Another war in April

 

Credit: pennlive.com

Than Nguyen

7/4/2020

This month 45 years ago, the war ended between the United States and Vietnam when a North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gate of Doc Lap’s Palace. The cost was huge with from both sides. It was estimated that the United States spent more than 160 billion on the War. More than 58,000 US service men lost their lives. On the Vietnam side, more than 2 million civilians from both sides died. Over 1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters as well as about 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the fighting. The cost after the war was not insignificant. Up to 300,000 South Vietnamese officers were sent to the so-called ‘re-education’ camps. About 2 million refugees escaped from Vietnam by boat and on land. It was estimated up to half a million perished at sea.

The United States and Vietnam have moved on from being mortal enemies to building quite a productive relationship. In this month, they are both at war and facing an invisible enemy called Covid-19. As at April 8^th, the US has topped the tally with 400,549 infected. The number dead reached 12,857. Ten million US workers lost their jobs in two weeks. President Trump issued a chilly warning that Covid-19 could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans.

On the other hand, Vietnam recorded 251 affected cases and no casualty. Speaking to reporters in Ha Noi, the US Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink praised Vietnam’s efforts in containing the spread of the virus. How he would have loved to swap the US’s infected and dead figures with Vietnam’s. The low rate of infection in Vietnam as Huynh Ngoc Chenh pointed out is probably due to a number of factors including strong immunity, warmer climate and plenty of good luck. However, it must be said that the Vietnamese authorities have been effective in dealing with this particular challenge. The problem when discussing Vietnam’s politics is the lack of accurate and independent news and analysis. All media outlets in Vietnam are controlled by the State. Nothing the State or the Communist Party does could ever be wrong. The reverse is true for South Vietnamese refugees living overseas. Nothing the State or the Communist Party does could ever be right. Those that wish to engage in objective and balanced analysis risk being caught in the crossfire.

These days, the United States and Vietnam moved from being enemies to facing the common threat in the name of China. Donald Trump is probably the most controversial and divisive president but nothing unites the United States Congress and Senate, defence and foreign affairs hierarchy as well those the intellectual elite as to the rising threat posed by the Chinese Communist. Having exported the deadly coronavirus to almost every country in the world from the live animal market in Wu Han causing so many deaths and massive economic destruction, the Chinese Communist Party is now engaging in a propaganda drive to win over the world as a benevolent benefactor busily donating masks and medical equipment to poor and underdeveloped nations in the Pacific and Africa.

As Richard Javad Heydarian points out in his article ‘China seizes Covid-19 advantage in South China Sea’ published on Asia Times, China is taking advantage of a bogged down US military with Covid-19 to ramp up energy exploration and military drills in the South China Sea. Xinhua reported in March that China discovered and removed 861,400 cubic metres of flammable ice in the South China Sea. Also in March, Japan Self Defence Forces issued a statement confirming a collision between the Shimakazer destroyer and a Chinese fishing boat about 650 km west of the Japanese island of Yakushima. No one was hurt but the crash opened a hole of more than 1 m in length above the waterline of the Shimakazer destroyer. One April 2, the Chinese Coast Guard sank a Vietnamese fishing boat near the Paracel’s islands capturing and detaining 8 Vietnamese crew members who have since been released. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson indicated that Vietnam has demanded compensation but there seems to be no realistic chance that China would be paying any attention to that claim.

Meanwhile, the US Navy aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently docked in Guam. It has been reported that over 100 out of 4000 persons were infected with Covid-19. It’s Captain Brett Cozier who alerted the crisis to the authorities but has since been decommissioned. The carrier arrived in Da Nang Vietnam on March 4th for a 5 day visit. It is now speculated that the real reason behind Captain Cozier’s dismissal is that the ship should have never been sent to Vietnam and its crew should not have freely mixed with the local Vietnamese population.

It is not clear if Ha Noi will still carry out the traditional celebration on the 30^th of April. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued a nationwide epidemic declaration implementing strict social distancing measures for 15 days commencing on April 1^st. Hanoi’s party boss Nguyen Duc Chung has publicly indicated that those who venture outside their homes without reasonable excuse will face significant fines. Will they be celebrating online in front of the computers watching military parade on screen?

Similarly, most overseas communities have cancelled plans to hold commemoration and demonstration on April 30^th. The Vietnamese Community in Australia will for the first time not organise a protest in front of the embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam due to the lockdown order issued by the Australian government at State and Commonwealth levels. The restrictive measures put in place have had a significant impact on the lives of every Australian. Even media tycoon like Rupert Murdoch was no exception as his company announced the shutdown of 60 regional newspapers. Vietnamese Australians with a large percentage of small business have also been hit hard including Vietnamese newspapers having to effectively shut down their businesses for the next 6 months. Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicated that they should ‘hibernate’ and be ready to roar back to operations once the crisis is over. But no one knows if the majority of them will ever wake up or will forever be resting in peace.