A ceremony was held in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang on April 23 to mark not only the South’s liberation but also repulsing the US-backed Saigon regime’s violation of the Paris Accords.

Due to their heavy losses on the battlefield, the Saigon regime and its backer--the US --were forced to sign the Paris Accords on January 27, 1973, under which they had to recognise Vietnam ’s sovereignty and withdraw US troops and allied forces.

However, after the pact was inked, the US provided large sums of money as well as weapons to the Saigon regime in an attempt to undermine the agreement, occupy land, retake liberated areas, and wipe out revolutionary forces and bases.

In that context, the Party Committee and the Military Party Committee of Zone 9 issued a directive calling on the zone’s people and soldiers to push back the enemy’s campaign in order to maintain control of the land and protect the people.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stressed that the celebration was a chance to get a better insight into, as well as to treasure and uphold, the nation’s heroic tradition in the fights against foreign aggressors.

The event also aims to pay tribute to and honour combatants and compatriots who laid down their lives during the struggle for the South’s liberation and national reunification, he said./.