The imprisonment of a Vietnamese environmental activist has raised concerns

Because of his involvement in tax cheating, one of the most prominent environmentalists in Vietnam has been given a prison sentence of three years.

The Vietnamese activist Hoang Thi Minh Hong is the fifth person to be imprisoned as a result of this charge.

According to activists, this is part of a state-sanctioned plan to stifle criticism of the government's policies towards the environment.

During a trial that lasted about three hours on Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang Thi Minh Hong was found guilty of the charges against her. In addition, the court fined her $4,100 (or £3,380).

According to human rights organizations, the outcome of this politically motivated case was predetermined. They bring out the fact that activists have been incarcerated for longer periods of time than other people who have been held on tax evasion allegations, and that they have also been refused access to attorneys.

Since the beginning of their existence, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Vietnam have been operating in a legal "gray zone" in which they are exempt from particular requirements to pay taxes on donations received from outside the country.

However, the state has applied unclear legal standards in the most severe manner possible to the cases of these activists, in what appears to be an effort to conduct a campaign directed specifically at environmentalists. The fact that a sixth person, Ngo Thi To Nhien, the executive director of Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition, was arrested two weeks ago added credence to this notion.

There is currently no information that has been made public regarding the charges that she is up against. She was typically seen as more of a low-profile advocate rather than a vocal campaigner, and her think tank has been working with the World Bank, UN, and US agencies on green energy.

The decision to prosecute climate activists is especially paradoxical given that Vietnam recently became the third country in the world to join up for a historic partnership called the Just Energy Transition Partnership. It has committed to reducing its heavy reliance on coal-fired electricity and transitioning to more environmentally friendly forms of power generation with the assistance of $15 billion (£12.3 billion) of international financial aid.

The government of Vietnam has set an ambitious goal for the country to reach net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. This goal is now incorporated in legislation and is supported by a National Climate Change Strategy. Vietnam is one of the countries that is most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. All of these objectives are shared by the activists who are currently being held.

Concerns about the effects of climate change on the children of Vietnam
A few of the activists who were taken into custody were also instrumental in the late-year negotiations that led to the completion of the Just Energy Transition Partnership deal. Critics are also questioning why funders, including the United States, are continuing to support the climate pact when civil society is being excluded from the conversation and silenced.

According to Phil Robertson, who works for Human Rights Watch, "environmental groups are now effectively paralyzed because of the fear that they will be the next target in the government's campaign of arrests."

"Vietnam will not be able to ensure a truly 'just' energy transition until it actively listens to and responds to the perspectives of environmental activists, particularly those who are critical of the policies that are currently being implemented by the government. The role played by civil society in guaranteeing both transparency and accountability cannot be overstated.

Ever since Hoang Thi Minh Hong gave up her profession as a journalist and, in 1997, became the first Vietnamese national to visit Antarctica to monitor the retreating ice, she has been a prominent advocate for the environment in Vietnam. Hoang Thi Minh Hong is also known as the "Ice Lady."

The Obama Foundation, which was established by the former president of the United States to cultivate future leaders and is responsible for awarding the prize, recognized her as an original and persuasive speaker in 2018, and she is fluent in English. She is highly recognized as a climate and environment campaigner who strikes a balance between moderation and reasonableness.

Nguy Thi Khanh and Mai Phan Loi, two of the four activists who were detained before Hoang Thi Minh Hong, were mysteriously freed from prison at the beginning of this year without any reason being given.

But Bach Hung Duong and Dang Dinh Bach, two more, are still being held in custody at this time. After her husband embarked on a hunger strike and was abused while he was incarcerated, Dang Dinh Bach's wife has expressed concern for her husband's health.

Consequently, President Joe Biden faced intense pressure from human rights organizations as well as the Congressional Vietnam Caucus to question his Vietnamese hosts about the cases of Ms. Hong and the other climate campaigners during his historic visit to Hanoi earlier this month. This visit marked a turning point in the relationship between the United States and Vietnam. He was there to put the finishing touches on the transformation of the relationship between the United States and Vietnam into that of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

During its historic visit to Vietnam, the United States denies having a cold war with China.
The United States has been working towards achieving this goal for a number of years now, since they view Vietnam as an essential ally in their fight against the expanding dominance of China in South East Asia.

The leaders of Vietnam, on the other hand, have been cautious because they are concerned that any deal with the United States will involve greater scrutiny of their track record with human rights.

Although the Vice President says that he did bring up the matter of human rights during his meetings with Vietnamese officials, it appears as though he has put an end to such worries by excluding human rights concerns from his public pronouncements.

In a briefing on the visit given by the White House, it was stated that both parties had committed to a "enhanced commitment to meaningful dialogue" on human rights; nevertheless, few people expect Vietnam's communist leadership to make more than symbolic steps in this direction.

It is possible that the statement made by Nguyen Phu Trong, the ultra-conservative party secretary-general, who has presided over a major decline in the level of respect for human rights in Vietnam, was more illuminating.

"We emphasized that... respect for each other's legitimate interests and non-interference in each other's internal affairs are always important," he said. "We emphasized that these things are always important."

When President Biden assumed office in 2021, he made it clear that freedom and democracy would be the guiding principles of his administration's approach to international affairs.

Since then, he has organized and presided over two Summits for Democracy with the intention of strengthening democratic values in collaboration with governments that share the same outlook; nonetheless, these events have been roundly panned as fruitless diversions.

As the United States fights to regain its former level of power in the Asia-Pacific region, it would appear that realpolitik is once again in style. And the environmental activists who are currently detained in Vietnam cannot rely on influential allies in Washington to advocate vigorously on their behalf.

It is also abundantly evident that the Vietnamese government will not tolerate the independent viewpoints of civil society organizations over what a "just" energy transition involves. This is the case despite the fact that the Vietnamese government is committed to a "just" energy transition.