US embassy cable - 03HOCHIMINHCITY466

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000466 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR ECA (P.HARRISON); ECA/A (T. FARRELL); EAP/PD 
(P.KOVACH/D. MONK); EAP/BCLTV (J.STROTZ/C.JESS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OEXC, SCUL, VM, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: KEEPING THE LID ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND 
ARTISTIC EXPRESSION IN HO CHI MINH CITY 
 
REF: A) HCMC 0342  B) 02 HCMC 1170   C) HCMC 0156 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Despite a flurry of economic reforms and 
trade liberalization heralded by the signing of the 
Bilateral Trade Agreement over a year ago, Ho Chi Minh 
City's press reporting and cultural programs remain mired 
in self-censorship, media "guidelines" and an arbitrary 
permit process that strongly limit the freedom of 
expression for thoughtful writers, journalists, moviemakers 
and theater directors.  During the past 15 months, as Post 
has sponsored its first live cultural performances and 
broadened its contacts within media organizations and the 
artistic community, we too have experienced the gauntlet of 
obstacles created by groups of small-minded ideologues. 
End summary. 
 
NEWS MEDIA: WE KNOW THE TRUTH, WE JUST CAN'T TELL IT 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
2.  (U) Ho Chi Minh City TV (HTV) is government-owned and 
the only local TV station in HCMC.  Domestic news programs 
follow a time-honored tradition of airing mostly positive 
stories about courtesy calls, government-organized seminars 
and conferences, and visiting dignitaries.  World news 
visual coverage has generally been fairly open, drawing on 
BBC, CNN and other news services.  However, there is no 
guarantee that the Vietnamese voiceover will bear any 
relationship to what the viewer sees on the TV screen. 
Coverage of the war in Iraq was one-sided.  There was no 
reporting about Iraqis celebrating Saddam's fall or 
toppling statues of him, let alone welcoming the coalition 
forces.  Entertainment programs are of fair quality for a 
developing country, but lack anything approaching 
contemporary political satire or serious talk shows about 
sensitive issues. 
 
3.  (U) Like the rest of Vietnam, the press in HCMC has 
ownership roots in the local government or Communist Party. 
A handful of the city's numerous newspapers and magazines 
are considered serious news sources.  They must adhere to 
unwritten guidelines, avoiding criticism of the government 
and the Party except in particular cases, such as certain 
corruption trials. 
 
4.  (SBU) A vivid example is the recent dismissal of the 
editor-in-chief of the "Tuoi Tre" newspaper, Mr. Le Van 
Nui.  "Tuoi Tre" is owned by the Youth Union of HCMC, a 
government-sanctioned mass organization.  Mr. Nui had been 
under a cloud of suspicion ever since his paper published a 
poll during President Clinton's visit in 2000.  This poll 
asked readers to rate the leaders they most admired.  The 
results showed that Mr. Clinton was more popular than Ho 
Chi Minh.  Authorities stripped Mr. Nui of his press 
association membership about a year ago, although he kept 
his top position at the paper until this month.  Then "Tuoi 
Tre's" focus on top GVN leaders implicated in a well- 
publicized criminal trial (the "Nam Cam" case, which opened 
this April) seemed to renew official interest in Mr. Nui's 
departure.  He has been replaced by a local book publisher, 
Mr. Le Hoang, who is respected for his business skills but 
who has no journalism experience.  Mr. Nui, in the 
meantime, has been sidelined into the directorship of Tuoi 
Tre News Group's real estate and land management firm. 
 
5.  (SBU) Coverage/commentary on the Iraq war in HCMC was 
negative, with the daily press running graphic photos of 
civilian casualties and editorial content focusing on the 
"unwelcome American aggression."  Sources have told Post 
that media editors received written guidelines on Iraq war 
coverage.  Reporters and editors have said they know the 
real story of the coalition's victory, but were forbidden 
to report it. 
 
