Pham Xuan An was a key figure in Saigon during the 1960s and 1970s. He always maintained a good reputation as one of the most knowledgeable journalists of the war. Whenever his colleagues wanted to verify information or needed some tips, he was the one they called. In general, he was willing to share his knowledge and as he was always extremely courteous, he was always highly regarded. Even though he was a knowledgeable journalist, he was not there to influence others: his articles were always rigorously researched and impartial. Although the truth about his espionage activities is now out in the open, his former employers at the western newspapers have no regrets about publishing his work, and he has remained friends with many western journalists.
A patriot rather than a traitor, Pham Xuan An has always been a clear-headed man. Honoured in his own country, he received numerous medals and was even appointed as a general, although he made sure to distance himself from the communist authorities when necessary. After the war, he guarded this critical spirit, which should always act as a guide to any real journalist.
An came from a small, middle-class Vietnamese family. His father worked for the colonial administration as a surveyor; a privileged position for a ‘native'. However, the young boy quickly became a disappointment to his father: he did not show the deep filial respect that was customary in Vietnam, but instead was a poor student who did not apply himself. His father had great ambitions for his eldest son and so to try and bring him to reason, he sent him to live with one of his uncles in the country as a form of punishment. It was here that the boy saw for the first time the reality of life for most Vietnamese, and he became aware of the hardships faced by his compatriots: the exploitation, social injustice, the racism from the colonials, everything that would contribute to his future political beliefs.
He attended school in Saigon but just as he was about to take his final exams, he dropped everything to join the Viet Minh. It was 1945 and the Japanese were hunting down the French officials that had been appointed by the Vichy government. The Viet Minh was not yet the communist organisation that it would later become and was still primarily a resistance movement that had begun by fighting the occupying Japanese. It was also determined to wrest Vietnam's independence after the war, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. At the time, nationalism and anti-colonialism were the prevailing emotions and they were about to seduce our young man.
An was only 18-years old when he signed up and started as a messenger after undergoing brief military training. Two years later, he had to leave temporarily for family reasons; his father had become ill and An now had to support his family. He started working three jobs at once; in the morning he worked as an accountant, in the afternoon he gave French lessons (a language he spoke and wrote fluently), and finally in the evening, he drove a rickshaw.
Jean-Claude Pomonti
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There is one incident that shows the complexity of a society in which everyone must know his place. One day An remarked that the owner of the rickshaw addressed him in a far more polite way than would normally be the case for an employer to address his employee. He finally stated that he no longer wanted him to drive his rickshaw and although An tried to explain why he was having to drive it at night, the owner did not want to listen. Apparently, a few days earlier An had picked up the son of a family friend, who had then told his own father what had happened.This man quickly informed An’s father, who was still very ill. He was appalled at what his son had been doing and believed that he had debased himself, not realising that An was actually sacrificing himself in order to help his family.
All this work did not stop An from organising student protests against the French. He had never fully left the Viet Minh but in the early 1950s, he passed his exams to qualify as a customs inspector and became a civil servant in the colonial administration.
It was not long before his life changed. An was spotted by an important figure in the Viet Minh, who also happened to be the personal physician to Ho Chi Minh. He suggested that An became an intelligence officer in the Saigon area, where he would be responsible for setting up an information network for the Viet Minh. An was not particularly enthusiastic and was instinctively wary of any kind of suspicious activity. However, the doctor said he had no choice: if he wanted to continue to be in the Viet Minh, then he had to accept.
It was a difficult decision. If he entered into this clandestine world then he would be seen to be breaking his political beliefs. He would have to portray opposing views and work with his enemies: the colonialists and the French military. Soon after, the young man was solemnly admitted as a member of the Vietnamese Communist Party, during a secret ceremony in the jungle. The ceremony itself was presided over by a very important person, Le Duc Tho, who would later be a negotiator during the peace talks in Paris and would eventually, together with Henry Kissinger, be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Despite his initial reluctance, Pham Xuan An very quickly became a model recruit for the Viet Minh. Shortly after the battle of Dien Bien Phu and with the help of family connections, he managed to join TRIM (Training Relations and Instruction Mission), a liaison body between the new South Vietnamese Army, the French soldiers who had remained behind and the Americans who were
