Bauxite Việt Nam

Posted on 26/07/2023 by Bauxite Việt Nam: Điểm sách “Nhật Bản và Việt Nam là đồng minh tự nhiên” của Umeda Kunio

Nguyễn Đình Cống

Translated by Nguyễn-Khoa Thái Anh

I’m taking liberty to boldly write here a few things that may be “hard to swallow” for Umeda Kunio, the author, as well as for some Vietnamese people, but I write with respect, with gratitude to the author, Mr. Umeda Kunio, and wish the best for the development of Vietnam.

Japanese author Umeda Kunio (TG), born in 1954, is a diplomat with extensive involvements in many countries, serving as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Vietnam from 2016 to 2020. His book was completed in May 2021, Nguyen Thi Lan Huong translates the book from Japanese to Vietnamese, World Publishing House published it in 2023.

The book is about the sentiments and deeds of the Government and people of Japan as well as of the author towards Vietnam. These are good feelings and good deeds about Vietnam’s economic development in the past few decades.

The book's table of contents includes: Publisher's Note, Introduction, Author's comments, Forewords, and the content consists of 7 chapters, each chapter is divided into sections, from 1 to 21, numbered consecutively through the chapters.

When reading the book, I have some some agreeable and some disagreeable comments, because I don’t wholly concur with the author’s ideas. I would like to present each item, from beginning to end. Entries with no comments are ignored. My endorsements of the author’s views which are numerous, wherein he expresses kind, favorable feeling showing his and the government and the people of Japan their love for Vietnam, I won't list them all because it will make the article quite long. I point out a few things that made sense and focus mainly on a few things that I disagree with the author.

In writing this article, I intend to try to explain the following interpretation of the Publisher: “Out of respect for the author… The publisher has published the translation… This does not mean that the publisher is fully sharing with all the views, comments - even judgments - or subjective feelings of the author when he comes across a certain issue.”

Not "fully sharing" means that there are opinions that are agreed with, and there are opinions that are not. I cannot surmise or presuppose what the opinions of the Publishing House are, I just present my personal opinions here, and hope some of them will align. Writing this article is by way of exchanging with readers my review of the book.

In the Ambassador’s words, he writes: "I believe that Vietnam will become a stronger and more prosperous country... In this little book there may be stories that are not easy to take for the Vietnamese people, but I write them with all my heart, wishing for the best progress of Vietnam.”

I also boldly write a few things that may be ”hard to swallow” for Mr. Kunio, as well as for some Vietnamese people, but I write with respect, gratitude for the author, Ambassador Umeda Kunio, and wish for the development of Vietnam.

Ambassador Kunio believes his assessment of Vietnam is based on the economic development of Vietnam in the last several years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. That belief is not completely unfounded, but too romantic because that development is unstable and lacking a long lasting catalyst. Moreover, although the economy has developed, the environment is destroyed, education and morals are degraded, Vietnam cannot be considered a strong and prosperous country.

Introduction  by Prof. Tran Van Tho, who edited the translation. According to Prof. Tho, Japan can draw three lessons from

Vietnam's history in relation to China. One is the raise vigilance; The second is strengthening and cooperation with other countries; Third, when faced with acts of aggression, one must strongly resist. I don't know if Japan can learn this or not, but the current leaders of Vietnam hardly absorb the lessons from their ancestors.

In the preface, the author writes: "Trust between senior leaders of the two countries has increased"... "We have become each other's natural allies...". It is true that trust has increased, but how much is unknown. It is true that we have become natural allies in some areas. But whether Japan and Vietnam will become close friends, we cannot say with certainty. To become close friends, people must have the same political views, they will be closer when they have the same beliefs in the freedom of religion. In terms of politics, Vietnam and Japan follow two different paths, one opposing the other. Previously, democratic countries were very afraid of communist infiltration, so they tried to resist and avoid them. Today, people advocate peaceful coexistence, respecting the choice of of other’s political view. But respect is far from approval, far from thinking that it is a wise, reasonable choice.

Regarding religion, the Vietnamese leadership is atheist and the majority of the population is Buddhist, but Buddhism in Vietnam has been heavily nationalized. Vietnam and Japan are closer than some other countries but have not yet become close friends.

Vietnam and Japan have only become close in handling relations with China. But that relationship has a fundamental difference. Although Japan is currently being challenged by China in the East Sea and has disputes with China over the Diaoyu Island, there has been a period of Japanese occupation of China, while Vietnam has a history of victories against Chinese invaders, but over the past few decades Vietnam is too dependent on China.

Regarding the fact that Vietnamese young people go to work in Japan, according to the author, it is a good thing, helping to solve Japan's aging population, but in my opinion, it is only a temporary solution, not an essential one. Unlike Koreans and Japanese who come to Vietnam to work as bosses, Vietnamese people come to Japan only to work as laborers, mainly as domestic helps. Labor export is a variant of the slave trade in civilized society.

