Debating the future: Vietnamese politics and the U.S. trade deal

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 48, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 3-15

  Abuza, Zachary ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035531889     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2001.11655913     Document Type: Review

References (79)

1. Ari Kokko, "Vietnam: Ready for Doi Moi II?" ASEAN Economic Bulletin 15 (December 1998): 319-27.
2. Reuters North American Wire (March 1, 2000).
3. Reuters (October 13, 1999).
4. Agence France-Presse [hereinafter, AFP] (July 4, 2000).
5. AFP (February 20, 2000); "Vietnam: Ready for Takeoff?" (Washington, DC: World Bank, December 1999).
6. AFP (November 18, 1999).
7. International Herald Tribune (July 29-30, 2000).
8. Associated Press [hereinafter, AP] (February 2, 2000).
9. Peasant protests have been directed against corrupt local officials who appropriate land and impose arbitrary fees and taxes to benefit themselves, their families, and their friends. One Vietnamese researcher calculated that 40 percent of peasants' income goes to such expenses. Peasants, on a nationwide average, must contribute ten days of labor annually to the state. In all, the total amount of taxes and levies collected between January 1994 and July 1997 was about 176 billion dong ($16 million) more than the level authorized by the central government. At the same time, loans to local farmers and businesses in the province fell by 40 percent compared to 1996 and unemployment skyrocketed. Although sending 1,200 police and several Politburo members to the area brought about an end to the protests, the Party elite was alarmed that its traditional support base had begun to challenge state authority. For background on the protests, see Dang Phong, "Aspects of Agricultural Economy and Rural Life in 1993," in Vietnam's Rural Transformation, ed. Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet and Doug J. Porter (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995), pp. 182-83. A 1996 Oxfam study found in one province eight types of taxes imposed by the central government, including land-use rights, fishing, salt-making, and slaughtering, as well as six other local "contributions," including a corvée. See Oxfam UK and Ireland, Report on the Financing and Delivery of Basic Services at the Commune Level in Ky Anh, Ha Tin (March 1996).
10. Peasant protests have been directed against corrupt local officials who appropriate land and impose arbitrary fees and taxes to benefit themselves, their families, and their friends. One Vietnamese researcher calculated that 40 percent of peasants' income goes to such expenses. Peasants, on a nationwide average, must contribute ten days of labor annually to the state. In all, the total amount of taxes and levies collected between January 1994 and July 1997 was about 176 billion dong ($16 million) more than the level authorized by the central government. At the same time, loans to local farmers and businesses in the province fell by 40 percent compared to 1996 and unemployment skyrocketed. Although sending 1,200 police and several Politburo members to the area brought about an end to the protests, the Party elite was alarmed that its traditional support base had begun to challenge state authority. For background on the protests, see Dang Phong, "Aspects of Agricultural Economy and Rural Life in 1993," in Vietnam's Rural Transformation, ed. Benedict J. Tria Kerkvliet and Doug J. Porter (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995), pp. 182-83. A 1996 Oxfam study found in one province eight types of taxes imposed by the central government, including land-use rights, fishing, salt-making, and slaughtering, as well as six other local "contributions," including a corvée. See Oxfam UK and Ireland, Report on the Financing and Delivery of Basic Services at the Commune Level in Ky Anh, Ha Tin (March 1996).
11. Bui Tin, Following Ho Chi Mink: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995), p. 106.
12. Faith Keenan, "Opening the Door," Far Eastern Economic Review (February 11, 1999): 24, 26.
13. William Turley, "Prelude to a Deal," Vietnam Business Journal 8, no. 4 (October 1999).
14. Reed Irvine, "Entering the Promised Land: A Special Report on the U.S.-V.N. Trade Agreement," Vietnam Business Journal 8, no. 4 (October 1999). The Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the 1974 Trade Act prohibits certain commercial relations with countries engaging in restrictive emigration practices.
15. David Dapice, "Point of No Return," Vietnam Business Journal (February 2000).
16. Kokko, "Vietnam: Ready for Doi Moi II?" p. 325.
17. Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam (May 22, 1996), translated in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: East Asia [hereinafter, FBIS:EAS] (July 19, 1996): 57-58; AFP (November 18, 1999); Ha Thang, "Frank Words at the Assembly," Vietnam Investment Review (November 22-28, 1999): 1.
18. Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam (May 22, 1996), translated in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: East Asia [hereinafter, FBIS:EAS] (July 19, 1996): 57-58; AFP (November 18, 1999); Ha Thang, "Frank Words at the Assembly," Vietnam Investment Review (November 22-28, 1999): 1.
19. Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam (May 22, 1996), translated in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: East Asia [hereinafter, FBIS:EAS] (July 19, 1996): 57-58; AFP (November 18, 1999); Ha Thang, "Frank Words at the Assembly," Vietnam Investment Review (November 22-28, 1999): 1.
20. Hoang Tu Giang, "Hopes for U.S. Trade Pact Before Year's End Rise with New Deal," Vietnam Investment Review (August 2-8, 1999): 1.
21. San Jose Mercury News (October 18, 1999).
22. Reuters (March 21, 2000).
23. Keenan, "Opening the Door," p. 26.
24. P.J. Honey, Communism in North Vietnam: Its Role in the Sino-Soviet Dispute (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1963); idem, North Vietnam Today: Profile of a Communist Satellite (New York: Praeger, 1962); Douglas Pike, "Political Institutionalization in Vietnam," in Asian Political Institutionalization, ed. Robert Scalapino, Seizaburo Sato, and Jusuf Wanandi (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1986), pp. 42-58.
25. P.J. Honey, Communism in North Vietnam: Its Role in the Sino-Soviet Dispute (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1963); idem, North Vietnam Today: Profile of a Communist Satellite (New York: Praeger, 1962); Douglas Pike, "Political Institutionalization in Vietnam," in Asian Political Institutionalization, ed. Robert Scalapino, Seizaburo Sato, and Jusuf Wanandi (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1986), pp. 42-58.
26. P.J. Honey, Communism in North Vietnam: Its Role in the Sino-Soviet Dispute (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1963); idem, North Vietnam Today: Profile of a Communist Satellite (New York: Praeger, 1962); Douglas Pike, "Political Institutionalization in Vietnam," in Asian Political Institutionalization, ed. Robert Scalapino, Seizaburo Sato, and Jusuf Wanandi (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, 1986), pp. 42-58.
27. Georges Boudarel, "Intellectual Dissidence in the 1950s: The NhanVan Giai-Pham Affair," Vietnam Forum 13 (1990): 154-74; Hirohide Kurihara, "Changes in the Literary Policy of the Vietnamese Workers' Party, 1956-1958," in Indochina in the 1940s and 1950s: Translation of Contemporary Japanese Scholarship on Southeast Asia, ed. Takashi Shiraishi and Motoo Furuta (Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1992), pp. 165-96.
28. Georges Boudarel, "Intellectual Dissidence in the 1950s: The NhanVan Giai-Pham Affair," Vietnam Forum 13 (1990): 154-74; Hirohide Kurihara, "Changes in the Literary Policy of the Vietnamese Workers' Party, 1956-1958," in Indochina in the 1940s and 1950s: Translation of Contemporary Japanese Scholarship on Southeast Asia, ed. Takashi Shiraishi and Motoo Furuta (Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 1992), pp. 165-96.
29. Hoang Van Hoan, A Drop in the Ocean: Hoang Van Hoan's Revolutionary Reminiscences (Peking: People's Liberation Army Press, 1987).
30. Thaveeporn Vasavakul, "Vietnam: The Changing Models of Legitimization," in Political Legitimacy in Southeast Asia: The Quest for Moral Authority, ed. Multhiah Alagappa (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995), pp. 257-92.
31. Hanoi Domestic Service (January 5, 1990) translated in FBIS:EAS (January 8, 1990): 67-68. The Central Committee statement said that Bach was purged "for having seriously violated the party organizational principles and discipline, leading to many bad consequences." A report can be found in the New York Times (April 1, 1990): A4.
32. Hanoi Domestic Service (January 5, 1990) translated in FBIS:EAS (January 8, 1990): 67-68. The Central Committee statement said that Bach was purged "for having seriously violated the party organizational principles and discipline, leading to many bad consequences." A report can be found in the New York Times (April 1, 1990): A4.
33. Andrew Sherry, "Pink Slip," Far Eastern Economic Review (May 9, 1996): 22.
34. Faith Keenan, "Comrades in Conflict," Far Eastern Economic Review (April 15, 1999): 28.
35. Zachary Abuza, "The Unfinished Congress: Leadership Transition in Vietnam Since the Eighth Party Congress," Asian Survey 38 (December 1998): 1105-21.
36. Robert Putnam, The Comparative Study of Political Elites (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976). See esp. pp. 15-19.
37. Adrian Edwards, "Closed Minds," Far Eastern Economic Review (December 9, 1999): 26.
38. These include Nguyen Dy Nien, the new foreign minister who was promoted over the well-respected Vu Khoan (who in return became minister of trade); Ngo Duy Ngo, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, who is likely to be promoted to deputy prime minister; and Ba Nhat, the head of the Thanh Hoa provincial office of the Ministry of Interior, who was recenlty promoted to the position of vice minister of the interior.
