Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS)

Arguably representing Vietnam’s majority religion, it was outlawed in 1981 and immediately replaced by the government-created Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS). Most of UBCV’s pagodas are now in the possession of VBS. Those few left have been targeted for demolition by the government unless their abbots agree to leave UBCV and join VBS.

Cases in point:

In 2019 the Kon Tum Province authorities completely razed Son Linh Pagoda, which belonged to the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. The pagoda’s abbot had to live in an unsafe warehouse. In 2021, Ven. Thích Nhật Phước became its new abbot. He made multiple requests for permission to shore up the unsafe warehouse but did not receive any response. So, in December 2021 he went ahead to bolster it with aluminum corrugated sheets. On December 13, 2022, the government demolished his dwelling. The abbot now must live in a makeshift shack near the latrine, which is all that remains of Son Linh Pagoda. On March 22, 2023, Ven. Thích Thiên Thuận, the Monk Superior of Ven. Thích Nhật Phước, was ordered by the government of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province to demolish many structures at his own pagoda. He was given a deadline of August 30, 2023, after which the government will send in its demolition team to carry out the order and will charge Ven. Thích Thiên Thuận 990,501,451 VND, equivalent to 42,200 USD. On April 13, 2023, the District People’s Committee Chair was caught on video telling Abbot Thích Thiên Thuận that if he agreed to join UBC, his pagoda would be given preferential treatment.

On March 13, 2023, over a hundred police officers conducted yet another raid on the facility of a Buddhist religious group known as Thiền Am Bên Bờ Vũ Trụ. They took aside four nuns for interrogation, causing fear among all the group’s members who were mostly women and children. In July 2022, the group’s 90-years old founder and five young monks in training were tried for violations of Article 331 of the Penal Code (“Abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the State, lawful rights, and interests of organizations and/or citizens”). They were sentenced to a total of 23.5 years in prison. The public security police recently initiated criminal prosecution against two lawyers who defended this Buddhist group, also under Article 331.[1]

[1] Vietnam accuses lawyers defending Buddhist group of ‘abusing democratic freedoms’, RFA, March 13, 2023, available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/defense-lawyers-03132023163835.html

Monks who have migrated to the United States but maintain ties to the UBCV face harassment and close monitoring by the Vietnamese authorities upon return to Vietnam. For the past 17 years, Venerable Thich Minh Nguyen, a U.S. citizen from Modesto, California, has tried to protect his Quang Duc Pagoda in Hue City from seizure by the VBS. In 2006, he was chosen by the local Buddhist community to be the next abbot of this pagoda, but two public security officers came to tell him that he was not permitted to be the abbot unless he joined the VBS. In defiance, the Venerable publicly declared his affiliation with the UBCV. The government forbade his pagoda from hosting religious activities and from renovation work.

To prevent the government from seizing it, Venerable Thich Minh Nguyen closed the pagoda and migrated to the United States in March 2007. The VBS appointed its own monk to take over the pagoda but the local Buddhist community rejected him. Venerable Thich Minh Nguyen has returned to Vietnam every year but the local government prohibited him from carrying out his duty as the abbot of Quang Duc Pagoda. This 280-years old pagoda has special historical significance – Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat, whose descendant later founded Vietnam’s last dynasty, in 1747 honored it with a scroll bearing his own handwriting and his personal seal.

Testimony of Ven. Thich Minh Nguyen, Abbot of Quang Duc Pagoda:

“In April 2006, my Master appointed me as the new abbot of Quang Đức Temple, but, 6 months later, I had to leave the temple because of government pressure. Two security police officers told me that the government objected my appointment because my master and I were not with the registered Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS). They forbade our pagoda from hosting religious activities and from any renovation work. I decided to close the pagoda so that the government can’t find any pretext to seize it. Then, I migrated to the United States in March 2007.

“The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) appointed its own monk to take over Quang Duc Pagoda, but villagers rejected him. Quang Duc Pagoda is currently under the care of a monk who supported my appointement in 2006 and for 17 years now, I have kept the duty to return to Vietnam every year in order to take care of the pagoda.”