Vietnam Tan Van - a rare foreign newspaper during the resistance war against France

Although it only existed for more than a year (March 1947 - April 1948), Viet Nam Tan Van (Vietnam News) was an official information channel of the press agency of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

More than 2 months after the "National Resistance" day, the Information Department ( Ministry of Interior ) published the Viet Nam Tan Van ( Vietnam News ) newspaper in Chinese in addition to publishing foreign news in French and English. Mr. Ho Duc Thanh (1913 - 2011) was the first and only Editor-in-Chief of Viet Nam Tan Van newspaper.

Uncle Ho Duc Thanh (1913 - 2011)

PHOTO: FAMILY ARCHIVES

Mr. Ho Duc Thanh (1913 - 2011) was born in Hung Dao commune, Hoa An district (now Hung Dao ward, Cao Bang city), Cao Bang province. Secretary of Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee (1937), Member of the Northern Administrative Committee (1945 - 1946), National Assembly Delegate of the 1st term of Nam Dinh province... Before retiring, he worked at the Ministry of Internal Trade (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade). The Party and State awarded Mr. Ho Duc Thanh: Third-class Independence Medal and many other noble awards...

In the documents shared by Ho Duc Thanh's family, there are many documents about Vietnamese revolutionary press, from Lao Dong Newspaper in 1937 printed in Thong Nong district, Cao Bang province to Dong Minh Newspaper (issue 1 published on December 6, 1945; currently the National Library still has up to issue 59, published on November 4, 1946) and Viet Nam Tan Van newspaper (1947 - 1948).

During his lifetime, Uncle Ho Duc Thanh recounted the birth and activities of Vietnam Tan Van as follows: "After December 1946, the French colonialists opened fire to invade our country again. Uncle Ho called me - at that time the Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs. I met him at a revolutionary family in Chuc Son commune, Chuong My district, Ha Dong province (now Hanoi). During this meeting, I asked Uncle Ho to allow me to publish a newsletter called Vietnam Tan Van ( Vietnam News ) in Cao Bang".

Certificate of Vietnam News Agency Director

PHOTO: FAMILY ARCHIVES

The reason for the location in Cao Bang was explained by Ho Duc Thanh: The province has a border with China, our overseas Vietnamese patriotic organizations have had relations from before, this place is convenient for communication and transportation, and is safe in case of trouble. Cao Bang is also Ho Duc Thanh's hometown... After listening to the presentation, President Ho Chi Minh agreed. He instructed the Ministry of Interior to discuss specifically and make a decision for Vietnam Tan Van to be established and operate.

On February 27, 1947, Mr. Hoang Huu Nam - Deputy Minister of the Interior signed Decree No. 32/NV-NgĐ on the establishment of the agency: " Vietnam Tan Van located in Cao Bang province within the scope of the Central Information Office" with the following tasks:

1. Translate daily news from the Information Agency and print the news to send to foreign newspapers.
2. Select and translate news from foreign newspapers to send to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Central Information Department.

Deputy Minister Hoang Huu Nam also signed a decision to appoint Mr. Ho Duc Thanh "to be in charge of all matters of Vietnam Tan Van ".

The content of Vietnam News mainly selects important news from our official newspapers, news from the Voice of Vietnam Radio, French news from the Information Department, translated into Chinese, printed and distributed. As for news from foreign newspapers, it is carefully selected, translated and sent to the Ministry of the Interior and the Information Department...

In particular, Vietnam Tan Van also had the responsibility of directly sending news to President Ho Chi Minh via the transport route. Documents sent according to regulations must have 2 layers, the outer envelope must have the address: Mr. Xuan - Squad 55 (Code name of the Government Office at that time).

According to documents left by Mr. Ho Duc Thanh, by the end, Vietnam Tan Van had published 277 issues. Each issue of Vietnam Tan Van printed about 100 copies and sent them to agencies and individuals in the Government, the Ministry of the Interior, the Information Department; and sent about 30 copies to China... "Most of the 'important people' in the Chinese Nationalist Party at that time such as Truong Phat Khue, Tieu Van... also received them and did not have to pay", Mr. Ho Duc Thanh said.

From March 1947 to April 1948, Viet Nam Tan Van was published daily quite regularly. The last issue was 277. Currently, only a part of the first page remains, which includes the article " Lo River Fish Fat Because of the Corpses of French Soldiers " praising the victory of Lo River in the Viet Bac Campaign in the autumn and winter of 1947.

Entering 1948, the war became more and more fierce, printing paper and ink became increasingly scarce, communication was difficult... Editor Ho Duc Thanh wrote a situation report to present to President Ho Chi Minh. On March 31, 1948, the Ministry of Interior sent an "Urgent" dispatch to the Editor of Vietnam Tan Van . The content clearly stated: "According to the order of the President of the Government, the Ministry of Interior has decided to temporarily suspend the publication of Vietnam Tan Van, which you are in charge of, due to the unfavorable professional and financial conditions that you have presented."

Vietnam News Agency maintains close contact with the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee to print, use people to deliver and exchange news with newspapers. Each time it sends, it must keep a copy of Vietnam News Agency at the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee and send five copies of Vietnam News Agency to the Committee to forward to the Ministry of Interior as documents. For translations of news from newspapers published in China, it must be accompanied by the newspaper that published the news.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-tan-van-to-bao-doi-ngoai-hiem-hoi-trong-khang-chien-chong-phap-185250621134237947.htm