US President Donald Trump caused excitement with the image of waving the red flag with yellow star when he came to Vietnam in 2019 on the occasion of attending the US-North Korea Summit. Previously in 2017, Mr. Trump came to Vietnam on the occasion of attending the APEC Summit. He is also a rare US president to come to Vietnam in the first year of his term - Photo: REUTERS
Those very proud steps have been mentioned quite a lot in recent times.
I would like to share another aspect that is rarely discussed but is a very important part of the vivid and colorful picture of Vietnam-US relations today. That is the very fundamental change in the attitude of the Vietnamese community in the US towards the country and the relationship between the two countries.
In October 1997, two years after the normalization of relations, the first Vietnamese Consulate General in the United States was opened in San Francisco.
That was also the time when protests began by a part of the Vietnamese community against the official presence of Vietnamese diplomatic agencies in California.
Protests lasted for days, weeks, and months during the first two years of the Consulate General's operations.
The Consulate General’s efforts to connect with the community have encountered certain difficulties and obstacles. Many Vietnamese people want to have a relationship with the Consulate General but do not dare to do so publicly.
One of the efforts of the Consulate General at that time was to promote the establishment of the Vietnam-US Young Entrepreneurs Association, gathering about 20 young people who wished to connect with the country to invest and do business. The association operated for a while, but then could not promote its desired role due to resistance from a part of the community.
Twenty years later, when I took on the role of ambassador to the United States, I witnessed a completely different Vietnamese community in America.
There may still be opinions here and there that do not agree with those in the country, but we have noted the very positive contributions to promoting Vietnam - US cooperation as well as the gestures full of love for the homeland and compatriots when our compatriots in the US donate to support areas affected by natural disasters and floods in the country.
The peak was when the COVID-19 pandemic raged, the Vietnamese community in the US, from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the elderly to the young, from intellectuals to businessmen..., all joined hands to help our compatriots in the country. Our people donated money, ventilators, medical equipment, and found vaccine sources.
There are many touching stories about Vietnamese people who live and wait in Washington DC, meeting with government officials, congressmen , US vaccine manufacturing and distribution companies, and calling our ambassador every day, every hour to inform them about searching, negotiating, signing contracts... to bring vaccines to Vietnam.
When I accompanied Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's delegation to the US in May 2022, during the delegation's stop in San Francisco, the biggest surprise for me was that thousands of our people gathered in the large hall to welcome the Prime Minister and the Vietnamese delegation; participated in dialogue, exchanged very comfortably, and took pictures with the Prime Minister and members of the delegation.
There was no fear or hesitation, as I had witnessed when I worked at the Consulate General more than 20 years ago.
Now there are many Vietnamese associations and organizations operating openly, connecting and doing business with domestic partners; meeting and welcoming Vietnamese delegations visiting San Francisco; organizing events about Vietnam and Vietnam-US relations.
That is the most meaningful reconciliation and healing between children of Lac Hong bloodline!
General Secretary To Lam emphasized at the 50th anniversary of national reunification that the spirit of "closing the past, respecting differences, looking towards the future" is a call that touches people's hearts and has great power to move the Vietnamese community around the world, first of all for the future of the Vietnamese community around the world and for the future of Vietnam in the era of national development.
Ha Kim Ngoc (former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US 2018 - 2022)
Tuoitre.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mot-mang-mau-khac-trong-quan-he-viet-my-20250713074603346.htm
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