Vietnam holds grand ceremony to celebrate 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory

Vietnam held a grand ceremony and parade on May 7 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the great victory in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. This victory of a colonised nation against a far stronger imperialist power not only sounded the death knell of French colonial rule in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but also inspired the national liberation movement throughout the world.

Held in Dien Bien Phu city, the celebration was attended by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other serving and retired Vietnamese leaders. Zhang Qingwei, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), joined leaders from Laos, Cambodia and France at the event.

In his speech, Prime Minister Chinh, on behalf of the Party and State, expressed endless gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap, the direct commander of the Dien Bien Phu campaign, predecessors, soldiers, heroic Vietnamese mothers, the heroes of the people’s armed forces, pioneering youths, frontline workers, war invalids, martyrs’ families, along with the entire armed forces and people nationwide, for their utmost dedication, bravery, and sacrifice to create the historic Dien Bien Phu victory that “resounded across the five continents and shook the globe.”

He also appreciated the precious and wholehearted assistance from China, the countries of the former Soviet Union, socialist nations, international friends, and progressive and peace-loving forces worldwide, especially Laos and Cambodia in the combatant alliance of the three Indochinese countries, for the Dien Bien Phu campaign as well as the Vietnamese people’s struggle for national liberation.

The historic victory was not only significant to the Vietnamese revolution but also became a source of support for national liberation movements and marked the start of the collapse of old colonialism around the world, he remarked.

The following article was originally published in the Vietnamese newspaper Nhân Dân.

The Party Central Committee, the National Assembly (NA), the State President, the Government, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, and the northwestern province of Dien Bien held a grand ceremony on May 7 in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 – 2024).

The event, organised in Dien Bien Phu city, was attended by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat and Chairwoman of its Organisation Commission Truong Thi Mai, Acting State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Permanent Vice Chairman of the NA Tran Thanh Man, and President of the VFF Central Committee Do Van Chien.

It also saw the presence of former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh; former State Presidents Nguyen Minh Triet, Truong Tan Sang, and Nguyen Xuan Phuc; former PM Nguyen Tan Dung; and former NA Chairman Nguyen Van An,

International guests included Lao Deputy PM and Minister of National Defence Chansamone Chanyalath, Cambodian Deputy PM Neth Savoeun, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China Zhang Qingwei, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, delegates of foreign representative bodies in Vietnam, defence attachés of other countries, and representatives of overseas Vietnamese.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent flowers to the event.

In his speech, PM Chinh, on behalf of the Party and State, expressed endless gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, General Vo Nguyen Giap – the direct commander of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, predecessors, soldiers, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, the heroes of the people’s armed forces, pioneering youths, frontline workers, war invalids, martyrs’ families, along with the entire armed forces and people nationwide for their utmost dedications, bravery, and sacrifice to create the historic Dien Bien Phu Victory that “resounded across the five continents and shook the globe”.

He also appreciated the precious and wholehearted assistance from China, the countries of the former Soviet Union, socialist nations, international friends, progressive and peace-loving forces worldwide, especially Laos and Cambodia in the combatant alliance of the three Indochinese countries, for the Dien Bien Phu Campaign as well as the Vietnamese people’s struggle for national liberation.

Looking back on the resistance war full of hardships but also bravery and unyieldingness against the French colonialists, he said the Dien Bien Phu Campaign secured a resounding triumph, beating France’s final effort in its invasion of Vietnam.

The PM described this triumph as the peak victory of the resistance war and the essence of Vietnam’s strength in the Ho Chi Minh era, noting that it forced the French colonialists to sign the Geneva Accords on the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam on July 21, 1954, paving the way for the liberation and construction of the North that entered a transitional period towards socialism and forming a solid foundation for the fight to liberate the South and reunify the country.

The historic victory was not only significant to the Vietnamese revolution but also became a source of support for national liberation movements and marked the start of the collapse of the old colonialism around the world, he remarked.

Upholding the spirit of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, Vietnam has obtained numerous enormous successes and glorious feats of arms such as the “Dien Bien Phu in the air” victory in 1972 and the great victory in the spring of 1975. After its reunification, the country concurrently made socio-economic reconstruction, fought to defend its borders, and fulfilled the noble international mission of helping the Cambodian people to topple and get rid of the genocidal regime.

After nearly 40 years of Doi moi (Renewal) and integration into the world under the Party’s leadership, Vietnam has made considerable and historic achievements, as Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong used to say that the country has never gained such a fortune, strength, stature, and reputation in the world as it has today, according to PM Chinh.

The Government leader voiced his belief that the country will continue strongly promoting the spirit of “being determined to fight and to win” of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, surmount difficulties and challenges, and exert all-out efforts to make new “Dien Bien Phu miracles” in the building and safeguarding of the socialist Fatherland.

On this occasion, on behalf of Party and State leaders, PM Chinh presented the first-class Independence Order to the Party organisation, administration, and people of Dien Bien province in recognition of their remarkable attainments and contributions to the Party and the nation’s revolutionary cause.

Following the ceremony, a military parade and a procession of civil forces gathering over 12,000 people took place to celebrate the anniversary.

Earlier the same day, a delegation of the Party Central Committee, the NA, the State President, the Government, and the VFF Central Committee led by PM Chinh officered incense and flowers at the temple dedicated to the soldiers falling down on the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. Party General Secretary Trong also sent a wreath in commemoration of the martyrs.