WHERE THE BOMBS FELL - HAIPHONG

A boat dweller ferries supplies in Haiphong

Two undersized crabs shuffle towards me, in that strange, sideways walk that only crabs do. I've found these freshwater shellfish on the shore of a Vietnamese river. The dark current flows fast today; it’s banks nearly overflow from the rain. The crabs turn and head for muddy water, while I turn down Tam Bac street, a road named after this river. Downstream a bridge view reveals the Tam Bac is merely a tributary; it empties into the much deeper Cam River. This whole section of northern Vietnam is full of meandering rivers, all part of the immense Red River Delta.

Finding a pier where the rivers meet, I look across the waters to see a fleet of commercial boats and ships. Dozens are docked or at anchor, while another six freighters cross in front of me in the channel. And that’s just what’s in my immediate view. I hear a ship’s horn sound off in the distance, and down river I can make out massive yellow cranes on the docks, ready to unload cargo ships

Vessels docked in Haiphong Harbor

arriving from the South China Sea.

I’ve come down the highway from Hanoi this morning into the Red River Delta, to check out one of Vietnam’s largest, longest and busiest ports. This is Haiphong Harbor. As the closest major port to Hanoi, Haiphong gained the attention of Americans in 1972.  In those days of war, President Nixon ordered this harbor mined, and resumed the bombing of Haiphong. Nixon hoped to stop the USSR from bringing weapons into Vietnam by ship, and mining the port sparked major demonstrations from anti-war protestors who saw this as an escalation.

When the Paris Peace Accords were signed the next year, part of the agreement meant that the sea mines that had been dropped into this harbor would have to be removed. In an odd twist of the agreement, US Navy minesweepers cleared this very harbor, even though the war continued between North and South Vietnam. 

Old French colonial buildings, in need of a fresh coat of paint

As I walk around Haiphong, I feel alone and unique. I'm finding one of Vietnam’s largest cities is almost empty of westerners. As a commercial shipping port there are foreign sailors, but most are Asian. Western tourists don’t bother with this commercial port. If they want to go to the coast, they head for scenic Halong Bay, or for Nha Trang’s beaches.

This lack of westerners does give Haiphong a degree of charm that Saigon lacks. With fewer tourists, the city has a more Vietnamese vibe. Exceptions to this, are the influences left behind by the French. Around the downtown’s commercial district, there are plenty of cafés, and many old French colonial shophouses still survive. Most are well beyond their prime though, and could use a fresh coat of paint.

Closer to the port, yellow government offices with familiar French colonial architecture are in better condition. As I walk by and look more closely, these appear far too new for the colonial era. These are French in style, but they weren’t built by the French, since the old original structures were destroyed by American bombing. 

 “They admire French architecture,” explains my Vietnamese friend Bich later. When the communist government constructed new buildings after the war, they built their replacements in the same French style. Given that the Vietnamese hated the French colonials, that seems very odd to me.

Maxim's Cafe in downtown Haiphong

Originally from Haiphong, I met Bich through a friend in Saigon. She works in tourism, and I arranged to meet her at Maxim’s Café in downtown Haiphong. She’s happy to tell me all about her city over dinner.

“Haiphong people (are) known as strong of character, strong of mind, and strong of body,” she says self-assuredly. Bich is petite, but those first two characteristics describe her perfectly.

Haiphong is known as, ‘The City of Red Flowers', and she says that it’s beautiful here in late spring when flowers bloom. Too bad I’m here on a gloomy rainy day, so I’ll miss the scenery.

Bich’s favorite subject is the city’s people. “Haiphong has the most handsome men, and the most beautiful women,” she boasts. She adds that it’s also known as, ‘The City of Miss Vietnam’, since a number of beauty queens are from here. Bich obviously has a lot of pride in her hometown.

I chuckle when she says, “People here known for very hard work or laziness.”
 
Then Bich changes the subject, and turns serious. She says that as a large port city, it has a mafia, and may have the worst violence and drug addiction problems in Vietnam. But it’s all very relative really. The crime and drug problems of Haiphong are miniscule, compared to US port cities like New York or Los Angeles.

Wreckage of US warplanes shot down over Haiphong during the war

Despite her city’s rough reputation, she still loves Haiphong. “I like the craziness,” she says. She would stay here, but since better work opportunities are elsewhere, she’s leaving for China.

