In these exciting and proud days when the people of the whole country are looking forward to celebrating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, those working in people's diplomacy are very moved and emotional when looking back at the history of formation and development of people's diplomacy over the past 80 years.
As a great thinker, culturalist, genius strategist, and outstanding practical diplomat , President Ho Chi Minh soon recognized the role and position of people's diplomacy in the overall modern diplomacy of Vietnam. Uncle Ho's thoughts on people's diplomacy are a precious heritage, extremely important for the formation and development of modern Vietnamese diplomacy and have profound significance in his system of thoughts on the Vietnamese revolution.
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| More than 1,000 Finnish people carrying the slogan "Vietnam wins" protested in Helsinki demanding the US withdraw from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, February 15, 1970. (Photo: TL) |
That is the great idea of international solidarity, as a small country always having to confront the powerful big countries in the world , we need the solidarity of international friends to gain independence and freedom for the Fatherland and build the future for our country. We must organize appropriate forces to mobilize and persuade the people of all walks of life in the world to unite and support us, for our legitimate interests and the progressive values of humanity. Uncle Ho's call "Unity, unity, great unity. Success, success, great success" is both for national solidarity in the country and solidarity with the people of the world to achieve success and victory for the country and contribute to the cause of peace and development of the world.
He also put forward a very important perception, that is, people's diplomacy is an extremely effective channel of activity to serve the revolutionary cause. As an unofficial diplomatic channel, speaking for the Vietnamese people, people's diplomacy has a solid foundation in the just cause of the Vietnamese people. It is necessary to mobilize this force to mobilize international solidarity for Vietnam.
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| President Ho Chi Minh received a delegation of the China-Vietnam Friendship Association to attend Vietnam's National Day - September 2, 1966. (Photo: TL) |
| “It can be said that over the past 80 years, with Uncle Ho's ideology and the Party's guidance, with very close coordination with Party foreign affairs, State diplomacy and the participation of all classes of people in the country and the support of progressive people around the world, people's diplomacy has made a worthy contribution to the common foreign affairs cause, creating a mass base, a social foundation, and favorable people for our country's official relations with countries around the world, for the legitimate interests of the nation and the progressive values of humanity," said Mr. Vu Xuan Hong. |
He also put forward a very important idea that it is necessary to combine smoothly the three forces that make up Vietnam's diplomacy, which are Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and people's diplomacy. In which, people's diplomacy has a very unique position, serving the Party's foreign affairs cause and supporting State diplomacy. People's diplomacy needs to operate very flexibly, proactively, sincerely with the spirit of taking the people as the root, must let many people's forces participate in this work and have organizations that act as the core for people's diplomacy activities.
Uncle Ho's great thoughts have accompanied us throughout the past 80 years of history and are the guiding principle for our country's people's foreign affairs activities. Not only did he put forward extremely important thoughts on people's foreign affairs, he also directly directed the organizational work, laying the foundation for our people's foreign affairs organization system.
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| President Ho Chi Minh received Mrs. I. Gandhi and Mrs. Aruna Asaf Ali, an Indian peace fighter (February 1958). (Photo: TL) |
Just over a month after reading the Declaration of Independence on September 2, on October 17, 1945, Uncle Ho organized the Vietnam - US Friendship Association, the predecessor of today's Vietnam - US Association. In 1946, Uncle Ho organized the Vietnam - China Friendship Association, the predecessor of today's Vietnam - China Friendship Association. In 1950, Uncle Ho directed the establishment of the Vietnam - Soviet Union Friendship Association (today's Vietnam - Russia Friendship Association). He also directed the establishment of the Vietnam World Peace Protection Committee and requested Vietnamese people's organizations to participate in the activities of world democratic organizations. This is an extremely important organizational foundation for our people's diplomacy to this day and is a manifestation of Uncle Ho's strategic vision in bringing people's diplomacy into building friendly and cooperative relations with major countries and solving global issues of the time.
Smooth coordination of the "three legs"
Right from the early years of the young Democratic Republic of Vietnam, people's foreign affairs were organized in a very systematic way, thereby bringing these organizations into the general foreign affairs activities of the whole country, focusing on major countries such as relations with the people of the United States, China, the Soviet Union, Laos and Cambodia and international democratic organizations. From there, participating in multilateral activities for peace and development of the world. Later, Uncle Ho and the Party continued to direct the establishment of friendship associations with European and Asian countries and with people of other countries in the world to form a united front of the world's people to support the Vietnamese people.
