Supreme Central Council Sangha (Chief Secretary’s Office): Press Release
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV)
Supreme Central Council Sangha
(Sangharaja Institute)
_______________
Chief Secretary’s Office
PRESS RELEASE
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) delegation attended a meeting at Tu Hieu Pagoda on May 19, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.
The delegation – consisting of Mr. Frederik, A. Davie, Team leader; Mr. Erick Ueland, Commissioner; Mr. Patrick GreenWalt, Analyst; Mr. Rustrum Nyquyst, Political Officer of the Consulate General; Ms. Thuy Linh, Political Assistant at the Consulate –was welcomed by Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam, Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly, and Venerable Thich Thien Minh. The Most Venerable Thich Tue Sy, Chief Secretary of the Sangharaja Institute, was unable to attend.
Following the greeting protocol, the American Delegation representative stated, “Thank you, venerable monks, for sharing the above information, and again, we’re sending The Most Venerable Thich Tue Sy our best wishes for a speedy recovery. My first question is related to the registration of religious activities or the registration of religious organizations; I’m wondering if you could share your perspectives on the registration with the government and its legality vis-à-vis the laws of Vietnam governing religions and beliefs. Will registration or non-registration affect one’s religious activities or the functional process of one’s religion?”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “Our church existed before the Communist takeover of the South in 1975. Since then, our Church has faced challenges and is not officially recognized by the government. We emphasize the position of our Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) as ‘Separation of Church and State.’ The UBCV is independent of any government influence, refrains from engaging in political power struggles, and, as a result, is not acknowledged by the government as representative of the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition. Instead, the government tightly controls the UBCV by manipulating laws and state interests at will,”
QUESTION: “Why does the Vietnamese government view these religious groups as threats rather than potential allies?”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “I would suggest that you address this query directly to the Vietnamese government for greater transparency.”
(Everyone laughs with delight)
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “We only know ourselves; fundamentally, we do not accept anyone taking advantage of Buddhism to serve his regime; we are not biased in favor of any polity, and we believe religion and politics should be kept separate in the sense of a power struggle for the control of the government.”
QUESTION: “Has the UBCV been registered with the Vietnamese government? And rejected? Or has it never been registered with the government?”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “We cannot register because right from the beginning, the Communist Party’s leadership forced the UBCV to choose between either going along with them or against them. The Buddhist leadership’s response was, “We neither support nor oppose anyone; we just follow Buddha.” In addition, if we register, we must accept the fact that we are a member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front under the leadership of the Socialist-Oriented Communist Party.”
QUESTION: “Does non-registration create any consequences, any problems at all?”
Most Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly: “If you do not register, you will not be able to conduct activities freely; Tu Hieu Pagoda can carry on activities in a normal way, but pagodas under the umbrella nomenclature of UBCV are not able to conduct their activities freely.”
QUESTION: “Is there any reason why the monks don’t want to register with the government? And if there are changes in the government’s policies, is there any change that can make the monks reconsider registration with the government?”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “Since that hasn’t occurred yet, we don’t dare to venture any consideration. However, we believe that refusing to register is tantamount to refusing to accept ourselves as an instrument of the government; therefore, we don’t register. We want Buddhist activities to be free, to be completely independent.”
Venerable Thich Thien Minh: “The Vietnamese government’s undertaking is that if you register, you must agree to register and join in with the management of the Party and the State, and joining in is equivalent to engaging in politics. Since state organizations are exploitative organizations for political purposes. I’ll show you a typical clip of nuns who must go on stage to adulate President Ho Chi Minh. Everything must be like this (Thich Thien Minh showed the clip of nuns chanting Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh’s long life). Once joined, they must live according to Party cadres’ orders and have no freedom. That is a fact. The nuns had to participate in learning how to crawl, creep, and shoot like in the military.”
QUESTION: “Do you believe the Vietnamese government will be aware of our visit to you today?”
Venerable Thich Thien Minh: “Yes. The City Police informed me that a delegation of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom will meet today and asked if I would attend.”
QUESTION: “After we leave, will the monks encounter any difficulties or troubles from the government?”
Venerable Thich Thien Minh: “We continue to walk to and fro freely; got obstructed once in a while, but the police are aware of everything. In previous meetings, seven individuals were prevented from entering this location and were not permitted to leave their temple.”
Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly: “I am a member of the UBCV, and when carrying out relief activities under the name of the UBCV, I got obstructed; but allowed in the name of the temple. It turns out the term GHPGVNTN (UBCV) is taboo, and any monk who visits this area will be interrogated by the Undercover Police.”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “They are leery of the term “Thống Nhất” (Unified).”
Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly: “Simply remove the term “Thống Nhất” (Unified), and everything will be fine.”
QUESTION: “Do the monks who are filming today’s entire meeting intend to provide the video clip or pictures from the video clip to the police when they arrive or will they provide a comprehensive summary of the meeting proceedings while keeping the clip for other purposes?”
Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly: “No, sir. When previously asked by the police, I said that the matter was between Most Venerable Tue Sy and the English-speaking delegation; I didn’t know what was happening and whatever was discussed would have to wait for the Venerable to return and translate and they will know. I showed the police the social network for them to peruse.
I never gave the police the footage that I captured.
