Hanoi
Comrade Sun Duc Thang, Chairman of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam,
Comrade Le Duan, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of
Vietnam,
Comrade Truong Chinh, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam,
Comrade Pham Van Dong, Prime Minister of the Government of the Democratic Republic of
Vietnam,
His Excellency Nguyen Huu Tho, Chairman of the Central Committee of the South Vietnam
National Liberation Front,
His Excellency Hoang Tan Phat, Chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of
the Republic of South Vietnam:
On the occasion of the formal signing in Paris of the Agreement on Ending the War and
Restoring Peace in Vietnam, we, on behalf of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese
government, and the Chinese people, extend our warmest congratulations and highest
respect to you, and through you to the Workers' Party of Vietnam and the Government of
the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, the
Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, and to the people
of North and South Vietnam.
For the independence of their country and the liberation of their nation, the heroic
Vietnamese people, holding high President Ho Chi Minh's banner of "decisive battle, decisive
victory," waged a bloody battle against U.S. imperialism for more than a decade. They
ultimately persuaded the U.S. government to sign the Vietnam Armistice and Peace
Agreement, agreeing to the deadline-bound withdrawal of all U.S. and its allies' armed
forces. The agreement also affirmed the fundamental national rights of the Vietnamese
people and the right of self-determination of the people of South Vietnam. This created
conditions for the Vietnamese people to resolve their own problems without foreign armed
interference and opened up prospects for peace, independence, unity, democracy, and
prosperity in Vietnam.
The signing of the Paris Agreement is a major achievement of the Vietnamese people's
protracted struggle on the military, political, and diplomatic fronts. It is a great victory



achieved through the Vietnamese people's self-reliance, arduous struggle, and persistence in
the protracted people's war. It is a great victory for the united struggle of the three
Indochinese peoples, and a common victory for the people of the world, including the
American people.
The Chinese people are heartfeltly happy for the Vietnamese people's victory, as if it were
their own. The tenacious revolutionary spirit and fearless heroism you displayed during the
protracted war of resistance have won the admiration and praise of people around the
world. Your shining example proves that a small country can defeat a big one, and a weak
one can defeat a strong one. It is a powerful inspiration to the anti-imperialist revolutionary
struggles of all oppressed nations and peoples around the world. Your heroic struggle and
great victory will go down in history as a shining example of contemporary national
liberation wars.
China and Vietnam are close neighbours linked by mountains and rivers. Our two peoples
have consistently supported and encouraged each other in their long struggle against
imperialism, forging a profound revolutionary friendship. The Chinese people have always
regarded your struggle as their own and supported your just cause as their internationalist
duty. We did so in the past wars against U.S. aggression and for national salvation. In the
future, we will continue to stand with the brotherly Vietnamese people and the brotherly
peoples of the three Indochinese countries, and give resolute support to the just cause of
the Vietnamese people and the peoples of all Indochinese countries.
We sincerely hope that the people of North Vietnam, under the leadership of the Workers'
Party of Vietnam and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, will achieve
new successes in the cause of consolidating and building a socialist North. We sincerely
hope that the people of South Vietnam, under the banner of the National Liberation Front of
South Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government, will work together with the
other two political forces to swiftly establish national committees for national reconciliation
and concord at all levels, hold universal suffrage through consultation, determine the
political future of the South, and continuously advance along the path of independence,
democracy, and national unity. We firmly believe that the Vietnamese people's desire for
national reunification will surely be realized, and that the just cause of the Vietnamese
people will triumph.
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Mao Zedong
Acting Chairman of the People's Republic of China Dong Biwu
People's Republic of China National People's Congress Chairman of the Standing Committee
Zhu De
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai
Beijing, January 29, 1973




[1] Refers to the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, signed in
Paris on January 27, 1973 by representatives of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the
United States, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam,
and the Saigon puppet regime. It is also known as the Paris Agreement on Vietnam. The
main contents are: the United States and other countries respect the independence,
sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva
Agreement on the Viet Minh issue; the United States undertakes to withdraw all U.S. and its
allies’ troops and military personnel from South Vietnam within 60 days of the signing of the
agreement, not to continue its military involvement in South Vietnam, not to interfere in the
internal affairs of South Vietnam, and to guarantee respect for the right of the people of
South Vietnam to self-determination; the people of South Vietnam will decide the political
future of South Vietnam through universal suffrage; and the unification of Vietnam will be
achieved gradually through peaceful means.