The 1968 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts

BIOGRAPHY of Ton That Tien

When Vietnam gained independence from the French in 1954 there had been little preparation for self-government. Though many had participated in the independence movement, deep differences became apparent when the common goal was won. The only cohesive political group was the cadre of doctrinaire communists led by Ho Chi-minh, which quickly assumed power in the north and prepared to impose its will on the divided country. Resistance to the political system espoused by these Viet Minh—as they were known from wartime resistance to the Japanese—was widespread but poorly organized. Almost one million persons fled south of the 17th Parallel where an alternative government sought to establish itself and gain acceptance. The south was harried by guerrilla warfare mounted by agents left behind by the Viet Minh in violation of the Geneva accord; by lack of internal unity; and finally by large-scale warfare waged by regular troops infiltrating from the north that required, in turn, a massive influx of foreign troops to aid its cause. Burdened with these problems the Republic of Vietnam has maintained a precarious existence, often losing sight in crises of the democratic ideals it avowedly champions.

In such a crucible TON THAT THIEN is one of those individuals who continue with integrity to serve the public and to reemphasize the national ideals. In both official and private capacities he has been an ardent advocate of free inquiry and debate.

THIEN was born in Hue, Thua Thien Province, in central Vietnam into a distinguished family whose record of state service dates back to the tenth century when Vietnam achieved unity for the first time with the help of one of his ancestors who served as principal adviser to the founder of the Dinh Dynasty. At THIEN's birth on September 22, 1924 an emperor still reigned from Hue, the ancient imperial capital. Although reduced by the French colonial government to a titular role, he nevertheless symbolized the Annamese kingdom that had endured for 15 centuries. THIEN was steeped from childhood in the history of his people and in his heritage. His father, Ton That Quang, rose to the position of Thuong Tho—Imperial Minister—before he retired after 30 years in government service. Quang, typical of his Mandarin upbringing, was a follower of Confucius; his wife was a Buddhist. THIEN absorbed from his parents the wisdom of both philosophies.

THIEN attended the state elementary school in Hue and then the secondary Institut de la Providence run by Catholic missionaries where, alert and inquisitive of mind, he acquired an understanding of the basic values underlying Western culture and civilization. After French rule in Indochina passed to the Vichy Government and a pact was made with the Japanese in 1941, World War II for a time created little disturbance. In this lull THIEN went on to the state-run Lycee Khai Dinh, graduating in 1944 with a Baccalaureate in Philosophy. He had enrolled in the University of Hanoi, intent on pursuing a medical career, when the Japanese actively asserted their occupation of Vietnam during the last year of the war and ended these plans.

Looking back on the events that brought profound change to his life, THIEN recalls:

"The University of Hanoi, where I was studying, was closed down. I had to ride home to Hue 400 miles away on my bike, there being no other means of transportation. This ride changed my career.

"All along the road people were searching for food, eating grass and barks, or were dropping dead under my own eyes. That year, hundreds of thousands (some say two million) people, my compatriots, died of starvation. That was the event which gave me the biggest shock of my life. I decided that I would do something about it. Since a doctor could only care for a few hundred people, whereas an economist could help millions, I made up my mind to give up medical studies and switch to economics."

Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the Vietnam resistance movement, that had gained momentum and membership after making contact with Allied forces in Unoccupied China, transferred its focus from resistance to the Vichy administration and the Japanese occupation, to open warfare against the French who sought to reestablish colonial rule. Committed to the cause of independence but ideologically opposed to the political doctrine of the Viet Minh and eager to broaden his knowledge of the world, THIEN left Vietnam in 1947 as soon as travel restrictions were lifted, under the pretext of attending the World Scout Jamboree in France. Instead he proceeded to England to enter the London School of Economics. Upon obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1952, he matriculated at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, in Geneva. "Economics," THIEN has since said, "gave me no complete mental peace. Although at my college we were made to study more than economics, I felt restless. This restlessness took me to political science, and in the end to sociology." However, in less than two years his education was again interrupted by events in Vietnam.

