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.
China's clean energy sectors gain edge via innovation, supply chain
Seinfeld's upcoming Netflix movie about Pop
Victory for free speech in the face of Brussels bullies! Nigel Farage returns to right
House prices fell 0.2% in last year, official figures report
PWHL's strong first season coincides with a growing appetite for women's sports
Marte hits tying homer in 9th, Grichuk has winning double in 10th, D
Climate change will cost about $38 trillion a year by 2049, a new study calculates
Tesla asks shareholders to reinstate Elon Musk's $55 billion pay package
Liam Gallagher rents swanky £17,000
USDA and China CCP lab are creating deadly BIRD FLU viruses as part of $1m collaboration
Australian woman denies murdering her former husband's relatives with poisonous mushroom lunch
Pentagon leaders press Congress for Ukraine funding, saying battlefield situation is dire