I ask Bich about Haiphong in wartime, but since she was born afterwards, she didn't have much to say. “We never remember about the war,” Bich says, “unless people ask.” 

Her mother remembers plenty though, since she survived numerous bombing raids then. She remembers the devastation well, especially the aftermath of a raid that hit a commercial center. ”She see 100 bodies,” Bich said, “all lined up together, laying by the market.”

Fortunately her relatives survived the attack, and her mother left Haiphong soon afterwards. Due to air raids, she moved out to the countryside for the rest of the war, where life was safer.

These days, city utility workers are regularly exposed to war’s old dangers. Bich says when city workers tear up roads to install sewers, they find heaps of unexploded bombs. Under one recent construction site, instead of bombs, diggers found many skeletons.

“What were the bodies from?” I ask her. “Who killed them?"

On display in Haiphong is an old Russian made Mig-17, next to old navy boat

“Maybe Japanese,” Bich guesses, but no one knows for sure. Since they were buried in unmarked graves, they couldn’t blame Americans, as US troops never occupied Haiphong. They were likely killed by the French, who occupied Haiphong far longer than the Japanese.

Bidding goodbye to Bich, I head back to my hotel. As I pass a museum, through the fence I spot an old Russian made Mig-17 under an enclosure. Nearby is a pile of wreckage from various US aircraft that were shot down over Haiphong.
 
Entering for a closer look, I approach, and two dogs lunge at me from the shadows barking savagely. I jump back out of reach. Fortunately, they're tethered underneath the old obsolete jet. With these canine guardians, I won’t be able to get a closer look at the Russian made Mig.
 
As it’s growing darker, I depart for my old French hotel. Settling in for the night, I flip on the TV. Finding the History Channel, I'm surprised it's airing a program on aerial dogfights over North Vietnam during the war! As I watch the episode, an animated re-enactment shows two US Navy Skyraiders shoot down a Mig-17, just like the one I saw rusting on the street.

I’m amazed. Somehow, this show wasn’t blocked by Vietnamese censors!

BOATING BEAUTIFUL HALONG BAY

Scenic Halong Bay, the most popular oceanic travel sight in Vietnam

I'm out at sea, in a very unique vessel. This wooden boat, seems to be a cross between a houseboat and a Chinese junk. But there is no clear view of the ocean horizon. Our boat is dwarfed by massive karst pillar formations, which thrust up out of the ocean. They resemble slumping stone giants, rising up from the watery depths. There are few places on the seven seas with views like this. If I weren't in Asia, I would think that this could be a vision out of Greek mythology.

I'm off the coast of northern Vietnam, in the gorgeously scenic Halong Bay.

A lone boat is dwarfed by karst islands

This floating community in the bay includes a school!

This bay is so beautifully unique, that it gained the attention of Hollywood. The James Bond movie, "Tomorrow Never Dies" had a scene here. Pierce Brosnan and Asian action movie star Michelle Yeoh supposedly found an enemy 'stealth boat' in the waters between these oceanic mountains. Although entertaining, part of the storyline was an insult to the Vietnamese. The script said that Halong Bay was controlled by a 'Chinese General'. That's a laugh. Halong Bay and its islands are Vietnamese territory, and no Chinese General has controlled it for centuries. If China tried to regain control of this scenic place, it would spark a new war with Vietnam. The famous spy series was never known for its realism, but anyone familiar with Sino -Viet relations would find that premise downright ridiculous.

Boy brings boatload of snacks and drinks to sell to visitors

While we are cruising for the day, we stop at a floating community. These aren't just temporary housing, there are several of these fully functioning floating communities around Halong Bay. As we check out a fish farm, our guide explains that these floating folk work in industries such as fishing and tourism. That's not surprising, since many thousands of tourists visit Halong Bay every year. It's the most popular tourist spot in northern Vietnam/ What does surprise me, is that many of  the folk living in these floating communities sometimes spend months out here in the bay, without ever stepping onshore. They even have floating school houses for the children.

We step back onto our tour boat, and continue our sea voyage. Soon a rowboat pulls up, commanded by a young boy. His boat is packed to the gunwales with snacks and drinks for tourists. I admire his rowing skills and entrepreneurial spirit, but shouldn't he be in school? And isn't he too young to be selling alcohol?

