Jun 8, 2014

Now, a look back on Virnam's anti-China protest

From Strait Times, David Ko shared his review of the mid-May anti-China's protests:


Vietnamese government taken aback by scale of protests
http://www.straitstimes.com/news/opinion/more-opinion-stories/story/vietnamese-government-taken-aback-scale-protests-20140521


The proliferation of smart phones in Vietnam in recent years certainly played an important role in spreading news about the protests beyond the big cities and getting people to join in the protests.

Previously, the Government managed to thwart large-scale protests either by physically restraining the organisers or persuading them not to proceed. This time around, it was just not possible because the protests occurred spontaneously in too many places.

In future, the Vietnamese government is likely to devote more resources to the monitoring of protest movements as well as public education on peaceful protests and criminal behaviour.

It should also compensate investors, and look for ways to allow the protests to take place without affecting economic production and public order.

The Vietnamese should also learn to be nationalistic without being seen to be xenophobic. It is also possible for Vietnam to be anti-China but not anti-Chinese, just as its government during the Vietnam War was anti-US government but not anti-American


0 comments:

Post a Comment