by Vu Kim Chung
16-1-2002
The authorities in Vietnam ordered the seizure and destruction of books written by several prominent dissidents, at the start of a new campaign against publications opposed to the state and the Communist party.
One of the dissidents affected - a retired revolutionary General and former senior party official Tran Do - said his work was not intended to undermine the state, it was simply offering suggestions for reform. He also criticises the government quietly condoning corruption because it would undermine Vietnam's economy on the long run and destroy the nation, as has happened in Thailand and Indonesia.
Another, the geophysicist Nguyen Thanh Giang, said he was strongly opposed to the new regulation.
The two dissidents frequently accused the Vietnamese authorities of harrassment and keeping them under de facto house arrest.