The defeat of the French forces at Dienbienphu in April 1954 signaled the end of French rule in Indochina. In May a conference was held in Geneva to work out cease-fire arrangements. THIEN was invited to join the South Vietnamese delegation which was permitted to attend but not to participate in the conference talks. To accommodate the principal contenders, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel between what became the Republic of Vietnam under Ngo Dinh Diem in the south, and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi-minh in the north.

THIEN took part in later Vietnam-French negotiations concerning the turnover of property by the French in South Vietnam, the disposition of French businesses and the transfer of control in the ministries of Education, Justice and other government departments.

Some years later THIEN wrote:

"The dilemma of two Vietnams is the cruel fate which has befallen the Vietnamese people—a victim of the mistakes of the statesmen of the great powers, as well as the follies of their own leaders.

"Alone of all the Southeast Asian nations, Vietnam was divided at the end of World War II. The decision was taken at a conference between President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill at Quebec in May 1943. Originally a military one, it later—and one could say inexorably—hardened into a political one. The sixteenth parallel which in September 1945 separated militarily the British from the Chinese Nationalist forces became the seventeenth parallel which in July 1954 separated politically the communist from the non-communist world. Unfortunately, it also divided the Vietnamese, half of whom lived in the communist part and half in the non-communist part.

"But the mistakes of the great powers could not wholly explain the partition of Vietnam and the civil war which has plagued its people. One must also take into account the follies of the Vietnamese leaders themselves. And the greatest folly was committed by the leaders of the Viet Minh in 1945 when they decided to rush matters and turn Vietnam into a Communist state espousing the cause of international Communism, instead of fighting only for national independence and socialism, as other Asian states had done.

"The latter factor facilitated the policy of divide-in-order-to-reconquer advocated by De Gaulle's entourage. Ho Chi-minh's decision also destroyed the continuity of the Vietnam state, and weakened it internally and externally. At home, it turned the war of national independence into a civil war as well. Abroad, it deprived Vietnam of the support of friendly nations and of world opinion which could have shortened the war, or even made it unnecessary—as in Indonesia. In particular, it turned the United States into an opponent instead of a supporter of Vietnam's national independence. The United States helped France suppress the nationalist movement—while the Soviet Union remained aloof."

When the Geneva Conference ended in July 1954. THIEN returned home to work for the Republic of Vietnam as press secretary and official interpreter for President Ngo Dinh Diem. With him was his bride, Nguyen-Thi Le-Van (meaning Lovely Cloud), whom he had married in Paris. In his spare time THIEN also supervised the translation into Vietnamese of Western treatises on democracy and government, including those of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Learned Hand. When contracts were awarded to Michigan State University for advisory work in training teachers, government administrators and police, THIEN was invited to the university to act as an instructor on the staff of the Government Research Bureau for the semester beginning in October 1955. The change was welcome for he had been unable to get along with President Diem's brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, and especially Nhu's wife and her family whom he found "overbearing."

THIEN had looked forward to time to think and find his direction but in Michigan he again found no mental peace. He felt guilty to be away when his country "needed every one of its trained sons." Swallowing his pride, he returned to Saigon in May 1956 with renewed determination to do what he could, particularly to try by working from within to moderate the autocratic tendencies that threatened the republic.

Once more he became Press Officer to Diem. In contrast to the Secretary of State for Information who was a policy maker for the government, the Press Officer to the President was only responsible for briefing the president on press matters, arranging interviews, and issuing press releases on presidential activities. When the government's policy toward the press became more authoritarian under the influence of the Nhus, THIEN felt he was wasting his time. He sought and obtained leave in October 1959 to return to Geneva to complete his doctoral dissertation.

Interrupting his studies for a third time, THIEN was a member of the South Vietnam delegation to the Geneva Conference on Laos in 1961-62. Subsequently resuming his graduate work under Jacques Freymond at the Institute of International Studies, he earned the degree of Doctor of Political Science in June 1963. His thesis, India and South East Asia, 1947-1960, was published in the same year by the Librairie Droz in Geneva.

