JOINT CIRCULAR No. 855-TT/LB GUIDING THE WORK OF STRUGGLE AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF INTRUDING, PRODUCING, COPYING, STORING AND CIRCULATING REACTIVE AND OBSCENE CULTURAL PRODUCTS

CIRCULAR

JOINT MINISTRY OF CULTURE - INTERNAL AFFAIRS DECREE NO. 855-TT/LB DATED MAY 12, 1984 GUIDING THE WORK OF STRUGGLE AGAINST INVASIVE ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTION, COPYING, STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF REACTIVE AND DEGENERATE CULTURAL PRODUCTS
REACTIVE AND DEGENERATE CULTURAL PRODUCTS

In recent years, especially since the liberation of the South, the American imperialists, the expansionist and hegemonic Chinese forces, and other reactionary lackeys have intensified their destructive activities on the ideological and cultural fronts in our country. They clandestinely introduced various types of reactive and degenerate cultural products such as books, newspapers, music, paintings, films, video tapes, cards, etc., copied the remaining reactive and degenerate cultural products from old and new colonialism, revived backward culture and lifestyles, propagated superstitions and heresies, and exploited our Party's and State's policy of freedom of belief to oppose us. Their aim is to undermine the world outlook, moral values, and fine traditions of our people, paralyzing revolutionary will, sowing discord within, eroding trust in the Party and State, and destroying the new socialist lifestyle, particularly among our young generation.

Decision No. 3 dated October 25, 1982 of the Political Bureau clearly pointed out: "The enemy exploits economic difficulties and negative developments to intensify political, ideological, and cultural sabotage, vigorously conducting psychological warfare, distorting and attacking the policies of the Party and State, engaging in reactive and degenerate cultural activities, spreading decadent and backward lifestyles, especially among the youth."

"The struggle to defend the homeland, build a new economy, a new culture, and a new socialist person must be closely linked with the struggle against psychological warfare, against the enemy's ideological sabotage, and against the enemy's reactive and degenerate culture."

Although our work in this field has achieved some initial results, many places still exhibit significant weaknesses and shortcomings, showing bias, lacking firmness, continuity, and thoroughness in organization and implementation.

The struggle against enslaving, reactive culture, which aims to thwart the schemes of the expansionist and hegemonic Chinese forces, the American imperialists, and their reactionary lackeys, is a fierce and complex class struggle, a broad and long-term mass movement, and a task for the entire Party, the entire people, all sectors, and all levels. The cultural sector and public security are two key forces, serving the strict guidance of Party committees at all levels and mobilizing all sectors to participate effectively in this work, such as propaganda, education, customs, postal services, prosecution, courts, and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union... The struggle must achieve the results outlined in Decision No. 3 of the Political Bureau: "We must intensify the mass movement to build a new socialist culture and person, eradicate unhealthy lifestyles, eliminate superstitious and heretical customs, and thoroughly cleanse the remnants of backward and reactive thoughts and cultures from feudal society and old and new colonialism. We must identify, track down, and severely punish those engaged in psychological warfare and the dissemination of reactive and degenerate culture, and block the sources of reactive and degenerate culture that the counter-revolutionary elements clandestinely introduce into our country."

To strictly implement and achieve high effectiveness in Decision No. 3 of the Political Bureau and Decision No. 159-HĐBT dated December 19, 1983 of the Council of Ministers regarding cultural and information work in the near future, the Joint Ministry of Culture - Internal Affairs issues this Circular guiding measures to intensify the struggle to thwart the enemy's schemes in this area.

I- IDENTIFYING TYPES OF CULTURAL PRODUCTS WITH REACTIVE AND DEGENERATE CONTENT
REACTIVE AND DEGENERATE CULTURAL PRODUCTS

All types of cultural products with content contrary to the five principles of discipline in propaganda, journalism, and publishing are strictly prohibited and may not be imported into Vietnam under any form. Apart from specialized agencies permitted by the State and required to have strict usage regulations, no organization or individual may produce, copy, store, or distribute them for any purpose.

1- Types of cultural products with reactive content:

a) Propaganda against the Party's line and policies, the laws of the State, socialism, and the construction and defense of socialism in our country, dividing the people from the government, the people from the armed forces, and inciting dissatisfaction towards the Party and State.

b) Propaganda fostering ethnic hatred, dividing the solidarity of the people of the three Indochinese countries, and separating Vietnam from the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.

c) Propaganda for war, against the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, and against global peace, national independence, democracy, and social progress movements.

2- Types of cultural products with degenerate content:

a) Promoting decadent, lewd, reckless, and wasteful lifestyles, and behaviors contrary to the traditional customs and the emerging new socialist lifestyle in our country.

b) Propagating superstition and heresy.

