Vietnam's Closing Legal Space for Civil SocietyResistance muted as organizations fear they might be next
By: Mark Sidel
When we think about the use of law and policy to restrict civil society in Asia, China, and India are the countries that usually come to mind. In China under Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, we have seen some advocacy organizations banned, their leaders arrested, foreign funding severely constrained, and day-to-day activities subject to increasing scrutiny. In India under Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Muslim and grassroots organizations face ever-tighter limits. Foreign funding for domestic non-government organizations (NGOs) is subject to byzantine rules and procedures, and both domestic and international advocacy groups are in trouble. But the trend of closing civic space goes far beyond these two countries. In Vietnam, a one-party Communist state that sometimes has taken a more flexible attitude toward civil society in the past, the space for activities has begun closing in recent years. Today, Vietnam is an under-the-radar example of the many ways in which authoritarian or nondemocratic governments can stifle civil society at a time when it is poised to flourish. The Covid-19 era has only accelerated these controls. Before the new chill, Vietnamese civil society included a range of social service organizations (which were encouraged by the authorities), some policy advocacy groups (merely tolerated), a growing domestic philanthropic sector, and a handful of independent civil society organizations that were always strictly surveilled and sometimes were dismantled or reorganized… The text above is just an excerpt from this subscriber-only story.To read the whole thing and get full access to Asia Sentinel's reporting and archives, subscribe now for US$10/month or US$100/year.This article is among the stories we choose to make widely available.If you wish to get the full Asia Sentinel experience and access more exclusive content, please do subscribe to us for US$10/month or US$100/year.
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