Hundreds of Government Critics Held under House Arrest When China Marks 70th Anniversary of Independence

Plainclothes agents station near the private residence of university lecturer Dao Thu on Oct 1

 

Defend the Defenders, October 1, 2019

 

On October 1, security forces in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities placed hundreds of local dissidents under de facto house arrest on the day when Beijing marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Defend the Defenders has learned.

Activists said local authorities sent plainclothes agents and militia to follow them in late September and station near their private residencies from early morning of Tuesday until late afternoon in a bid to prevent them from gathering to protest China’s violations of the country in the East Sea (South China Sea).

University lecturer Dao Thu said that there were three police officers in plainclothes stationed near her house in Thuy Khue street in Hanoi in early morning of October 1. When she tried to go to work in Hanoi University, they stopped her, saying they were ordered by their supervisors not to permit her to go out all day.

Veteran primary school teacher Tran Thi Thao, veteran army officer Phan Khang and novelist Nguyen Nguyen Binh, a daughter of retired Major General Nguyen Trong Vinh as well as numerous others in Hanoi reported that plainclothes agents and militia stationed not too far from their residences.

Activists in HCM City said they were also barred from going out during the day.

Meanwhile, authorities in Hanoi, HCM City and Danang City also deployed large numbers of police officers in uniform and plain clothes as well as militia to station on streets near the Chinese Embassy in the capital city and the Chinese General Consulates in HCM City and Danang City to protect them.

University lecturer Dao Thu also said that householders in many residental areas were forced to hang the national flags from September 30 without explanation.

In late September, the national television VTV used the Chinese national flag with six stars to present Vietnam in reporting an international sport event with the participation of Vietnam’s national football team.

International media reported that on September 30, China sent its research ship and armed vessels back to Vanguard Bank which is within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone in the East Sea. Vietnam’s communist regime has yet to responded to the new development.