legacy of

- f,

Continued from page 1

“We have been getting a very
Oné-sided and incomplete view in
this country,”’ he said, adding,

We haven’t heard) much in
Canada of the Vietnamese view of
-€vents.’”’
'  Foulks pointed particularly to the
the U.S. war,: the
Wholesale destruction and enor-

i@ ™Ous social problems that remained

after the U.S. withdrawal.
“For example, some $2 billion
Per year was spent by the U.S. in
Vietnam during the war,’’ he said,
Noting that at least a third of that
went into direct economic aid.
‘But that was abruptly cut off in
April, 1975 — and was followed
Ost immediately by border raids
tom Kampuchea.”’
A mass exodus of Vietnamese
om rural agricultural areas into
the cities was one of the! main

if features of the war years, he said,

with the result that the population
Of Saigon increased sevenfold dur-
ng the 1960's. :
“Now Vietnam is striving to put
back into production thousands of
€ctares of agricultural lands that
Were taken out of production dur-
ig the U.S. occupation. For many
accustomed to living on the ‘grey
_ Market’ that flourished during the
War, life in the reopened

} 8ricultural areas would be dif-

ficult,”” he said.
tha nose new agricultural areas =
€much publicized New Economic
“ones — have figured prominently
Bu the Propaganda campaign
*8ainst Vietnam, with several
Newspapers carrying accounts of
letnamese citizens being told to go
there to work — or leave.
But I am convinced that while
the Vietnamese do everything possi-
le to encourage people to go to the
€w Economic Zones — because of
hc urgent need es there is no coer-
_ On,” Foulks said.

“‘No one is forced to go, except
those who have been convicted of il-
legal activities.’’

He noted that the Vietnamese
acknowledged during his visit that -
life in the zones is difficult. The
equipment is often primitive and
the crop yields are still low because
of inadequate fertilizers.

“But this is why the Canadian
government could do much to
alleviate the crisis — by providing
such aid-as fertilizers, machinery,
foodstuffs,’’ he emphasized.

He added, however, that the -
federal government ‘‘doesn’t seem
interested’’ in examining the real
causes for the exodus of refugees
and in providing assistance.

A central factor in the refugee
issue ‘is the role of China which
preceded its full-scale invasion of
Vietnam with agitation among the
Hoa, the Chinese living in Vietnam.

.Foulks cited the two-hour inter-
view he had with deputy foreign
minister Hoang Bich Son during
which he focussed particularly on
China, on the instigation of the
Hoa and the continuing sabre-
rattling by Peking. :

In his comments, Son refuted the
claims, made in most western coun-
tries of ‘“‘racial discrimination”’
against the Hoa. He told Foulks:
There are more than one million
Hoa. They were living in harmony
in the community of Vietnam with
our people but China instigated the
problem of the Hoa as a pretext to
oppose them against Vietnam and
to persuade some people.to go back
to China and to pretend that the
Vietnamese have exiled the Hoa
people to China.

“We have full evidence, Son
stated, ‘‘to prove that the commis-
sion which takes care of the Hoa
abroad in Peking has many times

_broadcast appeals to the Hoa to

come back to China and their em-
bassy in Hanoi has organized a net-

Legacy of U.S., Chinese
war seen in refugee issue

work of secret agents from north to
south to persuade the people to go
back according to the call.

“It was precisely the Chinese
authorities, the Peking leadership
wha created thé Hoa problem to op-
pose Vietnam. For what purpose
have they created such a situation?
First of all, they want to have a
pretext to say that Vietnam is anti-
China. Therefore they have to at-
tack us. They said that Vietnam has
carried out racial discrimination
towards the Hoa people. The ex-
odus of these Hoa people has
created instability in our society, in
‘our economy and also in our social
order,’’ the foreign minister said.

Adding to the problems were a
series of floods and storms which
caused severe food shortages and
necessitated government action
against profiteering by merchants
who continued to exert considerable
control over food supplies. Many of
them were ethnic Chinese who later
fled the country.

