The US ambassador opened the meeting with a short prepared speech. First, he recalled the responsibility of those in his position to defend US citizens in foreign countries. Mr. Michalak did not directly express US views on the arrest but said, “as always, the United States will protest any actions taken to silence those engaged in the peaceful expression of their political views."

To help readers further understand the matter, we now quote information already mentioned by the press. On Nov. 17, 2007, Vietnamese police caught red-handed six persons, including Truong Leon of US nationality, who in the name of a number of Vietnamese companies, were distributing pamphlets for Viet Tan. The same day, the police arrested Nguyen Quoc Quan also of US nationality. Quan is a member of the Viet Tan Party Central Committee and Head of the Home Development Department. He illigally entered Vietnam with a forged passport under the name of Ly Seng.

Vietnam had informed the US about the obvious law-breaking moves of Truong Leon and Nguyen Quoc Quan, and the arrestees had already been granted consular access. However, when reporters asked ambassador Michalak to comment on their law-breaking moves, he maintained that it was necessary to wait for the conclusions of the court.

As the information remains incomplete, Mr. Michalak’s cautiousness is probably necessary. However, it should be mentioned that sometimes, the US side is very hasty. Immediately after those people were arrested, the US claimed their innocence. Without any investigation to see how they violated Vietnamese law, the US affirmed that the arrest of these people seemed to silence the non-violent expression of their views. It is difficult to understand that while refusing to comment on their law-breaking behaviour on the pretext of waiting for the court’s verdict, the US reserved for itself the right to conclude that Vietnam had violated their rights by arresting US citizens and demanded that Vietnam immediately release the arrestees.

The US ambassador also has a different view on Viet Tan members who have carried out open activities against Vietnam; Nguyen Quoc Quan is one of them. The fact is that the predecessor of Viet Tan were reactionary organisations established by Hoang Co Minh, a commodore of the Navy in the former Sai Gon regime and some reactionaries living in exile in the 1980s. This was done in order to send personnel and weapons into Vietnam to realise their terrorist and sabotage activities in order to subvert the Vietnamese Government. Viet Tan’s uncompromising opposition is obviously expressed in the slogan openly declared by Hoang Co Minh, “Liberation or Death”.

However, after a Vietnamese reporter quoted the evidence on Viet Tan, the US ambassador maintained, “We have seen no information that would support the charges of terrorism against these individuals”. He said, in a meeting in Berlin in 2004, Viet Tan openly declared to support peaceful expression of political views.

The reporter did not agree with the answer and asked about what the US reaction would bee if Osama Bin Laden gave up weapons and shifted to peaceful talks about human rights. Ambassador Michalak answered that Bin Laden would be punished for his crimes against the US during the September 11 terrorist attack.

According to the US ambassador, any criminals must be punished. However, he only referred to Viet Tan’s claims about changes after their 2004 meeting. He passed over the fact that the Viet Tan leaders had participated in Hoang Co Minh’s National United Front for the Liberation of Viet Nam and had launched armed activities against Vietnam. Is it possible for them to become democratic after a simple statement to “shift to peaceful struggle” to find ways to reform the country? Should Vietnam not be anxious and worried about activities that Viet Tan had been carrying out and will continue in the future?

Vietnamese reporters provided proof of Viet Tan’s armed activities to sabotage and subvert the Vietnamese State which were described in detail by those who participated in the 1981 “Eastward march” plan in their memoirs. The memoirs mentioned that after establishing a base in Thailand, they would cross the Lao and Cambodian borders bringing along weapons to Vietnam to carry out their sabotage activities. Mr. Michalak refused to comment for a reason that he hadn’t read the book yet. Meanwhile, it is known that the memoirs had already been launched on the Internet by Viet Tan with pictures showing their obvious armed activities against Vietnam.

This sensitive meeting was held in a frank atmosphere with US ambassador Michalak who did not refuse to answer any questions. However, after leaving the meeting most of the reporters felt uneasy because his answers were apparently incomplete.