On October 3, the Hanoi Moi newspaper network withdrew the image of Ukrainians participating in the running competition with the theme “For peace” but still holds pictures of the Russian delegation.
Therefore, on October 4, the official Facebook page of the Ukrainian Embassy in Vietnam posted an open letter to the New Hanoi newspaper. The content of the letter expressed “surprise” as well as asked the newspaper to explain this action.
Hanoi just withdrew the picture of the Ukrainian delegation but held the pictures of the Russian delegation
The incident began on the morning of Sunday, October 2, the 47th “New Hanoi Newspaper Running” was held in Hanoi. The theme of 2022 is “For Peace” with the participation of about 1,500 professional and amateur athletes, to spread the message of peace, calling for joint efforts to promote peace and friendship, cooperation, and development.
The Embassy of Ukraine was invited to participate in this event.
“Officers and employees of the Embassy of Ukraine are proud to participate in the Running for Peace together with international and Vietnamese delegates. We are also very happy and grateful to the reporters when they see our photos in the news of the Hanoi Moi Newspaper on the afternoon of October 2. That means a lot: A call for peace from the heart of Hanoi,” according to the content of the open letter.
However, on October 3, all images of the athletes from Ukraine were suddenly deleted from the New Hanoi newspaper, without any explanation. However, the image of the Russian delegation, as the country that waged war with Ukraine, remains.
The Embassy of Ukraine expressed its feelings in an open letter:
“Imagine our surprise when we opened the article on October 3 and found that the photos of the Ukrainians participating were no longer there.
Ironically, the article still shows photos of athletes from the country that today are doing things that are completely contrary to peace: throwing missiles and bombs at Ukrainian cities, killing children and elders, men and women, abducting, torturing, raping, forcing more than 10 million people to flee their homes and flee war.”
Ms. Nataliya Zhynkina, Political Counselor of the Ukrainian Embassy in Vietnam commented to RFA via email about her feelings upon hearing this news:
“It was a real panic. I thought the whole idea of the race for peace had been tarnished. Currently, there are several armed conflicts in the world. The war that currently attracts the most attention and has the greatest impact in the world is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Why do they invite Ukrainians to run for peace without letting their pictures appear? Why do they upload pictures and then delete them?
Why would they instead display the flags of the country that caused Europe’s biggest war? What does this mean? Many questions are raised but no answers.”
Until the end of October 5, 2022, the New Hanoi newspaper has not yet responded to this open letter, said Ms. Nataliya Zhynkina.
The RFA reporter called the Hanoi Moi newsroom to ask for more information about this incident. After listening to the question, the staff on the phone took the initiative to hang up the phone.
The image of the athlete raising the Ukrainian flag was pulled down by the Hanoi New Newspaper on October 3. FB Ukraine Embassy in Vietnam
Is journalism not respected?
Researcher Nguyen Khac Mai – Director of the Center for Wisdom Studies, commented to RFA that the policy of the Communist Government of Vietnam is not to criticize Russia. Therefore, domestic newspapers also follow this political attitude and report: “So the press follows this direction. They do not provide true coverage but are often in favor of Russia.
But they don’t know that it’s harmful. Because it misleads people, making people not know what is righteous and who is evil. Their press is not fair and blind in this matter.”
The Vietnamese government has so far not called the war launched by Russia in Ukraine an invasion. Even this one-party state has continuously voted in favor of Russia at the United Nations.
Therefore, the domestic press, which is strictly controlled by the state, when reporting on the war between Russia and Ukraine, avoids using the word “aggression.”
Some websites of state ministries even published articles in favor of Russia before the war broke out. Typically, the article “Who benefits from the Russia-Ukraine crisis?” was published in the People’s Army newspaper on February 13. In the article, there is a paragraph that asserts that: “Russia is definitely a country that does not want to cause conflict with Ukraine.”
However, Ms. Nataliya Zhynkina still assessed that in general, major newspapers in Vietnam reported quite evenly on this war:
“The central press maintains neutrality in their articles, reporting on events, citing the views and comments of different parties.
Among the local and private press, some are pro-war, and some are pro-peace. My assessment is that there is a balance in coverage in general.”
Since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, the Hanoi government has repeatedly blocked events related to Ukraine.
For example, on July 16, a discussion on Ukrainian culture held in Hanoi was interrupted midway through, and many people were barred from taking part in the event.
Earlier, on March 5, a number of Hanoi residents announced that they were under house arrest by the police who prevented them from attending a fundraising fair at the Ukrainian Embassy.
Another fundraising event organized by a group of Ukrainians living in Hanoi, scheduled to be held on March 19, was canceled due to the local police’s request.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
