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Last summer, as the United States and Vietnam finalized plans to upgrade the bilateral relationship, the Communist leadership in Hanoi issued a secret directive that aimed to limit outside influences and protect the party’s grip on power in the face of growing exposure to the U.S. and its allies.
Analysts say the six-page document — known as “Directive 24” and issued by the ruling Communist Party’s elite Politburo — offers a window into the motivations and concerns of party leaders as they committed to deepen Vietnam’s links with an erstwhile enemy and leverage shifting geopolitical sands to upgrade the country’s economy.
The directive outlines a set of broad measures designed to protect national security and limit threats to the country’s political system “in the context of comprehensive and deep international integration”.
Curtailing foreign influence
Among the provisions, it says the party should “closely manage” Vietnamese citizens who go abroad. It imposes limits on the types of labor organizing allowed in the country. It advocates tighter control over foreign aid flowing into Vietnam, and heightened vigilance “to prevent attempts to exert influence though economic, cultural and social activities.”
It aims to curtail foreign influence in policymaking and stop groups inside and outside Vietnam from using increased international cooperation to promote civil society and domestic political organizations.
Project88, a Vietnam-focused human rights group that shared a copy of the document with NPR, said the directive should put to rest “magical thinking” in the United States and Europe that deeper ties with Vietnam will help promote human rights in the country.
“The directive frames all forms of international commerce and cooperation as threats to national security and articulates a disturbing plan to deal with these perceived threats by systematically violating the human rights of the country’s 100 million citizens, who, by virtue of the classified nature of the directive, are completely unaware of its contents,” Project88 wrote in an analysis.
Vietnam’s foreign ministry and embassy in Washington did not respond to NPR’s emailed questions about the directive.
Vietnamese state media have referred to the directive by name, but the contents have not been made public in full. NPR was able to cross-reference the contents of the copy of the directive provided by Project88 with a copy from another source.
Directive ahead of “comprehensive strategic partnership” with the U.S.
Directive 24 is dated July 13, 2023. Two months later, on Sept. 10, President Biden and Vietnamese Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong met in Hanoi where they elevated the bilateral relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. It is the highest level of country-to-country relations recognized by the Vietnamese government.
While neither side mentioned China, it was an elephant in the room.