39. Reuters (June 27, 2000).
40. "Noises Off," Far Eastern Economic Review (February 11, 1999): 8.
41. Faith Keenan, "Dishing the Dung," Far Eastern Economic Review (August 13, 1998): 28; Reuters (November 4, 1998).
42. According to the military daily, Quan Doi Nhan Dan, peaceful evolution is an attempt to replace Vietnam's "communist economic structure, legal system, and political regime with a multi-party and pluralist regime, thus gradually changing from socialism to capitalism." Quan Doi Nhan Dan (July 30, 1994).
43. Voice of Vietnam (June 11, 1996), translated in FBIS: EAS (June 13, 1996): 85.
44. Ibid.
45. Vietnam: Consolidating National Defense, Safeguarding the Homeland (Hanoi: Ministry of Defense, 1998), pp. 13-14.
46. South China Morning Post (July 7, 1999).
47. Micool Brooke, "The Armed Forces of Vietnam," Asian Defense Journal (November 1997): 8.
48. Vietnam Television Network (January 18, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42; Voice of Vietnam (January 16, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42.
49. Vietnam Television Network (January 18, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42; Voice of Vietnam (January 16, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42.
50. Vietnam Television Network (January 18, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42; Voice of Vietnam (January 16, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42.
51. Vietnam Television Network (January 18, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42; Voice of Vietnam (January 16, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (January 19, 1994): 42.
52. South China Morning Post (July 7, 1999).
53. Hang Dang, "Military Enterprise," Vietnam Economic Times (December 1999).
54. Vietnam News Agency (February 21, 1993), translated in FBIS:EAS (February 25, 1993): 67.
55. Vietnam News Agency (February 21, 1993), translated in FBIS:EAS (February 25, 1993): 67.
56. Hanh Dang, "Military Enterprise." The military's 300 enterprises were reduced to 164 as a result of closures and mergers in late 1997 through early 1998.
57. South China Morning Post (December 15, 1999).
58. Reuters (March 25,1999). The corruption scandal lasted from 1994 to August 1997 and involved more than $71 million in goods.
59. Margot Cohen and Murray Hiebert, "American Dream," Far Eastern Economic Review (July 27, 2000): 22-23.
60. These figures come from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and can be found in the Vietnam Business Journal (February 2000).
61. AFP (May 8, 2000).
62. AFP (October 18, 1999).
63. Nayan Chanda, "Friend or Foe," Far Eastern Economic Review (June 22, 2000): 32.
64. Hoang Anh Tuan, "Why Hasn't Vietnam Gained ASEAN Membership?" Contemporary Southeast Asia 16 (December 15, 1993): 288.
65. Nhan Dan (July 29, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (August 11, 1994): 81-82; "Interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Le Mai," Vietnam Economic Times (June 1995): 12-13.
66. Nhan Dan (July 29, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (August 11, 1994): 81-82; "Interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Le Mai," Vietnam Economic Times (June 1995): 12-13.
67. Nhan Dan (July 29, 1994), translated in FBIS:EAS (August 11, 1994): 81-82; "Interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Le Mai," Vietnam Economic Times (June 1995): 12-13.
68. Zachary Abuza, "Coping with China: Vietnamese Elite Response to an Emerging Superpower" (Ph.D. dissertation, Tufts University, 1998).
69. Reuters (November 17, 1999).
70. Reuters (October 25, 1999); ibid. (October 12, 1999).
71. David H.D. Truong and Carolyn Gates, "Vietnam in ASEAN: Economic Reform, Openness and Transformation," ASEAN Economic Bulletin 13 (November 1996): 161-62.
72. VNA (July 7, 2000).
73. International Herald Tribune (July 15-16, 2000): 14.
74. Irvine, "Entering the Promised Land."
75. International Herald Tribune (July 29-30, 2000): 13.
76. Patrick O'Neil, "Revolution from Within: Institutional Analysis, Transitions from Authoritarianism, and the Case of Hungary," World Politics 48 (July 1996): 579-603.
77. Thai Quang Trung, "Linh and Doi Moi: Prisoners of the Neo-Conservatives?" Vietnam Commentary (May/June 1989): 8.
78. Hanoi Domestic Service (May 31, 1989) , translated in FBIS:EAS (June 6, 1989): 69.
79. Hanoi Domestic Service (May 31, 1989) , translated in FBIS:EAS (June 6, 1989): 69.