Vietnam signals action to tackle ‘negative impact’ of Falun Gong
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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.
Content retrieved from: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/vietnam-falun-gong-crackdown-08092024000353.html.