After my fellow tourists make a few purchases, we're back on our way. Eventually we stop in a sheltered cove, where they have kayaks for rent. I don't see any heavy ocean waves and I'm handy with a canoe,so I figure I'll be fine in a kayak.

After paying the rental fee, soon I'm out paddling around the bay, as a lone kayaker. Dip... dip... dip... my double bladed paddle makes the only sound I hear, as I slowly make my way around these oceanic towers of stone.

The serenity of paddling a lone kayak

Colorful cave that was long hidden in Halong Bay

Returning to our boat, we close our day by stopping on one of the bay's islands. Many tourists take overnight cruises in Halong Bay, but I'll head home tonight. This island is one of the few with a bay big enough to allow many boats to dock alongside. We do so, and soon I'm trudging up an island trail. Soon we arrive at the entrance to a cave. This island is big enough to hold a cave? Sure enough, walking inside, we find familiar stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone that dripping waters have formed over the past millenia. Our guide tells us, that this cave was only discovered in recent years, it's a wondrous sight.  They should have filmed the James Bond movie in here.

As we board our boat and cruise back to the mainland, I smile. I'm pleased to know, that there are still discoveries being made in today's Vietnam.

Lone lady rower heads for home in Halong Bay

FRENCH SURRENDER AT DIEN BIEN PHU

Rugged mountains surround Dien Bien Phu

When the French Army decided to establish this far away military base called Dien Bien Phu, France’s top general in Vietnam believed the rugged landscape would make it impossible for Viet Minh rebels to bring heavy artillery to this remote place. In a feat of incredible military logistics, the Vietnamese proved them wrong. Viet Minh soldiers managed to haul heavy cannons, and other heavy weapons many miles over harsh dirt trails, over mountains and through thick jungle to get here. They were even able to cross remote rivers that lacked bridges to reach this remote northwestern Vietnam valley.

I’m now looking at the cannons that they hauled over those mountains more than half a century ago. Walking into town, I’ve come across a display of Viet Minh heavy weapons outside a museum. Most are Chinese or Soviet made guns given by the communists, but I spot a 105 mm howitzer that’s American made. Used by the Vietnamese in Dien Bien Phu, weapons such as this were key to the Viet Minh’s victory over the colonial army and the French Foreign Legion. 

Viet Minh weapons used against French in Dien Bien Phu. US made howitzer is at right.

Following a battle plan developed by Vietnam’s General Giap, thousands of Viet Minh soldiers swarmed into the surrounding mountains. They eventually outnumbered the French, and put Dien Bien Phu under siege. Once the Viet Minh had enough artillery and ammunition stocked up, they opened fire down into this valley. As they returned fire from the valley below, French gunners found themselves at a disadvantage. After days of bombardment,  they were unable to knock out the Viet Minh’s heavy guns.

The French artillery commander knew they were doomed, and he committed suicide.

It occurs to me that this US made 105mm weapon had a long road to get here, even beyond the long jungle trail trek. This howitzer may have been used by many different armies. The Viet Minh used it here in Dien Bien Phu to kill French soldiers. Before that it was captured from the French, who brought it to Vietnam to kill Viet Minh soldiers. Since this was American made, it may have even been used by the US Army even earlier during World War II, to kill Japanese soldiers in the Pacific.

Some of the weapons in Vietnam have had a very long career of death.

I end my day in Dien Bien Phu, in the place where the long siege and battle ended. As the fighting raged on for almost two months, surrounding hills were lost, retaken, and then lost again. French forces fell back to the command center near the lone bridge over the Nam Yum River. The final post to fall was here: the command bunker of General Christian De Castries.

Propaganda photo of battle for bridge(Source:Museum)

Same bridge today, still used by local residents

A light rain is subsiding, as I approach the old bunker. An unlikely headquarters for a commander, it doesn't look prestigious. Half cylinders of corrugated metal form the fortified roof, which slopes downward into the ground to form the bunkers. Sandbags fill in gaps for protection.

