77 years of Vietnamese diplomacy: Devoted to serving the Fatherland, serving the people
WVR - Above is the title of the article written by Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic sector (August 28, 1945-2022).
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| Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son. |
In the article, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son recalled the 28th of August, 1945, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established along with the birth of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam led by President cum Foreign Minister Ho Chi Minh.
"Over the past 77 years, under the leadership of the Party, upholding the national tradition of peace-loving but unyielding diplomacy and following Ho Chi Minh’s diplomatic thought, the diplomatic sector has continuously developed in a comprehensive and strong manner, making important contributions to the revolutionary cause of the nation", he stated.
Serving the cause of national liberation, development and defense
According to the FM, under the leadership and training of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh, diplomacy became a strategic battlefield during the two struggles for national liberation and construction.
With strategic and prudent decisions, diplomacy made an important contribution to protecting the revolutionary government and the people after the August Revolution.
Along the political, military, economic, cultural fronts, with the approach of “fighting and talking at the same time” and “to be friends with every democratic country and not to be hostile to anyone”, the diplomatic sector helped enlist the great support and assistance of the progressive forces and the international community for the country’s just revolutionary cause, creating victories that brightened the nation's history, including the negotiations and signing of the Geneva Agreement in 1954 and the Paris Agreement in 1973.
After the country's reunification, the diplomatic sector served as a front to, step by step, break through the siege and embargo, establish relations with numerous partners and open a new period and position for the country to develop.
FM Son noted that during more than 35 years of renovation (Doi Moi), inheriting and applying Ho Chi Minh’s diplomatic thought, consistently implementing the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralization, diversification, proactive and active international integration, being a reliable friend and partner and an active and responsible member in the international community, diplomacy with all of its pillars and batches has taken the lead in creating and consolidating a peaceful, stable and favorable environment for the country’s development, protecting the fatherland and enhancing the national position.
Up to now, Vietnam has set up diplomatic ties with 190 countries around the world, including strategic partnerships and comprehensive partnerships with 30 countries, enjoyed economic partnership with more than 230 countries and territories, and signed 15 free trade agreements (FTA), including new generation FTAs, and become an active member of more than 70 important multilateral organisations and forums, etc.
With an expanding and deepening network of foreign relations, the country’s peaceful, stable and independent environment and sovereignty and territorial integrity have been firmly reinforced. At the same time, many import-export markets have been expanded, enabling the country to take advantage of many sources of capital, technology and knowledge for its industrialisation and modernisation, FM Son highlighted.
He also noted that during the difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic, health diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy have made important contributions to the successful implementation of the country's vaccine strategy, creating a prerequisite for the country to switch to safely and flexibly adapting to and effectively controlling the pandemic, and promoting socio-economic recovery and development, and rise up after the pandemic.
The fact that Vietnam has taken on many international responsibilities, such as being the host of APEC 2017, the Chairman of ASEAN 2020 and the non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council 2020-2021, along with the relevant behaviors and reasonable stance on various multilateral forums has helped improve the country's image and stature in the international arena as an independent, self-reliant, innovative, peace-loving, respecting international law, trustworthy, sincere and responsible member in the international community.
The strong performance in cultural and information diplomacy has contributed to strongly promoting the image of the country, people, innovation achievements and cultural identity of Vietnam to the world.
The Vietnamese overseas work has helped consolidate national unity, mobilizing overseas Vietnamese resources for national development and defense. Besides, citizen protection work abroad has seen good results, especially amidst conflicts, wars and epidemics in the world.
The Foreign Minister attributed the above achievements to the success of the proper external policy of the Party and State, as well as the efforts of the whole Party, the people and the entire political system, along with the close and effective coordination among diplomatic pillars, forces and sectors at all levels.
Those achievements are also the crystallization of Vietnam's glorious tradition of foreign affairs and diplomacy, the efforts and persistent dedication of many generations of diplomatic staff.
"It is the nation's revolutionary cause that has nurtured the diplomatic sector's maturity and development, creating a special and unique Vietnamese diplomacy in the Ho Chi Minh era," he said.
Building comprehensive and modern diplomacy for the sake of prosperous people, a strong country, democracy, justice and civilization
The Foreign Minister highlighted that under the direction and guidelines of the Party’s 13th National Party Congress’ foreign policy, Vietnam’s diplomatic sector is entering a new stage of development, aligned with the implementation of the policy of “building a comprehensive and modern diplomacy with three pillars: Party, State and people diplomacy”.
As the main force on the country’s external affairs front, the diplomatic sector continues to closely coordinate with Party, State and people diplomacy and diplomacy in the fields of national defense, security, economy, culture and society, to implement synchronously, creatively and effectively tasks set for external affairs.
According to FM Son, the diplomatic sector will focus on maintaining a peaceful and stable environment in parallel with resolutely and persistently safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, while expanding and deepening relations with neighboring countries, important partners and traditional friends, and taking full advantage of favourable international factors.
“Taking the people, locality and business as a service-centered business”, the sector will also renovate itself to seek new ways and areas to expand markets and mobilise external resources for realizing aspirations, vision and targets of development while promoting Vietnam’s role in important multilateral mechanisms to further enhance the international position and reputation of Vietnam.
"Faced with the requirements of the situation and tasks in the new period, it is necessary to build a clean, strong, comprehensive and modern diplomacy," he said.
He also quoted General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as saying at the first National Foreign Relations Conference that “a good diplomat and foreign affairs activist must first be a good politician" and affirmed that the essential thing is to build a contingent of diplomatic cadres absolutely loyal to the Party, dedicated to serving the Fatherland, serving the people and being firmly, strategically, professionally qualified to reach the regional and international level.
To do so, the FM noted that the diplomatic sector will also strengthen Party building and rectification, step up the studying and following of President Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle, while developing a staff of cadres with strong political mettle and professional capacity.
Looking back on the past 77 years, generations of diplomats have expressed their infinite gratitude to the great President Ho Chi Minh, the founder of and the father of the country’s diplomacy with a unique and precious heritage.
"Learning and applying creatively his diplomatic thought and promoting the glorious tradition of Vietnam’s revolutionary diplomacy, the entire diplomatic sector under the leadership of the Party is determined to build a clean, strong, comprehensive and modern diplomacy, making worthy contributions to the realization of the goal of prosperous people, a strong country, democracy, justice and civilization," he stated.
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