DIEN BIEN PHU, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam on Tuesday celebrated the 70th anniversary of the battle of Dien Bien Phu in which the French colonial army was defeated by Vietnamese troops, marking the end of the French occupation of Indochina. At Dien Bien Phu, Vietnamese troops led by General Vo Nguyen Giap, surprised French forces with heavy artillery fire at their mountainous garrison in northwestern Vietnam. When Dien Bien Phu fell in 1954, it spelled the end of almost a century of French colonial rule. “The historic Dien Bien Phu victory is a remarkable event, not only for the Vietnamese revolution,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said in a speech at the ceremony. “It is also a monumental saga that inspired countries rising up to fight for independence and freedom, marking the collapse of the colonialism all over the world.” On Tuesday morning, the commemoration was held at a stadium in the center of Dien Bien Phu, once a village in a valley dense with trenches, barbed wires and bomb craters. It is now a city of more than 80,000 people. |
Top procuratorate reports legal oversight work in 2023Fencing mom Arianna Errigo and high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi named Italy's Olympic flagbearersA ban on singleTaylor Swift's Fortnight music video reunites Dead Poets Society stars Ethan Hawke and Josh CharlesVictoria Beckham and her lookalike sister Louise Adams pose armTaylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department is dismissed as 'flat and cringeBritain's Got Talent judges are shocked as stuntman's deathAlcaraz and Nadal continue recovery from injuries at Madrid Open while Djokovic skips tournament2 brothers condemned to die for the 'Wichita massacre' want a new sentencing hearingUK prosecutors charge 2 men with spying for China, including a parliamentary researcher