A Vietnamese Youth Conference organized by the Phan Boi Chau Youth League will take place this Saturday. See poster above.
The league (in Vietnamese: ?oàn Thanh Niên Phan B?i Châu) is named after an intellectual from the early 20th century who raised conciousness of the Vietnamese people to fight against the French colonial authorities. Phan Boi Chau was, in many ways, the first modern Vietnamese political activist. PBC was also a mentor to a young Ho Chi Minh in France before the latter found communism.
In Southern California, the league is known for turning out many prominent young community leaders. One former (current?) member recently was in the news.
Going to Vietnam on a tourist visa, Mai Huu Bao walked to Saigon’s headquarters of the Ministry of Public Security and asked to visit a political prisoner being held there. The astonished and no doubt a little confused guards took him in and held him for a day of questioning before kicking him out of the country. The security forces then sent out a press release accusing him of “checking out targets for terrorism.” Mai Huu Bao is a member of the Viet Tan, a not-controversy-free political party. (Yes, yes, double negative and all that.) Read more here and here.