Interior of command bunker, where French General surrendered to Vietnamese

Walking down the steps, I enter the commander’s last refuge. The bunker beneath has four rooms; headquarters for the besieged French forces. As opposed to other glorified monuments I’ve seen dotted around Dien Bien Phu, this one is low key. There are no large communist statues, and no propaganda photos posted inside. There is just a gloomy, nearly bare bunker. There are maps on the wall, along with a few tables and chairs. When the General still lived down here, his furniture was far more comfortable. He even had his own bathtub down here; it now sits in a local museum.

It has a quiet, a morose atmosphere. I’m the only one down in this old bunker. But this is perhaps the most important location in the whole valley. When this bunker was finally captured by the Viet Minh, the French surrendered, and the bloody battle ended.

I watch water drip down from the ceiling from today’s lingering rain. Seasonal rains gave the French Army a lot of trouble back during the siege, and the foul weather was a major factor in the battle. Although French planes dominated the skies overhead, air power did them little good when bad weather kept their planes grounded. Without planes in the air they couldn’t be resupplied, and fog kept the Viet Minh safe from air attack.

Couple the foul weather with Viet Minh anti-aircraft fire, and even air supremacy couldn’t save the French soldiers surrounded at Dien Bien Phu. The runway I had landed on where I arrived yesterday, was continually targeted by artillery back in those days. Soon the runway was littered with craters and wrecked cargo planes.

Viet Minh soldier waves flag over French command bunker (Source:Museum)

Same command bunker, preserved today

In the closing days, France even requested help from American bombers to save their troops. Always opposing communists, the US had already been clandestinely aiding French forces here with resupply flights and air drops by parachute. President Eisenhower seriously considered the French request. But in the end he didn’t approve aerial bombing, and the French colonials were doomed.

When the French finally ran out of ammunition and supplies, their surrender soon followed, and the carnage ended. By that time more than 1,700 French soldiers were dead. Exhausted and weakened from their ordeal, more than 11,000 French soldiers surrendered. It was a dark day for the French empire, and a humiliating defeat. The surviving prisoners of war were marched off to distant camps. Less than half survived their captivity.

A rainbow is seen over the mountains of the now peaceful Dien Bien Phu

For the Vietnamese, their casualties were far higher. After Giap used trench warfare and human wave attacks to overwhelm French positions, more than 10,000 Viet Minh were left dead on the battlefield. It was a costly and bloody victory, but victory nonetheless. In negotiations that followed with France, North Vietnam won their independence.

There is an eerie feeling about this quiet, empty underground bunker. Despite the spartan conditions, real history took place here. While I sit and ponder the past at a table in the bunker, the bare overhead lights dim. Then they brighten, and dim again.

Then the lights go out completely.

The symbolism isn’t lost on me. With the surrender of the French forces in this very bunker, the lights went out on the French empire in Indochina. 
 
**NOTE** My other related story is here: DIEN BIEN PHU: BORN FROM THE ASHES OF WAR

DIEN BIEN PHU - BORN FROM THE ASHES OF WAR

Mountains overlook an old French tank, next to the Dien Bien Phu runway

The twin propellers of the ATR-72 hum loudly, as our plane flies high over green, forest covered mountains.  Looking out the window, white clouds below seem to be skipping across the mountain tops of northwestern Vietnam. A long brown river curves between the peaks, meandering through the remote landscape below. Scanning the horizon, I see very few signs of civilization. I’m flying over rugged terrain; mountains very close to the Laotian border. Passing over a final ridge, the mountains part to make way for a long valley. My ears pop as the pilot dips our wings, descending to a lone runway down on the valley floor.

Upon landing, I follow two old Vietnamese men out the plane's door, and onto the tarmac. These two seniors have been here before; they're war veterans, but they didn’t fight Americans. One sports a long Ho Chi Minh beard. Although wearing civilian clothes, they both wear Vietnamese Army pith helmets over their greying hair.

Down at the end of the airstrip, I make

Vietnamese victory monument overlooks the town

out the outline of an old wrecked tank sitting in the grass. This is a civilian airport now, but originally this was a runway on a French military base. In 1954, world news focused on this remote Vietnamese valley. A massive battle took place for control of this runway, and the French base surrounding it. This remote place became a hell for the French soldiers who fought here, and a victory for the Viet Minh. This is where Vietnamese pride was restored, and where Vietnam’s independence was re-established. This is Dien Bien Phu.

