Vietnam's bamboo diplomacy during the General Secretary's visit to China

General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping once confided: "When talking with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, I found that the more we talked, the more interesting and intimate we felt."

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping. Photo: VNA

At the introduction ceremony of the book Building and developing a comprehensive, modern Vietnamese foreign affairs and diplomacy imbued with the "Vietnamese bamboo" identity by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on the afternoon of November 21, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said that the book has portrayed diverse and multi-dimensional perspectives of those working in foreign affairs and researching international relations of political parties and countries on the role and contributions of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in the formation and development of a comprehensive, modern diplomacy with three pillars: Party foreign affairs, state diplomacy, and people's diplomacy.

According to the Vietnamese Ambassador to China, the Vietnamese bamboo diplomacy ideology and philosophy advocated by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong both inherits the quintessence of Ho Chi Minh's diplomatic ideology and is imbued with the spirit of the times, suitable for the new situation.

Delegates at the book introduction ceremony Building and developing a comprehensive and modern Vietnamese foreign affairs and diplomacy imbued with the "Vietnamese bamboo" identity by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: Nhat Ha

"In relations with a country that is both a major power, a leading power, and a neighbor sharing a border, with many similarities in political institutions and development paths, Vietnam's bamboo diplomatic identity is more meaningful than ever. We need to be steadfast in our stance, resolute and persistent in protecting sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests, while being flexible and agile in implementation, ensuring a peaceful and stable environment to serve development interests, and on the other hand, promoting cooperation to continuously deepen and minimize disagreements," said Ambassador Pham Sao Mai.

The Vietnamese Ambassador to China shared that in his foreign affairs career, he had the honor to participate in serving General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's visits to China three times (in 2015, 2017, 2022) and activities chaired by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, welcoming the highest-ranking Chinese leader to visit Vietnam in 2015 and 2017.

"Those activities, especially the historic visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the end of 2022, left me with the deepest and most lasting impression of the General Secretary's diplomatic style and the philosophy and ideology of Vietnamese bamboo diplomacy," the Ambassador said.

A Vietnamese diplomat revealed: "Leaders and officials of both Vietnam and China are attracted by the calm diplomatic style, profound but extremely close and simple way of speaking, steadfast arguments, resilient but extremely flexible temperament, with a broad vision and profound knowledge of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. As General Secretary and President Xi Jinping once confided: "When talking with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, I found that the more I talked, the more interesting and intimate I felt."

Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai. Photo: VNA

According to Ambassador Pham Sao Mai, the diplomatic style of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has created a special attraction and appeal as the General Secretary always knows how to be gentle and firm, knows the time and the situation, knows himself and knows others, knows how to advance and retreat, adapts to the situation, uses soft and strong ties, inheriting the diplomatic style of President Ho Chi Minh.

"It is the profound philosophies and thoughts along with the extremely attractive diplomatic art of the General Secretary that have created a diplomatic style imbued with the identity of Vietnamese bamboo: graceful, flexible but full of courage, steadfast and imbued with the soul, character and spirit of the Vietnamese people" - Ambassador Pham Sao Mai said.

He believes that the book "Building and developing a comprehensive and modern Vietnamese foreign affairs and diplomacy, imbued with the identity of "Vietnamese bamboo"" by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong "will be a valuable treasure for generations of officials working in foreign affairs to refer to and apply in practice, contributing to building a comprehensive and modern Vietnamese diplomacy in the new era".

Laodong.vn