Hanoi’s Hegemony
Saturday, January 23, 2010
By MP
What all this appears to demonstrate is how weary Hanoi can be of coherently, intelligibly applied pressure. It is said that nothing is certain in life, with the exception of taxes and death.
The Vietnamese intelligentsia has had to live with the knowledge that for over half of Vietnam’s recorded history, their people had been kept under foreign yoke and held in bondage. This collective experience of humiliation has over the centuries inculcated in the Vietnamese a fierce resentment of foreign rule, coupled with an equally relentless determination as well as singularity of will, required of a people constantly conscious of having one battle after another to fight. Hence, the name given to this nation: ‘Vietnam’, which literally means ‘Overpass’. The Red River Delta where the capital of Hanoi today locates could historically be considered the first place of major settlement and refuge of the Vietnamese people, having been displaced from their earlier bases in the Chinese mainland. In this respect, the Vietnamese have much in common with the Siamese; the latter fled both Chinese oppression and Mongol invasion, while the former opted to resist that invasion with the skills honed in the course of their long military struggle against Chinese rule. Times have passed, but little has changed in Vietnamese mindset or organic cohesion, nurtured by this experience of perpetual conflict, framed furthermore, morally, philosophically by adopted Chinese ideals of discipline, reverence towards authority, hierarchy and loyalty to the State, as outlined in Confucian thought.
As befits a people living in constant alert and insecurity, intellectual activities blossomed, especially in population centres like Hanoi where leading Vietnamese activists of more recent time such as Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, Pham Van Dong, Le Duc Tho among others, would have passed through in their formative years. Although, territorial expansion is not the focus of this sketch, it is easy to see why the Vietnamese nation, as with the Siamese, are constantly on the move, and why Communism as a model of how society is organised and arranged is better suited to the Vietnamese than it is to the Buddhist Khmers or Laotians, and also how the Vietnamese managed to see off repeated attempts by Western powers to keep them under their subjugation in the twentieth century. It also explains why the Khmer intelligentsia (educated classes), along with Khmer arts, culture and historical memory had been the subject of frenzied purges under DK, paving the way for the next phase of Vietnamese domination and exploitation, while the country is sub-ruled by ignoramuses and philistines. Whether Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Noun Chea bear direct historical responsibility for these crimes, may not be of great relevance, once one understands and accepts how and whence the first recruitment and indoctrination began; how the Vietnamese cynically emphasised to their Cambodian protégés the fervour of class conflict and the social ills of the Old Regime as the main springboard for their revolutionary struggle and sacrifice, all of which had been put in motion even before these young, naive, French educated Khmers had returned to their homeland.
Accepting Hanoi’s hegemony is not something inevitable, however, and 30 years of living and breathing with the permission of someone else is perhaps, too long for a nation with Cambodia’s proud heritage and genius. The Vietnamese themselves are aware of the difference between resisting foreign domination and imposing one unto others, so it is hardly surprising that while instances of high level official corruption could mean a death penalty in Vietnam, their Cambodian counterparts have been encouraged to embrace it as a part of social patronage system which has the intended effect of sweetening up the Khmer social-political elite by cushioning them from want and discontent. Living in general comfort and luxury, their lives are far removed from those of their downtrodden compatriots, while their vision and worldview are accordingly distorted and cocooned by this privileged, exclusive, if vulgar, lifestyle.
I agree with the view that this struggle is not against the Vietnamese people per se, but rather a moral crusade waged against injustice and social, political oppression thus far presented in the cloak of solidarity and fraternity of the 3 peoples of Indochina. Whatever their differences, all three nations have more to gain than they have to lose under genuine democratic processes; and throwing off the yoke of their respective ruler will be the first meaningful step towards attaining genuine individual liberty and national self-determination.
For Khmer nationalists, the key lies in applying concrete pressure on Hanoi even if this means taking calculated risks and brinkmanship, for the latter will only react to force, not persuasion.
