Unmasking outlawed Duong Van Minh belief in Vietnam

Many gullible people have gone on to become victims and puppets for the organisation which demands secession from Vietnam and seeks to set up its own state with self-rule and total separation from the nation.

The area where this organisation operates is mainly in northern mountainous provinces such as Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, and Lao Cai where local people still live a hard life.

Who is Duong Van Minh?

Born in 1961, Duong Van Minh, who sometimes uses the aliases of Duong Gun Minh or Giang Sung Minh, originally hailed from Thuong Thon commune of Ha Quang district in Cao Bang. In 1982, Minh moved to Yen Lam commune of Ham Yen district in Tuyen Quang province.

After listening to foreign radio programmes about Protestantism among the Mong ethnic minority group in northern mountainous provinces, Minh claimed to be the King of the Mong people and started to spread disinformation around the community.

In 1990, Minh was arrested and subsequently prosecuted on charges of ‘fraudulently appropriating citizens’ private property and practicing superstitions with serious consequences’. He was later sentenced to five years in prison by the People’s Court of Tuyen Quang province.

After being released from prison five years later, Minh escaped the locality and launched Duong Van Minh belief, proclaiming himself as the leader of a cult. He then asked the local government to recognise the Duong Van Minh belief as an official belief practiced by the Mong people.

Since its establishment, this organisation has taken advantage of the Government’s religious freedom policy to consolidate its forces and entice members of the Mong ethnic group to join, with the ultimate aim of forming a self-ruled state led by him in the northern mountainous area.

To carry out the plan, Minh and a number of key accomplices contacted and supported several reactionary individuals and organisations, as well as international organisations that seek to undermine the state. Indeed, he and several close affiliates falsely accused the country of violating democracy, human rights, and religious freedom. They pushed the statement that Duong Van Minh would be the Lord and King of the Mong people, teaching their members how to oppose the Government by controlling them spiritually and threatening to isolate them in order to divide the great national unity bloc.

Realising the situation, local authorities have persistently launched communications and mobilised people in an effort to turn them off Minh’s campaign, competently implementing guidelines and policies of the Party and fully complying with the rule of law.

After Duong Van Minh died from illness in late 2021, his accomplices continued to take advantage of religious freedoms in an effort to deify him, whilst simultaneously seeking someone to lead the organisation.

Illegally popularising myths and superstitions

In 1989, Duong Van Minh began his campaign of deceiving people with superstitious and ludicrous statements. A prime example of this is the claim that, “the earth will explode in 2000, everyone will die, anyone who follows Duong Van Minh will be picked up by Jesus Christ to heaven and live happily ever after. If you don't work, you can eat, you don't study, you can literate, the dead will come back to life, the old will become young again, the young will stay young forever, the sick will heal themselves, the Mong people will have their own homeland.”

He deceived the Mong people to force them to pay money and pour their wealth into a fund called Vang Chu. Due to limited knowledge and the coercion of key elements, the Mong people believed these deceptive claims. Many households sold rice, corn, buffaloes, and cows to contribute to the fund, whilst others abandoned their business, making their life more difficult.

Minh and his accomplices stipulated that local people must have a ‘small house’ to store ‘spiritual symbols’ such as a toad, a cicada, a swallow, and a cross that could be used on occasions such as funerals. When competent agencies stopped the rule as it violates construction laws, some bad elements sowed provocation and distortion for sabotage. In addition, some websites accused the Government of oppressing the Mong people, whilst others loudly praised Duong Van Minh for enlightening and bringing civilization to the Mong people.

In June, 2013, the Government Committee for Religious Affairs declared the Duong Van Minh belief to be an outlawed organisation and banned its operations because it can neither be classified as a religion or a belief according to the Ordinance on Belief and Religion.

Enticing separatism and self-rule

Immediately from its inception, the Duong Van Minh organisation sought to establish a separate state for the Mong people. Minh repeatedly publicised the organisation under different names but were not granted approval by the Government. Minh and a number of key elements also revealed their political motives, directing the masses to start activities against Party guidelines and State policies, whilst simultaneously making contact with organisations and individuals who oppose the country both at home and abroad to carry out their wishes.

They caused insecurity and social disorder order by self-establishing the ‘Convention of Ngoi Sen village’, or the Protection Board, which runs counter to the rule of law. They even sowed division among local people by stating that the Mong people, “should not sleep in the same bed with 54 ethnic groups,” and that “Duong Van Minh will later be the president and leader of the Mong people.”

According to members of the police, the Duong Van Minh organisation thoroughly made use of the cohesive mentality of ethnic minorities and the disparity between the rich and the poor to incite propaganda. They pretended to be a religious organisation but actually exploited the psychological characteristics and beliefs of ethnic minorities, made use of cyberspace and closed groups to train, connect, and develop forces. All of these actions have been brought to life and handled by the authorities with criminal convictions given to key leaders.

Duong Van Minh also established an illegal organisational structure by founding an advisory board, an elderly association, a youth association, and a women’s association in order to counterbalance the political regime of the Government. This organisation opposed Party guidelines and State policies by calling on people not to cast their ballot in the General Election for the 2016 to 2021 term. They even provided foreign diplomatic missions with incorrect information to accuse the country of violating democracy, human rights, and religion against ethnic minorities.

Recent times has seen the investigating agency collect evidence reflecting Duong Van Minh’s act of inciting propaganda, dividing and sabotaging the great national unity bloc. Apparently Minh showed signs of committing the crime of ‘undermining the unity policy’, according to Article 116 of the Penal Code.