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Su Lin visited the tomb of Vietnamese patriotic martyr Pham Hong Thai in Guangzhou. Photo from Xinhua News Agency

Editor's Note

From August 18 to 20, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President To Lam paid a state visit to China. China also became the first country he visited after taking office as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam earlier this month. During the visit, To Lam first arrived in Guangzhou to explore the red footprints of Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary activities in China and interacted with Chinese and Vietnamese friendly people. What is the significance of To Lam choosing Guangzhou as the first stop of his visit to China? Phoenix Reference explains it for you.

Key points

1. To Lin chose Guangzhou as his first choice for this visit to China. It is not just a simple diplomatic arrangement, but has profound implications. First of all, it is a journey of remembrance and pilgrimage. Guangzhou is the birthplace of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the starting point of cooperation between the two parties of China and Vietnam, and the concentrated embodiment of the friendship between the two parties of China and Vietnam. In just a few hours of worship and visits, To Lin conveyed the message that he will unswervingly continue to follow the socialist path, responding to the concerns of whether Vietnam will be "peacefully evolved" by the United States, and also reassuring the Chinese side.

2. Secondly, Su Lin also received a group of Sino-Vietnamese friendly people, including Mr. Huang Qun, who participated in the Vietnam War against France and met President Ho Chi Minh many times, and Mr. Feng Yongfu, who has been engaged in Sino-Vietnamese friendship for a long time and donated his royalties to support Vietnam's struggle against the United States. Su Lin's move also expressed to China that Vietnam would not forget the well diggers when drinking water, and would remember China's assistance to Vietnam in the past, and would continue to uphold Sino-Vietnamese friendship.

3. Finally, Su Lin also expressed that he is the successor of Ho Chi Minh's cause through the narration of his family's revolutionary history. Currently, the Su Lin family is also reported by the Vietnamese official media as a red family. Although Su Lin was not born in Nghe An Province, where early revolutionaries such as Ho Chi Minh gathered, his hometown of Hung An Province also produced many heroes. His two uncles were important figures in the early days of the Vietnamese Communist Party and died in the revolution. His great-grandmother Wu Thi Li also rescued many high-ranking Vietnamese Communists and was commended by President Ho Chi Minh. Su Lin is proud of the history of his ancestors, and he will also show his unique style and characteristics in governing the country in the future.

By Professor Zhao Weihua, Director of the Center for Research on China and Neighboring Countries at Fudan University

Editor: Hou Yichao, Li Renkai

▎General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Linkai and his wife and a high-level Vietnamese delegation arrived in Guangzhou. Source: Sing Tao Daily

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President To Lin paid an official friendly visit to China from July 18 to 20. In such a tight schedule, he also visited Guangzhou and Beijing successively, and visited Guangzhou first.

Although he stayed in Guangzhou for only 4 hours, in such a tight time, he not only met with leaders of Guangdong Province and people friendly to Vietnam, but also paid tribute to the tomb of Vietnamese anti-French martyr Pham Hong Thai, visited the remains of the Vietnam Youth Revolutionary Comrades Association and the Huanghuagang Martyrs' Tomb. Why did Su Lin choose Guangzhou as the first place to visit during his visit to China? This has to do with Guangzhou's special status in the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the revolutionary history of the two parties of China and Vietnam, and it is also inseparable from the history of the Su Lin family.

Guangzhou is the birthplace of the Vietnamese Communist Party

▎ Related exhibition displays. Photo from Guangzhou Daily

The spark of the Vietnamese communist revolution first started in Guangzhou, and then spread throughout Vietnam. Chairman Ho Chi Minh was the earliest communist revolutionary in Vietnam. In his early years, he went to France to seek a way to save the country. While in France, Ho Chi Minh first joined the French Socialist Party, and later participated in the establishment of the French Communist Party and became one of the founders of the French Communist Party. In November 1924, Ho Chi Minh, under the pseudonym Li Rui, came to Guangzhou as a cadre of the Eastern Group of the Communist International and a member of the Presidium of the International Peasant Association. His public identity was the secretary of Soviet adviser Borodin, but in fact he was responsible for the development of the revolution in Southeast Asia for the Communist International.

