In order to ensure the people's right to access information, over the years, our Party and State have paid attention to building and promulgating many policies and legal regulations to promptly meet the practical requirements and needs of the people, focusing on the right to access information for ethnic minorities. However, with the plot to sabotage the Vietnamese revolution, hostile forces have put forward false arguments and distorted this issue.
Undeniable decisions towards ethnic minorities
As part of their plot to sabotage ethnic issues, recently, hostile, reactionary, and opportunistic political forces have falsely accused ethnic minorities of not being protected in Vietnam, including the right to access information. From there, they have distorted that ethnic minorities are “discriminated against”, “blindfolded”, “without social criticism”, “in the dark”…
Some articles slander that ethnic minorities are already suffering materially, but have been "abandoned" by the Party in terms of culture and spirit, implementing a "policy of keeping people ignorant" to easily impose and "rule" them... They find photos of ethnic minority children dressed in rags, then assemble and manipulate them into "typical ethnic minority life", using them as an excuse to disparage and defame the policies of our Party and State, especially in the areas of culture, education, and access to information.
These are insidious and dangerous tricks of hostile forces, aiming to undermine the trust of ethnic minorities in the Party and the State; to divide ethnic minorities with local Party committees and authorities, to divide the great national unity bloc, to divide ethnic minorities with the Kinh people, and between one ethnic minority and another.
From there, it incites opposition among the people, nurtures bad and destructive elements, associated with spreading heresy and superstition, creating hot spots to gather forces causing political insecurity, social order and safety, inciting separatist and autonomous thoughts in ethnic minority areas.
In fact, along with taking care of the material life, the spiritual life of ethnic minorities is always of concern to the Party and the State, including access to information. Realizing the difficulties, the Party and the State of Vietnam have issued many policies and laws to strengthen and promote the right to access information of the people. Accordingly, the right to access information is one of the basic and important human rights, recognized in many international documents of which Vietnam is a member and stipulated in Article 25 of the 2013 Constitution: “Citizens have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, access to information, assembly, association and demonstration. The exercise of these rights is prescribed by law”.
Specifying the Constitution, the 2016 Law on Access to Information also stipulates the principles of ensuring citizens' right to access information; the responsibilities and obligations of state agencies in publicizing information and ensuring citizens' right to access information.
To specify the Law on Access to Information, the Government issued Decree No. 13/2018/ND-CP dated January 23, 2018, detailing the measures for implementing the law, which sets out measures to facilitate people living in border areas, islands, mountainous areas, and areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions to exercise their right to access information. The Decree also stipulates that information provision is carried out in many appropriate forms such as: through electronic information portals and websites of State agencies; through the central and local radio and television systems, especially ethnic language radio and television programs and other mass media; developing specialized documents, leaflets, publications, which, if necessary and feasible, can be conveyed in ethnic languages; organizing specialized activities and community activities to share information, etc.
Reality refutes the distortion
On April 25, 2019, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 467/QD-TTg on integrating policies to support information and propaganda for ethnic minorities and mountainous, remote, border and island areas. This Decision indicates specific policies such as: Support for training in professional skills for officials working in information and communication at the grassroots level; Support for listening and viewing devices (radio, television, digital TV receivers) for poor and near-poor households; Piloting the provision of radios for ethnic minority and mountainous areas, especially disadvantaged areas, and border areas.
Disseminate, educate on the law and communicate on legal aid for ethnic minorities; provide free newspapers and magazines for ethnic minority and mountainous areas, especially difficult areas; establish and maintain a bilingual Vietnamese - Khmer, Vietnamese - Chinese general information website to serve domestic and foreign readers. Provide specialized information products, with a focus on serving ethnic minorities such as: Ethnic Voice Radio System (VOV4) of the Voice of Vietnam, Ethnic Voice Television Channel (VTV5) of Vietnam Television; support the improvement of facilities for grassroots information activities; policies to support postal services and press distribution to mountainous areas, remote areas, border areas, islands, etc.
In addition, to enhance access to information for ethnic minorities, many related programs, projects and schemes have been and are being implemented in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Through these programs, it can be seen that the Party and State always pay special attention to information and communication work, helping to raise awareness among ethnic minorities, contributing to sustainable development and effectively implementing the right to access information of ethnic minority people.
