the problem is the same with us" and added that "the infinitely
rich experience of China in this connection has taught us a
brand new concept of the road to socialist construction." In
brief, this concept held that in the conditions of overpopulation,
land scarcity and shortage of capital peculiar to backward
Asian countries, the key to economic development lay Jin.
mobilizing and exhorting the peas'ant masses in a forced-draft
labor-intensive program conducted at "leap forward" speed. ,<
In this new approach to economic development in North
Vietnam, a "leap forward" in agricultural production was the
first step. Following the Chinese pattern, party enthusiasts
were sent to the countryside to wage a "sharp ideological
struggle against conservatism in the fixing and fulfillment
of production norms." Taking the lead in this endeavor, Bo
Chi Minh called for doubling the spring 1959 production target,
asserting that new techniques perfected in Communist
China (principally deep plowing, close planting and abundant
fertilization) enabled a technological break-through in agriculture.
Under the influence sf * this "leap forward" psychology,
North Vietnam's Three Year Plan was revised in December
1958 to include hopelessly unrealistic food product ion goals
for 1959 and 1960.
The next step was a "leap forward" in industrial development
to be achieved by following Communist China's "mass line"
of local industrialization. The DRV Minister of Industry conf
idently asserted that Vietnamese workers and peasants, "provided
they are led by the Party and enlightened ideologically,"
could grasp industrial techniques and build a network of small
industrial installations throughout the countryside. The
extravagant Chinese claims for this audacious undertaking--
that i$ constituted a short-cut to industrialization, promoted
agricultural mechanization and helped eliminate differences i
between urban and rural areas--were all faithfully reproduced I
in Vietnamese commentary. When all industrial enterprises in
early 1959 were ordered to build small-scale iron and steel
plants "employing simple methods and using only local materials,';
North Vietnam appeared firmly committed to Peiping's unorthodox
program of "leaping' agricultural and industrial development.
Applauding this fidelity in a message of greetings in May 1959,
Liu Shao-chi lauded "the great achievements of the Vietnamese
people'' who were "displaying the highest labor enthusiasm in
order to achieve great leap forwards in all fields of construct
ion. '