Vietnam celebrates 50th anniversary of victory over US

Vietnam celebrated the 50th anniversary of the victory of then communist North Vietnam over the United States, in which 3 million Vietnamese and 60,000 Americans had died. It was the defining war of the Cold War, which was an overt rivalry between democracies ostensibly led the United States and communism symbolised by the Ho Chi Minh-led North Vietnam.

Of course, then Soviet Union, now Russia, and China had supported the communist government in North Vietnam. It was a war that the Americans did not win. It took another 15 years for communism to collapse in Russia and in Eastern Europe.

But Vietnam remains defiantly communist. Like China, Vietnam does not follow the old communist-style ideology. Vietnam had embraced market economy, shook hands with old foe United States and it has prospered. Even as Vietnam staged a spectacular victory parade in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, in which Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian and Laotian soldiers participated, Vietnam Communist Party chief To Lam described the victory as a nationalist triumph of the Vietnamese nation.

There is of course the irony in the fact that orthodox communists do not believe in nationalism, but both Vietnamese and Chinese leaders take immense pride in their respective nationalisms.

Vietnamese Communist Party General-Secretary To Lam described the Vietnamese victory as “a victory of faith”, and cited Ho Chi Minh’s motto, “Vietnam is one, the Vietnamese people are one. Rivers may dry up, mountains may erode, but that truth will never change.”

Saigon fell on April 30, 1975 to the Vietnamese communist forces. The city which served as the capital of then South Vietnam government supported by Americans, was renamed Ho Chi Minh city, the legendary Communist Party leader of Vietnam.

And two parts of the country, North and South Vietnam, were united two years later. The united post-war Vietnam established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995, and it had also become the strategic partner of the US in 2023.

The trade and economic relations between the former ideological rivals had become close, and Vietnam is today one of the prosperous economies in the region and in the world.

The Vietnamese have stuck to the single party rule of the Communist Party but they have opened up their economy, and they did not hesitate to forge economic ties with the United States. The reason for the resilience of the Vietnamese Communist Party is the gratitude of the people that it stood up to the might of the then superpower, the United States, and it did not allow the country to split.

Vietnam could have ended up like Korea, divided into communist North Korea and generally democratic South Korea. But they remain separated. North Vietnam could have struck a deal with United States and settled for a divided Vietnam, where the communists remained in power in the north and the American-supported regime in the south.

But the Vietnamese communists stuck to the principle and idea of a united Vietnam, and did not pause until they had achieved it. The victory of the Vietnamese over the Americans was seen as that of David against Goliath, the small nation against the big one.

But the Vietnamese soon realised that there in no point in gloating over victory once victory was achieved. They changed tracks quickly enough and looked to the future prospects of the country.

They realised that the future could be bright only with a strong and vibrant economy, and they unhesitatingly embraced the market economy and capitalism. They did not let ideological blinkers come in the way. Americans might argue that they might have lost the war, but they won the war of ideas. And the Vietnamese can justifiably claim that they preserved the unity of their country which was the most important challenge.