How ‘Cali’ became a slur among Vietnam’s growing army of nationalists

Hanoi, Vietnam – In the autumn last autumn, Vietnam opened a new military museum here, and an exhibition between a courtyard full of thousands of works and tanks and aircraft in the four -storey building was rapidly attractive: Southern Vietnam Flag.

The government sees the yellow poster as a sign of resistance against the communist regime with three red strips and violates the laws of encouraging opposition. It is not displayed except for a few exceptions.

Reactions to see rarely become viral. The young visitors at the Vietnam Military History Museum published their deep eyebrows, the thumb down or the middle fingers. As the photos attracted an unwanted attention, the flag was fixed from a wall and folded in a screen. Social media content containing rough hand movements was rubbed from the internet.

But the phenomenon continued.

A few weeks ago, school children on the tour brought to a point to control the flag. Every few minutes, a new group, known as the “Cali” flag – holding the middle fingers, or a new group of crowded by crossing their hands to create “x”.

In Vietnam, Cali, which is sometimes written as “kali ,, has been referring to the Vietnam diaspora in California for a long time, where many Vietnamese Americans are still flying the South’s flag to represent the struggle against communism and the nation they lost with war.

However, people living in Vietnam are more likely to see it as a symbol of American imperialism, where the nationalist emotion has become a kind of shortcut to criticize these rivals, which have been swollen in recent years.

Nguyen Khac Giang, a research assistant at Singapore’s Yusof Ishak Institute, is known for his political and socioeconomic research in Southeast Asia, Nguyen Khac Giang said, “They are using this as a label against everyone who does not participate in the state policy,” he says.

Last year, there were often symptoms of nationalism, which often grew in response to the perceptions of American influence. In addition to hostility towards the “Cali” flag, a US -backed university in Ho Chi Minh City was attacked by suspicions of foreign intervention. And an enthusiastic Vietnamese pop star, a competitor on “American Idol ,, became brutally on social media after singing at a communist anti-communist activist’s US commemoration Service.

Vietnam nationalism, Giang, the country’s single -party rule is supported at all levels, he said.

School groups visit Hanoi’s newly opened Vietnam Military History Museum. The museum contains exhibitions, photographs, maps and scale models about armed resistance to weapons used during the Vietnam War from France for independence.

(Chris Trinh / The Times For)

He controls government training and public media; Independent journalists and bloggers criticizing the government were imprisoned. In addition, the party’s ability to influence social media narratives has healed in the last few years among the youth of the country.

Since 2017, Vietnamese officials employed thousands of cyber units to the online police content and formed a military unit known as Force 47 under the Ministry of Defense. In 2018, the country passed a cyber security law, which demanded that social media platforms see any content that they see as anti-State. The resulting unilateral discourse means that the views that are not compatible with official propaganda often draw a harassment and exclusion.

From time to time, the government used this power to try and restrain nationalism when it grew too extremely – banning tasks about the flag of Southern Vietnam did little to reduce enthusiasm in the museum.

Some visitors who made hand signs said that they were taught and that they rejected the oppressed Vietnam people. A young, the national flag for a photo – red with a yellow star – held.

“It is hard to say whether I have accepted or agreed to accept or agree, Dang said Dang Thi Bich Hanh, a 25 -year -old coffee shop manager. “The gestures of these young people were not right, but I think they reflect their feelings when looking at the flag and thinking that history should be folded.”

Ho Chi Minh’s bust of Ho Chi Minh at the Thanh Van School in Bac Kan Province in the north of Vietnam. Every public office and public school in Vietnam contains a photo or figure of Ho Chi Minh, a respected historical figure, which has become a nationalist symbol in the country.

(Chris Trinh / The Times For)

Before he left, he took a selfie by lifting the middle finger to the folded cloth.

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Five years ago, when a student from the rural area of ​​Mekong Delta won a full scholarship to an international university in Ho Chi Minh, a dream seemed real. However, last August began to worry about the security and future of the school’s relationship with Fulbright University Vietnam when the school was caught in the growing wave of nationalism.

