The army of neighboring countries participates in parades and marches - a vivid expression of Vietnam's foreign defense policy.

In response to Vietnam's invitation to the Ministries of Defense of China, Laos, and Cambodia to send military personnel to participate in the parade at the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 / April 30, 2025) in Ho Chi Minh City, some reactionary organizations, individuals, and ill-intentioned, opportunistic political subjects have deliberately distorted and misrepresented the meaning of this action; denying the spirit of peace and solidarity in Vietnam's defense foreign policy and international responsibility. This false conspiracy and argument must be promptly identified and fought against.

Old tricks - new harm

Towards the important event of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification, our Party, State and Army organized many activities of various scales nationwide, in which the most prominent were the National Celebration, Parade and March in Ho Chi Minh City.

This is a meaningful program, aiming to review the heroic tradition of the nation, to pay tribute to the generations of fathers and brothers who sacrificed their blood for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for the unity and integrity of the country. Therebyeducating revolutionary ideals, patriotism, national pride for cadres, party members, soldiers and all classes of people, especially the young generation; demonstrating the strength of the great national unity bloc and the strength of Vietnam's national defense in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

Leaders of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army presented gifts to military delegations from China, Laos and Cambodia during a meeting with military delegations from the countries participating in the parade.

At this special event, Vietnam invited the Ministries of Defense of China, Laos, and Cambodia to send military personnel to participate in the parade. These are neighboring countries with traditional friendship relations with Vietnam, closely associated with Vietnam in the history of the struggle for national liberation, building and defending the Fatherland. This activity is the concretization of the defense foreign policy of the Party, State, Central Military Commission, and Ministry of Defense, demonstrating the spirit of pure international solidarity and Vietnam's appreciation for the support, solidarity, and assistance of international friends.

However, taking advantage of this event, hostile and reactionary forces and political opportunists have spread false arguments, deliberately distorting the good meaning of military parades and marches in general and the invitation of foreign troops to participate in particular. The consistent plot of hostile forces is to sabotage the Party, the State, the Army and the socialist regime in Vietnam. Their immediate goal is to sabotage the sacred commemorative atmosphere of the Vietnamese people, disrupt information, create doubts and wavering in public opinion about the significance of the country's great historical event. In the long term, they want to deny the achievements of the revolution, lower the leadership role of the Communist Party of Vietnam, incite opposing thoughts, divide the great national unity bloc, and divide Vietnam from international friends, especially neighboring countries.

To carry out that dark plot, they use many sophisticated and cunning methods and tricks; the most common is taking advantage of social networking sites, blogs, forums... to fabricate and spread false information, distort and falsify the truth. They deliberately cut and paste information, give biased and subjective analysis and comments, baseless inferences, separate events from specific historical contexts; sentimentalize political, historical and international relations issues; claim that military parades and marches are activities that excessively show off military power, causing waste of the state budget when the country is still facing many difficulties; glorify war, rekindle hatred...

Some political opportunists and reactionaries focused on attacking the invitation of friendly countries' armies to participate in the parade, claiming that this was an act of "betraying history" and showing "dependence on foreign countries"... They deliberately denied the international significance of the April 30, 1975 Victory and the importance of solidarity and support from international friends, deepening differences and separating the specific historical context of the resistance war against the US to save the country to divide Vietnam from other countries.

The use of these distorted arguments by hostile subjects is not new, but it has had unpredictable consequences. They disrupt information, shake the confidence of a segment of the population in the leadership of the Party, the management and administration of the State, and the significance of the country's major historical events. They sow doubt and division within the country, causing cracks in the great national unity bloc. More dangerously, they incite extremist, narrow-minded, xenophobic ideologies, negatively affecting Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, autonomy, diversification, and multilateralization, and undermining the peaceful and stable environment of our country.

Vietnam's historic victory and pure spirit of international solidarity cannot be denied.

Parades and marches are meant to demonstrate the country's overall strength, not to "glorify war" as the hostile forces have been propagating. For Vietnam, the parades and marches to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification have a special significance in both historical and practical aspects, to affirm the value of peace, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. More than anyone else, the Vietnamese people understand that the value of national reunification is a prerequisite for our country to have peace, stability and sustainable development, and for the people to have a prosperous, free and happy life.

