From the the infighting leading up to the 12th Party Congress, to the hottest items on sale ahead of the Lunar New Year, Loa’s Lilly Nguyễn has the five most talked about Việt Nam news stories of January. It's our “Things to Know" segment this week.
Five Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Việt Nam’s Party Congress
Political freedom - the right to choose your own government, your own representatives - does not exist in Việt Nam. Instead, every five years, a National Party Congress is held. It’s there that the country’s leaders are selected. Loa’s Duyên Bùi has the “Five things You Need to Know” about the upcoming National Party Congress in 2016.
Việt Tân: An Opposition Party Aims to Reform Việt Nam
Resistance to oppression is in the Vietnamese people’s DNA. Since the Vietnamese Communist Party imposed its one-party rule throughout the country in 1975, resistance has been building. Momentum started with the isolated voices of dissidents in the 1980s and 1990s and has gained to give rise to the emergence of un-sanctioned groups today.
Việt Tân, the Việt Nam Reform Party, is one of those un-sanctioned groups. It was formally established in 1982 with a mission to mobilize the people to reform and free Việt Nam. From its perilous beginnings to today’s multi-pronged approaches to empower the Vietnamese people - of which Loa is a product - Chris Lê has the story of the activists on the ground.