When the Viet Minh defeated the French Army here after a 57 day siege, the western world was stunned. Their alarm was not just about the loss of another distant colony. The cold war was already in full swing, so western countries were shocked that for the first time, a European army had been decisively defeated by a communist army.

I debated whether I should come here or not, since the battle for Dien Bien Phu took place long before the American War. But, I decided the journey here was necessary. If I was to really understand Vietnam today, I had to travel to the battlefield where Vietnam’s independence was reborn in the past.

Since I’ve arrived in Dien Bien Phu close to the battle’s anniversary, my trip coincides with half price flights offered by Vietnam Airlines for veterans to return to the battlefield. That explains the two old vets on my flight. Not that the regular fare is too expensive for me; my regular fare ticket was only $112 roundtrip from Hanoi. Passing through the small terminal, the veterans leave with some local soldiers, and I taxi off to my hotel. After dropping my luggage, I head out to see the town.

Lizards on sale in the Dien Bien Phu market!

After the shooting stopped here in 1954, the Vietnamese rebuilt this former battlefield into a major regional town. Proud of their victory in Dien Bien Phu, it was named capital of Lai Chau Province. It took a great deal of labor to transform this ruined valley full of bomb craters into a provincial capital. After the French surrender, there wasn’t much left above ground that was habitable. Rebuilding took years. To improve access to Dien Bien Phu, the rugged road through the mountains was improved and paved into a highway. I could have taken that cheaper road route to get here, but that would have meant enduring a nauseating 14 hour bus ride through the mountains to travel here all the way from Hanoi. With that in mind, I opted for a flight. 

As modern homes were built Dien Bien Phu was reborn, and business grew. A nearby border crossing has improved commerce to Laos, though trade is limited. As I walk around town, I find more construction is in progress in this growing town. Building here can still be hazardous today, with tons of old shells buried underground. Unexploded munitions left over from the long battle still remain scattered all over the valley.

Hill tribe women in the town market

Heading through downtown, I walk into a street market. A chicken wire container catches my eye, and within is a commodity that I’ve never seen sold in a market anywhere. Lizards! Grey with white stripes, there are more than 30 of the foot long lizards packed inside. I doubt that the lady vendor is selling these as pets. Could they be for some kind of local delicacy?

Also in the market, I see shoppers from local hill tribes, wearing colorful woven clothing and head dresses. There are Hmong and Thais still living in town, while others drove down on motorbikes from surrounding mountain villages. A century ago hill tribe folk made up the majority of the provincial population, but they are gradually being outnumbered. As more ethnic Vietnamese move in, Dien Bien Phu has surpassed 20,000 residents. 

Leaving the market, I make my way on foot to the battle site known as Eliane 2. This was one of many heavily fortified,  hilltop French firebases around the valley, and was key to their overall defense. The town’s main street goes right by the base of the hill, and I head for the top. Ascending the hill I pass barbed wire, an old captured tank, and reach the command bunker at the peak.

Trenches from the 'Eliane 2' battle

Fighting here was much like WWI trench warfare

Like I had seen at the Khe Sanh battle site, some bunkers and trenches of this old stronghold have been rebuilt. With visitors and veterans returning to Dien Bien Phu, they had to make this former battleground secure for tourists. To do so, the army removed all the unexploded munitions and landmines across Eliane 2. Then they repaired the old dugouts, redug the trenches, and installed these strange, fake sandbags made of concrete. Like most of the other former foreign bases in Vietnam, the original bunkers were probably all torn apart by locals after the war for scrap. What’s here now may not be authentic material, but at least it’s fairly safe.

Many trenches zig-zag around the hillside. French Foreign Legion troops dug in deeply, building a trench network to hold the line against advancing Viet Minh. Stepping down into a trench, I peer into some of the bunkers along the old trench line. Life for all the French forces trapped here was dirty, muddy, and miserable. Fighting here was fierce trench warfare, much like the fighting on the Western Front of France  during World War I.