While in Switzerland THIEN followed closely the progress of the struggle in Vietnam. President Diem, he later wrote, had done well with regard to recovery of national independence; moderately well under extremely difficult circumstances with regard to building a viable, modern state, but poorly in giving people democracy. The authoritarian conservatism that THIEN deplored, had become more pronounced during his absence, provoking general intellectual, Buddhist and student disaffection. Keenly aware of the shortcomings, but also of the stake should the noncommunist solution in the south fail, THIEN decided to return to Saigon to offer his services to the government.

When asked by an incredulous friend why he had left the safe haven of Europe, THIEN replied that he believed a man of Confucian ideals must serve his country and not abandon a chief in trouble. He had been with the Diem government when it was winning and found it indecent to stand aside as an onlooker when it was faltering. Assigned to the post of Director General of the Viet Nam Press, he worked long hours to help reestablish the rapport with local journalists that had been lost. When the Diem government was overthrown five months later—in November 1963—THIEN was asked to stay on by the succeeding administration. In April 1966 he accepted the number two post in the People's Complaints and Action Committee (PCAC) created by General Nguyen Khanh. Soon persuaded that Khanh had created the PCAC only to please his American advisers, THIEN resigned in August to take up journalism.

Buddhists and students who had demonstrated against Diem were now rebelling against the generals. Catholics had become more uncompromising in their anti-communism. The war had become a conflict between the military-dominated "Second Republic of Vietnam," as THIEN described it, and the "Liberation Front" of the Viet Cong backed by the Ho Chi-minh forces in the north.

After working briefly as a political columnist on the Saigon Daily News, Vietnam's first English-language daily, he helped start a new English-language paper, the Viet Nam Guardian. Six members of the News staff, who also felt a more outspoken organ was called for, joined him in this venture. As managing editor and columnist of the Guardian, THIEN took pride in the fact that his newspaper was daringly independent and was the only one published in English without the government or foreigners "pulling strings." In his columns he was frequently a stinging critic of the governments of Vietnam and of the United States. His comments on the society, however, were constructive; where he differed with policies, he proposed thoughtfully considered alternatives. From his peers, including even those Vietnamese and foreign journalists who did not agree with his views or were put off by his acerbity and occasional "prickliness," he earned respect for his professional competence and his convictions. Neither did his criticism of the government and its allies detract from his reputation as a loyal patriot, though there were some, particularly in government, who felt high principles should be set aside to serve expediency. He pleaded for a free press, arguing that peaceful democratic change was to be preferred to violent communist revolution and a free press was essential.

In December 1966 the Viet Nam Guardian was suppressed at the instigation of Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky, ostensibly "for the manner in which it covered the assassination of the Constituent Assembly Deputy Tran Van Van." The specific charge was publication of a news service photograph with the wrong caption. Three other papers which used the same service were closed for a similar error, but only the Guardian was not allowed to resume publication. It was to stay closed for 19 months and suffer heavy financial losses. In this period THIEN learned he was on the police blacklist—which meant arrest at any time—and he escaped an attempted assassination by an "unknown" person whom he suspected of working for the police. The man was later killed in an "accident" on the Bien Hoa highway in obscure circumstances.

Before the Guardian was closed, THIEN had concurrently been a correspondent for several foreign publications and feature services, and he continued to write for them. Among these were the Economist of London, the Far Eastern Economic Review of Hong Kong which called him "the ablest of Vietnamese journalists writing in English," the Forum World Service of London, Asia Magazine and Le Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne. He also contributed to such learned journals as International Affairs and to a symposium, Vietnam: Seen from East and West, whose papers were later edited by Sibna Rayan and published by Thomas Nelson of Melbourne in 1966.

One of his first columns for the Far Eastern Economic Review was an attempt to explain, from a Vietnamese standpoint, why so few Vietnamese outside government circles welcome massive United States government support—military or economic. Besides suspecting that "the United States is opposed to, or at least is lukewarm towards, the implementation of a socialist revolution," which THIEN deems necessary, "the real problem is essentially a question of dignity, and not in the demand for modernization, economic development and progress, which are often stressed by Westerners who want to sidestep the basic political and nationalist nature of the Asian revolution. The Vietnamese wants to be able to look the foreigner (especially the white man) as well as his fellow countrymen, in the face, and not feel shame or discomfort because he is not equal to them in political and social status."