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| Polish people welcome President Ho Chi Minh and the delegation of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, July 1957. (Photo: TL) |
“These days, people working in people's diplomacy have had a great joy when the Party and State awarded the title of Hero of Labor to former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh. She is an outstanding diplomat of Vietnam, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, former Head of the Negotiation Delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam at the Paris Conference, former Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's External Relations Commission, former President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations... She is the "eldest sister" of Vietnam's people's diplomacy and a typical example of people's diplomacy activities. Her life and career are a vivid symbol of the smooth combination of the three forces that make up Vietnam's diplomacy. This is also a great encouragement for those working in foreign affairs nationwide, including people's diplomacy", said Mr. Vu Xuan Hong. |
During the years of resistance against the French, under the direction of Uncle Ho, people's diplomacy formed an international network of friends right in France and European countries, enlisting the support of the people of socialist countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to mobilize the people of the world to put pressure on the colonial government, to soon end the war and their occupation of Vietnam. French peace fighters such as Henri Martin and Raymonde Dien were truly the banners uniting the youth, intellectuals and people of France as well as the people of Europe and other countries to support our people's resistance against the French. This created a great encouragement for us to resist, build the nation and achieve the Dien Bien Phu victory that resounded throughout the five continents and shook the world.
During the resistance war against the US to save the country, liberate the nation, and unify the country, people's diplomacy was extremely active and achieved important results. We opened an unprecedented world people's front in the 20th century, united with the Vietnamese people, coordinated with the struggle on the battlefield and the political and diplomatic struggle of our country in each stage to force the US to de-escalate, withdraw its troops and move towards the success of the cause of national liberation and unification in 1975.
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| Mrs. Raymond Dien and Mr. Henri Martin at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Delegation (Paris, France, September 2, 1969). (Photo: TL) |
After the period of national reunification, we entered the stage of overcoming the consequences of war, fighting to protect the border, and at the same time carrying out a campaign to mobilize the people of the world to unite with Vietnam, lift the embargo, normalize relations with major countries and strengthen international cooperation to rebuild Vietnam after the war. People's diplomacy also continued to write extremely glorious pages of history together with the foreign affairs forces of the Party and State diplomacy, coordinating with domestic people's organizations to carry out the tasks of the Vietnamese diplomatic sector during this period.
Entering the period of integration and development of the country, people-to-people diplomacy with our partners in other countries has increased information sharing and friendly exchanges. On the one hand, it shows the Vietnamese people's aspiration for peace and development, on the other hand, it shows Vietnam's readiness to be a friend, a reliable partner, a responsible member of the world community, striving for the cause of peace, friendship, equal cooperation and mutual benefit among countries in the world.
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| Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh joined the British people in a street protest demanding "America must withdraw from Vietnam". (Photo: TL) |
In particular, under the direction of the Party's foreign affairs, we have coordinated with State diplomacy very smoothly through the establishment of friendship associations with other countries. Many friendship associations and solidarity organizations of the Vietnamese people were established before our country had official diplomatic relations with other countries. There are organizations that were established later to deepen relations with other countries. For example, when Vietnam joined ASEAN. In a very short time after becoming an ASEAN member in 1995, we established both friendship associations of Vietnam with ASEAN countries in general and bilateral associations with almost all ASEAN countries.
People's diplomacy is people doing diplomacy
The experiences of the past are extremely valuable lessons for the Vietnamese people. We have brought the people's forces to approach and mobilize many movements to support Vietnam, from the elderly to the young, all classes of people, including leaders of countries as well as ordinary people. Because of the conscience of the times, because of the justice of the Vietnamese people, against war, for the protection of peace, people everywhere, in every country have organizations, groups, associations, and forces that unite to support Vietnam, "calling with one voice, all respond" to Vietnam in each stage of development of the resistance war against the US to save the country and to build the country after the war. It can be said that our connecting activities with the anti-war movement of the American people have made an important contribution to together ending the US war in Vietnam soon.
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| Leaders of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations received a delegation of senior leaders of the American Legion (AL) Veterans Organization of the United States. (June 2013) |
We have organized many solidarity activities, supporting Vietnam in the struggle to protect the border as well as raising the flag of Vietnam's justice in supporting and helping the Cambodian people. In particular, in breaking the embargo and normalizing relations with major countries, people's diplomacy has had very unique activities, approaching politicians and people of all walks of life in other countries, offering diverse, flexible and effective forms of activities to enhance understanding, promote trust and mutual respect. Our forces participating in people's diplomacy are increasingly strong. In addition to organizations for peace, solidarity, friendship and bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the Vietnam Fatherland Front with its member organizations such as trade unions, women's organizations, youth organizations, farmers, veterans, the Red Cross, the Journalists' Association, the Association of Agent Orange Victims, the Vietnam Federation of Industry and Commerce, and people from all walks of life are actively participating, making people's diplomacy activities rich, partners diverse, connecting friends to create a vivid picture of foreign affairs activities at the central and local levels.