FILM: TREAD LIGHTLY 
------------------- 
6.  (SBU) The best-known recent case is the expulsion of 
film star Don Duong from the actors' union.  Technically, 
he had violated a government rule for appearing in foreign 
films: submitting the script in advance for approval.  Don 
Duong and his family were subjected to police questioning 
and harassment for his "betrayal of the homeland" in movies 
such as "Green Dragon" (life in a Vietnamese refugee 
resettlement camp in the U.S.) and "We Were Soldiers Once" 
(a balanced portrayal of soldiers' lives on both sides 
during the early days of the Vietnam War).  Blackballed by 
the film association, his children taunted and intimidated 
at school, menacing phone calls, "invitations" to the local 
police station, and vandalism at his sister's restaurant 
finally drove Don Duong and his family to emigrate to the 
U.S. (ref A).  The orchestrated media attacks and forced 
unemployment were pointed reminders to his fellow actors: 
stick to pure entertainment or politically correct drama. 
 
7.  (U) Two recent screen releases have mildly criticized 
the socio-cultural realities of contemporary Saigon.  "Gai 
Nhay" ("Sensitive Girl"), a film about the exploitation of 
bar girls, implicitly criticizes the poverty that drives 
them to that lifestyle and the callousness of a system that 
would create such an underclass.  Sex for drug money, heavy 
drinking, and slimy nouveau riche Vietnamese are also 
featured.  "Luoi Troi" ("Tangled in the Sky's Web") took 
the Golden Kite prize at Vietnam's Film Festival this year. 
It deals with the corruption of individual Party members 
and hints at institutional flaws, but stops short of 
explicitly criticizing the government.  It may have been a 
critical success at the Film Festival, but its commercial 
run has been much shorter than "Gai Nhay". 
 
8.  (SBU) The GVN recently moved to allow the establishment 
of private film companies.  To say there has not been a mad 
rush to take advantage of this "opening" would be an 
understatement.  The start-up process for the first 
company(ies) would likely be unpredictable and time- 
consuming.  Post believes that any company brave enough to 
wade through the application forms and obtain a license, 
would certainly not risk losing its investment in order to 
focus on social or political issues. 
 
9.  (U) In the words of one contact, media organizations 
and the film industry may criticize "below the waist" 
(lower-ranking members of the Party or government), but not 
take aim at the head (national leaders, ideology etc.) 
 
STAGE: AS IN "ALL THE WORLD IS (NOT)" 
------------------------------------- 
10. (SBU) Serious theater in HCMC is virtually non- 
existent.  The British Council sponsored a contemporary 
version of "Romeo and Juliet" last year.  Street people 
depicted actual characters, but the setting was blandly 
anyplace.  (Post Note: Homelessness and abandonment are 
increasing social problems in HCMC's growing metropolis of 
8 million, but absent any specific country references, few 
Vietnamese in the audience recognized the subtle message 
here.  End note.)  Playwrights, theater directors and 
actors practice self-censorship, since all performances 
must be reviewed by a board of censors prior to the formal 
opening.  Contacts tell us that if they wish to perform a 
small play or dance performance that may have daring or 
sensitive content, they simply call the performance "a 
party" and the audience is by invitation only. 
 
11.  (SBU) One prominent artist was visited by the police 
after leading a group of cultural performers to the U.S. 
Another colleague on the trip had made disparaging remarks 
about the Vietnamese Government, and so the nominal 
"leader" was called to account.  Understandably rattled 
that the GVN would hold an individual responsible for the 
conduct of an entire group, this artist was about to give 
up on ever traveling overseas again.  As months have 
passed, it now looks as though this contact will be able to 
resume international travel.  However, the avant-garde 
performances this individual is noted for Q with no 
political content Q are still under increased scrutiny. 
 
12.  (U) On the more humorous side, one traveling 
Vietnamese artist has been quoted in the Western media as 
saying that since his works are so sophisticated, they are 
"beyond the comprehension" of the cultural censors, so they 
don't come and interfere. 
 
MUSIC: VIETNAM'S "BOB DYLAN" SILENCED 
------------------------------------- 
13.  (SBU) Pop singers tend not to have problems if they 
pay the proper licensing fees (indexed very high for profit 
events) and submit recordings of their music for review. 
One prominent singer, however, faces frequent harassment 
for his sexual orientation and for a well-known (by word of 
mouth) denunciation of the GVN, which he made from a stage 
in Hue several years ago. 
 
