Press Release of The Federation of Vietnamese Catholic Mass Media



Sydney, April 19. The Federation of Vietnamese Catholic Mass Media would like to report to the international community and our fellow-countrymen living at home and abroad about current territory issues; the nature, and the true color of the so-called “The Great Plan of Bauxite Exploitation” in Vietnam.



Our home country Vietnam, under the Communist authoritarian government, is facing two detrimental issues: our land slowly being lost to China and our ecosystem being destroyed to Bauxite exploitation plans in the mountainous central highlands.



As keenly aware of the potentially catastrophic events being unfolded before our eyes, which can lead to grave dangers of our land being taken over and people's livelihood being threatened as any concerned citizen of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Catholic Mass Media would like to state our view on the Vietnamese Communist Party's stance on these two major issues.



Firstly, our land is slowly being lost to China.

As Vietnamese, we came to know about Nam Quan pass and Ban Gioc falls as part of our territory. However, in recent years when signing territorial treaties with the Chinese government, the Vietnamese Communist Party has secretly conceded the border area where Nam Quan pass and Ban Gioc falls are located to the Chinese. At sea, regardless of how overwhelmingly evidence has supported Vietnam’s claim of sovereignty on Paracel and Spratly islands, the Vietnamese Communist government seems indifferent to the Chinese's perverted effort to integrate these islands into their territory.



Ironically, while keeping mum on the Chinese invasion, the Vietnamese Communist Party is brutally oppressing the students and those who are protesting this (Chinese) invasion. More preposterously is the Vietnam government's attempt to seize as much people's and religious lands in the name of public interest as possible, but in reality only their cadres are truly beneficiaries from the land acquisition.



Secondly, an ecosystem on the verge of being destroyed.

Without looking hard for evidence, any concerned Vietnamese realized how the environment in Vietnam, from the sea to the forest, the waterways, all are being heavily polluted and ravaged unmercifully. Most recently is the plan to let the Chinese contractors to exploit bauxite in the central highlands. More specifically in this project, the Chinese contractors have not been using the equipments and the tools available in Vietnam; they don't even hire local workers. All equipments and personnel have been brought directly from China. Rumor has it that Vietnam is going to receive only a small fraction of the benefit from this exploitation.



In light of the issue at hand, numerous leading scientists and intellectuals at home and abroad have conducted independent studies on the benefit as well as the consequences this project would bring. All have come to agree on two conclusions: First, the benefit from this (bauxite) exploitation would be nominal in comparison with disaster it would bring to our environment, when millions of Vietnamese lives would be put at serious health risk. Secondly it would raise concerns on homeland security issue which can trigger more land being lost to the Chinese when tens of thousands of Chinese mining workers being present in Vietnam can turn into an army of Trojan horses for the Chinese invaders should the Chinese- Vietnamese war breaks out. Strategically, if the central highland is lost, Vietnam would be severed in two parts. The North and the South cannot be coming to each other's rescue when events take place.

The potential risks from the bauxite exploitation plan are in plain view but the Vietnamese chose to side with the Chinese in order to protect their party's interest under Chinese sponsorship. They chose to ignore the warnings of the Vietnamese patriotic scientists and let the Chinese went on with their exploitation of our precious natural resources, at the same time threatening the integrity of our country.

Facing this serious challenge, the Vietnamese Catholic Mass Media is resolute in:



1. Together with all Vietnamese people, groups and organizations who are truly patriotic, sternly denounce, expose to our countrymen as well as to the world an attempt is being made to collaborate with the Chinese in conceding our land and sea, and to put our ecosystem at grave risk in which the Vietnamese Communist Party is the culprit.



2. We call upon all Vietnamese, especially our fellow Catholics at home and overseas, including the bishops, priests, religious men and women, and all followers by all means to spread the news on our Vietnamese land and sea being conceded to the Chinese by the Vietnamese Communist Party. Most specifically we would support anyone or any organizations who are calling for the Vietnamese Communist Party to act on behalf of our national sovereignty and our ecosystem in order for more than 80 million Vietnamese can live in peace, and our country is safe from being invaded once again by the Chinese imperialists.

Contact:

Fr. Paul Van Chi Chu

Tel: (02) 9773 0933

Mob: 0410 552 650

Mons. Peter Tai Van Nguyen

Director of Radio Veritas Asia

Buick St. North Fairview,

Quezon City, Philippines

P.O. Box 2642

Email: rvaprogram@rveritas-asia.org

Fr. John Nghi Tran

Director of VietCatholic News Agency

435 Berkeley Ave

Claremont, CA 91711, USA

Tel (909) 581-8888

Email: conggiao@gmail.com

Fr. Joachim Viet-Chau Nguyen Duc

Director of People Of God Magazine in America

PO Box 1419 Gretna,

LA 70053-5440, USA.

Email: danchuausa@yahoo.com

Fr. Anthony Quang Huu Nguyen

Director of People Of God Magazine in Australia

715 Sydney Rd. Brunswick Vic 3056

Australia

Email: danchuaucchau@gmail.com

Fr. Stephen Luu Thuong Bui

Director of People Of God Magazine in Europe

Magazine Catholique

Katholische Monatszeitschrift

Monthly Catholic Magazine

Email: info@danchua.de

Fr. Paul Van-Chi Chu

Director of Gospel and Peace Radio, Sydney Australia

92 The River Rd - Revesby

NSW 2212

Australia

Email: paulvanchi@yahoo.com