1920
The French police reported that Nguyen Ai Quoc, an early alias of Ho Chi Minh, had received a draft cover of a book titled “Les Opprimés” (The Oppressed) by a young painter and Socialist Party member.
1933
The French colonialists issued a wanted notice for Nguyen Ai Quoc. After knowing about the notice, he left Hong Kong secretly with the help of British lawyer Frank Loseby after spreading rumor that the Vietnamese revolutionist died of tuberculosis.
1944
Ho Chi Minh attended a congress of the Overseas Vietnamese Revolutionary Union and a meeting at the High Command of Base IV in Liuzhou, China, and read a report by the Vietnamese branch of an international association against invasion.
The report said: “In 80 years of losing the country and being miserable, we have ceaselessly made the liberation flag glorious.”
He said: “The Vietnamese nation’s revolutionary cause will certainly succeed soon.”
At the congress, he delivered a “Report on the situation of parties in the country.”
The report said that among the parties the Communist Party of Vietnam was the most prominent, and had the duty of expanding to achieve the goal of “inside there are our forces and outside seek the assistance of allies, especially China, to achieve the cause of national liberation.”
The speaker asked himself, “Are Vietnamese people afraid of communists?” and replied, “No, because there is no bank in Vietnam belonging to a Vietnamese, and there is no Vietnamese who is a big capitalist. Intellectuals are not afraid of communists because communist thought has spread all over the world. It is a thought trend of the era, being fearful of it is not really right. Now, it is unnecessary to raise the slogan ‘Uniting parties’ because this has become true, but it’s essential to widen the united bloc to achieve the goal of national liberation.”
1947
He received journalists and answered their questions on a dispute over the Vietnam issue at the French National Assembly.
He said: “The French Government and deputies have discussed only half the issue, the remaining half has to be decided by our people. If France doesn’t agree (to our country becoming independent and unified) and keeps expecting to reinstall a colonial regime, our people are determined to carry out a war of long-term resistance till our country is completely independent and unified. Our people want peace very much, but have to organize a resistance to the end for our descendants’ destiny.”
1951
After the Party started open operations, Uncle Ho wrote an article titled “Who are the members of the Vietnamese Labor Party?” in Nhan Dan (People).
It said: “They are Workers, peasants, and white-collar workers who love the country the most and are the most ardent and revolutionary.”
“They are people who are determined to work, public-spirited, and selfless, and exemplary in the task of building the country.”
By Duong Trung Quoc* and co-writers
*The author is a historian and member of the National Assembly
