Letter to the Central Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party

 April 20, 1931

Source: Hồ Chí Minh toàn tập, Tập 3, Chính trị Quốc gia - Sự thật, Hanoi, 

2011, pp. 87-91.

Translation: Foreign Languages Press, Paris, 2021.

The following contains my criticism of the regional assemblies of Annam and Tonkin.

(A) Convocation of the assemblies. Prior to the opening of the assemblies, from the party members to the responsible leaders, no one has studied the questions to be dealt with. It was only when the assemblies were opened that the questions were addressed and as a result it has been impossible to discuss them clearly. The duration of the meetings was too long (in Annam 18 half-day sessions; in Tonkin 13 days!). In addition, the schedule of the meetings had not been properly prepared, which is why a lot of time was lost and everything could not be discussed. For the regional assembly of Tonkin, centers as important as Haiphong were not represented.

(B) Sessions. In Tonkin, the discussions were not conducted in a concrete manner, but time was wasted on useless words. For example, the central committee was asked why it sometimes states “to” prepare the insurrection, and other times indicates “and” prepare the insurrection, etc. Because the party members had not previously studied these questions, the ideas discussed during the Assembly did not correspond to that of the majority of the party members. Moreover, at the time of the opening of the sessions, many comrades were tired or still absorbed by preoccupations. Few were active. That is why the opinions expressed in the sessions were only those of a minority within a minority.

(C) Ways of working. In both assemblies the proposals were formulated in vague terms. As such, one does not understand how the resolutions of the Central Committee are to be implemented; one cannot see any proposal for a concrete plan directed to each region.

(D) Title of the Party. The Annamese propose to wait until Cambodia and Laos are organized before incorporating them into the Party and chang-ing the name of the Party. This shows that the comrades of Annam do not understand the directives of the Third International, which state that the Party must be composed of all the Indochinese proletarians, and do not understand that the task of the Party is to make it organize in Laos and Cambodia. Did the Central Committee print and distribute the directives of the Third International to the party members? Then why was the following question asked during the Tonkin Assembly: “the Central Committee told us to discuss the ‘directives’ but what directive are we talking about?”

(E) Power of the Party. To understand the strength and weakness of the Party in Tonkin and Annam, we must refer to the following table:

(...)

It is clear from this table that: In Annam:

(1) The party organization exists in 13 Huyện292 and Provinces. But the Communist Youth organization exists in only three Huyện. In one of the Huyện, it only accounts for 1/3 of that of the Party. In another Huyện it accounts for only 1/4.

(2) Women are organized only in 5 Huyện: in one of the Huyện their num-ber is 1/2 and in another, 1/9 of the number of party members.

(3) Of these 13 Huyện or provinces in question five have very weak peasant organizations. In one of these localities, the number of organized peas-ants is two times the number of party members.

(4) Trade unions exist in only one of these localities, but the agricultural workers are not organized anywhere.

(5) In the region (in Annam), there are 16 provinces, but the organization exists in only 5 of them.

(6) In the reports about Annam, it is not indicated how many women are members of the Party and how many are members of the peasant organizations.

The organization is extremely weak in Tonkin. In an industrial region like Tonkin, there are only two provinces with trade unions, 4 localities have youth organizations and 5 have peasant organizations; but all in all this is not nearly as much as the level of organization of a 4th class Huyện in Annam. In such an important political and economic center as Hanoi, there are no activists except a few leading comrades.

As for the “Anti-Imperialist League,” the “International Red Aid” and orga-nizations for the unemployed, there are still no such organizations in either country (in Annam, there is a small section of International Red Aid).

I propose the following:

(A) The Party must:

1) Rectify the errors indicated above.

2) Establish a concrete plan of action for each Huyện and each prov-ince.

3) Dispatch party members (like the military dispatches its soldiers). Let those who are responsible for a region, or for any other work, be further required to draw up an action plan for each comrade of each grouping.

4) Committees must carefully supervise and monitor the implementa-tion of these action plans.

5) It is of utmost importance to unify the “Communist Youth” and the unions and to ensure their independent development.

(B) The directives of the Third International and the resolutions of the Cen-tral Committee must be discussed by all party members and all party groups who are required to adopt resolutions based on the above-men-tioned directives and decisions. These resolutions must be submitted to the Central Committee, which will forward them to the Third Interna-tional. By doing this, the level of party experience of all members will be raised, all directives and resolutions will be efficiently implemented, the ideology and action of our party members will be unified, the Third International will get to know the revolutionary level of these party members, and the connection between the party groups and the Cen-tral Committee, and between the latter and the Third International will be firmly realized.

(1) Remember to send:

1) Reports from Cochinchina

2) Reports of the Central Committee Assembly

3) Reports on organization and labor unrest. I covered these three top-ics in my previous letter.

(2) Our contact (Ducrot)293 has not yet returned by boat.

(3) What ships navigating between Saigon and Singapore do you know of ?Which people? Please provide details—it is of great importance.

(4) I have heard that you know a Frenchman aboard a Maritime Communi-cations ship, if that is indeed the case, let me know.

(5) When you see a boat arriving, get on board; it is possible that one of our comrades is on the ship. Also: how are boats entering the port being reported up to now?

(6) There is someone from “over there” (?) who has to return shortly. When you find a boat that sets sail for this destination (in the beginning of May) he will have to be taken on board. On board of the “General Metzinger” [one of the ships] there is Nghĩa, a launderer. It is possible that he has something for you. Don’t forget to ask him.

Nguyễn Ái Quốc

292 A Huyện is a rural district. Each province has an average of 9 to 10 Huyện.

293 Joseph Ducroux (1904-1980), a special envoy of the Comintern in Asia. Following Hồ Chí Minh’s request in his letter of February 16 (see p. 407), Ducroux met with Hồ Chí Minh in Hong Kong and was charged to meet with the leadership of the ICP. Subsequently, he returned to Hong Kong and left for Singapore. There, he was arrested and documents contain-ing the address of Hồ Chí Minh were found on him, which led to Ho’s arrest on June 6, 1931