Much of his writing for foreign journals continued in this vein. He was concerned in enlisting the support of the West, particularly the U.S., for the reforms, internal and external, that he believed would give effect to his countrymen's fierce desire for dignity and independence and thus lessen the appeal of the communist "liberation" movement. THIEN urged the West to understand that the non-communist Vietnamese who joins the Viet Cong because he yearns for dignity thinks almost exclusively of the position of his country in regard to foreigners: "The more foreign control over the Saigon government is heavy, visible, and real, the stronger the pressure on the Vietnamese in search of dignity to cross the line and go over to the other side. . . .Unless one offers enough to the nationalists to keep them away from communism—and enough here means liberation from the feeling of loss of dignity—communism is going to triumph in Vietnam."

As to aid, THIEN wrote: "Aid is like a medicine. The injection of a correct dose in the right place will cure, but an overdose injected in the wrong place will kill. Excessive and prolonged aid will have the effect of making the cities independent of the countryside, and dependent on the donor country. It will sap the country's physical as well as moral strength and render it powerless in the face of an internal threat to its social structure—such as Communist subversion."

Under the present aid procedure, he noted, aid is channeled into Vietnam commercially through Saigon and its big cities. "This gives yet more prosperity to the urban areas at the expense of the countryside, widening the gap between the two and reinforcing the tendencies toward alienation between the urban ruling elite and the rural peasantry. . . .It is therefore absolutely necessary that the situation should be fundamentally altered. This can be accomplished only if the Allied countries, and especially the United States, change course and reduce their aid instead of continually increasing it."

THIEN also took up the post of Lecturer in Political Science at Van Hanh University, run by a highly respected Buddhist monk. In 1967 he became Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences which he had helped establish. Projecting his deep concern for the future of his country, he organized a study group to probe Vietnam's past for guides to its present and its future. Though out of government, unallied with any political group, and with no newspaper through which to form public opinion, THIEN's views still were sought both by Vietnamese and foreigners.

President Nguyen Van Thieu's appointment of Tran Van Huong as Prime Minister in April 1968 was heralded outside military circles as a salutary, if belated, recognition of the popular will. A former premier, Huong had garnered the largest number of votes in the September 1967 elections. He had won in Saigon, which to many Vietnamese meant he had really won, for only in Saigon was the election generally considered to be fair. Widely regarded as a man of unquestioned integrity, Huong was insistent upon having in his cabinet only men of like principle; THIEN was asked to serve as Huong's Minister of Information.

Described by a recent interviewer as "a slight, handsome, pipesmoking intellectual with graying hair," THIEN and his wife and their one daughter, Ton-Nu Thuy-Lan (meaning Sweet Orchid) born in 1959, made no change in their quiet, modest life style when he became a cabinet member. Work-wise, however, his days changed dramatically. His office at the Information Ministry quickly became a busy one. Morning hours were reserved for the steady stream of journalists who came to him for candid answers about government policy. Afternoons were devoted to administering the department. THIEN's policy is simple but his problem complex: "My problem is how to enlarge press freedom in Vietnam—and freedom in general."

Whereas THIEN was only a junior official in Diem's government, he now has decision-making powers. His first act upon assuming office was on May 29, to lift press censorship. (Censorship had been partially lifted in July 1967, but soon reimposed.) Reacting to this unexpected contribution to the exercise of a free press in Vietnam, Saigon papers reflected the years of control: one ran an editorial tentatively praising the new minister and another expressing polite disbelief. Several editors who were in Paris at the time later told him they thought he was crazy. Senators and deputies and some in President Thieu's entourage complained he was allowing too much freedom. Some "hawks" said he lifted censorship to allow the communists a free hand.

