Statement of Concern over Accusations Directed at Chu Hảo and the Knowledge Publishing House
Statement
of Concern over Accusations Directed at
Chu Hảo
and the Knowledge Publishing House
(Nhà Xuất Bản
Tri Thức)
To:
Mr. Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Mr. Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Central Inspection Commission of the Vietnamese Communist Party
Cc:
Foreign Embassies in Hanoi
Dear Sirs and Madams:
We, who have signed our names below, are scholars, academics and researchers, who have dedicated much of our careers and lives to the study of Vietnam. Hailing from universities and research institutes around the world, we are often at the forefront of promoting a deeper understanding of Vietnam, as well as Vietnamese language learning and international educational cooperation. As part of this work, we regularly seek funding and opportunities for Vietnamese students and scholars to visit, study and work at our respective universities, departments and research institutes.
We write this letter to express our profound disagreement and disappointment with accusations directed at Professor Chu Hảo, Director of the Knowledge Publishing House, by the Central Inspection Commission on October 25, 2018, as well as follow-up comments posted on the Commission’s webpage on October 31.
Chu Hảo’s primary work at the Knowledge Publishing House has been to make more accessible major academic works to Vietnamese students and scholars by translating them into Vietnamese. This initiative has been both far-sighted and highly important for scientific inquiry. Such works constitute the foundations of contemporary research and thinking in the social sciences and humanities. In high schools and universities around the world, they represent a body of essential readings across disciplines and subjects. Unfortunately, the language barriers that Vietnamese scholars and, especially, students face when trying to access these works puts them at a significant disadvantage when competing for university admissions, scholarships and research funding.
As researchers and educators from around the world, we reject any assertion that these works present a threat to the stable or peaceful development of Vietnam. Modern education has been founded on an ability to discuss and incorporate a wide range of ideas and theoretical propositions. Restricting or denying people access to these ideas will only reduce the analytical tools available to them and impoverish their intellectual development. Even controversial works must be read and analysed before they can be credibly criticized or refuted.
At a time when Vietnam is vying to be internationally competitive in university education and academic scholarship, we find the accusations made by the Central Inspection Commission to be unfounded and disturbing. In the interests of international cooperation and educational development for Vietnam, we strongly request the Commission to revise its assessment of the important work that Chu Hảo is leading at the Knowledge Publishing House. We also strongly support the open letter to support Chu Hảo signed by former members of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and more than 200 eminent supporters.
At the same time, we recommend that the government cultivate wide intellectual discussion of ideas on all topics in Vietnam, and we strongly urge the government to desist from any efforts to harass, intimidate or otherwise punish persons for peacefully expressing their views or opinions.
We thank you for your attention to this matter and we trust that you will respond in a matter that reflects the civility, dignity and educational ambitions of Vietnam.
November 11, 2018
LIST OF SIGNERS
No. |
Full Name |
Current Position(s) and Institution(s) |
Country |
1 |
Pierre ASSELIN |
Professor of History, San Diego State University |
USA |
2 |
Margaret B. BODEMER |
Chair, Viet Nam Studies Group, Professor of History and Asian Studies, California Polytechnic State University |
USA |
3 |
Pascal BOURDEAUX |
Associate Professor, École Pratique des Hautes Études |
France |
4 |
Mark Philip BRADLEY |
Professor of History, University of Chicago |
USA |
5 |
Pierre BROCHEUX |
Professor (retired), Université Paris – Denis Diderot |
France |
6 |
Joe BUCKLEY |
PhD Candidate, SOAS University of London |
United Kingdom |
7
|
BÙI Xuân Quang |
Editor, Viet Nam Infos, and Independent Researcher, Paris |
France |
8 |
Jim COBBE |
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Florida State University |
USA |
9 |
Nguyet DANG |
PhD Researcher, Erasmus University Rotterdam |
Netherlands |
10 |
ĐỖ Đăng Giu |
CNRS Research Director (retired), University Paris–Sud |
France |
11 |
ĐOÀN Cầm Thi |
Associate Professor, Inalco |
France |
12 |
George DUTTON |
Professor of History and Director for Southeast Asian Studies, University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) |
USA |
13 |
Dominique FOULON |
Carnets du Viet Nam, and Independent Researcher, Lyon |
France |
14 |
Laurent GEDEON |
ENS de Lyon |
France |
15 |
Francis GENDREAU |
Demographer (retired), Institute of Research for Development (IRDn), Paris |
France |
16 |
Christoph GIEBEL |
Professor of History, University of Washington |
USA |
17 |
Christopher GOSCHA |
Professor of History, Université du Québec à Montréal |
Canada |
18 |
François GUILLEMOT |
CNRS Research Engineer, ENS de Lyon, Lyon Institute of East Asian Studies, Lyon |
