The Dak Lak Aftermath
While the power shortage eases
Good morning! This was a banner week in terms of new readers, so welcome everyone to the Vietnam Weekly, written by journalist Mike Tatarski. Every Friday you’ll receive a free-to-read edition of the newsletter like this one, and two or three times a month I publish longer articles exclusively for paying subscribers. You can upgrade to receive those and access the full Vietnam Weekly archive for US$5/month or US$50/year below. Substack also launched a reader referral program this week, which you can learn more about here.
For their very kind words in recent days, I’d like to thank Erin Cook, who writes the great Dari Mulut ke Mulut newsletter on all of Southeast Asia; Sebastian Strangio of The Diplomat; and Eddy Malesky from Duke.
This has been an exceptionally eventful stretch of news for Vietnam, and every week I end up leaving out topics that I want to cover while aiming to get to them later. So if it seems like I’m missing something crucial, that’s why - these newsletters could easily run to 2,000 words but I want to be mindful of your time.
On that note, a brief update: the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department officially prosecuted Hồng Hoàng for tax evasion on Wednesday, claiming she avoided taxes worth over VND5.2 billion (US$221,000). This was simply a formality, and while I’m not aware of a trial date, that will surely be a formality as well. Her case recently drew attention from the United Kingdom and The Washington Post’s editorial board, while 65 organizations sent an open letter to Barack Obama requesting “his assistance in calling for the unconditional release from jail of Obama Foundation scholar Hoang Thi Minh Hong.”
One more thing to keep an eye on: after weeks of rumors, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday that the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier will visit Da Nang from Sunday through next Friday. This is the first such visit since March 2020 and follows a particularly aggressive stretch of Chinese activity in the East Sea.
On to the rest of the news.
The Response to Dak Lak: More Security
The shocking June 11 attack on government buildings south of Buon Ma Thuot that left nine dead continued to get plenty of attention this week, though with the caveat that all information is coming from officials. There is a lot we’ll never know.
Last Friday, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced more details on how the attack unfolded: around 12:35 am on the 11th, two separate groups attacked the People’s Committee buildings in Ea Ktur and Ea Tieu communes, killing four police officers. As the assailants withdrew, they killed three residents and two commune leaders who were responding to the incident.
The MPS also said members of the group planned to raid a nearby military camp but decided against this since guards were present.
While no official motivation has been stated, Viet Nam News included this striking paragraph: “According to the initial assessment, the cause of the incident was prompted by the conspiracy of hostile forces. Some members of the in-exile FULRO organization - an illegal, secessionist union - have incited other ethnic minority groups to drive a wedge between the Kinh and ethnic minority peoples, causing disorder and attracting attention from abroad.”
Much of the social media speculation I referenced last week centered on FULRO, so I was surprised to see this mentioned in state media. I had never heard of FULRO before - it was founded in 1964, and the acronym stands for the Front unifié de lutte des races opprimées (United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races).
The late journalist Nate Thayer covered FULRO from Cambodia’s border with Vietnam in 1992, and there are plenty of academic papers about the Montagnards, but I can’t find much contemporary literature on this group. Certainly most Vietnamese would be entirely unfamiliar with the organization, like me.
As for other hints of possible motivation, in an article depicting photos of armed police searching for the perpetrators, VnExpress added: “Dak Lak police said hostile forces took advantage of certain lawsuits regarding ethnic minority communities in certain districts to spread the false information that authorities had stolen people's land.”
Last night, that publication followed up with this frankly shocking headline: ‘Dak Lak armed group connected to US-based terrorists.’ That article quoted Major General Phạm Ngọc Việt, head of the Department of Homeland Security under the MPS, saying the attack was “organized terrorism” and that one assailant is a member of a U.S. organization, though no specific group was named. This is a significant rhetorical escalation and I’m not sure where things will go from here.
All told, 74 people suspected of participating in the attack have been arrested, including “almost all” of the “masterminds.”
VnExpress also shared the account of one hostage who was freed by police.
Tô Lâm, the Minister of Public Security, spoke at the ongoing National Assembly session on Tuesday and stressed the importance of improving “local security” during a discussion about a possible new law on security forces.
This potential law includes a stipulation that would train 300,000 low-level safety forces to become “special security teams,” with a major general arguing that the number of police officers is currently “too low and too sparsely distributed.”
These security teams “would be the state’s ‘eyes and ears’ monitoring criminals across the country.”
This comes after several new security units debuted in recent years. A horse-mounted police unit under the Mobile Police Force Command began operations in 2020, and a mobile police force just launched on Phu Quoc amid rising crime there.
Since the attack in Dak Lak, numerous people have been fined for Facebook posts about the incident.
The Energy Crunch Improves
Northern Vietnam’s energy crisis eased this week, but the structural dynamics behind it haven’t changed.
Much-needed rain brought all of the region’s hydropower reservoirs back to safe levels, in addition to reducing temperatures (and therefore electricity demand).
This is good timing, as the Government Standing Committee had ordered EVN and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group to “completely solve” the energy shortage by the end of the month.
Experts, meanwhile, have expressed frustration with the lack of movement on policies needed to spur small-scale solar, which could remove plenty of pressure from the grid.
Vũ Hồng Thanh, Chairman of the Economic Committee, also shared his annoyance that a power shortage was warned of over two years ago.
Hopefully, the weather continues to ease pressure on demand up north, but that part of Vietnam is certainly not out of the woods.
Here in Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Industry and Trade has proposed a US$16.9 billion offshore wind farm in Can Gio District. It’s not clear how this would interact with the other multi-billion dollar grand ambitions for that district covered here last month.
Also, keep in mind that the precise regulations needed to begin offshore wind development have not been created. You may notice a theme here: following the excitement of PDP8, a glaring lack of specifics is preventing real movement on the energy transition.
Extra Links:
Opinion: With New Vietnam Guide, Michelin Has Failed Asian Street Food Again (Saigoneer)
Vietnam's political infighting has gone quiet but is far from over (Nikkei Asia)
'There is nothing for me': Vietnam drought dries up income (AFP)
Ownership battles rage between apartment buyers and developers (VnExpress International)
Have a great weekend!
Mike Tatarski
“ the number of police officers is currently “too low and too sparsely distributed.” Here’s an idea: how about having the men and women in green spend less time on administrative issues such as household registration and training them up to be “proper” police officers ? I’m not suggesting following a US model - we all know the issues with that - but perhaps something like in Singapore.
Are you growing your dog pack?!?