May 19 is celebrated by the Vietnamese Communist Party as the birthday of its late supreme leader Ho Chi Minh.
Many non-communist Vietnamese assert that the date was not his birthday. There are different versions about how Ho Chi Minh and his aides came up with such claim.
The event took place on May 19, 1946. when a French delegation led by Sainteny, the envoy of France was to arrive in Ha Noi. The preliminary agreement signed on March 6, 1946 by Ho Chi Minh and the French allowed French military units into several major cities north of 16th parallel to replace Chinese troops who had come to the country in September 1945 to disarm the Japanese.
The French envoy traveled to Ha Noi for further discussions to implement the March 6 Agreement. At the time, according to most nationalist leaders, Ho accepted French so that the more dangerous enemy - Chinese nationalist army.- had to withdraw. As the opposition strongly protested the accords, Ho turned to the French side for temporary relief.
That was why he decided to welcome Sainteny with flags at every Ha Noi street, the version asserts. The other version, however, explains differently.
According to the late Hoang Van Chi in his book "From Colonialism to Communis," (1) Ho Chi Minh claimed the date Sainteny arrived in Ha Noi his birthday, so that Sainteny had to pay him a formal visit first.
I can't say which version is accurate. Probably we have to wait some more time until some of Ho's closest aides should step up and reveal the secret. As to me, I feel sure of one thing: May 19 is not Ho Chi Minh's true birthday.
In 1946, I was a boy of ten yers old. I still remember that morning of May 19, when the local Viet Minh cadre came to tell every home in our Ha Noi neigborhood to display the yellow-star-on-red banner, without giving any reason. Only in the afternoon did he return to tell us that "it is Uncle Ho's birthday." It happened the same way everywhere.
I have no source to justify what I am saying, but I am certain of the fact because I experienced it myself. One might believe in either version but one thing is beyond any question: Ho was born on some other date, not May 19, and the regime that is very skilful and cares much about propaganda never celebrates its leader's birthday impromptu that way.
May 10, 1996.
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(1) Hoang Van Chi, "From Colonialism to Communism: A Case History of North Vietnam," Frederick A. Praeger, New York 1964.
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