A wrongful act

This action intervenes in Vietnam’s internal affairs, to the detriment of the two countries’ relationship.

The Department’s International Women of Courage Award annually recognises women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women’s rights and empowerment, often at great personal risk.

A statement released by the US administration said that Ta Phong Tan was one of the first bloggers who commented on political events on the blog “Justice and Truth”. US Secretary of State John Kerry and First Lady Michelle Obama presented the award to Tan and others on International Women’s Day (March 8).

Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi described the US Department of State's decision to honour Vietnamese law breaker Ta Phong Tan as erroneous

In fact, Tan is neither a representative of outstanding Vietnamese women nor a leading advocate for the rights and power of Vietnamese women.  

Tan was born in 1968 in the southern province of Bac Lieu. While she was working at the provincial Department of Trade and Tourism, she sent BBC an article fabricating examinations and personal income tax issues. On the internet, Tan in her blog “Justice and Truth” showed her biased views distorting and fabricating Vietnamese Party guidelines and State policies.

On September 20, 2012, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced Tan to 10 years in prison on the charge of “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.

According to the court’s ruling, Tan left Bac Lieu for HCM City in April 2007 and joined the so-called “Free Journalists Club” which consists of opportunists and anti-state figures. Aided and abetted by Vietnamese extremists living in exile, this club used its “Free Journalists Club” website to distribute thousands of articles distorting the situation in Vietnam.

Tan was in charge of compiling documents defending the “Bach Dang Giang” group, a reactionary organisation of the US-based “Party for The People”, members of the “8406” bloc, and the group of 8 troublemakers in Thai Ha diocese.

Inside the courtroom, Tan admitted that she had several times written articles and answered foreign media interviews containing distortions about the Vietnamese state. In March 2009, she held interviews with Radio Hoa Mai of the “Party for The People in the US”, Sydney Radio and the New Horizon Radio of the Viet Tan Party.

Tan confessed that by May 2009, she had written 864 stories on the blog “Justice and Truth” and more than 100 stories for BBC, RFI, and RFA.

Before being jailed, Tan received money from extremist and reactionary Vietnamese groups for fabricating the political, economic, cultural and social situation in Vietnam. She is not and has never been a representative of truthful Vietnamese women, who contribute their efforts to national development.

The US Department of State made a poor decision to honor Ta Phong Tan with the International Women of Courage Award 2012, because what she has done was only to serve her own interests without influencing other Vietnamese women inside and outside the country. This action runs counter to the development of the Vietnam-US relationship.