Soon after arriving in Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh met with the Vietnamese Nationalist Party and independence movement leadersPhan Boi ChuPhan Boi Chau and Ho Chi Minh's father were both Jinshi, and both were from Nghe An. Phan Boi Chau always treated Ho Chi Minh as his nephew. In the early days, Phan Boi Chau launched the Dongyou Movement, fantasizing about relying on Japan to fight for Vietnam's independence, but found that Japan's real purpose was to replace France to invade Vietnam.

▎Ho Chi Minh in the 1920s

In the midst of his disappointment, he happened to meet Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and at the same time, he had the idea of ​​socialism and the idea of ​​joining Russia to resist France. Long before he met Ho Chi Minh, Phan Boi Chau had already met with the Soviet Russian ambassador to China, attempting to achieve Vietnam's independence with the help of the Soviet Union. After meeting in Guangzhou, the two discussed the reorganization of the Vietnamese Kuomintang. Phan Boi Chau was very interested in Ho Chi Minh's suggestions and handed over the list of members of the Vietnamese Kuomintang he had to Ho Chi Minh.

After Phan Boi Chau was lured into captivity by the French, Ho Chi Minh contacted the Xinxin Society, a young faction organization of the Vietnamese Kuomintang in Guangzhou, based on the list he provided. The members of the Xinxin Society, including Phan Hong Thai who died in June 1924 in an attempted assassination attempt on the French Governor-General of Vietnam, Ma Lan, were basically the soldiers brought by Phan Boi Chau from Nghe An.

Because of their common revolutionary aspirations and their hometowns in Nghe An, Ho Chi Minh quickly gained the trust of the members of the Heart Club. In June 1925, Ho Chi Minh directly established the Vietnam Youth Communist League, the first communist revolutionary organization in Vietnam, on the basis of the Heart Club. In order to attract more revolutionary youths who were willing to join the cause of Vietnam's independence, the name announced by the Vietnam Youth Communist League was the Vietnam Youth Revolutionary Comrades Association (hereinafter referred to as "Youth").

▎ Su Lin visited the former headquarters of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Guangzhou. Source: VNA

There were 9 founding members of the "Youth", namely Ho Chi Minh, Le Hong Son, Hu Song Mao, Le Hong Feng, Wang Shiying, Le Quang Dat, Truong Yun Ling, Liu Guolong, and Lin Duc Thu. Ho Chi Minh was the secretary. Except for Ho Chi Minh who came from the Communist International, the other 8 members were all former members of the Xin Xin Society. Moreover, except for Lin Duc Thu who came from Thai Binh Province, the other 8 members were all from Nghe An Province. It was these young people from Nghe An (Ho Chi Minh was only 35 years old at the time) who ignited the spark in Guangzhou, and soon after, it quickly spread throughout Vietnam through the "Special Political Training Course" held by Ho Chi Minh in Guangzhou.

▎ Nghe An Province (also known as "Yi An Province") is located in the north-central part of Vietnam. Su Lin was born in Hung Yen Province in the north, adjacent to Hanoi. Source of the picture see watermark

After the failure of the Guangzhou Revolution, Ho Chi Minh lost contact with the "youth" for a time. Against this background, the youth split into two organizations, the Communist Party of Indochina and the Communist Party of Annam. In February 1930, the two parties merged under the mediation of Ho Chi Minh to form the unified Communist Party of Vietnam. Although the Communist Party of Vietnam has changed its name many times and merged with other parties such as the Indochina Communist League, its core has always been the Vietnamese Youth Revolutionary Comrades Association founded by Ho Chi Minh in Guangzhou in 1925.It can be said that Guangzhou is not only the birthplace of Vietnamese communist revolutionary thought, but also the birthplace of the Vietnamese Communist Party organization.

Guangzhou is the epitome of the friendship between the Chinese and Vietnamese parties

▎ The former site of the Vietnamese Youth Political Training Class (Vietnamese Youth Revolutionary Comrades Association) in Guangzhou. Photo from Guangzhou Daily

After the establishment of the "Youth" in Guangzhou in June 1925, Ho Chi Minh recruited a large number of Vietnamese revolutionary youths from Vietnam to Guangzhou for revolutionary training based on the list left by Phan Boi Chau. For this purpose, he founded the "Special Political Training Class". Ho Chi Minh was the main lecturer of the training class, and Hu Songmao and Li Hongfeng were assistants. At the same time, he also invited leading comrades of the CPC Central Committee in Guangzhou such as Zhou Enlai, Chen Yannian, Yun Daiying, Xiao Chu'nu, Peng Pai, Li Fuchun, and Liu Shaoqi to give lectures. Occasionally, he also invited Soviet adviser Borodin to give special lectures.When the Vietnamese Communist Party was still in its infancy, its ideological exchanges with the Chinese Communist Party had already begun.

