| During the Cold War,Indochina was regarded by the United States as a "keystone" to contain communism in Southeast Asia,and became a "place of trouble" for power competition.After France withdrew from Vietnam in 1954,the United States gradually increased its attention to Vietnam affairs.In 1955,the United States supported Ngo Dinh Diem to form the Republic of Vietnam(referred to as "South Vietnam"),and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam(referred to as "North Vietnam")and the People’s Republic of China called it a "puppet regime".When Diem came to power,he took a series of measures to consolidate his personal power.Some of the more extreme measures intensified social conflicts and made the South Vietnamese authorities unpopular.In order to regain the popularity of the South Vietnamese authorities and weaken the strength of the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong(especially the South Vietnamese resistance forces),the implementation of "no smoke" psychological warfare became one of the important options for the United States and South Vietnamese authorities.The Chieu Hoi Program(Chieu Hoi Program/ Chiêu-H(?)i)is the longest lasting and largest psychological warfare operation during the Vietnam War.It is also the "ensnare plan" by the United States to help South Vietnam win the people’s heart,namely by attracting the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army and civilians to come to the South Vietnamese government.And invisibly neutralize the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese.Psychological warfare was considered more important than military operations as "the other war",and after World War II,psychological propaganda became an important Cold War weapon.At the beginning of the Cold War,under the psychological propaganda strategy of "fighting for people’s hearts",the United States infiltrated the Soviet Union and other socialist countries in Eastern Europe.Later,with the spread of the Cold War in Southeast Asia,psychological warfare became one of the important weapons for the United States to promote its own values and win the recognition of the third world countries.In this context,when the United States deepened its involvement in the Vietnam War,but its military investment was not proportional to the effect,in order to achieve the purpose of "subdue the troops without fighting",the United States launched psychological warfare operations in Vietnam.The Chieu Hoi Program was carried out by the South Vietnam government with the support of the United States,but the shadow of the United States was everywhere in its implementation process,but the degree of American involvement was different at different times.In general,the Chieu Hoi Program promoted by the United States can be roughly divided into three periods: 1963-1964 was the initial period,during which the South Vietnamese government was in charge of decision-making operations and the United States hardly participated;1965-1969 was the development period,when the United States was more deeply involved in the Vietnam War and strengthened its control over the Chieu Hoi Program.During the final period from 1970 to 1972,the Chieu Hoi Program gradually ended with the implementation of "Vietnamization of the war" by the United States.In the eyes of the United States,this strategy was actually a "decoy plan".Through investigation,the United States learned that the reasons for the defection of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese were roughly divided into two categories: one was psychological fear and difficulties in survival,and the other was dissatisfaction with the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong.In view of this,the United States and the South Vietnamese government induced the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong soldiers and civilians to rally to the South Vietnamese government through propaganda leaflets,radio broadcasts and classical operas,using themes such as "affectionate call","intimidation","reward for defection" and "promising a better life after defection".As the implementation side" of the Chieu Hoi Program,the Viet Cong and North Vietnam fought against the plan by means of "prevention","punishment" and "counter-propaganda".Specifically speaking,first of all,we should strengthen internal personnel education in the political and ideologi--cal fields,strengthen inspection and timely detect the signs of defectors preparing to defect,and avoid our own personnel to contact with the Chieu Hoi Program,so as to prevent defection.Secondly,to punish and warn defectors by investigating and assassina--ting them;Moreover,"false defectors" were used to infiltrate the South Vietnamese government,and "reverse Chieu Hoi Program " was adopted to appeal to the South Vietnamese army and people to abandon the South Vietnamese government.The United States,the South Vietnamese government,the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese waged a battle for the hearts and minds around the Chieu Hoi Program almost throughout the beginning and end of the Vietnam War.For the United States and the South Vietnamese government,the Chieu Hoi Program not only alleviates the military pressure of the United States,but also aims to build the image of the South Vietnamese government as "friendly to the people".For North Vietnam and the Viet Cong,a large number of personnel defected to the South Vietnamese government,resulting in personnel loss,weakened combat effectiveness and demoralized.Although the program had a negative impact on both the Vietcong and North Vietnam,Chieu Hoi Program was largely superfi-cial because of differences between the United States and the South Vietnamese government,and corruption in the South Vietnamese government.In the process of helping the South Vietnamese government to implement the Chieu Hoi Program,the United States unconsciously implied the intention of promoting American culture and values,which was not only the projection of American national power,but also the conscious and unconscious external expression of its political culture.A systematic study of the Chieu Hoi Program in the United States(South)Vietnam will help clarify the implementation purpose,process and historical nature of the Chieu Hoi Program,and also analyze the means and process of the Viet Cong and North Vietnam in the face of external psychological propaganda.Through the process of the battle for the hearts of the people between the United States and Vietnam,we can reexamine the role of "non-force" factors in the exchanges between countries,thus deepening the cognition of the foreign policy of the United States,and observe the experience and countermeasures of a country in the face of the threat of foreign public opinion. |