France |
19 |
HÀ Dương Tường |
Professor of Mathematics (retired), University of Technology of Compiègne |
France |
20 |
Erik HARMS |
Associate Professor, Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies, Yale University |
USA |
21 |
Bill HAYTON |
Independent Researcher |
United Kingdom |
22 |
Judith HENCHY |
Affiliate Faculty, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington |
USA |
23 |
Caroline HERBELIN |
Lecturer, University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès |
France |
24 |
Carina HOANG |
Author/Publisher, School of Humanities, Curtin University |
Australia |
25 |
Hue-Tam HO TAI |
Professor Emerita, Harvard University |
USA |
26 |
Rob HURLE |
Lecturer (retired), Australian National University |
Australia |
27 |
Charles KEITH |
Associate Professor, Department of History, Michigan State University |
USA |
28 |
Ben KERKVLIET |
Professor Emeritus, Australian National University |
Australia |
29 |
John KLEINEN |
Associate Professor Emeritus, |
Netherlands |
30 |
Gary KULIK |
Writer and Vietnam-War Veteran |
USA |
31 |
Scott LADERMAN |
Professor of History, University of Minnesota |
USA |
32 |
LÊ Minh Hằng |
Hydrologist (retired), Vietnam Hydro-Meteorological Services |
Vietnam |
33 |
LÊ Trung Tĩnh |
Engineer |
United Kingdom |
34 |
Christian C. LENTZ |
Associate Professor of Geography, University of North Carolina |
USA |
35 |
Ann Marie LESHKOWICH |
Professor of Anthropology, College of the Holy Cross |
USA |
36 |
David MARR |
Professor Emeritus, Australian National University |
Australia |
37 |
André MENRAS (HỒ Cương Quyết) |
Documentary Filmmaker and Independent Researcher |
France |
38 |
Pamela MCELWEE |
Associate Professor, Department of Human Ecology, Rutgers University |
USA |
39 |
Edward MILLER |
Professor of History, Dartmouth College |
USA |
40 |
Dominique De MISCAULT |
Artist |
France |
41 |
Anthony MORREALE |
PhD Student, University of California – Berkeley |
USA |
42 |
Jason MORRIS-JUNG |
Senior Lecturer, Singapore University of Social Sciences |
Singapore |
43 |
NGÔ Như Bình |
Harvard University |
USA |
44 |
Lam NGO |
Information Specialist, Special Collection Services, Leiden University |
Netherlands |
45 |
NGÔ Vĩnh Long |
Professor of History, University of Maine |
USA |
46 |
NGUYỄN Thế Anh |
Professor Emeritus, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris |
France |
47 |
NGUYỄN Điền |
Independent Researcher |
Australia |
48 |
NGUYỄN Ngọc Giao |
Lecturer (retired), Université Paris – Denis Diderot |
France |
49 |
NGUYỄN Trọng Hiền |
Physicist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena |
USA |
50 |
NGUYỄN Đức Hiệp |
Atmospheric Scientist, Office of |
Australia |
51 |
Huong NGUYEN |
Editor, The 88 Project |
USA |
52 |
NGUYỄN Thanh Lam |
PhD, California Institute of Technology |
USA |
53 |
Lien-Hang T. NGUYEN |
Professor of History, Columbia University |
USA |
54 |
Viet Thanh NGUYEN |
Writer and Professor, University of Southern California |
USA |
55 |
Le Anh Tu PACKARD |
Senior Economist (retired), Moody’s Analytics |
USA |
56 |
Natasha PAIRADEAU |
Bye Fellow, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge |
United Kingdom |
57 |
PHẠM Xuân Yêm |
Physicist, CNRS Research Director (retired), Université Paris–Sorbonne |
France |
58 |
Chloé PHAN-LABAYS |
Lecturer, University of Lyon 3 |
France |
59 |
Emmanuel POISSON |
Centre de Recherches sur les Civilisations de l’Asie Orientale (CRCAO), Paris |
France |
60 |
John PRADOS |
Senior Fellow, Intelligence Documentation and Vietnam Projects, National Security Archive |
USA |
61 |
Benoit QUENNEDEY |
Author of books and articles on East Asia |
France |
62 |
Sophie QUINN-JUDGE |
Associate Professor (retired) |
USA |
63 |
Frédéric ROUSTAN |
Associate Researcher, Institut de Recherche Asiatique (IrAsia) |
France |
64 |
Christina SCHWENKEL |
Associate Professor and Director of Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Riverside |
USA |
65 |
Mark SIDEL |
Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law and Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
USA |
66 |
Balazs SZALONTAI |
Associate Professor, Korea University |
Korea |
67 |
Tai Van TA |
Former Lecturer and Associate, Harvard Law School |
USA |
68 |
Philip TAYLOR |
Professor Emeritus, Australian National University |
Australia |
69 |
THÁI Văn Cầu |
Space Systems Specialist |
USA |
70 |
TRẦN Hữu Dũng |
Professor Emeritus, Wright State University |
USA |
71 |
TRẦN Hải Hạc |
Assistant Professor
(retired), |
France |
72 |
Nhung Tuyet TRAN |
Associate Professor, University of Toronto |
Canada |
73 |
Qui-Phiet TRAN |
Emeritus Professor, Schreiner University |
USA |
74 |
Richard TRAN |
Assistant Professor, Ca’Foscari University of Venice |
Italy |
75 |
TRỊNH Văn Thảo |
Professor Emeritus, Aix-Marseille University |
France |
76 |
TRỊNH Xuân Thuận |
Professor, University of Virginia |
USA |
77 |
William TURLEY |
Professor Emeritus, Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
USA |
78 |
Kieu-Linh Caroline VALVERDE |
Associate Professor, University of California – Davis |
USA |
79 |
VŨ Quang Việt |
Former Chief of National Accounts Statistics at the United Nations |
USA |
80 |
VŨ Đức Vượng |
Editor, Trồng Người, A Clearinghouse on Education in Vietnam, San Francisco – Sai Gon |
USA |
81 |
Peter ZINOMAN |
Professor of History, University of California – Berkeley |
USA |
Các thao tác trên Tài liệu