At that time, Ho Chi Minh came with the Communist International's mission to launch a revolution in Southeast Asia, but he did not go to Vietnam or other Southeast Asian countries at that time. Instead, he recruited a large number of Vietnamese revolutionary youths to Guangzhou for training. The accommodation, living expenses and logistics support of these revolutionary youths who came to train were mainly the responsibility of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. At that time, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were still in a period of cooperation, so the accommodation of Vietnamese youths was mainly arranged near the Whampoa Military Academy, and the living expenses of the trainees and the venue for the "Special Political Training Class" were all funded by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.The Communist Party of China extended a helping hand to the Communist Party of Vietnam in its infancy, laying the foundation for the establishment of the Communist Party of Vietnam's ideology and organization.

▎Deng Xiaoping and Ho Chi Minh. Source of the picture is in the watermark

From June 1925 to 1927, with the help of the Communist Party of China, the "Special Political Training Class" trained more than 200 Vietnamese revolutionary youths, including Pham Van Dong, Nguyen Liang Peng, Chen Fu, Feng Zhijian, Wu Yuanbo (Hong Shui), Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Huang Wenhuan, Li Ban, etc. After these revolutionary youths received initial training in Ho Chi Minh's communist ideology and revolutionary theory in Guangzhou, most of them returned to Vietnam to engage in the national independence movement and became the spark of the Vietnamese revolution. Some outstanding students were sent to Moscow by Ho Chi Minh for further studies, such as Chen Fu and Li Hongshan. Others continued to stay in China for further studies, such as Li Hongfeng, Zhang Yunling, Li Ban and Hong Shui, who entered the Whampoa Military Academy to study.

Almost all the general secretaries of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the first ten years were from this group of people. Except for the sacrifices and some defectors, most of them became senior leaders of the Vietnamese party, government and military in the future. For example, Tran Phu and Le Hong Phong successively served as general secretaries of the Communist Party of Vietnam (then known as the Indochina Communist Party), Nguyen Thee Minh Kai served as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and secretary of the Saigon Municipal Party Committee; Pham Van Dong later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister of Vietnam, Vo Nguyen Giap served as Minister of Defense of Vietnam for a long time, and Huang Wenhuan served as the first Vietnamese ambassador to China and Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam. Hong Shui not only participated in the Long March and the War of Resistance against Japan, but also returned to Vietnam to continue to participate in the War against France, becoming a famous general of both countries.

▎ Hong Shui responded to the call of President Ho Chi Minh and actively participated in the Chinese revolution, taking part in the Red Army's 25,000-mile Long March, becoming the only foreign general among the founding generals of New China and one of the few "generals of two countries" in the world. Image source: Wikipedia

It can be said that the Chinese Communist Party's selfless assistance to Ho Chi Minh and his "Special Political Training Class" in Guangzhou played an extremely important role in the ideological and organizational building of the Vietnamese Communist Party. The ideological exchanges and organizational cooperation between the two parties began during the Guangzhou Revolution. Guangzhou is indeed the birthplace of the friendship between the two parties.

In addition, Su Lin was born in July 1957 in Chunqiao Village, Yizhu Township, Wenjiang County, Xing'an Province, a village with patriotic and revolutionary traditions in Vietnam, located about 30 kilometers southwest of Hanoi. According to information provided by the Vietnamese authorities,In the modern and contemporary anti-imperialist, anti-colonial and anti-feudal revolutionary struggles in Vietnam, a large number of patriots and heroes emerged in Chunqiao Village, among whom the Su family was the most prominent.。

For example, Su Lin's two uncles, Su Zhen and Su Xiao, were early members of the Indochina Communist Party and representatives of the early Vietnamese communist movement. They died in the revolutionary cause in 1936 and 1944 respectively.His great-grandmother, Wu Shili, rescued high-ranking Vietnamese Communists such as Huang Wenshu, Huang Guoyue, Chen Huiliao, and Chen Ziping.In 1946, she was received and commended by President Ho Chi Minh, and in 2013 she was awarded the title of Heroic Mother by the Vietnamese government.Among the 158 delegates to the Second Congress of the Communist Party of Indochina, there were five delegates from Xuan Gio alone, including Le Van Luong, Le Chien (Su Yi), Su Dui, Su Quang Dau (Su Dien), and Tran Tu Binh (Major General of the Vietnamese People's Army), three of whom were from the Su family. It was extremely rare in the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam that one family accounted for three of the 158 delegates.

