2007年VOA标准英语-Sentence for Vietnamese Priest Highlights Gulf

By Matt Steinglass
Hue¹, Vietnam
03 April 2007

Over the past several years, Vietnam's communist government has relaxed restrictions² on private business, religious activities and the media. But as the recent conviction of Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly shows, Hanoi draws the line at political dissent³. As Matt Steinglass reports from the city of Hue, it is a trade-off that many Vietnamese appear ready to accept.

Hundreds of Catholics attend afternoon mass at the Church of the Redemptorist Fathers in Hue.

Only a decade ago, many Vietnamese Catholics were careful about displaying their faith, concerned about running afoul of the ruling Communist Party.

That has changed, however, as the government has become increasingly tolerant of religious activity. It also has loosened restrictions on the media and private enterprise.

Mar4 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070530/0845330.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly, center, is seen in court room in Vietnam's central province of Thua Thien Hue, 30 Mar 2007

But the trial last week of Father Nguyen Van Ly makes clear that the government still considers political dissent unacceptable.

At the end of the trial, Ly was sentenced to eight years in prison, and four associates received lighter⁵ sentences.

They had published an independent newsletter and founded an alternative political party, the Progression Party. The government said they had violated laws against disseminating⁶ political propaganda against the Vietnamese state.

The Catholic Church has been quiet about Ly's imprisonment⁷ - because it does not appear he was singled out for his religion.

Father Joseph Le Viet Phuc explains that in principle, a priest should not engage in politics. He says he continues to visit Ly, but only out of charity, to show him that he is not abandoned.

Phuc also says Ly's political activism had damaged his ability to serve his parish.

Phuc says he had been sent to minister to Father Ly's congregation, because Father Ly no longer could. He says people no longer dared come to Ly's services, for fear of police surveillance.

Ly first gained international attention in 2001, when he sent written testimony⁸ on religious repression⁹ in Vietnam to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

But the manifesto¹⁰ of his Progression Party does not mention religion. It says its goal is to non-violently oppose the Communist Party and establish free democratic elections.

During the trial, when the accused tried to explain their goals, they spoke¹¹ of international law and patriotism¹², not religion. Nguyen Phong, sentenced to six years in prison Friday, was the Progression Party's founding chairman.

Phong declared in the court, "For the Vietnamese nation, I will continue to fight for democracy," before police cut his microphone.

A number of other priests have been involved in Ly's activist¹³ efforts. Father Phan Van Loi edits the independent newsletter, Freedom of Speech.

Loi says Freedom of Speech has been published since April 2006, and small quantities have been distributed privately¹⁴ around the country. He says they published the 24th edition several days ago, and are working on the next one.

But Loi says the police make his life difficult.

Loi says the authorities have confined him to his house since February 18. He says that starting on March 30, police surrounded his house to prevent him from leaving.

The government's restrictions on dissent seem to contrast with its other recent liberalizations. The government press ran stories about Ly's trial. Foreign news reports on the trial, on the Internet and cable television, ran uncensored in Vietnam.

Tourist Gerard Bobie, from Luxembourg, saw reports of the trial on an international television broadcast in Vietnam. He says he had the impression that Vietnamese are free in every sense but one.

"The impression is always the same, that people speak about everything, but just not about politics," he said.

Hotel and restaurant owner Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong said few Vietnamese are interested in taking the risk of criticizing the government.

Phuong says Vietnamese these days prefer to talk about business and everyday life, which are improving. They never talk about politics.

The ruling Communist Party is increasingly willing to let its citizens do business, read foreign media and worship as they want, as long as they do not challenge the rule of the Communist Party. Most Vietnamese seem ready to accept that deal.

1 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

4 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

5 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

6 disseminating   

散布，传播( disseminate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Our comrades in propaganda work have the task of disseminating Marxism. 我们作宣传工作的同志有一个宣传马克思主义的任务。
• Disseminating indecent photographs on the internet a distasteful act. 在因特网上发布不雅照片是卑劣的行径。

7 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

10 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

14 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。