Sawt Falasteen - Grand Vietnam parade 50 years after the fall of Saigon

Thousands of excited citizens -- many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Vietnamese flag -- began gathering on the streets of the renamed Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, preparing to sleep out overnight ahead of the display's 7:00 am (0000 GMT) start.

The celebrations come half a century after tanks of communist North Vietnam crashed through the gates of the city's presidential palace, defeating the US-backed South and delivering a painful blow to American moral and military prestige.

"I am proud of having contributed to liberating the south," said 75-year-old veteran Tran Van Truong who had travelled -- dressed in full military uniform -- from the capital Hanoi to see the parade.

"But what's gone is gone, I have no hatred for those from the other side of the battle," Truong told AFP. "We should join hands to celebrate the end of the war."

Around 13,000 people, including veterans, soldiers and ordinary members of the public, will march down Ho Chi Minh City's Le Duan Street, a major thoroughfare which leads to the Independence Palace.

For the first time, more than 300 soldiers from China, Laos and Cambodia will take part in the spectacle.

More than 300,000 Chinese troops were involved in the bloody conflict, according to state media, providing crucial anti-aircraft defence support and helping with logistics and supplies -- but the country's soldiers have never before been part of large-scale commemorations.

Only four years after the end of the Vietnam War, China itself invaded the country, only to be pushed back by Hanoi's troops.

"I think Hanoi is signalling to China that they recognise China's historical contribution," said Zach Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who focuses on Southeast Asian politics.

"It's also another way for them to signal: 'Don't think our foreign policy is lurching towards the Americans.'"

After years of fighting that ended on April 30, 1975, the United States and Vietnam have rebuilt ties to become strong trade partners, but Hanoi follows a "bamboo diplomacy" approach, striving to stay on good terms with both Beijing and Washington.

The celebrations come after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi this month, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to Washington as Vietnam confronts a threatened 46-percent US tariff and American foreign aid cuts that could jeopardise war legacy programmes.

Last week Hanoi's foreign ministry confirmed for the first time that Chinese troops would take part in the display.

- Reconciliation, excitement -

After a war that eviscerated much of Vietnam, killing millions of its people as well as 58,000 US servicemen, the North's victory expanded communist rule over the whole country.

Thousands of Vietnamese who worked for the Southern government fled, while others stayed and were forced into re-education camps.

For many years the victory formed the basis of the Communist Party's legitimacy, before its authority became entwined with economic growth and improved living standards.

In an article published Sunday on the government's news portal, the party's top leader To Lam put an unusual emphasis on reconciliation, saying Vietnamese people must rid themselves of "hatred, separation or division... so that future generations no longer have to experience war".

Most of the population was born after the conflict's end, but many young people appeared excited on Tuesday night as music from a celebratory concert blared through the streets and huge crowds began to form.

Social media users have been anticipating the parade for days after widespread coverage of rehearsals in the media, which is entirely controlled by the state in Vietnam.

"The social media game has been played very well by the government," said Vu Minh Hoang, a professor of history and Vietnam studies at Fulbright University of Vietnam.

"I think many young people are really excited about going out and seeing these very handsome young troops and very beautiful ladies who are in the military," he added.

Posing for photos in traditional dress at the entrance of the presidential palace, 22-year-old Ho Chi Minh City resident Tran Hoang Yen described the 50th anniversary as a "once in a lifetime chance" to celebrate.

"We will all have fun," she said.

H.Darwish--SF-PST