Using ECVN-South to target independent house churches was not an aberration of the local or district government authorities. On 4 February, 2023, ECVN-South Pastor Nay Sia appeared on the television program of the Police Department of Đắk Lắk Province to accuse leaders of the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands of “taking advantage of religion for political purposes, disturb the lives of citizens, to undermine beliefs… Their goal is to overthrow the government and establish a Dega state.”[1] On 18 June 2023, only a week after a shooting incident in Đắk Lắk Province that caused the death of some local government employees and police officers, this video was posted again, likely to imply that the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands must bear responsibility for the violent act of 11 June 2023.[2]
[1] Vạch bộ mặt phản động của “Hội thánh Tin lành Đấng Christ Tây Nguyên” (Unmasking the reactionary face of the “Church of Evangelical Christs in the Central Highlands”), AN-TT Đắk Lắk, 4 February 2023, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_9S8cx7EyA
[2]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP03Tb9vNtE
ECVN-South Pastor Nay Sia condemning the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands on a television program of the Police Department of Đắk Lắk Province
On 4 February, 2023, the same day the Police Department of Đắk Lăk Province featured ECVN-South Pastor Nay Sia on its television program, the Ministry of Public Security also aired practically the same propaganda piece under a slightly different title: “Unmasking the malicious conspiracy of the reactionary organization ‘Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands’”,[1] which featured the same ECVN-South Pastor Nay Sia attacking the said house church. It carried an almost identical content as the aforementioned television program aired by the Police Department of Đắk Lắk, also on 4 February 2023. The decision to use ECVN-South as a tool to set the stage for an all-out attack on the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands stemmed from State policy and carried out by the Government of Đắk Lắk Province.
The Ministry of Public Security repackaged this propaganda piece for its daily news program, also broadcasted on 4 February, 2023, but with a title that more directly reflected the policy at the highest level of government: to eliminate the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands, which is also the conclusion of this and the aforementioned television programs:
“In fact, for a long time in the Central Highlands, the life of religious freedom and pure belief has always been facilitated by the State Party and authorities at all levels. Particularly for Protestantism (in the Central Highlands), the Vietnamese State has only recognized five organizations, including the Evangelical Church of Vietnam – South, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Christian Missionary Church, and the Evangelical Christian Church. And of course, the reactionary organizations disguised as religion under names such as the Evangelical Church of Christ of Vietnam and the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands need to be eliminated, need to be boycotted by the community.”[2]
ECVN-South Pastor Nay Sia shown with Police Lt. Colonel Y Thu Êban on Ministry of Public Security television program denouncing the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands, 4 February, 2023
[1] Vạch mặt âm mưu thâm độc của tổ chức phản động ‘Hội thánh Tin lành đấng Christ Tây Nguyên’ (Unmasking the malicious conspiracy of the reactionary organization ‘Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands’), An Ninh TV,
[2] Cần loại bỏ tổ chức phản động Hội Thánh Tin lành đấng Christ Tây Nguyên (Need to eliminate the reactionary organization Evangelical Church of Christ of the Central Highlands), Public Security Television, 4 February, 2023, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Cvo36N0Yk&t=88s
