Vietnamese people at home and abroad are celebrating the achievements recorded in the process of renovation and national development with great pride. However, some elements colluding with reactionary groups living in exile along with hostile forces have plotted to disturb the people's peaceful life, destroy social order and attempting to prevent the country's advancement.

With just a handful of figures, they "declared" to set up opposition parties and then organisations in order to throw down a challenge against the law. Their actions are of course attempted to create increasing discontent among the people.

Disguised law office

Practising as lawyers, both Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan fully understood that any action against the Party, State and the social system would be in serious violation of the law, causing danger to society. They ignored this risk and sank ever deeper into such illegal actions regardless of the warnings from the administration and advice from their colleagues and people in their residential areas.

Nguyen Van Dai had more advantages in life compared to others of his age. After completing his secondary school education in Hung Yen and failing his college entrance exam, Dai followed training courses in the country and abroad and then attended an extended course at the Hanoi Law College. In 1995, he graduated following a regular course at the college. He then worked for several law offices in different localities before returning to Hanoi to establish the Thien An Law Office in 2003 and later opened the Viet Luat consultancy company located at No 10 in Doan Tran Nghiep street. An naturally ambitious man, Dai was aware of the fact that he could not gain fame on the basis of his limited abilities in law work. Therefore, he decided that he would gain notoriety by launching illegal activities to attract attention. In the name of his law office, staff of Thien An instead turned vocational practice into an address for illegal actions. They used this base to incite others to join in realising the dream of becoming "leaders of the Vietnamese State."

As instigator, Nguyen Van Dai was listed in many of the so-called "opposition political parties" such as Democratic Party 21, Vietnam Democratic Movement, Vietnam Human Rights Board. Working as a "theorist" of the so-called "Vietnam Democratic Movement," Dai wrote a series of articles published on the BBC's website, asking for the existence of a multi-party political system and preparing the ground for the public operation of opposition groups in Vietnam. Dai co-ordinated with Hoang Minh Chinh to reactivate the "Democratic Party 21" organisation for which he directly wrote regulations for and mobilised other opposition groups to participate in such illegal work. Under the instruction of several reactionary elements and groups in exile, the Vietnam Human Rights Board was set up and led by Dai with the participation of others to carry out the collection of information which they thought would provide "evidence of oppression against democracy and human rights in Vietnam" to publicise on the internet and to send to reactionary elements abroad to slander and stain the country's image. In order to make reports for their "bosses" abroad, Dai sent Tran Thanh, Phan Sy Nguyen and Nguyen Xuan De to provinces in northwest region, Central Highlands and the south to collect information provided by several extremist Protestant dignitaries and followers and then forwarded them to Ngo Thi Hien, head of the reactionary group entitled "Board for Religious Freedom in Vietnam" based in the US as well as staff of the US Embassy to Hanoi to use for the purpose of promoting propaganda against Vietnam. He announced he would pay generously to those who could provide information usable for his plot. In addition to his regular activities, Dai assigned some people to make direct contact with diplomatic agencies and international organisations in Hanoi with no other purpose than to carry out the plot against the Vietnamese State. Through these relations, Dai helped some people to earn money, about VND 200,000-300,000 each time they posted stories on the internet, expressing opinions which distorted and smeared the regime.

Dai's character meant he took advantage of the unsatisfied feelings of some people who were undertaking personal petitions. He gave VND 200,000 to each person, thus inciting and colluding with them carry out activities against the administration. Using the trick of granting scholarships to a number of students and organising "classes" on American-style democracy and human rights at Thien An office together with the promise of sending them abroad, Dai fostered the intention of training key opposition figures among young people. His nature as a traitor was also reflected through many interviews with VOA and RFA in which he not only distorted the reality of freedom and democracy in Vietnam, but also called for a boycott against Vietnamese goods, prevention towards Vietnam's entry to the World Trade Organisation and opposition to the US's approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Vietnam.

Nguyen Van Dai became more and more crazed and extravagant in his actions.