14.  (SBU) There are virtually no songs on HCMC Radio 
(government controlled) with political overtones.  HCMC 
Radio now bans a collection of songs by Trinh Cong Son, a 
popular anti-war/anti-U.S. activist during the 1960s and 
1970s, because listeners have been loosely interpreting his 
lyrics to include repression under the current government. 
 
15.  (U) Classical music concerts by the Ho Chi Minh City 
Symphony take place on the 9th of every month.  Post has 
noted that performing excerpts from classical standards Q 
including some excerpts from Bach/Mozart/Brahms requiems 
and masses Q draws no particular attention. 
 
EXHIBITIONS:  DON'T SHOW US WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO SEE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
16.  (U) Photo and art exhibits with non-revolutionary or 
non-liberation themes are rare.  In the spring 2002, a 
British- sponsored photojournalism workshop had its exhibit 
closed by the censors during the opening ceremony.  Several 
photos which portrayed the nitty-gritty realism of street 
life in HCMC were unacceptable to the culture censors. 
 
17.  (SBU) Post has been able to sponsor two exhibits 
related to the September 11 terrorist attacks ("Headlines 
of History" poster show in September 2002 and "9/11: View 
from Ground Zero" in February 2003).  These required an 
exhaustive searches for willing venues and a painstaking 
effort to detail to the censors the contents of the 
exhibits (photos, translations of each newspaper headline 
and caption etc.).  Even then, whether or not our co- 
sponsors would be issued the appropriate permits was in 
doubt to the last minute.  So while we have nudged open the 
door, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to arrange 
exhibits relating to American democracy and civil rights. 
 
WHO ARE THE CULTURAL BRAINS AND BRAWN? 
-------------------------------------- 
18.  (SBU) PA25, which is the cultural censorship branch of 
the Ministry of Public Affairs ("the culture police"), is 
often called into action.  In film actor Don Duong's case, 
PA25 officers were the ones who brought him in for 
questioning.  They tried to intimidate an apology and 
confession out of him.  On a recent trip to the central 
coast, when the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa Province 
did not want the Consul General to meet with professors and 
students at the local university, teachers' training 
college, and school of music and art, PA25 was dispatched 
to tell at least one rector and his senior staff that they 
"should find it inconvenient" to be available for the CG's 
appointment.  Other confirmed interlocutors were suddenly 
summoned by PA25 to a meeting at the People's Committee 
just before the CG's scheduled arrival at their 
institution.  On another occasion in Binh Thuan Province, 
public security police and the People's Committee external 
relations officer jointly tried to prevent the DPO from 
visiting an ethnic Cham princess and her husband who run a 
small tourist museum, claiming the DPO needed prior 
"permission." 
 
19.  (SBU) The gatekeepers for HCMC's flow of information 
and the performing and visual arts remain formidable.  The 
local Department of Culture and Information, the Party 
Commission on Ideology and Culture, the Peoples Aid 
Committee and the Ministry of Public Security continue to 
be narrow-minded, arbitrary and obstructionist when 
deciding which artistic work should be disseminated through 
the media, exhibitions, or live performances.  Post's own 
Vietnamese co-sponsors for cultural performances have had 
to submit the music and lyrics to the Department of Culture 
and Information in order to get a permit for each event. 
Post can only wonder.  Did these minders actually think we 
would try to sneak in a non-revolutionary piano note? 
 
20.  (SBU) COMMENT: Post believes there is no big cultural 
opening around the corner in southern Vietnam. Journalists 
and editors Q perhaps because they have relatively better 
access to sources and information Q are becoming more 
inquisitive.  And there are certainly individuals in both 
the media and the arts who follow their professional ethics 
and conscience.  However, if they fall into the bad graces 
of the powers-that-be (as in the case of film actor Don 
Duong and newspaper editor Le Van Nui), they cannot count 
on the support of colleagues who themselves can't afford to 
be blacklisted or stripped of their accreditation.  Post 
continues to build relations with journalists, artist, and 
the cultural gatekeepers, looking for appropriate 
candidates for the International Visitors program and other 
exchange opportunities.  As we keep pushing at the door of 
free expression, these programs will help carry them across 
the threshold with us.  YAMAUCHI