Vietnam signals action to tackle ‘negative impact’ of Falun Gong

Members of the Falun Gong spiritual sect are having a negative impact on Vietnam’s political security and public order and authorities will act to discourage participation in its activities, Vietnamese state media reported.

The movement, founded in China in 1992, has been banned in China and is closely monitored in Vietnam. 

Vietnam’s Ministry of Interior said it planned to take a strong stance against followers of the sect and would act to prevent the formation of “illegal organizations”, according to a report on Tuesday in the Capital Security page, a special publication of the People’s Police newspaper.

The ministry had received a petition from voters to “handle those participating in Falun Gong practice activities, which are currently complicated and negatively impacting the political security and social order situation in many localities,” the newspaper reported.

Authorities had been told to strengthen state management of beliefs and religions and to discourage participation in “complicated activities” related to the group, it added.

Any Falun Gong followers who “gather, propagate and distort against the party's policies and guidelines, the state’s policies and laws, affecting political security and social order,” would be dealt with according to the law, the newspaper said.

Freedom of religion is technically enshrined in Vietnam’s constitution, but it also allows authorities to override rights, including religious freedom, for purposes of national security, social order, social morality and community well-being.

A Falun Gong practitioner told Radio Free Asia that the group was not political and members did not create any disorder.

“We do not gather to cause disorder and we are not interested in politics,” said the follower, Ha Quang Thanh, from Hai Duong province.

“A few times the security officers asked and contacted us, but when they understood, they were very happy and did not hinder or oppose our practice.”

Ha added he had been involved with Falun Gong for two years and it helped him improve his mental and physical health, and made people more at peace with society and their families.

In 2018, the head of the Propaganda Office of the General Politics Department in Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense ordered a close watch by authorities on the activities of Falun Gong followers.

Sporadic cases of harassment by police and even brutal use of force have been reported by Falun Gong practitioners over the years when they conducted exercises in public places such as parks. 

In neighboring China, the government banned participation in Falun Gong after members staged a massive silent protest outside China’s main leadership compound in Beijing in 1999.

Chinese state-run media portrays Falun Gong as a fringe, fanatical sect, often referring to it as an “evil cult,” and tens of thousands of Falun Gong followers have been jailed or sent to labor camps without trial, with many reported to have been tortured and killed. China denies that.

Chinese authorities have also put pressure on other governments to restrict Falun Gong gatherings overseas. The movement has followers around the world, particularly in Asian countries.

Edited by Taejun Kang.