Shing Tao evening news
Tuesday May 17, 1994

[Special report by our press]: Around noon today, among the boat people holding a hunger strike in the Whitehead Detention Center, eight of them suffered knife wounds. According to initial information, they cut their wrist as a group suicidal action. All of them were conveyed to the hospital for treatment.

However, the police has launched investigation to find out the real cause.

The history of Vietnam goes back more than four thousand years ago with two thousand years of Buddhist history which has always been a strong factor in the life of the Vietnamese people through many famous and heroic dynasties: Dinh, Le, Ly, Tran etc. Most Vietnamese people are Buddhist. Throughout many generations, the Buddhist people have sacrificed their blood in order to bring about a healthy and moral culture which was the foundation for a free, democratic and truly prosperous nation.

However, since 1930, when Ho Chi Minh collected and brought home the Marxist and Leninist scriptures to establish a Communist regime, the Communist party has always followed their dogma based on atheism which considers religion as some form of narcotic element used to lure people to sleep. Communism sees it as their goal to destroy religion, evidenced of their suppression of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, which is an institution representing the culture and custom of the people.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the current changes in the world, we have witnessed the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which brought about the total collapse of Marxist-Leninist ideology, opening to all humanity a new era, an era of peace throughout the world.

However, the Vietnamese Communist party still tries to hold on to their power. They have shaken hands with other countries to improve their economic situation since they have realized that they were the cause of poverty and fear that the poor will stand up to overthrow Communism like they did in Eastern Europe. The goal of economic improvement is to support the Communist regime machinery.

The following is living proof of Vietnamese Communists suppressing the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association after the day they used force to take over South Vietnam.

1. In 1975, after taking over the total territory of Vietnam, they broke Buddha statues outdoor in many places, occupied temples, slandered and defamed monks and nuns to pressure them to return to secular life.
2. Arrested and killed the Buddhist monk Thich Thien Minh at Ho Chi Minh City's prison in 1975.
3. Gave out distorted information and made false accusation about the events of 12 monks and nuns committing self-immolation by burning themselves at Duoc Su Temple to protest against the suppression of religion in 1975.
4. In 1981, the Communists established National Buddhist Association under the guide of Vietnamese National Front, with the purpose of using the Buddhist name as a tool to follow and control the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, and they proudly took down the sign of the An Quang Temple.
5. Detained at home Buddhist monk Thich Huyen Quang, president of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, and drove from the temple Buddhist monk Thich Quang Do, General Secretary of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association back to his home town until today without a trial.
6. Arrested well-known Buddhist scholars, who actively worked for freedom and human rights, such as the Reverend Thich Tue Si and the Reverend Thich Tri Sieu in 1984.
7. Declared the death of Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, revoked their stamp, erased the Buddhist Boy Scout family system, a Buddhist Healthy Youth Organization.
8. Arrested a number of Buddhist monks, Buddhist followers, as well as scholar, writers, performers who loved the country and worked for freedom and human rights.
9. Recently, on 25/4/91, the Communists continued to suppress the demonstration of almost 40,000 Buddhist disciples in Hue, imprisoned the Reverend Thich Tri Tuu, Thich Hai Tang, Thich Hai Tinh, Thich Hai Chanh and a number of Buddhist disciples participating in the demonstration.

   On 15/11/93, the Communists again was put on trial in secret in order to hide the truth and not allowing lawyers as well as the public, the press to attend the trial. There were stories of demonstrations, self-immolation of Buddhist disciples inside and outside of the country to protest against the suppression of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, but government authorities still continued with the suppression.

   Today, all of us, 1653 Buddhist followers of Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, who are refugees at Tai A Chau camp, Hong Kong, used the means of a peaceful, non-violent praying hunger strike to show our determination against all of the above inhuman activities.

   With your existing power and prestige, please use your influence to raise your voice to intervene and force Hanoi's government to:

   1. Stop at once the suppression of the Vietnamese Buddhist Association, because this is the traditional religious association of the Vietnamese people.
   2. Immediately release monks and nuns of all religions, all scholars, patriotic writers and performers who worked for freedom and human rights in Vietnam.
   3. Stop all action violating human rights and do exactly according to the defined articles in the Declaration of International Human Rights signed by all nations.
   4. Totally respect the freedom of religion of every citizen of Vietnam.

Tai A Chau, April 10, 1994
Representing the Committee Organizing the Campaign

Chief Executive
Quang Phuoc: Le Thanh Chau

General Secretary
Quang Minh: Vo Van Thi

... Today we wrote this letter to You with no other reason than to ask for Your guidance and help in our suffering situation in this detention center. We hope that You would help out our cause...

... We would like to sincerely prostrate to You and hope that You would guide us. Although You are a living Master in this world, but we unfortunately don't have enough merit to meet with You...

... With the Buddhist situation at home being under great calamity, and with our danger of being repatriated, but with the responsibility as Buddhist disciples, we, not minding all difficulties, have organized a praying ceremony of Relieving Religious Catastrophe in Vietnam, starting from 15/3/94 lunar date until 13/4 lunar date. On the 14 and the 15 which is Buddha's Birthday, we will fast on these two days to pray at the altar...

... For the future as well as the present situation, as You already know, we earnestly hope that You will raise Your voice to help relieve the Buddhist catastrophe in our country and to help us escape sooner from this imprisonment...

Respectfully Yours
Quang Minh/ Vo Van Thi
P.S.: We would like to offer You a badge of the Buddhist Association on this praying season. We wish for Your help in bringing up our activity in the newspaper for the whole world to know.

Note from the Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Association:
(* Any similar letter from detention camps or VN is sent to various press and places as requested, according to Master's instruction.)

...Monks, nuns and Buddhist disciples in our home country are in great calamity , and our people are living with despair and sufferings. Recently, at the exile of Quang Ngai, the Reverend Thich Huyen Quang, president of the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association, clearly brought up concrete proofs of the Vietnamese Communists suppressing Buddhists in the country...

... We have witnessed the fall of religion under the power of the Vietnamese Communist. In front of our eyes, almost all Buddhist praying centers and a number of temples were closed after 1975, a number of Buddha statues were broken and thrown on the street side, some Buddhist monks and nuns leaders or members of the association and families of the Buddhist followers were arrested and questioned, strictly detained at their local area. We were not allowed to go to temple, and Buddhist monks were forbidden from preaching; all Buddhist followers had no where to turn to...

... Today, being imprisoned at the detention center after escaping from the Communists, we are also facing the danger of being forced to return to the prison of Communism, the place that has the intention to kill all religions, mainly the Vietnamese United Buddhist Association...