At the 16th United Nations Day of Vesak (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Foreign Ministry spokespersonLe Thi Thu Hang reiterated on June 11 Vietnam’s consistent policy of respectingand guaranteeing the right of citizens to follow or not follow any religion or belief.
This is clearly stated in Vietnam’s Constitution andlegal system as well as guaranteed in practice, Hang said while answering a questionraised at the ministry’s regular press conference from the Vietnam News Agency regardingthe country’s reaction to the US Department of State’s 2019 internationalreligious freedom report.
Vietnam has made continuous efforts to perfect itslegal system and policies on religion and belief, including approval of the Lawon Belief and Religion and decrees guiding its implementation, she emphasised.
Vietnam now has 43 organisations of 16 recognised andcertified religions, with 55,000 dignitaries, 26 million followers, or 27percent of the national population, 29,000 places of worship, and more than8,000 annual religious festivals, Hang said.
She added that many major international religiousevents have been held in the country, such as the 500th anniversaryof the Protestant Reformation, the UN Day of Vesak in May 2019, and CapitulumGenerale 2019.
Such efforts have been lauded by theinternational community, she emphasised.
“We acknowledge the US Department ofState speaking of Vietnam’s achievements and progress in guaranteeing andpromoting religion and belief in the country,” the spokesperson went on.
However, there remain inaccurate andunverified information in the report about the situation in Vietnam, she added.
Vietnam continues to maintain andstands ready to enhance cooperation and have discussions with the US on issuesof shared concern in a spirit of frankness, openness, and mutual respect,through bilateral dialogue frameworks, including annual human rights dialogue,thus contributing to promoting the comprehensive partnership between the twocountries, Hang stated./.
VNA
