Vietnam: The Japanese occupied Vietnam during World War II but allowed the French to remain and exert its influence. At the war's end in August 1945, a power vacuum was created in Vietnam. Capitalizing on this, the Việt Minh launched the “August Revolution” across the country to seize government offices. Emperor Bảo Ðại abdicated on August 25, 1945, ending the Nguyễn Dynasty. On September 2, 1945, at Ba Đình Square, Ho Chi Minh, leader of the communist Viet Minh organization, declared Vietnam's independence under the new name of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in a speech that invoked America’s Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. (source: Wikipedia)

Performers dance in commemoration of Ho Chi Minh at the meeting of the 65th anniversary of Vietnam's independence in Ha Noi on Sept 1, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

This year, the Vietnam government remitted the punishment of 15,446 criminals excluding the state criminals on the National Day to show its benevolence.