With the war in Ukraine ongoing, Vietnamese people are divided more than ever - even within the Communist Party


As the war in Ukraine unfolded, the situation became increasingly precarious and tense. For this reason, we are also seeing a massive wave of uncertain, divided sentiment among Vietnamese population. That division definitely helped by the fact that, as globalisation grows, so do are the public perceptions.

And yet this division is something that would surprise me the most. Probably, this is the biggest and most important change ever occur among Vietnamese society, a society formerly closed off to the world. While it is fair to say the change won't accelerate quickly, it is a good sign for Vietnamese people to stand up with what it believed to be, the truth.

So, what are we getting here now?

Within the Communist Party, the power lies entirely on the conservative, pro-Russian personnel. That was due to their education, previously occurred in the Soviet Union, played a significant role on how they run their regime. Communist Party that rules Vietnam today bears its attitude from the Soviet Union, albeit from Leninist teachings, after Ho Chi Minh, a controversial figure, visit this nation back in 1920. Their sympathy belongs deeply to Russia due to their hatred against the West after the Vietnam War.

Yet, propaganda mouthpieces of the regime have been torn apart by the war Putin waged against Ukraine. While the media ownership in Vietnam is only operated under the authorisation of the Communist Party, effectively making it authoritarian, some of the most popular Vietnamese media has defied censorship, such as VnExpress and Zing News, as well as PLO (stand for Báo Pháp Luật Hồ Chí Minh - Ho Chi Minh Law Newspapers), providing massive criticism on Russia and somewhat moral support to Ukraine. The other media, such as VOV (Voice of Vietnam), Tuổi Trẻ (Young Student Newspapers), Nhân Dân (People's Newspapers), have stayed true to the Communist propaganda about supporting Russian narratives. State TVs like VTV tend to side with Moscow over Kyiv, while VTC, though ambiguous, is entirely on Ukrainian side.

On public opinions, the vast overwhelming Vietnamese have not shown who to support, but a growing portion of Vietnamese people have stopped treating Russia as a friend, rather viewing Russia an aggressor and an invader, which has even been seen in Facebook and YouTube. Their solidarity with Ukraine is witnessed across the internet, another momentum and a blow to the Communist rulers. This sentiment is echoed into rising opposition on Russia's political gamble, especially after Moscow backed Beijing against Vietnam's territorial claims in South China Sea.

The question is more to matter for many Vietnamese: how long will Putin go for Ukraine? The Russian dictator has underlined that Ukraine must be crushed and a puppet government must be established on 2 March 2022 in Kyiv. If Putin's aggression on Ukraine ends in the same day with a win for Putin, this can be a relief for the ruling Communist Party in Vietnam. But if Putin's aggression ends with a failure, Russia's reputation in Vietnam will suffer a huge low - Russia will be hated and despised by many Vietnamese people, many have already compared Russia to China. And moreover, this can be a repercussion to the authoritarian Communist Party in Vietnam for siding with the losing side - either they'll have to change or they will have to bear a burden for allying with Putin.

And there is another reason for the fear. As tensions between Vietnam and China rising over South China Sea and historical territorial disputes. As stated before, Putin's Russia has shown greater solidarity with China and tacitly backed Chinese aggression. Hence, Putin's popularity among Vietnamese, while remains significant, has plummeted and greater support for the United States and allies are witnessed.

That's still too early to assert, but this is probably the moment where Russia lost respect across the globe, even within its old allies except for China. But if the Communist Party continues to play around without fully acknowledging Russian invasion, it will have a lot to pay for.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Houthis may not be like the fanatical Taliban - but their rise in Yemen can also become a problem

Image
The Houthis are notorious as it was born from the ashes of Hussein Badreddin Al-Houthi, a Zaydi Shi'a and also former parliamentarian of the Yemeni Cabinet. The former parliamentarian, who himself got educated in Iran and even met personally with Ali Khamenei (the current Iranian Supreme Leader), entered the Cabinet during 1990s with hope to raise concern about government's corruption, but instead got nothing except rebuffs from the officials. Unsurprisingly, Hussein Badreddin attempted to create a political party that would go on to be known after his death, Ansarallah, or the Houthis after the former's surname. He was killed in September 2004 when he clashed with government's troops, but his party persisted and even grew into a very powerful, notorious group. Of course, the group was not always at easy shape - the President of Yemen at the time of Hussein's death, ironically the Shi'a Ali Abdullah Saleh - tried to suppress the movement. However, the Houthis we
Read more

The dream of Congolese people for 2022 FIFA World Cup is coming closer, with the revival of the once African football power

Image
I used to talk much about football in Asia and Europe, so when it comes to Africa, literally it is a region where knowledge about football vary. Of course, Africa has over 55 countries with different cultures and norms, especially even more relevant with the north-south divide from the Sahara desert. So far, North and West Africa have been the most successful regions of Africa, and also frequent participants in the FIFA World Cup. Southern and Central Africa, on the other hand, do have teams that take parts in World Cup and have African glories, though limited compared to North and West Africa. Only East Africa has little success, with Sudan and Ethiopia being the only two African champions, they have not even taken part in a World Cup. I think it is a perfect time to have a short glimpse, but hopeful, about one nation, for a long time, ravaged by wars and instabilities, but now is finding back where it belongs, to progress. Yes, this is DR Congo - the second largest country in Africa.
Read more

Why does Vietnam want to be like Saudi Arabia?

Image
No, we are not talking about the recent 2022 World Cup qualification between two countries in the detail. And we do not talk about soccer (football) either. We are talking about politics. Two nations, one in West Asia, one in Southeast Asia. Both have nothing in common because of geography apart, they are also differed in religious nature. For the last 1,000 years, nothing has changed. But within the recent frameworks, one can conclude that they are closer than we thought of. These are the stories of two entities: Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, both far apart, yet ironically drawn together due to somehow, American interests. And this is a unique case that need to be examined - or, to be frank, why would Vietnam aim to be like Saudi Arabia? Saudi-American relations To go forth, we have to begin with the relationship between the Middle Eastern Kingdom and the States. The United States had little to none of interests toward the Saudis when the Kingdom was announced in 1932, the same year Saudi
Read more