Peace and Social Progress in Vietnam
This week marks fifty years since liberation and reunification
By Ngô Thanh Nhàn and Juliet Ucelli.
April 30, 2025, marks 50 years since what most US media call “the fall of Saigon”—and what progressives call the victory for peace and social progress in Vietnam. Many US movement elders came into radical politics by protesting the US’s unjust war against the National Liberation Front and people of Vietnam, and opposing the US establishment of brutal puppet regimes in Saigon. Many younger activists leading today’s social justice movements, especially Vietnamese-Americans, are questioning the official story of US benevolence and communist tyranny in Vietnam. There is renewed political dialogue in Southeast Asian refugee communities.
Together with Trump’s recent targeting of Vietnam for 46% tariffs, all these developments call for a broad examination, on this historic anniversary, of what Vietnam has faced and is facing, and what it has managed to achieve.
Vietnam Past and Present
Vietnam is only 3.4% the geographic size of the US, with a population of 101.3 million, up from 36 million in 1975. Over the last 1,000 years, the country has been repeatedly invaded and occupied by foreign forces—most recently France, Japan, and the US. After 20 years of continuous war, North and South Vietnam unified in 1976 to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Until 1995, the republic faced 20 years of isolation under a US embargo. Today, Vietnam is still clearing unexploded mines, rebuilding from the impact of more bomb tonnage than dropped in all theaters of WWII, expanding agriculture via detoxification of land poisoned by Dow Chemical’s (and others’) defoliants collectively called Agent Orange, and caring for individuals maimed by it, with a fourth generation now affected.
Overall, Vietnam can cite manifold gains in productive capacity and in human well-being. Life expectancy is now 75 years. Vietnam has been self-sufficient in food since 1989. Literacy is above 90%. Per capita income has risen from $372 USD in 1975 to $4,347 USD in 2023. All this has been accomplished through the xóa đói giảm nghèo bền vững campaign, “zero hunger and poverty alleviation,” together with đổi mới “renovation”—the introduction of a socialist-oriented market economy to boost production. In recent decades, Vietnam has been participating in global trade with products certified as sustainable in terms of environmental impact and workers’ conditions.
Gender equality, accompanied by confidence- and capacity-building for women, has been the main task of the Vietnam Women’s Union (founded in 1930, with 19 million members today), working from the grassroots to enhance women’s roles. Opportunities for peaceful practice of all religions have expanded. In its Constitution, Vietnam guarantees the preservation and teaching of national minority languages and cultures, and proportional representation of minorities in the National Assembly. The United Nations recognizes Vietnam as meeting the criteria in its “Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.” The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, founded in 1930 and active in the struggle for independence, is affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions. It plans to increase membership to 13.5 million by 2030. Wildcat strikes are known to be common—and workers usually win their demands.
Of course, there are stumbling blocks, but these are discussed openly throughout society and are being faced. The central problem of a socialist-oriented market economy, the penetration of personal profit-seeking and corruption into the controlling and regulating state sector, has been admitted and is being countered. Vietnam is also recognizing the constant need to constrain the state bureaucracy's tendency to unproductive expansion—in order for society as a whole to progress.
Other Challenges
In recent years, Vietnam had been expanding mutually beneficial trade relationships with the U.S. But Trump has undermined this, asserting unilateral U.S. dominance via policies such as the punitive 46% tariffs on goods produced in Vietnam. As a small country dealing with the big powers, Vietnam has deftly maneuvered over the years to negotiate non-hostile relations with both the US and China, managing the historical tensions with each. Now, we can anticipate that as the US administration escalates aggression toward China, it will try to pressure Vietnam toward participation in anti-Chinese hostilities.
Here in the US today, many of our community, campus, and labor groups are powering a peace and justice movement for the current period, in which it’s more obvious than ever that aggressive, anti-human US policies in the domestic and international arenas are inter-linked. A key part of this movement must be, we believe, our active solidarity with Vietnam's people—to support their self-determined internal development, and unhindered participation in global trade and in the community of nations. From its forward-thinking environmental approaches, to the protection of the rights of all workers, to a people’s democratic process and an economy built around everyone’s needs, the social achievements in Vietnam show that another way of organizing society is possible, even coming out of massive destruction and suffering.
Celebrating Peace and Social Progress
On May 3, people will gather in NYC (and on zoom livestream) to learn more about Vietnam today, celebrate the heroism and resilience of its people and their allies, share cross-generational lessons about international solidarity, and enjoy Southeast Asian music and dance performances.
Liberation Road is co-sponsoring the anniversary, along with allies in Veterans for Peace, Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America International Committee, North Star Socialist Organization, December 12 Movement, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Viet Left Power,and other groups.
Come if you can on May 3 or join us on zoom, purchasing sliding scale tickets! Make a contribution if you can’t come. Spread the word to others! Here’s the registration link:
https://events.humanitix.com/50-years-of-peace-and-social-progress-in-vietnam
Ngô Thanh Nhàn is co-coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign and retired, Ph.D. Linguistics, Fellow, Temple and New York Universities.
Juliet Ucelli serves on the International Work Team of Liberation Road, and was co-coordinator (with the late Merle Ratner) of the 2017 delegation of progressive US women leaders sponsored by the Vietnam Women's Union.
Great summation! Thank you for sharing this. I would note the recent visit of CPC General Secretary Xi to Vietnam and the positive steps both parties are taking to strengthen ties and resolve differences in a constructive way.