Vietnamese leaders are proud of their political stability. Ambassador Kunio mentioned it as a praise, a condition to receive investment from many countries. There is a perception that needs to be discussed here. For development, social stability is more important and political stability is one of the necessary conditions for social stability. But Vietnamese society is less stable, moreover, the current political stability of Vietnam is not inherent but needs to be propped up. The CPV is supported by two forces: police violence and false propaganda by the Propaganda Committee. If those two forces are weakened, stability will be lost.

Based on the anti-epidemic situation from the end of 2020, the beginning of 2021, the author makes the comment:  VN is one of the most successful countries in the world in the prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic. That is too hasty a comment, too optimistic and it would be wrong to continue to monitor the situation from the end of 2021 onwards. But I can sympathize with this comment because the author finished writing the book in early 2021.

Section 1 – First visit to Vietnam by the Emperor and Empress

The visit took place from February 28 to March 5, 2017. In addition to the usual ceremonies, the Emperor and the Empress met with the wives and children of Japanese soldiers who had been left in northern Vietnam since 1954. In 1945, the Japanese troops returned home, but there were some who stayed and married Vietnamese wives, and joined the Viet Minh in fighting the French. These folks, in 1954, returned to Japan, leaving their wives and children. When she met the Emperor, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan was 93 years old, and Mr. Ngo Gia Khanh was 72 years old. The wives and children of these Japanese soldiers were then organized to visit Japan, many of them visited the graves and burned incense for their husbands and fathers.

On March 4, the Emperor visited the Phan Boi Chau memorial site in Hue. On this occasion, Ambassador Kunio reviewed the work of " The Eastern Journey" of the nationalist Phan Boi Chau and his close friendship with Doctor Asaba Akitaro. That friendship is an important mark in the history of Vietnam-Japan exchange.

Section 3 – China from the perspective of Vietnam

The author writes: "Not only the Government but the Vietnamese people also have a sense of vigilance and possess a sense of awareness against China.” Writing like that, although it separates the government and the people, it puts the government first, and the people behind. In many things this is true, but in Vietnam-China relations it is a bit different.

It is relatively clear where the Chinese ship was placing their HD 981 drilling rig. In May 2014, China placed the HD 981 drilling rig in the sea of Vietnam. The government only allowed the people of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a statement of protest, the text was formulaic, and weakly expressed, while it strongly suppressed the grass-root organized demonstrations of the people to oppose the Chinese encroachment.

On page 55, the ambassador states: "Vietnam's understanding of China is extremely high.” Writing thus can be misleading. Which Vietnam, the people or their senior leaders? The People's understanding has many levels, but the highest level belongs to the elite intellectuals, who the ruling party truly despised and trying to destroy, while who knows what the senior leaders think in their hearts. But observing from the outside, it's very worrisome.

At the end of the section, the ambassador writes a meaningful sentence: "... But if the Vietnamese government lacks determination in the face of China's actions that threaten Vietnam's territorial sovereignty, it will lose the people's trust and support. ...".

It's not "will be lost" but actually it has lost.

Section 4 – The Rise and Behavior of China

The ambassador presents the dream of hegemony and the rise of China with "tactics" such as: silkworm munching mulberry, law, public opinion, psychology... These are sinister and malicious tricks. Among the tricks, perhaps the bribery of high-ranking figures in the governments of other countries is something that China has traditionally promulgated that reached a high degree of artful deception. However, in the book, it’s only mentioned briefly: "by giving economic benefits to a group of people.” With Vietnam, China also has the evil of inciting the government to find a way to destroy their elite intellectuals (so that they can be easily manipulated) by falsely accusing them of being dangerous opponents.

Section 6 – The relationship between Japan and Vietnam

The Vietnamese leaders affirmed that "Japan is the most reliable and important partner of Vietnam.” That's right, because the Japanese have demonstrated good character, honesty, respect, and peace. How about the Japanese leadership do they dare to consider the Vietnamese leadership to be trustworthy when, in domestic affairs, Vietnamese leadership is dictatorial, brutal, lies rampantly, propounds many good things but does the opposite, carries on meetings and passes a lot of resolutions but most of them are just crap, very antithetical to the separation of powers, showing disrespect for human rights and justice, anti-corruption may seem positive, but it often derails, fails to prevent grafts, punishes only a few cases. Foreign affairs follow the image of a "bamboo tree", bending in the direction of the wind. There are many things that Vietnamese communists worship that have long been thrown into the trash bin of the world.

