Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with diverse religious and belief life, the Vietnamese State consistently implements a policy ofrespecting and guaranteeing a citizen's right to freedom ofreligion and belief, and the right to follow or not follow any religion; ensuringequality and non-discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief; andprotecting activities of religious organisations by law, stated the ForeignMinistry’s Deputy Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang on May 18.
Hang made the remarks in reply to reporters’queries about Vietnam’s reaction to the US Department of State’s annual Report on International Religious Freedom on May 15,2023 and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)’s annual report on international religious freedom in 2023, during the ministry's regular press conference.
"These rights are prescribedin the Constitution of Vietnam, the Law on Belief and Religion 2016 and relatedlegal documents; and are guaranteed to be respected in practice," the deputy spokesperson stressed.
Although the reports of the USCIRF and the US Department of State have noted some progress of Vietnam in promoting religiousfreedom and cited official information of Vietnamese Government’s agencies,they have still presented subjective observations based on unverified andinaccurate information about the actual situation in Vietnam, she said.
“As we have affirmed many times, Vietnam is alwaysready to discuss with the US side on issues of mutual concern in the spirit offrankness, openness and mutual respect on issues in which the two sides still have differences, thus contributingto promoting the Vietnam – US comprehensive partnership”, Hang stated./.
