US calls on Vietnam to release environmental activist Nguy Thi Khanh
GuardianNov 25, 2022
The Facts
Chau Van Kham, an Australian pro-democracy activist who has been jailed in Vietnam for more than four years, has been released and returned home to Sydney.
Kham, a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen was arrested in Vietnam in January 2019 after being accused of “financing terrorism” through his membership in the pro-democracy group Viet Tan.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Vietnam currently has more than 150 political prisoners jailed for peaceful acts of free expression. The country's one-party government has no tolerance for anyone who expresses opinions critical of the government. Kham's case was a blatant human rights abuse, and the Australian government needs to continue to call on Vietnamese authorities to release all political prisoners to align the Southeast Asian nation with the rules-based order.
Establishment-critical narrative
Viet Tan has, since the 1980s, recruited and trained members to deploy terrorist schemes in Vietnam. Now based outside of national borders, the group continues to incite disorder and disturbance in the state. The international community must apply a better context to acknowledge the threat this organization poses to Vietnam's national security.