This is also an opportunity for us to proudly affirm: Our country has never had such a foundation, potential, position and international prestige as today; at the same time, it is an opportunity for the Vietnam People's Army, the Vietnam People's Public Security, and the militia and self-defense forces nationwide to report to the Party, the State and the people on their maturity, growth, revolution, discipline, eliteness and modernity; on their level, combat readiness, and iron determination to firmly protect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland; to protect the Party, the State and the people; and to protect the socialist regime in Vietnam.

The participation of the parades, marches, including the people's armed forces (Army, Police, militia and self-defense forces) and mass forces representing all classes of people, ethnic groups across the country is a vivid and majestic image of the strength of the great national unity bloc under the leadership of the Party. This is the source of strength that created the historic Victory of April 30, 1975, and is also the decisive factor ensuring the cause of building and defending the Fatherland today and in the future.

Inviting the armies of friendly countries to participate in parades and marches does not mean a “military alliance,” nor is it subject to “foreign pressure” as those with ill will have distorted and slandered. Vietnam is an independent and sovereign nation. Inviting leaders or armies of any country to attend its important events is Vietnam’s right to self-determination, stemming from the interests of the nation, people, and Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, and multilateralization.

In fact, inviting foreign armies to participate in national celebrations, parades, and marches is a common defense diplomacy activity in the world. Russia, China, France, India, etc. all invite armies of other countries to participate in parades and marches on important occasions. For example, in the parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day (May 9) in Moscow (2015), Russia invited armies from dozens of countries, including China, India, Serbia, etc. In France, on its National Day (July 14) every year, armies from African and Asian countries participate...

Furthermore, this is also an occasion to acknowledge and honor the sincere and wholehearted assistance of international friends to our people's cause of national liberation. In particular, the invitation of the Lao and Cambodian armies to participate has profound significance, demonstrating respect for the special solidarity and loyal fighting alliance between the three Indochinese countries in the struggle against the common enemy, for independence, and for building and defending the Fatherland of each country. Their presence is a strong testament to the special friendship and solidarity between Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia that has been proven by history.

On the other hand, it must be affirmed that the defense relations between Vietnam and neighboring and fraternal countries are established and maintained on the basis of immutable principles: Equality, mutual benefit, always respecting independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. All defense cooperation activities aim at the ultimate goal of promoting combined strength, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, maximizing the consensus and support of the international community; enhancing strategic trust, maintaining a peaceful environment, and cooperating for mutual development.

The presence of leaders and military personnel of friendly countries in the parade to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Great Victory of Spring 1975 will be a concrete and vivid manifestation of the foreign policy of peace, friendship and the spirit of pure international cooperation. This is an action demonstrating Vietnam's goodwill and commitment to join hands with other countries to foster regional peace. Any argument that deliberately distorts and distorts this meaningful activity, and labels it with a narrow, prejudiced, and hostile lens clearly reveals the reactionary and vicious nature of opportunistic and hostile forces.

In addition, it is necessary to clearly see the undeniable objective reality that Vietnam's policy of inviting military personnel from friendly countries to participate in parades and marches has always received widespread agreement and support from the governments and peoples of friendly countries. This is clearly reflected in the official and prestigious mass media of these countries. Public opinion in Laos, Cambodia, and China all recognize this as a diplomatic gesture of friendship, a manifestation of respect for history, and a testament to the desire to strengthen cooperation and tighten solidarity among peoples. This positive reception is completely consistent with the legitimate aspirations of the people of these countries for a region of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation and development. The Vietnamese people and the people of China, Laos, and Cambodia always clearly see the noble meaning and highly appreciate this defense diplomacy activity.

Therefore, in the face of the insidious plots and tricks of hostile forces, every cadre, party member, soldier and patriotic citizen needs to heighten the spirit of revolutionary vigilance, proactively identify and resolutely fight to destroy all false arguments; maintain an ideological stance, view issues objectively, scientifically and dialectically, and absolutely not spread fake and harmful information on cyberspace.

DO THI GIANG - LUONG THANH DUY

 

 

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-chong-dien-bien-hoa-binh/quan-doi-nuoc-ban-tham-gia-dieu-binh-dieu-hanh-bieu-hien-sinh-dong-duong-loi-doi-ngoai-quoc-phong-viet-nam-825879