II- FORMS AND MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT

Provincial Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security under the Central Government must:

1- Develop specific plans for this work, report to provincial, municipal, and special zone party committees, and organize campaigns to educate the masses, especially the youth, making everyone aware of the enemy's sinister plots and the harmful effects of reactive and degenerate cultural products, encouraging the people to voluntarily surrender such products, expose, and strictly deal with those involved in trafficking, storing, and deliberately violating the law.

2- Coordinate with relevant sectors to conduct administrative inspections to continuously discover and eradicate the roots of storage, invasion, and distribution of reactive and degenerate cultural products. Promptly refer serious violations causing severe consequences to the judicial authorities for prosecution.

3- Strengthen the specialized organizations responsible for managing the import and export of cultural products under the Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security, and closely coordinate with customs, postal services, civil aviation, transportation sectors... to strictly inspect border gates, airports, seaports, foreign postal offices to promptly detect and seize reactionary and pornographic cultural products being brought into or sent out of the country from abroad.

4- Coordinate to monitor, inspect, and urge local agencies, sectors, and individuals to strictly comply with state regulations on registering and using film projectors, video cassette players, movie films, and video tapes. Strictly prohibit organizations or individuals from using reactionary and pornographic cultural products for business profit purposes; violators will be dealt with according to current laws.

III- PRINCIPLES OF HANDLING

1- For persons committing violations:

a) For those individuals or organizations engaging in acts of intrusion, production, copying, storage, and circulation of reactionary and pornographic cultural products with the aim of opposing the socialist regime causing serious consequences, the Department of Culture and Public Security must prepare complete files to provide to the prosecution and court for timely trial.

b) For those selling or storing reactionary and pornographic cultural products not for anti-revolutionary purposes, without causing serious consequences, they shall be warned, fined, administratively punished, and publicly criticized before the people. In cases of recidivism, they shall be prosecuted before the law.

2- For seized items:

a) All types of reactionary and pornographic cultural products obtained shall be handled as follows by the Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security:

- For reactionary books and newspapers, two copies each shall be immediately sent to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Home Affairs (if there is only one copy managed by the Department of Culture, it shall be sent to the Ministry of Culture, or if managed by Public Security, it shall be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs).

- For pornographic books, newspapers, paintings, and photographs, a record shall be made and they shall be destroyed immediately before a council decided by the People's Committee of the province, city, or centrally governed municipality.

- For reactionary and pornographic movies, video tapes, and cassette tapes, a record shall be made, sealed, and immediately sent to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Home Affairs, one copy each for consideration of deletion or destruction. While awaiting instructions from higher authorities, these cultural products shall be concentrated at the Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security, and absolutely not used in any form.

- For reactionary and pornographic cultural products obtained that are evidence in ongoing cases, they must be managed according to the evidence management system, and after the case is resolved, they shall be handled according to the above provisions.

b) Equipment and means used in activities spreading reactionary and pornographic cultural products shall be handled according to the decision on dealing with the violator.

IV- ORGANIZATION AND GUIDANCE FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security at provincial, municipal, and centrally governed municipalities levels shall cooperate to study and assess the situation, formulate specific plans for campaigns against reactionary and pornographic cultural products in their respective areas. It is necessary to assign some dedicated staff members for this work under the direct guidance of a comrade in the Department of Culture and Information and Public Security leadership.

The cultural sector needs to carry out the following tasks:

- Compile a list of reactionary and pornographic cultural products; regularly update and inform the public.

- Control cultural businesses, establish rules and inspection plans for cultural activities such as producing tapes and cassettes, cultural product retail stores. Strictly manage the distribution, screening, production, and use of video tapes.

- At all locations with border gates, it is necessary to establish a specialized room or team to manage the import and export of cultural products, selecting capable cadres to take on this responsibility. Cadres working at border gates shall be equipped with uniform clothing. These rooms and teams need to be equipped with technical means for inspection, fee collection, and cultural product inspection.

The Public Security force shall conduct investigations and research to identify enemies and bad elements undermining ideology and culture, discovering places of production, storage, circulation, and use of reactionary and pornographic cultural products.

- Inspect and control at border gates, airports, ports, and foreign postal offices to detect reactionary and pornographic cultural products.

- Coordinate with the cultural sector to organize inspections of cultural businesses.

The cultural and public security sectors from central to local levels need to immediately inspect the storage situation and take measures to handle reactionary and pornographic cultural products and other seized items obtained through previous inspections.

The Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security shall report every six months and annually on the progress and summary of efforts to combat the spread of reactionary and pornographic cultural products to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Home Affairs shall issue detailed documents specifying the tasks and responsibilities of each sector to guide agencies and units within the sectors to strictly implement this Circular.

Upon receipt of this Circular, the Directors of the Departments of Culture and Information and Public Security shall immediately report to the Party Committee and People's Committee of their locality to develop implementation plans.