About 4,000 Buddhist leaders are in Vietnam for a major conference being held under the auspices of the United Nations.
According to Paul Ai, the United Nations seems to be ignoring the fact that Vietnam is one of the world's centers of religious persecution. Ai was jailed nine times in Vietnam before coming to the United States, and he says the conference is just a public relations ploy for the country. "The government of Vietnam sponsors this [event], and it's kind of funny because the government is paying all the costs. So this tells you this is a government event even more than a Buddhist event," Ai explains. He would prefer for Vietnam to be honest about religious freedom. "I just want to see [the] Vietnam government really open the country for all other religions to involve [and] to help the people. Before the fall of Saigon, there were many schools sponsored by different religions, many hospitals, many orphanages, and they did a great job. Now Vietnam is faced with many problems with drugs [and] with all kinds of criminal problems because people have no belief[s]," Ai contends. Ai believes Vietnam could create a positive image if it became serious about religious freedom. Vietnam could improve its image in this area, according to Ai, by halting persecution and releasing people of faith who are imprisoned. "I hope that if Vietnam really wants to tell the world that they have religious freedom, please release the people who are arrested and put in jail because of their faith. And please, let all the churches in Vietnam resist her until the people have freedom to worship," Ai pleads.
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