Statement of the NA Council of Ethnic Nationalities
Statement of the Council of Ethnic Nationalities of the Vietnam National Assembly
1. The Council of Ethnic Nationalities of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam resolutely rejects the slanderous assertions and wrongful measures in relevance to the ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam put forth in the Amendment concerning Vietnam introduced within the framework of HR. 1950 Bill on Foreign Relations Authorization which was adopted by the US House of Representatives on July 15th, 2003.
2. In fact, the Amendment dismisses the State of Vietnam's policy of broad national unity towards the 54 ethnic nationalities which make up the Vietnamese nation as well as practical achievements in creating favourable conditions for ethnic minorities to move out of poverty, backwardness and illiteracy, and to enjoy stable and rising conditions and standard of living, and to narrow the development gap among ethnic nationalities. The Council of Ethnic Nationalities of the National Assembly welcomes disinterested humanitarian aid from outside to the ethnic minorities on the basis of mutual respect for each other's sovereignty, non-intervention in each other's internal affairs, and without any conditionality.
3. The proposed measures in the Amendment are acts of gross interference in Vietnamese internal affairs in general and in those of the Central Highlands of Vietnam in particular, aiming only at sowing division and causing unrest in Vietnam. The Vietnamese people, especially from the ethnic minorities, forcefully condemn such attempts.
4. For the sake of the interests of the two peoples, the Council of Ethnic Nationalities of the National Assembly of Vietnam calls on the members of the U.S Senate to remove this wrongful Amendment from HR. 1950 Bill. The Ethic Nationalities Council of the National Assemby of Vietnam states its readiness to engage in dialogue on issues of common concern relating to the well-being and happiness of Vietnamese ethnic minorities with anyone, including in the United States, who wishes to develop with Vietnam relations of equality and mutual benefit, on the basis of mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and non-intervention in each other's internal affairs, and of joint efforts to narrow down differences and enhance common ground.
Hanoi, July 16th, 2003