“I was scared,” he said. He had just begun a new job in education and avoided his colleagues from buying material and wearing a shirt marked with the school name.

“You have all kinds of narratives. Especially with the spread of disinformation at that time, it had some negative effects on my mental health.”

The attacks included allegations that Fulbright, which was opened in 2016 with partial financing from the US government, has improved Western liberal and democratic values ​​that could weaken the Vietnam government.

The nationalists criticized any possible clues of anti -communist tendencies at the school, such as not to show the Vietnam flag at the beginning. Even last year’s graduation slogan “fearless” led to suspicions that students could plan a political movement.

Vu Minh Hoang, a diplomatic historian and professor at the university, said, “You definitely see the summits of new nationalism and it is difficult to measure.”

The crowds at the April 30 military parade in the city of Ho Chi Minh, who marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

(Chris Trinh / The Times For)

Hoang said that online claims – none of them are true – caused threats to violence against the university, and that some parents have withdrawn their children because of them. A few students said their relationships were hate speech from foreigners and insecure questions from family members and employers.

Academicians said that the Vietnam government was moving to close the reaction to Fulbright to prevent damage to the ties of anti -American thoughts with the largest trade partner of American thought. However, some of the original accusations spread by boats associated with the state media and the Ministry of Defense and implied a scheme within the party.

Although nationalism is generally used as a unifying force beyond Vietnam and beyond, it also has the potential to create instability if it goes beyond the estimation or control of the government. Hong has been an official policy to make peace with the Vietnam community for a long time and the United States, Ho Hoang said. “This is the wave of ultranationalism online, the Vietnamese state is seen as useless, wrong and some extent contrary to official aspects.”

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Last summer, the songs of Myra Tran’s songs appeared online at the Westminster funeral of Ly Tong, a communist activist. He won a reality show in Vietnam and won a degree of fame in 2019 on “American Idol ,, but he received harsh condemnation from online nationalists and state media when the video became viral a few years ago.

Facebook and Tiktok users have now tagged the 25-year-old Tran as a traitor, Vietnam Anti-Vietnam-and Cali.

The debate led to a wider -based movement to reveal other Vietnamese celebrities suspected of conspiring against the country. Internet Sleuths cleared the nets for anyone who appeared and attacked them next to the Southern Vietnam flag like Tran.

In Ho Chi Minh City, an amusement writer who does not want to be defined because he is afraid of being targeted, says that as Vietnamese becomes more nationalist online, he felt the pressure of actively to show the patriotism of musicians and other artists or to risk the wrath of cancellation.

Authorized, the examination of symbols such as the Southern Vietnam Flag, the US connected to people with connections to attacked online or a greater reason to worry about losing business opportunities, he added. This can determine the Vietnamese people living abroad for a long time in pursuit of work or career in Vietnam, a demographic demographic that the government has long been trying to withdraw into the country.

The Gangs of the Vietnam are scaling the US Embassy wall in Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, which is trying to reach a helicopter collection area just before the end of the Vietnam War on April 29, 1975.

(Neal Ulevich / Associated Press)

“There was a time when the artists were very cold and careless, even though they knew this competition and this date,” he said. “I think everyone is becoming more sensitive now. Everyone is trying to be tense and more careful.”

Tran suffered bullying online and cut off a music television program for “transgression”. He issued a public apology, which he expressed his gratitude for being Vietnamese, refused to harm national security and promised to learn from his mistakes.

Two months later, Tran was allowed to perform again. Ho Chi returned to the stage at a concert at Minh City and thanked the fans for forgiving the fan and thanked them.

But not everyone was willing to excuse him. A few viewers from the crowd shouted at Tran to “go home”. The videos of the concert led to violent debate on Facebook among Tran’s defenders and critics.

After a Vietnamese user condemned the hatred of Tran’s online, he said, “Patriotic youth are now very chaotic.”

Another stroke: “Then go back to Cali.”