In the battle for power in Vietnam today it appears that no one can
monopol ize and distribute the truth.
In the battle for power in Vietnam today, there is enough evidence to support and illustrate these theoretical propositions. However even more interesting is the challenging and questioning of the ideological apparatus by its former victims and accomplices: intellectuals, writers and scholars. That is no small accomplishment; in the course of a shared history, specific patterns of conduct are established and roles performed until they become taken for granted typifications. Ideologists are expected to provide political guidelines warning writers to stay on the correct path. Intellectuals are admonished to redress incorrect ideological outlooks, while artists and writers are advised to subordinate all personal inspiration and creative activity to the daim of political expediencies. As under other communist regimes, political criteria takes precedence over artistic criteria, thus in accordance with the Party authority structure, higher-level political officiais, regardless of their expertise and taste, are the final arbiters in philosophical, artistic, literary, and scientific matters
alike.94

Hence the troubled relationship between politics and culture is an inescapable issue. Writers and literary critics were unanimous in questioning the competence of the ideological apparatus, denouncing its political arrogance and dogmatic blindness.95 Although the intelligentsia pay formai homage to the orthodox postulate which accords the Party total authority over cultural matters, they nevertheless question the fundamental principles of Party orthodoxy. Writers and literary theorists flrstly expressed their doubts over the viability of "socialist realism", based on the lamentable results of the thirty year performance 96 Next they requested full creative rights, which would also allow for any errors that could arise in their search for truth.97 Some writers even went as far as to advocate the right to meditate upon spiritual aspirations beyond the earthly needs of the human souls98 Last but not least, the most highly respected amongst the Vietnamese literati exhorted the Party to re-examine the literary verdicts condemning the members of the Nhan Van Giai Pham affair, or to lift the censorship from artistic productions such as Trait Van Thuy's films99

The literati were not alone in challenging the ideological control. A growing number in the academic and scholastic world joined the battle against dogmatism and voluntarism. Due to the Party's new cultural openness, their sacrilegious ideas against the monolithic orthodoxy were no longer confined to "underground" cirdes, but gained access to the most authoritative official publications. Supporters of the renewed thinking policy requested democratic participation in the search for truth. Alluding to the examples of scientific discoveries, they reproached the control of individual creativity and opposed the standard assumption of collective wisdom:

"... we cannot replace the independent and creative thinking of the individual with collective knowledge and mass opinions ... Therefore, to really renew our thinking, with the participation of ail in the renewal,genuine freedom o f thought is necessary, no one can monopolize and distribute the truth, but everybody's quest for the truth is the very path to it "100

By bringing to light the process and the practical foundation of thinking, they also indicted the entrenched dogmatism and passive faith of Party cadres, and depicted the liabilities of such backward mentality as: fear of authority, underdeveloped independent judgment, sentimentalism, feudalism, and so forth. The debate was lengthy and complex, but the competent arguments of scholars and specialists were solid and competent and epistemically the ideological bureaucrats seemed to have lost ground. For the first time dogma and ideology appeared to be without defense in face of science and philosophy101 even when the holiest doctrine of Party omniscience was challenged:

"The praxis of our country, especially the praxis of more than ten years of
Indochina Report 16	Oct-Dec 1990