PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH'S ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF THE AKAHAT A CORRESPONDENT
Ho Chi Minh, President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party and of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, answered the questions raised by Yoshita Takano, correspondent of Akahata, organ of the Japanese Communist Party. Following is the full text of the questions and answers:
Question: - The U.S. imperialists have suffered repeated defeats in South Vietnam. However, they are still contemplating to bring in "super-weapons", "up-todate weapons" in an attempt to subjugate the Vietnamese people. From the people's viewpoint what is the character of the war in Vietnam and what is its significance in contemporary history? The U.S. imperialists are said to have landed themselves into an embarrassing dilemma in South Vietnam. What is the relation between this position and their recent frenzied aggressive acts vis-a-vis North and South Vietnam? In such circumstances, what is the most important immediate task of the Vietnamese people?
Answer: - For over ten years, the U.S. imperialists have waged an aggressive war in South Vietnam in an attempt to turn that zone into a U.S. new-type colony and military base and to prolong the partition of our country. They have brought in over 30,000 troops and military personnel, thousands of aircraft, hundreds of warships and hundreds of thousands of tons of arms. They have carried out a most ruthless policy of terror and repression against all patriotic people in South Vietnam.
Confronted with such a situation our compatriots in the south have had to rise up against the U.S. aggressors in defense of their life and their country. This struggle has recorded tremendous victories. Over three quarters of the area with two-thirds of the population, have been liberated. The United States and its agents have sustained heavy defeats. The U.S. "special war" in South Vietnam is going bankrupt.
If the South Vietnamese people are becoming ever stronger and winning ever greater victories, as the fight goes on, that is because their cause is just, because they are animated with an ardent patriotism and guided by the sound policy of the South Vietnam National Front for Liberation. The war waged by our compatriots in the south is a people's revolutionary war against foreign aggression, for national independence and peace. It is an active part of the world people's movement against imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism headed by the United States, for national independence, democracy, peace and social progress. That is precisely the reason why the peoples of the whole world are extending us their sympathy and support. The increasing victories of the South Vietnamese people show that in our epoch, a nation closely united and waging a resolute struggle is fully capable of defeating the imperialist aggressors, however ferocious, cruel, and well-armed they may be.
In an attempt to extricate themselves from the impasse, the U.S. imperialists are feverishly intensifying and stepping up the aggressive war in South Vietnam, they have brought in U.S. marines and south Korean mercenaries. Their planes are daily strafing and dumping napalm bombs and toxic gas on liberated areas, destroying hospitals, schools, and pagodas, and massacring the civilian population including old people, women and children. On the other hand, the war is being carried to the north with repeated air and naval attacks brazenly launched on many places of the territory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Meanwhile the war is intensified in Laos and provocations are staged against Cambodia. The U.S. imperialists' acts of aggression and war in Vietnam are of the utmost gravity. They grossly trample upon the 1954 Geneva agreements on Vietnam and this constitutes a violation of international law and disregards world public opinion.
The U.S. rulers claim that the north is waging "aggression" on South Vietnam and that their attacks on the north aim at putting an end to the assistance extended by the north to the South Vietnamese people. These are deceitful contentions designed to fool the world's peoples and to cover up the U.S. aggressive acts. It must be pointed out that it is the legitimate right of the South Vietnamese people to drive out the U.S. aggressors, to defend their country and to decide for themselves their own internal affairs. It is the sacred right of the Vietnamese in the north as well as in the south to oppose and defeat the U.S. imperialist aggressive acts to defend their' national independence and their life. The U.S. imperialists' acts, however frenzied and reckless they may be, cannot prevent the Vietnamese people from carrying on their patriotic struggle until final victory.
Question: - There is now much talk about a "peaceful settlement" and "negotiations" . . . to end the war in South Vietnam. What, in your view, is the minimum basis for the settlement of the Vietnam problem?
Answer: - Of late, the U.S. imperialists have put forward misleading talks about "peace" and "negotiations". The peoples of the world are fully aware of their aggressive and warlike nature. To step up aggression in South Vietnam and to bomb the north are part of their policy of "special warfare". By such acts, they also aim at bringing about an advantageous position so as to be able, in case of necessity, to negotiate from a "position of strength". This policy is wrong and cannot be carried out.
The Vietnamese people cherish peace and have always respected and correctly implemented the 1954 Geneva agreements. However, they are determined to fight to the end against the aggressors. If the U.S. imperialists stubbornly persist in their policy of aggression and war, they will certainly suffer a humiliating defeat. To settle the South Vietnam question, the United States must, first of all, withdraw from South Vietnam, let the South Vietnamese people decide for themselves their own affairs, and stop its provocative attacks against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The carrying out of these basic points will bring about favorable conditions for a conference along the pattern of the 1954 Geneva Conference. This is a reasonable and sensible approach beneficial to peace and to the U.S. people.
Question: - What is your appraisal of the Indo-Chinese· Peoples' Conference recently held in Phnom Penh?
Answer: - The Indo-Chinese Peoples' Conference convened at the initiative of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Cambodian Head of State, has recorded good successes. This is a big victory for the peoples of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in their united struggle against their common enemy, the U.S. imperialists. While the United States is stepping up and expanding the aggressive war in South Vietnam, attacking the DRV, intensifying the war in Laos and repeatedly encroaching on the territory and national sovereignty of Cambodia, the success of the conference shows the determination of the three Indo-Chinese peoples to fight against the U.S. imperialists in defense of national independence and peace in Indo-China and Southeast Asia.
Question: - Of late, the U.S. imperialists have schemed to direct the reactionary and militarist Japanese administration to rapidly close the "Japan-ROK talks". They also plan to set up the NEATO aggressive military bloc. This is directly related to their aggressive acts in South Vietnam. What is your assessment of the dangerous designs and activities of the U.S. and Japanese reactionary forces on Japanese soil and of the Japanese people's struggle against these dangerous schemes and acts?
Answer: -The "Japan-ROK talks" are a maneuver of the U.S. imperialists aimed at establishing the NEATO aggressive military bloc and intensifying war preparations. This maneuver is in complete contradiction with the interests of the Japanese and Korean peoples and poses a threat to peace in the Far East and the world. The U.S. imperialists who are the aggressors in South Vietnam are also occupying the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Ogasawara and occupying south Korea. The Japanese militarists who have colluded with the United States and repressed the Japanese people have also sent sailors and technicians to help the United States in South Vietnam and allowed Japanese territory to be used as a base for aggression against South Vietnam. The U.S. imperialists are the common enemy of the peoples of Vietnam, Japan and Korea. The same may be said of the Japanse militarists and the south Korean puppets. The Vietnamese people fully support the struggle of the Japanese people against the "Japan-ROK talks" and against the reactionary policy of the U.S. imperialists and Japanese militarists. They sincerely thank the Japanese people for warmly supporting their struggle against the U.S. aggressors.
I take this opportunity to convey my cordial greetings to the editorial board of Akahata and request your paper to convey to the fraternal Japanese people the greetings of militant solidarity of the Vietnamese people.
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