Currently, there are 26 languages (including Kinh) being broadcast on VTV5 channel of Vietnam Television on different platforms (via VTVgo application, VTV5 website, YouTube channel, on Facebook...). Along with that, Voice of Vietnam also broadcasts 13 languages on the Ethnic Voices Radio system. Voice of Vietnam regularly updates and promotes ethnic work on all 4 types of press of the station: radio, television, print newspaper, and electronic newspaper. In particular, on the VOV4 channel system of Voice of Vietnam, 13 ethnic minority languages are broadcast daily with a duration of nearly 30 hours/day, in 6 regions across the country (Northeast, Northwest, Central, Central Highlands, Southeast and Southwest).
The National Target Program on Bringing Information to the Grassroots has so far invested in and upgraded 682 commune radio stations, 67 district radio and television stations and radio and television rebroadcast stations; provided 66 sets of operational equipment to serve grassroots information and communication activities; provided 370 sets of signal receiving equipment, listening and viewing equipment and auxiliary equipment for community living areas and border posts; established 10 foreign information clusters at international border gates and border areas. Central and local radio and television programs have become indispensable companions in the daily lives of ethnic minorities. Based on the issued policies, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ethnic Minorities Committee, in coordination with the Central Propaganda Department, have directed and oriented press agencies to publish press publications (in ethnic minority languages) to provide timely information to ethnic minorities. From 2016 to 2021, 18 types of newspapers and magazines were delivered with a quantity of 51.2 million copies.
Press agencies from central to local levels have proactively opened special pages, columns, and topics, increased news, articles, and photos in printed and electronic newspapers to propagate ethnic issues, ethnic work, ethnic policies, and historical traditions and national cultural identity, contributing to promoting the strength of the great national unity bloc in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland and in implementing socio-economic development goals, ensuring national defense and security in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.
Regarding communications, the rate of communes with public telephone contact points is currently over 98%, with more than 3,000 public telecommunications access points for people. The mobile phone network has covered all ethnic minority areas, and the 4G broadband mobile phone coverage rate in Vietnam has now reached 99.8% of the population. In many mountainous provinces, mobile telecommunications infrastructure and broadband Internet have covered most villages and hamlets; there are more than 16,000 postal and telecommunications transaction points, ensuring smooth communication in all situations. In the field of publishing, over 1,200 books with about 11.3 million copies have been published to serve ethnic minorities, and the operation of public bookcases is maintained regularly.
The activities of socio-political organizations have been vibrant, in which the Vietnam Women's Union has also published a series of audiobooks in ethnic minority languages, including 7 stories about Uncle Ho with women, Uncle Ho with ethnic minority people, which have been translated and recorded from the common language into 6 ethnic minority languages: Tay, Mong, Thai, Muong, Ede, Khmer. The work of publishing films has received attention and investment. Organizing the production of documentaries and special films on customs, festivals, and the unique identities of ethnic groups has contributed to popularizing and introducing the unique cultural identities of ethnic groups, the development of ethnic groups on the principle that ethnic groups in the big Vietnamese family are equal, united, respectful, and help each other to develop together.
Mobile film screening activities combined with propaganda and dissemination of laws in ethnic minority areas have brought about positive results. Thereby, contributing to improving the cultural and spiritual life of the people and supporting the propaganda of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, raising awareness of the people. The construction of infrastructure systems in the field of information and communication technology has been promoted. Currently, fiber optic transmission lines and mobile information services have reached 100% of communes nationwide.
Of course, due to difficult and complicated terrain and geographical conditions, unfavorable factors in climate and natural disasters, along with some customs in the people's lifestyle, promoting socio-economic development, including access to information for ethnic minorities, still has challenges. However, those difficulties and challenges are objective and cannot be compared with the plains and urban areas to create a "different picture", as an excuse to criticize the Party and the State. Compare the current life of ethnic minorities with the past to see the changes every day and let them speak up and reflect, not to blacken the reality to disparage and sabotage.
Source
Comment (0)