The ambassador writes: "I am more convinced that the important role of Vietnam will be raised to a higher level.” Raise how high is described in the paragraph above (preface)

Section 12 – Current status of the Vietnamese economy

The ambassador relies on the development of physical facilities in the early years of the 21st century to make an optimistic assessment, saying: "Vietnamese society is full of hope, the whole country's atmosphere is excitedly bright... Vietnam will be successful, she will achieve miracles in Asia. Although facing many difficulties and challenges, with diligence, perseverance and aspiration… this prediction is entirely possible.”

Those who believe too much in the government and leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam this is sweet music to their ears. As quoted from party propaganda and resolutions. Such writing is likely to be used for propaganda (because this is comment from a Japanese).

Social life is consisted of materials and spiritual. In the beginning, when people are poor, material things are important. When the material things are temporarily enough, the role of the spirit increases. Development must be aimed at bringing happiness to people, but happiness is obtained mainly through spiritual life (when material is somewhat achieved).

Looking directly at the spiritual life of Vietnamese society today, it is clear that morality and education have been degraded, criticisms are suppressed, freedom of speech is banned, human rights are not respected, justice is not observed, and trampled upon by the court, etc. How do we feel glorious and excited?

At the end of the section, the author mentions Vietnam’s political stability, success in fighting the epidemic and a high-quality workforce are good conditions for attracting investment. Political stability and success in fighting the epidemic are mentioned in the above paragraph, while the high-ideal labor force is more a dream than a reality.

Section 13 – The close economic relationship between Vietnam and Japan

The author says: "The economic relationship between Japan and Vietnam is expanding and deepening.” He detailed 6 things that were very successful. He feels very fortunate to be able to finish his term of office with no regrets. Congratulations to Mr. Ambassador!

Regarding senior Vietnamese officials, he expressed his respect to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc when he writes: "Prime Minister Phuc always listens attentively, without the slightest discomfort to my suggestions.” This comment is sincere, but a bit premature. When someone is listening attentively, one of two things can happen. Firstly, they just don't understand what was being said but because they are polite; they listen attentively because they’re getting important and insightful ideas. To know what is the case, one must be able to observe the listener's facial expressions and make judgments. Following Mr. Phuc for many years, I think that Mr. Phuc belongs to the first case. That’s maybe good, commendable but not admirable.

Section 16 – The nature of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The author writes: The Communist of Party of Vietnam and China looks similar in terms of theoretical works, but basically in reality they are very different. Vietnam is not a “an absolute rule of power" like that of China. I don't think Vietnam wants to be a country that monitors and oppresses its people with absolute power. Although following a single political party system, Vietnam always tries to follow the thoughts and aspirations of the people in a timely manner…”

The passage that’s just quoted proves that the author does not lie in the same blanket to know that the blanket is full of lice. The inherent essence of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Communist Party of China both have their differences due to the influence of their national traditions, but the difference is not large. What the CCP did the day before, the next day, it was taught to the Communist Party of Vietnam, especially the tricks of the police, the operations of the army, the methods of monitoring and controlling the people. The basic difference is probably in the treatment of the elite intellectuals. The CCP attaches great importance to the use of their elite intellectuals, but plots maliciously for the Vietnamese Communists to eliminate the Vietnamese elite by falsely accusing them of being the hostile force and opposing elements. The author writes, "I don't think that Vietnam wants to become a country that monitors and oppresses its people with absolute power". That's a benevolent idea, but that's not the case. Communists everywhere use their power to oppress and destroy people who have opinions and ideas that are different from them.

Regarding the aspirations of the people, it is necessary to see which people it is. In fact, the people have many classes with different aspirations: A – This class is closely attached to the Party (if the party exists they exist); B – The peasantry and ordinary workers; C – Middle class, intellectual workers. Class B is large, it’s comprised of workers union and peasants, their aspirations are mainly to be safe to do business, and their children can be educated. They do not have many aspirations for freedom or democracy, they are willing to follow the government's demands and accept moderate injustices perpetrated by state officials. Communism starts its revolution based on this alliance. Class C is one of the three key forces of social development. They have high aspirations for spiritual life, freedom of thought and freedom of speech. The Communist Party of Vietnam grasps the will of the people, if that is the case, it is mainly for the A and B classes but tries to limit it to the C class.

From the outside, it can be seen that the Communist Party of Vietnam is interested in economic development. That has the effect of improving people's lives, but it is for the party to gain more benefits, because the party's finances are mainly taken from the state budget, that is, from taxing the people.

The author writes: "Vietnam is currently streamlining the apparatus at the commune and district levels... unifying the title of Secretary of the Party Committee with the Chairman of the People's Committee...".

