Chairman Nguyen Huu Tho of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front of
South Vietnam:
On the ninth anniversary of the founding of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam,
on behalf of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese government, and the Chinese
people, we extend our warmest congratulations to the heroic people of South Vietnam and
the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam who stood at the forefront of the anti-US
struggle.
For nine years, the people of South Vietnam, united as one under the glorious banner of the
South Vietnam National Liberation Front, have braved violence and waged a protracted and
arduous struggle against U.S. imperialism, plunging it into isolation and hardship. The great
victory achieved by the people of South Vietnam has laid the foundation for the final defeat
of U.S. imperialism and the accomplishment of the great cause of the Vietnamese people in
resisting U.S. aggression and saving their nation. It has made a significant contribution to the
anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle of oppressed nations and peoples throughout the
world. The Chinese people pay you the highest tribute.
Although the U.S. imperialist war of aggression against Vietnam suffered a disastrous defeat,
it was not yet completely defeated. After the Nixon administration came to power, it
pursued a counter-revolutionary two-handed strategy even more blatantly. It verbally talked
about "peace" and advocated the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam in
order to deceive the American people, but in reality it was intensifying the war of aggression
against Vietnam, attempting to save its inevitable fate by so-called "Vietnamization" of the
Vietnam War, that is, strengthening the puppet army and the Nixon regime. Facts have
proven that the Nixon administration's policy of aggression against Vietnam was no different
from that of its predecessor, the Johnson administration [1], but was a continuation of the
same line. No matter what tricks they played, they would never give up their arrogant
ambition to permanently occupy South Vietnam and divide Vietnam.
We believe that the time-tested people of South Vietnam, under the leadership of the
National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government
of the Republic of South Vietnam, will heed the legacy of President Ho Chi Minh [2], carry
forward the revolutionary spirit of "decisive battle and decisive victory," persist in a
protracted war, uphold independence and self-reliance, and achieve victory through
protracted struggle. They will undoubtedly crush the machinations and schemes of U.S.



imperialism and its accomplices, overcome all difficulties on the road ahead, and achieve
complete victory in the war to resist U.S. aggression and save the nation.
The peoples of China and Vietnam are close brothers and comrades-in-arms. The 700 million
Chinese people are the staunch supporters of the Vietnamese people. The Chinese people
will always stand with the Vietnamese people and firmly support them in carrying the great
war against the US and saving the nation to the end.
Final victory will surely belong to the heroic Vietnamese people.

Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Lin Biao, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Zhou Enlai, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
Beijing, December 19, 1969

[1] Johnson, President of the United States from 1963 to 1968.
[2] Ho Chi Minh, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Vietnam and
President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, died in September 1969.