Today, Valentine’s Day, is the birthday of Dieu Cay. He’s a blogger who is serving a 2-1/2 year sentence in Vietnamese prison for speaking out against China’s occupation of the Spratly and Paracel Islands.
Read what other people write about him: Amnesty International (here and here), Reporters Without Border (here, here and here), Committee to Protect Journalists (here), prominent U.S. Congress members (here), the International Freedom of Expression Exchange a Canada-based UNESCO affiliate (here), Global Voices, an advocacy project at Harvard University (here), the Ottawa Citizen (here), etc.
Happy birthday, Dieu Cay.
Happy Birthday to Điếu Cày Hoàng Hải !
The Communist Vietnamese government ought to be ashamed of themselves for putting a patriot in jail for 2.5 years because he spoke out against China’s occupation of Vietnam. For the past 4 thousands years, China has relentlessly attempted to occupy Vietnam whenever it could. These communist leaders have no sense of patriotism , of nationality.
It is without dispute that China is currently a strong and formidable country, and Vietnam cannot dare to challenge China militarily or even politically. But this has always been the case, and that is not the reason for any Vietnamese government to be on its knees caving in to China like a slave.
Shame on you!
Today is also a fine day to recognize that the fight for a more democratic, a freer Vietnam is presently a very complex picture. In that light, it’s useful to pinpoint some of many pictures of Điếu Cày and other Viet youths speaking out against China’s occupation of Hoang Sa, Truong Sa:
+ http://www.rfi.fr/actuvi/images/105/dieucay200.jpg
+ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2020/2114425238_780d1a2675.jpg
These pictures show a group of Vietnamese patriots fighting for better Vietnam, and yet under … the red flag with yellow star.
This fact tends to bring discomfort to those who think that the world of freedom is or should only be in black and white. How could this be? How can Vietnamese fight for a better Vietnam under the red flag?
It is not difficult to see why those Vietnamese feel attached to the red flag after living in a closed, indoctrinated society for more than 30 years. It is not difficult to see why they feel foreign to yellow flag. And yet it is a reality. To bring this reality to light for the sake of discussion is something that all who truly want a better Vietnam should do. Instead, there are people in our own oversea communities, who are fearsome of such reality — so fearsome to the degree that they labeled communists whoever bring up this fact. When they see a picture of a Vietnamese youth with a red flag, they automatically scream, “commies in the house”.
It’s time to stop screaming and reflect.
While many of us are screaming for Freedom of Expression, many failed to recognize the law doesn’t allow us to be free of criticism !
Maybe you guys should do something to win this guy release instead of lecturing the Viet community how to excerise their 1st amendment.
That is the best suggestion I have heard.
Maybe we can work with each other, instead of against each other, for change.
I would like to help and the meeting and work location have to be within 1-mile radius of Phuoc Loc Tho, else no can do. Hahaha.
My comment is specifically direct at the Bolsavik, Valaa, Tien Huynh!!!!
GOSSIPSAIGON, I was playing around and did not intend to offend you. My apology.