The book "The Sweater My Mother Knitted" containing content that opposes the Party and the State has been recalled.

On November 22, 2021, the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution issued Document No. 1193/CXBIPH-QLI&PHXBP to the Departments of Information and Communications of provinces and cities regarding coordination in inspecting publications distributed on the market. Accordingly, the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution requested the Departments of Information and Communications to cooperate in recalling the book "The Wool Sweater My Mother Knitted," which was falsely published under the name of Hong Duc Publishing House and contains content against the Party and the State.

Book cover and page content.

In this short story, author Trung Quân wrote, "I want to knit a sweater of freedom and democracy for my homeland to replace the dictatorship and oppression of Communism, to knit sacred national sentiment to replace the foreign dictatorial ideology, to knit prayers and supplications to replace empty promises, deceptive rhetoric, and deceitful lies..." This is just a quote from "The Sweater My Mother Knitted," but it's clear that readers can easily discern the author's intention to spread anti-state and anti-socialist ideology in Vietnam—a kind of subversive, foreign, and imitative culture that has had the opportunity to penetrate quite deeply into Vietnamese national culture, especially among the younger generation.

To promptly prevent the distribution of the aforementioned book in Nghe An province, on November 30, 2021, the Department of Information and Communications issued Official Letter No. 1855/STTTT-TT requesting the People's Committees of districts, cities, and towns to direct their Culture and Information departments to: notify book businesses to be aware of and require them to commit to not buying, selling, or storing the book "The Wool Sweater My Mother Knitted" bearing the name of Hong Duc Publishing House.

Simultaneously, inspections will be conducted at bookstores in the area. In cases where copies of the book "The Wool Sweater My Mother Knitted," bearing the name of Hong Duc Publishing House, are found to be for sale or storage, they will be confiscated and temporarily held at the Culture and Information Departments of districts, cities, and towns. The inspection results will also be reported to the Department of Information and Communications for guidance on appropriate handling measures in accordance with regulations.