THIEN's second decision was to lift the ban on Newsweek magazine's former Saigon bureau chief, Everett Martin. Next, he gave permission for Saigon dailies, closed by previous governments, to reopen. "Now my former associates are going to start publishing the Guardian again," he reported to a fellow journalist with satisfaction. Six other newspapers have also announced they will resume publication, some of which have been banned since 1963 and several of which are known to be anti-Prime Minister Huong.

When one Saigon daily published a politician's charge that THIEN at a "secret meeting" had favored making a deal with the National Liberation Front, the political arm of the Viet Cong, THIEN's response confirmed his conviction that the press should be free. Instead of closing the paper for irresponsible reporting as had been the pattern, he sued the politician for libel. The politician has yet to produce evidence in support of his charge. THIEN has since been attacked fiercely, by "hawkish" papers of favoring communism, and by "dovish" students of being a dictator. He lets them all publish their charges believing that "truth will prevail." To Keyes Beech, Chicago Daily News correspondent who has long covered Vietnam, THIEN said simply of his recent actions: "We have fought for freedom."

"Many people thought I abolished censorship because I was a victim of it," he elaborated, "but there is more to it than that. My job is to educate the public as well as government officials. For too long a privileged minority has held a monopoly on enlightenment in this country. I want to change that."

In the past, THIEN continued, censorship was used by the government, "to bury all the dirt. The present government is grateful to the newspapers if they can dig up dirt. A clean and honest government has nothing to fear." To government officials who asked him to stop the printing of certain damaging stories THIEN replied that he did not view the role of his ministry as that of covering up mismanagement, misdemeanor or corruption in the government. Such covering up would be the best way to serve the communist cause, he said publicly.

Minister THIEN admits that he has been under pressure to restore censorship but so far has resisted it. The Upper House of the National Assembly is now considering a press bill which has already been passed by the Lower House. The measure is so severe that it has been denounced by the entire Saigon press. THIEN has encouraged the editors to make strong representation to legislators to liberalize this legislation. He is on public record against the harshness of the law as well as the restrictions of the Constitution.

As writer and editor, professor and government official, TON THAT THIEN has consistently employed all opportunities available to him to advance freedom of thought and expression, both of which, in his view, are essential to the necessary peaceful reform of Vietnamese society.

September 1968 Manila

REFERENCES:

Asia Magazine. Hong Kong, September 18, 1966; March 26, 1967; March 24, April 7, May 26, 1968.

Far Eastern Economic Review. Hong Kong. Vol. 49, September 30, 1965; Vol. 50, October 21, November 11, December 16, 23, 1965; Vol. 51, January 27, February 17, 1966; Vol. 52, April 28, May 12, 19, June 30, 1966; Vol. 53, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 18, 23, September 1, 8, 15, 22, 1966; Vol. 54, October 6, November 3, December 8, 22 1966; Vol. 55, March 9, 1967; Vol. 56, April 13, May 26, June 8, 1967; Vol. 57, August 10, 17, 31, 1967; Vol. 58, November 23, December 28, 1967; Vol. 59, May 2, 30, 1968.

"Searching for a New Vision of Vietnam and a New Vision of Man." Viet Nam Guardian. Saigon. August 16, 1968.

Ton That Thien. "A Few Thoughts on the Problem of the Reconstruction of Vietnamese Society" or "Science, Traditions and the Social Reconstruction of Vietnam," translated from Tu Tueng (Thought), Saigon: Van Hanh University. No. 2-3, 1968.

______. "Life's Many Sides," (column), Saigon Daily News. April 26, 28, 30, May 3, July 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 1966.

______. "Vietnam, A Case of Social Alienation," International Affairs. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs. Vol. 43, no. 3, July 1967.

______. "Viet Nam's Reaction to Western Impact: The Search for a New Identity." Speech delivered at the Conference for Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, Honolulu, Hawaii. June 13, 1968.

______. Speech delivered in Manila to the Economic Writers Association, September 2, 1968.

______. Speech delivered to the Manila Overseas Press Club, September 3, 1968.

______. Speech delivered to the dinner given in his honor by Don Ramon Roces, September 4, 1968.

Interviews with Vietnamese, other Asian and Western Journalists, officials and residents of Vietnam.