Foulks stressed that the instabili-
ty was of particular concern to the
Vietnamese and was one of the ma-
jor factors which prompted them to
undertake negotiations with the UN
High Commission of Refugees to
facilitate orderly departure.

He pointed out that the agree-
ment was worked out “‘long before
the major exodus’’ began and could
have been put into effect if there
had been cooperation in the West
and if countries such as Canada had
expressed their willingness to accept
refugees. : ;

Son reiterated that commitment,
pointing out that. .Vietnam was
‘prepared to allow people to depart
but it depends on their acceptance
by other countries.”’ .

Although the federal government
has now ‘begun to process some
refugees through an official pro-
gram with Vietnam, it was not
before various spokemen condemn-

JAMES FOULKS .. . Canadian government has made no attempt

to understand the situation in Vietnam.

ed Vietnam for creating the refugee
crisis.

But Foulks emphasized that
refugees were ‘‘a multiple problem
in Southeast Asia’; citing the
refugees from Laos, made up main-
ly of “‘hill people’’ who had earlier
been used by the U.S. military in its
attacks against Laos, and the hun-
dreds of thousands who fled the Pol
Pot regime in Kampuchea.

“My visit to Vietnam coincided
with that of the delegation, made
up mainly of religious leaders,
which had attended the trials of Pol
Pot in Phnom Penh. They told me
that Kampuchea was in desperate
need as a direct result of the policies
of the former regime,’’ Foulks said.

“In fact they said that the plight
of the Kampucheans is just a great
as that of the refugees.”

He also noted_that it. was signifi-
cant that more refugees “regularly
flee China for Hong Kong than fled
Vietnam during the worst exodus.
‘“‘Many of them also flee in leaky
boats,’’ he said, ‘‘but we never hear
of their plight.”

Foulks said that, in the course of

— Sean Griffin photo

the interview with Son, the deputy
foreign minister had told him that
Vietnam was now taking more steps
to curtail the illegal exodus of
refugees, first by diverting some
navy vessels which had been on
alert in the event of a Chinese inva-
sion, to patrol duty, and also by
proceeding with trials of those
caught trying to flee illegally.

But although the crisis of the
“boat people’”’ is past, the condem-
nation of Vietnam by the west has

‘only abated. ‘‘The Vietnamese see

the reason for this rooted in the at-
tempt by the west to develop close
relations with China, particularly
trade relations,’’ Foulks said.

But despite the difficulties —
which compound the formidable
problems of reconstruction — they
are not prepared’ to: sacrifice their
independence to anyone, Foulks
stressed. es

“If Canada is looking for a
humanitarian solution to the ex-
odus of refugees and to the pro-
blems Vietnam faces, that solution

- lies in an orderly immigration policy

and greatly expanded aid.”’

By FRED WILSON
When 1,200 Doukhobors
Sathered in the Union of Spiritual
; Ommunities of Christ communi-
Y centre at Brilliant Sunday it was
NOt, as a Vancouver Sun headline

Put it, to “pay homage ° to
Verigin.”?
For the 5,000 orthodox

Ko ukhobors in the West
,pootenays, the not guilty verdict
Or their honorary chairman John
A erigin on charges of con-
fe as to commit arson was a
tion oS victory. But the emo-
* Telease following the verdict

as far from homage to a man.
“ey stood acquitted as a people.
fi € depiction of these people as

Perstitious, slavish followers of

ao Of the rabid sensationalism
TOughout the trial which focus-
ag ae every detail of the charges
a Nnst Verigin,: but virtually ig-
vied the effective arguments of
| " defense,
Rate Doukhobors maintain that
tri a Was, in fact, a conspiracy on
the a Nelson — a conspiracy by
RCM ns of Freedom sect and the
4 P to destroy their communi-
ane d the blazing headlines
yo eaaag arson charges and the
‘sion and newspaper pictures
oe Standard Freedomite
nae Ings which colored the im-
tera of most observers, they
COnspi as just another part of the
Piracy,
atry Rankin, Verigin’s

the; nae si 3
€ir “‘spiritual leader”’ is the flip -

lawyer, said this week that the ver-
dict was a ‘“‘credit to the jury”
who themselves could not be unaf-
fected by the enormous propagan-
da campaign against Verigin. —

The actual charges against
Verigin ‘‘would be laughable, if
they were not so tragic,’’ Rankin
added.

