Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Feb. 21 (VNA) -- A Vietnamese historian living in San Diego, California, has described a hearing into religious rights by the U.S. Commission on Feb. 13 as "wrong" as it discussed the wrong topic in the "wrong place" at the "wrong time".

In an open letter to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, dated Feb. 16, the historian, Le Trong Van, cites three reasons to support his remarks:

First, he says, Viet Nam and the U.S. are moving closer together as they have already established diplomatic ties and signed a bilateral trade agreement, BTA.

But the hearing, far from helpful to Viet Nam's reconstruction after decades of war, will benefit only a very small group of overseas Vietnamese who want to provoke quarrels and undermine Viet Nam for their own interest.

Secondly, everyone knew the so-called religious representation group in Viet Nam is really an imposter. They represent nothing relating to Viet Nam because they are not Vietnamese citizens.

As matter of fact, he points out, they are American or Vatican citizens. For example, Mr Vo Van Ai, a naturalised Frenchman coming from Paris, has been working for the U.S. with a yearly payment of about USD 90,000 from American Funds.

And the Rev. Tran Cong Nghi, a Catholic priest, has obviously served the Vatican's interests rather than Viet Nam's. These people are called "lackeys of foreigners" by the Vietnamese community.

Thirdly, Mr Zachary Abuza's report contains a contradiction as he writes: "Viet Nam does not ban religion but lets it operate in a bureaucratic maze..." The first part of the sentence obviously means the people of Viet Nam are free to worship and conduct religious activities.

"As we understand that the trade relations between the two countries are based on equality and that they can not be used as a weapon by a big power to bully a small nation like Viet Nam", the historian says.

"We'd like to let you know the above-mentioned facts so that you can make a comparison between the two countries (the U.S. and Viet Nam)", he says, adding that it is clear that "there is a big difference between the two countries about cultural and social practice, standard of knowledge, living conditions and way of life".--VNA