Looking out of an old 'Eliane 2' bunker, new houses can be seen

 

A huge bomb crater from the battle has been preserved on the hill

I look up out of the trench, and I’m surprised to see one of the old Vietnamese veterans who was on my flight walking nearby. It’s the shorter vet with the goatee, and he has changed out of his civilian clothes into a full army uniform. I’m astonished at the number of medals he’s wearing; there must be 15 of them across his chest. I wonder if he fought here, as Eliane 2 saw some of the most intense fighting of the battle, including hand to hand combat. Paratroopers and French Legionnaires fought off wave after wave of Viet Minh attackers day and night, until they finally ran out of ammunition and were overwhelmed.

A Vietnamese war veteran walks alone on the old 'Eliane 2' battlefield of Dien Bien Phu

As I watch the old Viet Minh soldier, he looks over the trenches, slowly walking alone across the quiet hillside. Then he stops, and gazes down the hill. What he’s looking at, is a large military cemetery across the street, below Eliane 2. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of his dead Vietnamese compatriots are buried there. So many men died in the long fight for this strategic hill.

Still wearing his pith helmet, the old veteran’s face looks stoic, but I can tell that he’s in deep thought. I wonder what he’s thinking. Is he remembering the bloody battle for this hill, more than a half century ago? Is he recalling the loss of old friends, buried beneath those headstones?

Then he turns and walks away, rejoining a group of veterans further down the hill. It doesn’t matter what side a soldier was on, or what war he was in. So much of the pain that a war veteran endures, is endured alone.

HOLLYWOOD, HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND VIETNAM

US TV shows can be viewed in Vietnam

I'm watching TV in my hotel room, and I'm surprised by what I see. I'm expecting bland communist programming, but I find television in Vietnam has taken a very western bend. Flipping through channels, I find the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and many of their familiar shows are dubbed or subtitled into Vietnamese. The rise of satellite TV here has revolutionized the media.  

Even away from cable and satellite networks, even locally produced shows rise from western influences. I was amused one night to watch a competitive dance show, which looked much like ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Another channel had the Vietnamese version of the game show, “The Price is Right”. The popular show had similar games for the contestants, who wore familiar yellow name tags. Even the theme song was the same!

As for popular movies, American made blockbusters are making it to Vietnam’s many multi-screen theaters. If a hit movie can’t be seen there, they can easily be found on pirated DVD’s, sold by vendors on the city streets. Banning movies from theaters, only increases their sales on the black market.

It’s no surprise that most American made movies on the Vietnam War aren't seen

Dustin Nguyen of 21 Jump Street returned to Vietnam

in theaters here, or on Vietnamese TV either. But there are already plenty of locally made war movies showing the Vietnamese side of the war, with the Americans and French depicted as the villains. In recent years, Vietnam has developed a growing local film community, producing privately made films in Vietnamese. Their films aren’t about drab old socialist themes either, but are of popular genres. Rather than flicks about communism, there are comedies, musicals, love stories, and even horror flicks.

I once went to an action movie, with a title that translated as, “The Legend Lives”. The film stars Dustin Nguyen, who made his name as an American actor on the 1980’s teen cop show ’21 Jump Street’. Back then, he starred with none other than future movie star Johnny Depp. Nguyen left Vietnam as a child refugee, and in addition to his American acting career, he recently became a star in his former homeland as a 'Viet kieu', a returning Vietnamese. This local film is a martial arts movie with a message, and highlights a major problem in Vietnam today: human trafficking.

As we meet Nguyen’s character, he is mentally handicapped living in a Buddhist temple. His mother is a martial arts master, and she improbably tells him that his father is the great Bruce Lee.
 
It's eventually revealed that neither his mother, nor Bruce Lee are his real parents; his actual mom was a single mother exposed to agent orange. The slow witted but quick fisted young man later takes on human traffickers, when he witnesses them kidnapping a Vietnamese teenager. The gangsters aim to force the girl into prostitution. 

Vulnerable homeless man sleeps in Hanoi ATM booth

The movie has a happy ending and the teenage girl is saved, but the message to Vietnamese audiences is clear. In real life, human trafficking is indeed a major problem in Vietnam. Ironically, human trafficking has worsened in Vietnam due to the rise in individual freedoms, mainly the freedom to travel. Passports for Vietnamese used to be a rarity, now they're fairly common.  

With the opening of Vietnam’s borders, the rise of globalization, and with passports available to average citizens, conditions became ripe for human traffickers to take advantage of poor Vietnamese for their own profit. Many young people leave Vietnam every year, traveling overseas with hopes and dreams of finding better paid work. As a result, thousands of vulnerable Vietnamese women and girls have been forced into prostitution against their will, with many more trapped as forced laborers. They are trafficked not only within Vietnam, but also to numerous foreign countries. 