Verigin had- ‘been charged,
along with two others, Peter Ev-
dokimoff and Peter Astaforoff,
of conspiring to burn down the
old USCC hall in Grand Forks,
the Grand Forks post office and
the trailer home of Freedomite
leader Stefan Sorokin. .

There were four witnesses for

USCC leader John Verigin (cent

a, ol

’ Verigin acquittal vin

the prosecution. Each of them
were themselves unindicted co-
conspirators in the arson crimes,
_that is they were confessed par-
ticipants in the crimes alleged
against Verigin. All of them were
members of Sorokin’s Freedomite
sect, as were Erdokimoff and _
Astaforoff. a
Under Rankin’s cross examina-
tion, certain facts became clear.
First, although the Freedomite ar-
sonists claimed they acted under
the threat of. a ‘‘curse’’ from
Verigin, each of them.

acknowledged a long history of
-arson, in some cases, Over several

generations.
It was also revealed that the

alleged ‘arson attempt on
. Sorokin’s sa home was, at .
best, dubious. |

ather the evidence

re) flanked by USCC executive

secretary Harry Voykin (left) and executive member Larry

Swetlikoff.

dicates

pointed to a mock arson, likely in-
tended to make a martyr. of
Sorokin.

As the pattern of the frame-up
against Verigin emerged, the role
of the RCMP and its chief in-
vestigator in the case, Eli Tetrault,
was also thrown into question.

Under further cross examina-
tion, Tetrault admitted that in 70
years there had not been a single
conviction against a USCC
member of a criminal charge, but
in spite of this, charges were
presented against Verigin solely
on the basis of Freedomite
statements, . and without inter-
viewing Verigin or any other
USCC member, even once.

The four witnesses against
Verigin admitted to meeting
several times with Tetrault and
reported that the RCMP officer
had stated, ‘‘We’re only after one
man, and you know who he is.”’

What is it about 5,000 Russian-
Canadians, mostly farmers and
working people, which poses such
a threat to evoke the attempted
frame-up of Verigin and all of the
attendant publicity and sensa-
tionalism.

The answer to that question lies
both in Canadian history and
in contemporary politics. It is not
that the Doukhobors have ever
been much of a threat to the status
quo. Their motto of ‘“‘toil and
peaceful life’? has been a way of
life, and the USCC’s declaration
of principle, which hangs pro-

~

minently in their halls and
restaurants, states clearly their
commitment to non-participation
in politics.

But there is another side to the
history and present day direction:
of the Doukhobor community
which seems to touch a paranoic
nerve of the RCMP and security
forces. They see only 5,000 people
with a tradition of communal liv-
ing and pacifism who today have
growing cultural ties with the
Soviet Union. These ties have
grown in recent years with the
USCC’s strong stand for world
peace and detente. :

It is politics as well which seems
to connect the RCMP with the ©
Sorokin sect-which continues to
spread wild propaganda, totally
unfounded, about Verigin and the
USCC being ‘‘pro-Communist”’
and even ‘‘KGB agents.’’
Sorokin’s political connections
with extreme right wing, neo-
fascist trends are, however, well
based in fact.

If the frame-up of Verigin and
the trial publicity accomplished
the desired result of smearing the
USCC, it has also united the
Doukhobor community and given
them a new sense of dedication to
the principles which bind them
together.

That is the point which the |
1,200 USCC members in. their
Brilliant hall, were making, and
the point which the media sensa-
tionalists totally missed. y

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 21, 1979—Page 3

3
=