On pp. 185, 186 (beginning of chapter 6), it’s written: "Decision to build the organizational structure of the entire political system to operate effectively and efficiently..., to build and correct the Party and comprehensive political system, pure and strong…”. It’s written as a formulaic wish, but can't be carried out. Only ignorant, idiotic, and stupid people would believe in such things. Establish a three-tiered state apparatus that overlaps each other, and then fabricates the theory that the party leads, the government manages, and the people take ownership of it through the Fatherland Front. The three levels trample on each other, creating a lot of waste. What can be done to streamline one person? The CPV, once a revolutionary party, is now a ruling party. It is necessary to change from the policy, regulations, organization, and philosophy, not to think that fighting corruption will build a clean and strong party.

Section 18 – Status of the Reforms That Have Begun

The author calls for "Reform,” while Vietnamese leaders just like to use the word “Renovation”. They are very cautious when it comes to reform. The the author writes: “General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the leadership of the VCP are both well aware of the future dangers of the CCP. The leadership of the party is actively fighting against corruption ... ,” believing that it is right, it is good, but it is not. Mr. Trong is the head of the anti-corruption department, but that department does not prevent or fight corruption from happening, but only investigates and adjudicates a number of cases (called burning the furnace). Many knowledgeable people in Vietnam believe that it is impossible to prevent corruption under the leadership of the Communist Party. Leaders are interested in reforming the chief administration, “punishing the people as the chief culprit” by streamlining the apparatus, but when it comes to streamlining, they play a guacamole game, smashing one, it would pop up in another place.

All are entangled in a tangle mess, the more they struggle, the more they get entangled. Why? Because corruption and administrative evils are both internal diseases caused by fibroids in the liver and intestines of the VCP, surgery is needed to remove them, but because of the communist nature, they don't dare, they just look for topical ointment. So it can't be said that reform has begun, but that's just what people are dreaming.

Section 19 – Japan's support for Vietnam's human resource training and reform

Japan's support for human resource training in Vietnam is technically very effective, but in general there is one important thing missing. The author writes: "The political system reform plan that Vietnam is actively implementing is a historic experiment to change people's perceptions and drastically change the way the top management apparatus is organized... This reform is extremely important not only for the future of Vietnam but also for the stability and prosperity of the region. The important thing I want to talk about is related to the "reform of the political system,” which the author writes as "actively being implemented.”

The author also writes: "I hope that Vietnam will become a society in which elite talents with strong traits will be able to freely express their abilities.”

The society that the author hopes for can only be achieved under a political system that has eliminated the dictatorship of the uneducated leadership.

Reforming the political system as written above is the earnest desire of many people, which also coincides with the expectations of the World, but it is not the will of the Vietnamese leadership. Reform of the political system must aim to abandon Marxism-Leninism, giving up the illusion of building a socialist regime, breaking free from China's control, building a democratic state with the separation of the 3 powers, and renouncing party rule, abolishing the practice where “the party selects and the people elect,” choosing to ally with democratic countries.

Previously, Japan and Vietnam considered the US as an enemy. American troops arrived in Japan in 1945 amid the hatred of the Japanese people. But then the Japanese gave up militarism and were supported by the Americans to rebuild the country, these are the lessons that Vietnam must learn from the Japanese. The author mentions a lot of "experience sharing" lessons from Japanese experts, without presenting specific content, I’m not sure if anyone that had lived with those experiences have the courage to introduce to the Vietnamese the lessons about relations with the US and the world, the political system of Japan or not?

Section 20 – Vietnam's sympathy for Japan

“In the eyes of Vietnamese people, Japanese people are always associated with the image of hard work, sincerity, humility, and never lying,” that is the sentence at the beginning of Section 20. The author continues: “Besides, for a great number of years, many Japanese individuals and organizations have made persistent efforts working for the welfare and health of Vietnamese people. Their tireless dedication has earned them a positive outlook…”.

The above is absolutely true. Personally and I think that many Vietnamese people like myself still admire the Japanese on two points:  First, is before 1945 when they opted for the wrong path, then after 1945, they’d resolutely reformed and built a political institution, valuing and ensuring the development of freedom for the people, they quickly and wisely realized the kind nature of Americans and chose America as their ally. Second, the Japanese had a great confidence when choosing to help Vietnam and be their close friends, without fear of being affected by the motto “when you’re working with soot you may get blackened.” They are famous for never lying, while lying is a characteristic of communism and has infected a large number of Vietnamese people more and more deeply.

Last words

Ambassador Umeda Kunio says that there are probably stories in the book that are not easy for Vietnamese people to accept, but he writez them with honesty and good wishes. The publisher also does not fully share the views of the author, but has printed the book out of respect for him. In the same spirit, I write down a few comments that I hope to exchange with readers and with the author, in order to improve awareness.

When reading this article, if the author or any reader finds that I have misunderstood something, please correct me (by emailing me at ndcong37@gmail.com). I will be extremely grateful.

N.D.C.

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