors to the International Organization for the Development of Vietnam.

Mr. Van de Camp and Mr. Lenaers welcomed the delegation in a meeting room in one of the large buildings of the European Parliament. After a short round of introduction of each person, Mr. Van de Camp informed us briefly about his work in the European Parliament.

Dr. Robert Nguyen Le, the leader of the Vietnamese delegation, explained the purpose of the visit, having first expressed his gratitude for this audience with the CDA/EVP representatives. As a vice-chairman of the Tan Dai Viet Party, he is investigating the prospects for sustainable development in Vietnam. The lack of respect for universal human values in Vietnam, especially in the political arena, worries him very much.

Dr. Nguyen Le talked about about his escape from Vietnam and his view on its development. After the communists took over South Vietnam, human rights came under the  controll of the communist party. This was one of the reasons he left Vietnam, arriving as a refugee in the U.S. His wife also managed to escape as a boat refugee, though she was captured by the Khmer Rouge, who were planning to kill her; but fortunately she managed to escape and join her husband in California.

In order for a nation to really advance, it is important that there is the Rule of Law and Democracy. In a society, there are elements of stability and dynamics of change. There should be balance between the two, and this is why democracy is so important, since it helps to maintain such a balance.

In Vietnam, we see a kind of group dictatorship, which is more difficult to target on. There are various type of change:
Economic or material system change;
Spiritual change or changing the way of thinking;
Change, using the force of imagination (the sky is the limit);
Changes involving creation and innovation;
Changes focusing on civilization.

It is important to have liberation of the mind and not focus only on material growth. Dr. Robert  Nguyen Le gave an example of two musicians, who got stuck after Vietnam came completely under communist rule. It is necessary to change the system and have reforms, bringing transformations and possibly a revolution.

The reforms of the communists happen within the existing system. There is more and more pressure from the people and the international community to also change the system. However, this should happen without there being victims. Vietnamese inside and outside Vietnam should work together with the democratic world to invest in Vietnam. However, aid should not lead to dependency, but to a situation in which peole can take care of themselves. 

In order to fight corruption in Vietnam, freedom of the press is needed. At the present time, the journalist who reveals corruption risks jail, not the corrupt official. It is important that the courts are independent. Western countries should focus more on human rights than on interests centred on  money and business for their own benefit.  

The human race has now entered the information age, with the free flow of information and interaction in the borderless virtual world, where we can learn from each other and advance together. The Vietnamese government, however, is limiting most of the people´s political rights. This has become an obstacle to the advancement of Vietnam. Besides, China might become a threatening power to world peace. Communist Vietnam has a close relationship with China.

Peaceful evolution has not been realized since the Communists opened up Vietnam´s door to the world. The 11th Party Congress, held in January 2011, re-adopted the strongly conservative political platform of 1991. This, in spite of tremendous changes in the social fabrics of the Vietnamese society. As many people now rise up against authoritarian governments in North Africa, this might also happen in a country like Vietnam. We should do our utmost to ensure that changes happen in a non-violent way.

Mr. Nguyen Le asked the European Parliamentarians to consider the following issues:

1.-Making a European law that products imported into the EU from Vietnam be tied to progress in freedom of press in Vietnam.
2.- Making a European law that EU imports from China to be tied to China´s respect and observation of the 1982 UNCLOS in the South China Sea.
3.- Work with the EU to create a consultative body that includes the overseas Vietnamese democratic political parties of all persuasions to get inputs on issues related to Vietnam.

Mr. Van de Camp and Mr. Lenaers agreed on the importance of human rights for the development of Vietnam. They asserted that the EU always promotes human rights in  talks with the Vietnames government and that they would keep paying attention to this matter. After a group photo, the delegation thanked Mr. Van de Camp and Mr. Lenaers for their warm reception and for their interest in the situation of Vietnam. Hoping to meet them again some other time in the future, the Vietnamese delegation took their leave.

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