VietNamNet Bridge – Every Vietnamese citizen has a right to feel outraged at the illegal and hostile acts of China in Vietnam's waters. Fortunately, though, most Vietnamese have remained calm enough not to take extreme actions, and to advise their compatriots similarly. We must all be conscious of the image of Vietnam in the eyes of the international community.

Be smart patriots

Workers react to the violence incitement which has led to the shutting down of a company

Tens of millions of Vietnamese these days have been seething over the provocative activities carried out by the Chinese government in Vietnamese waters.

But there is a fine line between passionate indignation and extreme action. Many Vietnamese, feeling deep resentment, have blindly vowed to take revenge on Chinese people.

A hotel in Nha Trang City has refused to serve Chinese clients – a discriminatory treatment and meaningless punitive behavior.

The owner of the hotel believes that, simply by virtue of their place of origin and the actions of their leaders, all Chinese people do not deserve the hotel’s services. He vents his anger on Chinese people instead of the Chinese authorities, just because “the Chinese people cannot tell their leaders to act differently”.

By refusing Chinese clients, the owner cannot accept their sympathy, if they want to share it, and misses the opportunities to conduct dialogues in case they have contrary ideas.

Many odd initiatives have been raised on Facebook and other social networks that should make everyone shiver. Some Facebookers have called on Vietnamese to be wary of a Chinese “conspiracy” to colonize Vietnam by means of Vietnamese-Chinese marriages.

Others have warned Vietnamese real estate brokerage firms, with threats of punishment, not to do business with Chinese. Taxi drivers have advised each other not to serve Chinese customers. In some localities, electricity is not provided to Chinese-invested production workshops.

Hundreds of workers in the Song Than Industrial Zone in Binh Duong Province on Tuesday went on a march in protest against the Chinese illegal acts in the East Sea. They vandalized some Chinese or Taiwanese workshops they encountered on their way.

However, the workers’ actions must not be seen as a manifestation of patriotism, but as illegal acts which must be disdained and prohibited.

The Binh Duong People’s Committee on Wednesday called on people to keep calm and not to take stupid actions which may damage the national economy and people’s normal lives.

Drastic measures have been taken by local authorities and appropriate agencies to stop the extreme acts and vandalism.

The very reasonable reactions by our Vietnamese authorities give reason to believe that Chinese travelers will not be reviled any more, Chinese workers not beaten, Chinese clinics not damaged.

And the fact that a Vietnamese person was assaulted when trying to protect the assets of his Chinese enterprise will not be repeated.

The moderate patriot

In May 1988, a series of attacks on Chinese people in a neighboring country ended with a death toll of 1,000 and damage of 3,100 billion Ruppees. The image of the country deteriorated in the eyes of the international community.

Vietnam needs to learn a lesson from this.

Vietnam is well-known in the world as a resilient nation capable of driving out all invaders. And nowadays, Vietnam needs to build its national pride on other platforms as well.

Such pride must not be based on the insulting or defaming of other communities or cultures. The inner values of Vietnamese, who are well-bred and well-taught, must be respect for human rights and a willingness to struggle for justice, daring to confront challenges.

Stephen Nathanson, a philosopher, in one of his books raised the concept of “moderate patriotism” as the counterpoise to “extreme patriotism”.

The moderate patriots are sober and unbiased. And they struggle for peace and human rights not only in their countries and for their fellow countrymen, but they also care for the destinies of other nations, including those nations which have conflicts with them.

Moderate patriotism: we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the world community, and we owe it to the millions of fellow citizens who gave their lives to bestow on us the modern, vibrant and peace-loving Vietnam we have today.

Dang Hoang Giang