Since Most Venerable Tue Sy was unable to attend, we filmed the event for him to review, translate, and publish, but we did not hide anything nor share it on social media.”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “However, we must record all essential information because the UBCV does nothing equivocal or sneaky, as we do not advocate against anyone and our undertakings are independence and no involvement in politics. We will report on the meeting to the office of the Sangharaja Institute to issue a press release since we did not say anything equivocal, anything faulty, or against anyone; we only defend the ideals of our Church. Especially, we are fighting for freedom and only that is important.”
QUESTION: “That is also our goal; we simply want to promote religious freedom in Vietnam and throughout the world. And we’d like to ask a second question: Since Venerable Thien Minh recently stated that he was incarcerated from 1979 to 2005, is there anyone else of the UBCV currently being arrested or coerced to renounce their faith and their UBCV because of the religious viewpoints of their own choice?”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “As stated previously, when the Buddhist Church of Vietnam (BCV) was established, we were forced to join, but instead we upheld the ideals promoted by the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV). Hence there did exist contradictions in religious viewpoints and consequently, the activities at the UBCV cannot run smoothly. To have peace, we have to join the BCV established by the government.”
Venerable Thich Thien Minh: “The highest level leaders of state Buddhism, of this Buddhist Church of Vietnam (BCV), may not dare to assert the truth out of self-interest and fear; yet, they sometimes blame the UBCV for being reactionary and subversive. However, they dare not admit the truth that they are slaves to the regime. The UBCV pagodas or reclusive dwellings (vihara) are no longer permitted to use the term “Thống Nhất” (Unified), and pagodas that have feelings for the UBCV – even though they are not affiliated with it – are nevertheless hassled. For instance, The An Cu Pagoda of Venerable Thien Phuc in Son Tra, the Son Linh Pagoda of Venerable Đong Quang in Kom Tum, and the Thien Quang Pagoda of Venerable Thien Thuan in Xuyen Moc, Vung Tau only need to be sympathetic with the UBCV to be harassed.”
QUESTION: “Why did the Vietnamese government react so forcefully to the term “Thống Nhất” (Unified)?”
Most venerable Thich Minh Tam: “Sir, our position is not to play politics, not to be compelled to join the Fatherland Front led by the Vietnamese Communist Party. The BCV is a member of the Fatherland Front, based upon which they, as an instrument of the government, serve the regime. The BCV and the UBCV hold divergent positions. Our position is not to be involved in politics and not to act as a government instrument whereas the BCV serves as a government tool to acquire support.”
Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly: “They act on orders.”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “In simple terms, not because of the term “Thống Nhất” (Unified), but because of political positions, of divergent viewpoints.”
QUESTION: “In addition to the fact that religious activities of the UBCV are facing difficulties, do Buddhists and Householders (home-bound non-monastic Buddhist devotees) of the UBCV encounter any hassles in their work, business enterprises, school, and education?”
Venerable Thich Thien Minh: “Yes. That does happen. They work with Buddhist families and ask them not to attend the temple or join the Unified Buddhist Church; if they join, they will encounter difficulties concerning their privileges, their children’s education, and even their job as workmen. Guards are posted at temples, so Buddhists gradually keep their distance from pagodas because they don’t dare to come. That does happen. The proof is that it happens to my temple; Buddhists gradually shy away, and no longer dare to come. At first, the temple was very crowded, but it then has become less so over time until eventually I am the only one left to say prayers. At times, upon the imminent arrival of a delegation, knowing in advance that it is the Human Rights Delegation, the US Department of State, or an International Organization, they would post 5-7 secret police officers, male and female, to guard the temple 24 hours a day. Passing citizens don’t even dare to look at the temple, let alone enter the gate. That is a fact.”
QUESTION: “Will the Buddhists who leave the pagoda after completing their volunteer work be harassed by the government?”
Venerable Thich Nguyen Ly: “On the first and fifteenth day of each month, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., there will be an arrangement for laymen to practice the way to take the Mahayana Restoring and Purifying Wows (Eight Mahayana Precepts or Eight Precepts for lay Buddhists carefully observed on fast days) at the Tu Hieu Pagoda. Lunch is served and Buddhists will partake in training and cantillating. And there appears to be no problem.”
Most Venerable Thich Minh Tam: “On this issue — the issue related to activities — the government’s course of action is not uniform; there appears to be laxity in some areas and strictness in others, depending on which entity referred to and also on the Buddhists. The Buddhists wouldn’t dare to use the term “Thống Nhất” (Unified) wherever they remain pusillanimous; wherever the Buddhists are resolute, then sometimes there appears to be no problem. There do exist two entities indeed; the government, on one hand, would handle issues depending on the characteristics of the locale; and the Buddhists, the monks, and the nuns, on the other hand, would respond along the line of viewpoints. Therefore, there is no uniformity. Hence laxity or strictness.”
The meeting adjourned on May 19, 2023, at 11 a.m.
The delegation and the senior Buddhist monastics then assembled for a photo op and shared an amicable tea-time treat before parting ways.
Buddhist Calendar of 2566
Từ Hiếu Pagoda, May 21, 2023.
Chief Operating Officer
Venerable Thích Nguyên Lý
VP. Chánh Thư Ký Viện Tăng Thống: Thông Cáo Báo Chí ngày 21.5.2023
