FBI Failing to Protect Vietnamese Who Advocate Ties to Hanoi, Activist Claims

A physician with ties to pro-Hanoi government organizations accused the FBI this week of failing to adequately protect Vietnamese refugees whose political views often expose them to threats and violence.

Dr. Jack R. Kent, a Los Angeles endocrinologist and longtime activist in the Orange County Vietnamese community, said that as a consequence, many formerly outspoken Vietnamese have been threatened by or have fallen prey to right-wing “hit squads.”

Several Vietnamese interviewed in Orange County’s Little Saigon business district confirmed that a continuing fear of reprisal is forcing many people to suppress their political opinions.

“I’m just a hard-working shop owner,” whispered an owner of one gift shop. “I have a responsibility to my family. I cannot give you my opinion on that. That is a political question.”

As a founding member of the U.S. Committee for Scientific Cooperation with Vietnam, Kent was a colleague of Edward Cooperman, a Cal State Fullerton professor who was murdered in October, 1984, in what some have labeled a political assassination.

Cooperman, also active in promoting the exchange of information, books, supplies and equipment between the two countries, was shot to death in his campus office two months after he had received death threats. Authorities rejected the assassination theory, however, and prosecuted a Vietnamese student who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison.

In an interview, Kent said he was prompted to speak out now because Orange County, Chicago and, most recently, Fresno, have seen escalating violence, which he attributed to terrorist attacks by right-wing Vietnamese “hatemongers.”

For example, an arson fire in 1987 killed Garden Grove publisher Tap Van Pham. In 1986, a former Saigon housing official, Tran Khanh Van, was shot. And last year, Vietnamese novelist Long Vu was severely beaten. Van and Vu had advocated establishing links with Vietnam, while Pham had published ads from companies believed to be dealing with Hanoi.

In Chicago, the home of a Vietnamese restaurateur was set on fire this year after a well-publicized visit to Vietnam.

And two weeks ago in Fresno, internationally known Vietnamese writer Doan Van Toai, who advocated increased ties to Vietnam, was seriously wounded by gunfire. Although the murder attempt is under investigation as a potential terrorist incident, authorities say they have not ruled out motives that might stem from personal or business disputes. Toai’s wife had been seeking a divorce, and detectives in Fresno have questioned her at length.

“I’m speaking out as best I can for all those Vietnamese and all the former Vietnam veterans who support normalizing relations with Vietnam,” Kent said. “I feel it’s my responsibility to speak out now to help change confrontation to understanding. . . .

“Targeting outspoken Vietnamese for violence is not the answer,” Kent continued. “It perpetuates the same war mentality a lot of these people had in Vietnam. If the Vietnamese community would be allowed to freely express their opinions on Vietnam, this would help to turn the tide toward normalization of relations with Vietnam.”

But an angry Kent said that Vietnamese refugees who speak in favor of helping Hanoi like Toai “would probably get the same advice from the FBI as Cooperman did. Get a gun and protect yourself.”

Jim Neilson, an FBI spokesman in Los Angeles, declined to respond to Kent’s accusations.

Last week, police in Westminster disclosed that the department has joined with the FBI in an ongoing investigation of unspecified extortion threats, some of which may have been politically motivated.

All of this comes at a time when officials in the State Department are moving closer to establishing diplomatic ties with Vietnam.

The United States has conditioned rapprochement on the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia by Sept. 25, continued cooperation on issues involving prisoners of war and soldiers still missing in action, and the release of several thousand re-education camp prisoners, among other requirements.

Many Vietnamese say they were torn between their personal desires to again see relatives and their basic distrust and hatred toward the Communist government that took over their homeland at the end of the Vietnam War.

“I do favor ties to Vietnam so I can visit my relatives in Vietnam someday,” said one Vietnamese man who also asked not to be identified. “I left my father, my mother and six brothers and sisters. But I also want the U.S. to wait until no more communism exists there.”

Many Orange County Vietnamese--like Chuyen V. Nguyen, a former pilot in South Vietnam--are strong nationalists and say they don’t favor diplomatic ties until all political prisoners in Vietnam are released and communism is no longer prevalent.