On January 30, the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information arranged a meeting with Dan Hauer – a U.S national who is in hot water due to his offensive and vulgar comments relating to General Giap – the architect behind Vietnam’s victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Le Quang Tu Do, Deputy Head of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI), said on January 30, that Dan Hauer – a foreign English teacher did not appear at the appointment as scheduled because his family had to move to another place after receiving a ton of strict criticisms and threats.
However, Dan Hauer and his wife fully complied with authorities’ request at the meeting on Tuesday afternoon. According to Tu Do, Dan Hauer showed his deeply sincere apology.
“Despite living in Vietnam for almost 5 years and getting married to a Vietnamese woman, Dan made mistake when applying American culture in Vietnam and unintentionally offending General Giap,” Do added
After bombarded with thousands of criticisms by netizens, Dan Hauer immediately removed his comment and posted an apology video, but he continuously left a negative comment in another Facebook private group. Obviously, the comment quickly resulted in a public backlash with people calling for Hauer to stop teaching or event to be deported from Vietnam.
“Dan was aware of his seriously damaged actions and committed to tackling the consequences by removing all his erroneous comments, committing to not repeat the offense and providing free online English lessons. Furthermore, to make amends, Hauer asked to be allowed to visit General Giap’s house to light incense for the late and well-respected general and directly apologize to General Giap’s family,” Do said.
ABEI would evaluate Dan’s subsequent actions before deciding on a punishment.
Do stressed that while Hauers’ action was wrong, people should not express their disagreements with actions that are even more wrong, such as threatening his family.
Source: Thanhnien
Translated by Daisy Nguyen