As to how many Vietnamese have been trafficked, nobody knows for sure. The government has admitted that 2,935 were victims of human trafficking during a five year period, but a spokesperson admitted the problem is worsening. The advocacy group Hagar International puts the number far higher. They say that 400,000 were human trafficking victims since 1990, which included men, women and children. 

In a 2003 ordinance passed for the prevention of prostitution, sex trafficking in Vietnam was outlawed. Recent laws have resulted in the conviction of hundreds of human traffickers, but the problem persists. As long as there is poverty and corruption in Vietnam, it will be difficult to eliminate the scourge of human trafficking.
 

IS THERE 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH' IN VIETNAM?

There is freedom to 'Rock-N-Roll' in today's Vietnam, just don't criticize the government

One afternoon I was traveling through Hanoi by taxi, when I saw a rare sight. Passing by a government building, I saw that a crowd of Vietnamese citizens had gathered out front. A mass of about 60 adult Vietnamese were all grouped together, seated on the ground, and totally silent. This is what passes for a demonstration in Vietnam. There were no speeches, no chanting, and no colorful banners advocating their cause. It was basically a public sit-in.

I would've liked to take a photo of the peaceful demonstrators, but I didn’t dare. There were no uniformed police, but plainclothes police were likely present, watching everyone and everything. Freedom of speech and public assemblies that criticize the government, can quickly get you in trouble here. Anti-government dissent is rarely tolerated in Vietnam. This demonstration could have been over any number of things: corruption, repression of religious sects, and unfair land confiscation have been common issues these days.

A peeking door looks into an old prison cell in Vietnam

When it comes to freedom in Vietnam, the good news is that they have come a long, long way since the dark days of the cold war. The bad news is that rights are still repressed, and they still have a long way to go.

Take the oddities of daily newspapers for example. With the reforms of doi moi, newspaper content has improved drastically. For the most part, communist dogma has been replaced with regular news articles. The national press now publishes many stories from western media verbatim, such as from Associated Press and Reuters. During my travels, I often read the national English language newspaper, ‘Viet Nam News’, and most stories printed within are indeed newsworthy. The format mostly mirrors western papers, with sections on world news, national news, business and sports. I even found stories covering NBA basketball.

Then there is what’s missing:

Internet access to foreign websites is better in Vietnam than in China

stories critical of the Vietnamese government are rare. Since Vietnam remains a one party system, the communist party is still the main source for government news. The occasional lead story about drab government policy shows the communist party still gets top billing when it so desires. Recent front page headlines include: “Performance key to evaluation of cadre: Party General Secretary.” Or this one: “Cultural exchange hailed as key to building Japan ties.”

Yawn…

As far as mass media goes, a recent step in the right direction, is that there are some privately owned publications. These periodicals tend to focus on fashion, lifestyle or business, rather than hard news. Newspapers, magazines and TV continue to be highly censored. To stay in business, most editors practice self-censorship to continue operating with government permission.
A foreign editor who published a monthly lifestyle magazine called “Asialife”, once explained to me his process of dealing with Vietnamese censorship. “Before it goes to the printer, we send the whole magazine in, and we have to have everything approved,” he told me. “We usually don’t have any problem. We get it back in about a week.”

The subject most notably absent from the daily news, is corruption. In a country where corruption is a top complaint, there are only infrequent stories about corrupt officials, and the occasional crackdowns. Of course, the communist party itself is aware that corruption is their biggest problem, but with so much money flowing into Vietnam’s rising economy, their current manners of dealing with it are like holding back the tide with a bucket. There is even less will on the part of the Vietnamese press to report on those who are arrested and convicted. Even the Chinese press to the north reports more often on their corruption crackdowns, than does the Vietnamese media.

Internet cafe in Vietnam, note that all those within are young people

When comparing Vietnam and China, one freedom that the Vietnamese have more of, is freedom on the internet. Most western websites are unblocked, and viewable within Vietnam. Internet usage has grown so fast, that even Google and Yahoo have Vietnamese language websites and services. But government IT censors do what they can to block many pro-democracy websites, as well as news stories and human rights websites critical of the Vietnamese government. In 2008, the Ministry of Information and Communication created a new agency tasked with monitoring the internet. Like China, they seek to filter out more anti-government information.

