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VIETNAMESE TRADITION: THE GREAT ENEMY OF COMMUNISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Throughout the modern history of Viet Nam, the Communist forces have recognized that their greatest adversary was not free enterprise economy, French or American armies or the nationalist forces of the free Vietnamese, but rather their own national traditions, embodied by the Nguyen Imperial Monarchy. From the begining of the 20th Century, when the Communist forces began to organize, the Nguyen Dynasty emerged as their primary target. They did not use their efforts to help the people or encourage patriotism, but instead devoted all of their energy to attacking the monarchy and their loyal countrymen.

Communism is naturally opposed to the culture of Viet Nam since the ideology itself is a foreign invention, learned by Ho Chi Minh in France and Russia, and imported to Southeast Asia and imposed on the people of Viet Nam. From the very begining Ho Chi Minh was in collusion with foreign agents for the seizure of Southeast Asia and the ultimate creation of a "Socialist Republic of Indochina", which was to include not only Viet Nam, but also the kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia. He was a founder of the French Communist Party and made early alliances with the dictators in the Soviet Union and China. Once Ho Chi Minh had returned to Viet Nam and organized the Indochinese Communist Party, their primary target was the Imperial Nguyen Dynasty and their supporters.
The reasons for this were quite simple. Since the time of H.M. Emperor Ham Nghi to the recent reign of H.M. Emperor Duy Tan, it was the Nguyen monarchs who lead all efforts to liberate the country and it was the emperor who was looked to for leadership in all matters of national independence. The Communists knew that to gain power they had to usurp this position from the monarchy. For the Communists to appear as the independence leaders, they had to ruin the reputation of the traditional leader and the Golden Throne, the very symbols of Vietnamese history and culture. The monarch at this time was His Majesty Emperor Khai Dinh,

who naturally became the greatest enemy of the Communist Party. They attacked the Emperor with propaganda, making numerous false charges against the monarch and the imperial court. None had any basis in fact, as can be easily proven. One charge was that the court was too lavish, taking too much money from the burdened Vietnamese people. However, records prove that, even at its highest, the court of Emperor Khai Dinh recieved only half as much money as even the small Kingdom of Cambodia. Furthermore, the tax increase of 1923 was enacted over the Emperor's strong opposition.
The Communists were also reacting to a trend of patriotic nationalism enacted by Emperor Khai Dinh, starting with the announcement of the annual celebration Hung Quoc Khanh Niem, or Celebration of National Restoration, to honor the Nguyen Dynasty's reunification of Viet Nam after years of civil war in 1802. This was appalling to the Communists, fearing that if the people honored their own history and accomplishments, they would not embrace a foreign doctrine that called for the overthrow of all traditional institutions. However, the most biting personal attack from Ho Chi Minh came after Emperor Khai Dinh visited France and urged the colonial government to end their forceful rule and grant autonomy to the native Vietnamese

government. This terrified the Communists since, if the Emperor was successful, it would remove their image as the freedom fighters of Viet Nam. Ho Chi Minh responded by writing a treasonous play about the Emperor that was so terrible, and so poorly written that his own supporters refused to let it be performed for fear that it would embarass them and their leader.

The subversives were able to breath a sigh of relief in 1925 when Emperor Khai Dinh died and the Golden Throne passed to his young son, who would not be old enough to assume his duties for several years. However, when the new monarch, Emperor Bao Dai, did finally ascend the throne, they were quick to recognize the threat he posed to their success. The many reforms enacted by Emperor Bao Dai, and the new style he championed of the 'monarchy of the people', illustrated by the abolition of forced labor, drove away support for the radical policies of the Communists. The Emperor's popularity with the young people was a particular problem for them. His Majesty Bao Dai was also a longtime patron of the Boy Scouts, an organization that hurt Communist membership by encouraging such ideals as patriotism for Vietnamese traditions and respect for family values which the Communists discouraged. From the end of World War II, Emperor Bao Dai and the traditional government of national pride and tradition emerged as the greatest enemy, and the greatest target of the Communist forces after the declaration of independence from France made by Emperor Bao Dai in 1945 and the formation of the first nationalist government.

H.M. Emperor Bao Dai pledged his support for independence, nationalism and the protection of the people. The Communists had been beaten to the punch and had nothing to respond with but violence, they issued a second, meaningless declaration of independence, copied largely from the Americans, and then launched a campaign of terrorism against the government and other nationalist parties throughout the country. Even after the forced abdication of the Emperor, the principles and traditions he represented remained the greatest enemy of the Communists. In 1947 Ho Chi Minh was sufficiently intimidated to order the assassination of Nguyen Van Sam and Truong Dinh Tri who had formed the Mat Tran Quoc Gia Lien Hiep (Allied National Front) to support a constitutional monarchy for Viet Nam. As all of the nationalist groups, the Dai Viet, the Viet Quoc, and religious groups such as the Catholics, Buddhist, Hoa Hao and Cao Dai all joined the Emperor in Hong Kong to support restoration of freedom under the monarchy, the Communists were so enraged that they condemned H.M. Bao Dai to death in absentia.
Clearly, the Communists knew what even many people in France and the United States did not, that the greatest threat to their victory was Vietnamese traditional culture, personified by the monarchy of the Imperial Nguyen Dynasty. Today, the situation has remained unchanged to a large degree. The Communists continue to oppress and persecute the people of Viet Nam, and the Nguyen Dynasty remains committed to opposing political extremism, tyranny and supporting the national culture and the principles of liberty and human rights for all people in Viet Nam and across Southeast Asia.

June 26, 2003