Through the above activities, we have created a social foundation, a people's and mass foundation that is favorable for the State's official diplomatic relations in implementing the Party's foreign affairs. On that basis, we have created favorable conditions for State diplomacy to implement the foreign policy of our Party and State.
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| Conference to summarize and acknowledge the assistance of foreign non-governmental organizations to Vietnam (Photo: TL) |
In the people's diplomacy activities to enhance mutual understanding and the assistance of friends to overcome the consequences of war, many organizations and individuals from other countries have come to support and help Vietnam through the people's diplomacy channel. We have created favorable conditions and ensured strict regulations for friends to support Vietnam in issues related to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, mine clearance, overcoming the consequences of Agent Orange, infrastructure for education, health and environment... These organizations and individuals with their understanding of the country and people of Vietnam have influenced the political world and created conditions for businesses and governments of other countries to cooperate and help Vietnam during this period.
| “The country is moving into a new era, an era of the nation's rise to develop. Remembering Uncle Ho's saying: "In any circumstance, the Vietnamese revolution always needs the solidarity of friends around the world." This is a very core thought of Uncle Ho's on the relationship between Vietnam and the world, including the relationship between people and people. Imbued with that thought, with the reorganization of unions and people's organizations under the banner of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, people's foreign affairs are facing the opportunity to be reorganized, multiplying each other's strength, connecting international partners and friends to be worthy of the requirements of the new situation," said Mr. Vu Xuan Hong. |
With the organizational revolution that General Secretary To Lam and our Party are carrying out, the Vietnam Fatherland Front is gathering mass organizations, socio-political organizations, people's organizations and all classes of Vietnamese people under one roof... This is an opportunity for us to re-energize our people's diplomacy force in the new situation.
An important event that we are witnessing these days is the movement to support the Cuban people launched by the Vietnam Red Cross and the Vietnam Fatherland Front, attracting the participation of many people from all walks of life and all member organizations of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, which has brought about great results and made a good impression on international friends. That proves the fact that if there is good coordination and organization under the banner of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and appropriate slogans are put forward, it will attract the voluntary participation of the majority of the Vietnamese people. That is the opportunity for people-to-people diplomacy to innovate, connect with each other and connect with international friends more effectively in the new situation.
In recent years, we have strengthened international cooperation, coordinated with State diplomacy and Party diplomacy to bring Vietnam to a new international position as well as enhance the substance of Vietnam's international relations.
In accordance with the spirit of President Ho Chi Minh's guidance, people's diplomacy means the whole people doing foreign affairs. We have formed a very powerful team, in which every citizen is a soldier doing people's diplomacy. We have specialized organizations for peace, solidarity, friendship, cooperation and development, departments or personnel specializing in foreign affairs in each member organization of the front. International relations today have "knocked on the door" of every house, even to remote areas and through many diverse and rich forms of exchange. Thereby, people can participate in people's diplomacy activities proactively and positively.
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| Mr. Vu Xuan Hong - former President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations. (Photo: NVCC) |
We have also taken advantage of all channels, including cultural channels, people-to-people exchange channels, organized friendly exchange activities, seminars, workshops, and visits with specific content aimed at enhancing international friends' understanding of Vietnam, raising the Party and State's correct policies on sustainable development, investment cooperation, and expanding cultural exchanges to connect international friends with Vietnam.
The large number of Vietnamese people living abroad today is also a force that can actively participate in people's foreign affairs activities, spreading the cultural and historical values of the Vietnamese people to friends, and being an economic and cultural bridge with international friends. This is also an important resource that we need to pay attention to in order to take advantage of people's foreign affairs activities of the whole country.
On the basis of President Ho Chi Minh's ideology, with the opportunity to reorganize the people's foreign affairs force, I believe that in the new situation, people's foreign affairs under the direct leadership of the Vietnam Fatherland Front will inherit and promote, perform well its tasks in the new situation, continue to write glorious pages of history of people's foreign affairs, implement the foreign policy of the Party and State, and bring our people into foreign affairs activities in a more extensive, flexible, creative and effective manner.
Recorded by Hoang Manh
Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/mot-so-suy-nghi-ve-viec-thuc-xien-tu-tuong-ho-chi-minh-ve-doi-ngoai-nhan-dan-viet-nam-trong-80-nam-qua-215949.html
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