Bloggers have daringly tried to fill in the gap in independent news that is left by the traditional state dominated media. Unfortunately for local citizen journalists, Vietnam is not a good country to be a blogger. A select number of high profile bloggers who have been critical of the government have been arrested in recent years.

In 2008, prominent blogger Nguyen Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on tax evasion charges. Nguyen was the founder of the blogging group called the Union of Independent Journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists stated that these charges were in reprisal for his blogging. With his conviction, Vietnamese bloggers are learning that exercising free speech online can lead to time in prison. 

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND VIETNAM'S CATHOLICS

***Ever wonder what it's like for Christians living in a communist country? Read on below***

Good Friday procession during Easter week in Hanoi

It’s Good Friday, and Christians around the world are marking one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar. Standing in a crowd of Catholic faithful outside an old gothic cathedral, I’m watching a live depiction of the stations of the cross. The somber procession depicts the passion of the last days of Jesus Christ, as it gradually makes its way around the exterior of the sanctuary.

The elaborate procession includes costumed actors. A young man portraying Jesus wears a realistic looking beard, and bears a large wooden cross. Young Roman soldiers that accompany him, are dressed complete with Roman armor, and carry plastic tipped spears.

This isn’t an Easter week scene from the Vatican, or even from America. It’s in the ‘communist’ country of Vietnam, and this Christian procession is making its way around the dark stone walls of St. Joseph's Cathedral, in downtown Hanoi's old quarter.

Although the majority of Vietnamese are of the Buddhist religion, there are indeed Christians in Vietnam. The vast majority are Catholic, and in most cases they are given the freedom to celebrate their traditional sacraments. Unlike other French colonies in Southeast Asia, missionaries did have a greater degree of success in converting the Vietnamese here. When the French left in 1954 and the communists took over the north, many priests were imprisoned, and church property was confiscated. This led to a mass migration to South Vietnam by more than a million Vietnamese Catholics. As a result, these days there are more Catholics in Vietnam’s southern provinces, than there are here in the north.

St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi, built in the 1880's by the French

Whereas China’s Cultural Revolution closed churches and practically outlawed religion for years, the revolution in Vietnam treated religion quite differently. Here the conflict between church and state was mainly over control of the church itself. That struggle continues today, mostly behind the scenes as the communist party continues to demand that the church be subordinate to the state. This contradicts most Vietnamese Catholics, who continue to believe that the church should only answer to the Vatican.

There are now more than six million Catholics nationwide, and while their numbers only add up to around eight percent of the Vietnamese population, their numbers are growing. With a shortage of churches in many areas, Sunday morning services are often packed.

These days most Vietnamese Catholics celebrate their faith without government interference, and on the surface, most parishes seem to run smoothly. But problems still continue in some areas, out of the public eye. Although freedom of religion is supposed to be guaranteed in Vietnam’s current constitution, recent years have seen further incidents of government repression against certain groups of Christians.

The procession concludes with a depiction of Christ's crucifixion on the cathedral steps

In 2010, a dozen Catholic parishioners were injured by police in Hanoi. They were trying to stop the police from using explosives to blow up a five meter crucifix on a hilltop cemetery.

Earlier in 2007, a dissident Catholic priest was tried and sentenced to eight years in prison. In addition to these events, religious unrest still occurs sporadically in the southern highlands. There demonstrations by Christians usually end in arrests, and there have been injuries and fatalities at the hands of the police. The power struggle goes on today, as the communist party continues its attempts to assert authority over church affairs.

Although problems between church and state continue, there are no problems outside of Hanoi’s Cathedral today. Atop the steps of the venerable cathedral, the Good Friday performers complete their procession, and the ceremony comes to a close.

As the Catholic parishioners begin to depart the church grounds for Hanoi’s streets, I notice a crowd of Vietnamese gathering around an older priest near the entrance. His vestments are somewhat more elaborate than the others. As I approach, he smiles.

“Happy Easter,” I tell him, as he shakes my hand.

I believe that I just shook hands with the Archbishop of Hanoi.