Recently, a group of Vietnamese students in Australia insulted “yellow flag”, the national flag of former South Vietnam, which angered the Vietnamese Community in Australia. The community immediately started a petition for sanctions against the students and it has been signed by 15,000 people. What is the Vietnamese Community in Australia? Why is this Community so angry? And what is the relationship between this community and the current Communist government of Vietnam?

After the Vietnam War in 1975, Vietnamese refugees fled to Australia in order to escape the dictatorship of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In 1978, the Vietnamese Community in Australia was established and mainly operated in New South Wales and Victoria. The community is financially supported by the Australian government. The leaders of the community often interact with Australian officials.

The community was originally founded to help Vietnamese refugees settle in Australia. As time went on, it not only serves the Vietnamese in Australia but also begins to participate in political activities. The community members are opposed to the current Communist government of Vietnam, for it once forced them to leave their homeland. Although the current government welcomes the return of overseas Vietnamese, the community still does not approve of it. It even went against its mission of promoting Vietnamese culture to disrupt the performance of the Vietnamese Art Troupe in Australia. Furthermore, it tried to disrupt the 13th National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

On the issue of sovereignty over the South China Sea, the Vietnamese Community in Australia accused the Vietnamese Communist Party for selling Vietnam’s national sovereignty and other interests to the Chinese Communist Party.

In order to reduce the influence of Communism in Australia, the community held many rallies, demonstrations and protests in the Parliament House, the State Library of Victoria, Flinders Street Railway Station and the Crown Casino. They gave out pamphlets to the Australian people, calling on them to “understand the danger and evil nature of Communist dictatorship and protect Australia from the growing influence of the Chinese Communist Party.

It can be seen from the community’s activities that it still supports the Republican government of former South Vietnam and holds negative attitude towards the Communist government of Vietnam. This explained why the community was so angry with students who insulted the “yellow flag”.