The Vietnamese intelligentsia has had to live with the knowledge that for over half of Vietnam’s recorded history, their people had been kept under foreign yoke and held in bondage. This collective experience of humiliation has over the centuries inculcated in the Vietnamese a fierce resentment of foreign rule, coupled with an equally relentless determination as well as singularity of will, required of a people constantly conscious of having one battle after another to fight. Hence, the name given to this nation: ‘Vietnam’, which literally means ‘Overpass’. The Red River Delta where the capital of Hanoi today locates could historically be considered the first place of major settlement and refuge of the Vietnamese people, having been displaced from their earlier bases in the Chinese mainland. In this respect, the Vietnamese have much in common with the Siamese; the latter fled both Chinese oppression and Mongol invasion, while the former opted to resist that invasion with the skills honed in the course of their long military struggle against Chinese rule. Times have passed, but little has changed in Vietnamese mindset or organic cohesion, nurtured by this experience of perpetual conflict, framed furthermore, morally, philosophically by adopted Chinese ideals of discipline, reverence towards authority, hierarchy and loyalty to the State, as outlined in Confucian thought.
As befits a people living in constant alert and insecurity, intellectual activities blossomed, especially in population centres like Hanoi where leading Vietnamese activists of more recent time such as Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, Pham Van Dong, Le Duc Tho among others, would have passed through in their formative years. Although, territorial expansion is not the focus of this sketch, it is easy to see why the Vietnamese nation, as with the Siamese, are constantly on the move, and why Communism as a model of how society is organised and arranged is better suited to the Vietnamese than it is to the Buddhist Khmers or Laotians, and also how the Vietnamese managed to see off repeated attempts by Western powers to keep them under their subjugation in the twentieth century. It also explains why the Khmer intelligentsia (educated classes), along with Khmer arts, culture and historical memory had been the subject of frenzied purges under DK, paving the way for the next phase of Vietnamese domination and exploitation, while the country is sub-ruled by ignoramuses and philistines. Whether Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Noun Chea bear direct historical responsibility for these crimes, may not be of great relevance, once one understands and accepts how and whence the first recruitment and indoctrination began; how the Vietnamese cynically emphasised to their Cambodian protégés the fervour of class conflict and the social ills of the Old Regime as the main springboard for their revolutionary struggle and sacrifice, all of which had been put in motion even before these young, naive, French educated Khmers had returned to their homeland.
Accepting Hanoi’s hegemony is not something inevitable, however, and 30 years of living and breathing with the permission of someone else is perhaps, too long for a nation with Cambodia’s proud heritage and genius. The Vietnamese themselves are aware of the difference between resisting foreign domination and imposing one unto others, so it is hardly surprising that while instances of high level official corruption could mean a death penalty in Vietnam, their Cambodian counterparts have been encouraged to embrace it as a part of social patronage system which has the intended effect of sweetening up the Khmer social-political elite by cushioning them from want and discontent. Living in general comfort and luxury, their lives are far removed from those of their downtrodden compatriots, while their vision and worldview are accordingly distorted and cocooned by this privileged, exclusive, if vulgar, lifestyle.
I agree with the view that this struggle is not against the Vietnamese people per se, but rather a moral crusade waged against injustice and social, political oppression thus far presented in the cloak of solidarity and fraternity of the 3 peoples of Indochina. Whatever their differences, all three nations have more to gain than they have to lose under genuine democratic processes; and throwing off the yoke of their respective ruler will be the first meaningful step towards attaining genuine individual liberty and national self-determination.
For Khmer nationalists, the key lies in applying concrete pressure on Hanoi even if this means taking calculated risks and brinkmanship, for the latter will only react to force, not persuasion.
4 comments:
Thank you KI-Media.
Thank you for sharing. the article is very insightful.
Keep it coming!
Justin
Hanoi is too busy trying to controll other countrie around them. Their own government can falls soon.
If that happen, they will look like a stupid fool.
i think it is good to note it, however, it is always better to take real or concrete action to stop viet/youn thugs from steal more khmer lands and waters territories, etc...use the international law, if necessary!
Good article, all Khmer must keep in mind that Vietnamization on Cambodia is real not a fairy tail.
Post a Comment