Who is behind the support for Dai?

The nature of this matter can be easily understood based on the reactionary Viet Tan group's assessment of Nguyen Van Dai that: "Hoang Minh Chinh is only an element to pave the way and the core must include young people like Dai" and that "Dai's activities are part of the Protestant widespread plan together with the support from the US Protestant along with the US Consulate." It needs to be repeated that Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) is an extremely dangerous reactionary organisation of the Vietnamese people living in exile which had sent armed groups to Vietnam to launch terrorist activities, riots and attempts to seize power. However, all have ended in failure. They then changed their strategy, employing Vietnamese people working and studying in other countries so as to return them to Vietnam to operate as core elements and help those at home launch reactionary actions and realise the illusion of  launching a "colour revolution" in Vietnam. Security agencies discovered that Viet Tan attempted to build a secret armed force in Vietnam and had criminal elements to assassinate officials and then kill them to remove all evidence.

Being aware of Nguyen Van Dai's aggressive nature, many reactionary groups abroad contacted him and provided him with instructions. In return, Dai wished to receive financial aid and was given a large amount of money. According to initial statistics, Dai received over US $60,000 from Pham Nam Dinh's group and the Nguyen Dinh Thang's Relief Group for Boat People, not including the money funded by a non-governmental organisation in the US for Dai's "Young Lawyers' Association" project. Dai alone was granted US $1,300 per month. The minutes of Thien An's meetings showed the very close control from abroad. The meetings were carried out through the internet at 9pm on every Thursday in order to receive instructions from reactionary elements in the US such as Vu Quoc Dung and Nguyen Dinh Thang. For example on January 25, 2007, the report noted: "Dung proposed the agenda of the meeting. Thang asked members in Vietnam to work in a more professional manner and improve the organisation and he would continue provide training on organisational management. Dung reminded everyone that teaching materials must be kept secret and he required Dai to send monthly reports to him and Thang. The meeting report on February 12, 2007 said: "De (a member of Thien An) wrote a report on the trip to Lao Cai; Pham Sy Nguyen completed a report on the trip together with collected documents to send to Dung. After Dai's discussions with Dung and Thang, it was decided that the office would organise short training courses on human rights for some students."

According to the documents held by the security agencies, the courses held at Thien An office were aimed at training potential people in colluding with opposition elements and creating a combined inside-outside force (Dai prioritised the selection of students from law and communication professions). The expenses were released by a "democratic" organisation in the US. In addition, Dai recommended to send some people to Bangkok to join training courses run by reactionary elements regarding methods to collude and incite people to carry out activities against the administration as well as ways to co-ordinate with reactionary groups outside Vietnam.

It is not clear why Dai was listed by so many organisations and held important positions, perhaps it was merely for self-interest or fame. In September 1996, Dai asked Tran Van Hoa in Quang Ninh to meet Tran Ngoc Thanh, head of the Democratic Pluralism Group's branch and editor-in-chief of Dan Chim Viet newspaper in Poland who was then studying China, to discuss about the establishment of an organisation named "Independent Trade Union in Vietnam" in the country. He promised to pay US $1,000 per month once Hoa joined this organisation. After Hoa failed to leave Vietnam, Dai assigned Le Thi Cong Nhan, a young lawyer at the Thien An office, to travel to Poland to make public the so-called independent trade union and co-ordinate with Thanh to approach trade unions in other countries to set up a committee in support of "Vietnamese Independent Trade Union." However, this attempt was prevented in time.

"Nguyen Van Dai's activities against the Vietnamese State were carried out in an intentional, regular and systematic manner. Dai received instructions and financial aid from the reactionary Vietnamese living in exile. Dai's activities were mainly aimed at making money and gaining personal influence. The relevant agencies' settlement towards Nguyen Van Dai in the past were not sufficiently resolute and should be changed." (extraction from a report on the meeting dated February 8, 2007 among residents in Bach Khoa precinct, Hanoi)

By Minh Tam