▎Su Lin's father Su Quan was a colonel and died in 1996. In 2015, the Vietnamese government posthumously awarded him the title of "Hero of the People's Armed Forces". Source: Wikipedia

Among Tou Lin's elders, only his father Su Quan had appeared in the Vietnamese media and was known to the Chinese. Su Quan was a commander of the special forces of the Vietnam People's Army. He had been hiding in the south for a long time before the unification of Vietnam, and was not transferred back to his hometown until the unification of the country. In addition to Su Quan, Tou Lin's two great uncles Su Quang Dou and Li Jian had participated in the revolution with their great uncles Su Zhen and Su Xiao. Su Quan later served as Vietnam's chargé d'affaires in the Soviet Union, secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deputy minister of the Ministry of the Interior, and president of the Central Administrative College; Li Jian later served as Minister of Public Security, Director of the Political Security Bureau, and Vice President of the Supreme Court. And his other great uncle Su Wei later served as Chairman of the National Economic Council of Vietnam.The above history of Su Lin’s ancestors also makes Su Lin proud, and is now promoted by the official Vietnamese media as a patriotic and revolutionary red family.

The triple meaning of Sulin’s trip to Guangzhou

Because of the above reasons, Su Lin’s choice of Guangzhou for this trip is not just a simple diplomatic journey, but one with profound implications.

First and foremost, it is a journey of remembrance and pilgrimage. Su Lin's first choice of visit to China this time was Guangzhou. During the short few hours in Guangzhou, he paid homage to the tomb of martyr Pham Hong Thai and visited the site of the Vietnam Youth Revolutionary Comrades Association.

Through the above actions, he is actually conveying the following message to the outside world: he is the successor to President Ho Chi Minh's cause, and he will unswervingly move forward along the path pioneered by President Ho Chi Minh and the revolutionary predecessors, and continue to unswervingly follow the socialist path.

On the one hand, this is in response to the concerns frequently raised in the self-media and on the Internet about whether Vietnam will undergo a peaceful evolution.This meaningful trip showed the Chinese side that Vietnam would not deviate from the socialist direction under his leadership, thus reassuring the Chinese side.

Secondly, during this trip to Guangzhou, Su Lin also received friendly Chinese and Vietnamese people within a very tight schedule. They include Mr. Huang Qun, former director of the Guangdong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, who was once a Chinese overseas in Vietnam and participated in the Vietnam War against France, and met with President Ho Chi Minh many times during the war. There is also Feng Yongfu, a researcher who has been engaged in Sino-Vietnamese friendship and Vietnam studies in colleges and universities for a long time, and the nursing staff of the Guangzhou Convalescent Hospital where President Ho Chi Minh stayed when he visited China.

▎Su Lin meets with Mr. Huang Qun. Photo from VNA

That year, the Vietnamese poems translated by Feng Yongfu were published in the People's Daily.He received 9.6 yuan in royalties and donated 9 yuan to the Vietnamese Embassy to fight against the United States.9 yuan may seem like a small amount now, but it was indeed a person's living expenses in the 1960s. Although Mr. Feng's donation of 9 yuan seems to be just a small thing for one person, it is a microcosm of the Chinese people's unreserved support for Vietnam's struggle against the United States at that time. Apart from China, it is difficult for other nations in the world to do this. Su Lin met with Mr. Feng, Ambassador Huang Qun and a group of Sino-Vietnamese friendly people, and also expressed to China that Vietnam will not forget the well diggers when drinking water, and will remember China's assistance in the war against the United States and save the nation, and will continue to uphold Sino-Vietnamese friendship.

▎ Su Lin meets with researcher Feng Yongfu. Photo courtesy of the author

In addition, Su Lin's visit to Guangzhou to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh not only has the above implications, but also has a deeper meaning.He will not only continue the line of anti-corruption and anti-change and adherence to the socialist direction of the Nguyen Phu Trong era, but more importantly, he is the successor to President Ho Chi Minh's cause. This also means that in the near future, he will definitely show his own unique style and characteristics in governing the country.