Paris, August 29, 2000
In its press release dated August 28, 2000 the Liberal Democratic Party, a major political force in France, reported the Party's Chairman, Alain Madelin, had taken a trip through Vietnam in early August to visit a number of dissidents here. This is the highest French dignitary that has met with Vietnamese dissidents.
In Hanoi, Mr. Madelin was able to visit Messrs. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Pham Que Duong, and Hoang Minh Chinh. In Saigon, he successfully met with Ven. Thich Quang Do. All of these gentlemen are currently under unofficial house- or pagoda-arrest; and a number of foreign visitors had been detected and taken away by Public Security cadres en route to the dissidents' residence.
Mr. Alain Madelin currently serves as the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Representative of the Ille and Villaine areas, and the Mayor of Redon City. He is also a Member of the European Parliament, a standing member of its Economic and Currency Committee, a reserve member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and a reserve member of the Human Rights Committee. In recent years, he served as the Minister of Industries, Postal, Telecommunication, and Tourism (1986 - 1988), Minister of Enterprises and Economic Development (1993 - 1995), Minister of Economics and Finance (3/1995 - 8/1995).
Mr. Madelin had supported the efforts for freedom and democracy in the former Soviet Union. He also visited the Cuban opposition earlier this year.
In a meeting with representatives of the Free Vietnam Alliance, Mr. Madelin talked about his trip, which was camouflaged as a sightseeing tour. In the morning of August 12, 2000 in Hanoi he first quietly entered the house of Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang to meet with this Geo-physicist and the Historian/Writer Pham Que Duong. Mr. Madelin then went on to the house of dissident Hoang Minh Chinh. Despite the fact this was their first encounter, the meeting with all three, according to Mr. Madelin, took place in very warm friendship. On August 14, 2000, the disguised tourist appeared at the Thanh Minh Zen Institute in Saigon to meet with Ven. Thich Quang Do and discussed the condition of freedom of religion in Vietnam.
At each meeting, Mr. Madelin expressed his deep concern and understanding of the difficulties facing the dissidents, and his support for the efforts for freedom and democracy by the Vietnamese people in the current condition of severe religious oppression and human rights violation. He and his colleagues knew of the Vietnamese dissidents and their aspiration through the campaigns for human rights by the Vietnamese community in France. The Liberal Democratic Party worked for the release of Dr. Nguyen Thanh Giang in 1999 by convincing the European Parliament to send Dr. Giang the "Passport de la Liberte'" as its declaration of support for the prisoners of conscience in Vietnam. His party also strongly supported the nomination of Ven. Thich Quang Do for the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.
Mr. Madelin hoped his trip would help emphasize the international support for the voices for democracy in Vietnam and it would be the first of many more official and unofficial visits by French politicians to Vietnamese dissidents to promote freedom and human rights in Vietnam. He also suggested a joint effort between Vietnamese democracy and human rights activists and their counterparts in Southeast Asia for the betterment of the whole area.
The FVA has a number of photos of Mr. Madelin and the above dissidents during the visits. These photos will be provided upon request.