Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son has penned an article featuring the Vietnamese diplomatic sector's 79-year history (August 28, 1945), highlighting its pivotal role in achieving the country's strategic goals and elevating its global stature.
He wrote that under the Party leadership and the direct guidance of President Ho Chi Minh, the first Foreign Minister, Vietnamese diplomacy has consistently upheld its pride-worth tradition of serving the nation and the people, contributing to monumental victories in the national revolutionary cause. From the March 6 Preliminary Agreement to the September 14 Provisional Agreement, diplomatic efforts safeguarded the fledgling revolutionary government and steered the revolution through perilous situations.
Diplomacy serves national liberation, construction and defence
During the two national resistance wars, diplomacy rallied global support, creating a broad international front in support of national independence and socialism construction. Alongside military victories, diplomatic successes in Geneva in 1954 and Paris in 1973 were pivotal milestones on the path to national independence and reunification, bringing the north and the south.
Following the national reunification, diplomacy led the efforts in breaking economic embargoes and political isolation, fostering relationships with diverse partners, and resolving critical issues with neighbours and major powers. This trailblazing work has significantly supported Vietnam's comprehensive renewal and propelled it onto the global stage.
Son further wrote that following the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, development, multilateralism and diversification of external ties, active and proactive global integration for national interests, Vietnamese diplomacy has achieved "significant and historically meaningful results", as noted by later Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the 32nd National Diplomatic Conference in December 2023.
Today, Vietnam maintains diplomatic relations with 193 countries, including strategic and comprehensive partnerships with 30 nations. Its economic ties span over 230 countries and territories with 16 free trade agreements, many of which are new-generation deals. The United Nations (UN) has lauded Vietnam for its pioneering role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promoting human rights. The elevation and upgrade of relations with key partners, along with vibrant high-level diplomatic activities in recent years, particularly since the start of the 13th National Party Congress term, have contributed to a new strategic stature and laid a solid foundation for the long-term and sustainable development of relationships.
Vietnam's multilateral diplomacy has flourished, positioning the country as an active and responsible member of the international community. From hosting major events like ASEAN and APEC to fulfilling duties within the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, and UNESCO, Vietnam has proactively introduced numerous ideas and initiatives, actively dealt with global and regional issues, and increasingly engaged in international peacekeeping and disaster relief operations.
In serving development and global integration, alongside pooling crucial development resources such as FDI and ODA, Vietnamese diplomacy has helped position the country as a key player in various global and regional economic linkages through signing and engaging in important economic agreements and frameworks. Additionally, the sector has worked closely with ministries and agencies to advance global integration across national defence-security, socio-culture and sci-tech, ensuring that Vietnam integrates effectively into the global mainstream.
Alongside national defence-security, diplomacy has contributed to maintaining an environment of peace and stability, protecting the nation and peace from early and afar.
“We have steadfastly and effectively fought violations of sovereignty, legitimate rights and interests at sea, while proactively and actively stepping up negotiations and cooperation to settle existing issues. We have effectively implemented the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and actively built a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982),” he wrote.
Cultural diplomacy and news for foreign service have amplified Vietnam's "soft power", showcasing its images, people, reform achievements, and cultural identity to the world. The overseas Vietnamese (OV) affairs have supported the Party and State's policies toward OVs, consolidated great national solidarity, and pooled community resources for national development and defence. “We have also effectively protected our citizens abroad, especially in times of conflicts, wars, and global health crises”, he added.
Diplomacy in new era
In the coming time, the world situation is likely to experience major changes with opportunities and challenges intertwined, he held, stressing that the top target and task of the diplomatic sector is to make the most of and continue to consolidate the favourable external relations, bringing the country into the flow of the times, creating breakthroughs to successfully implement the strategic goals until 2030 and 2045 set by the 13th National Party Congress.
Entering the “new era, the era of the Vietnamese people's rise” on the basis of seriously summarising the foreign affairs lessons of 40 years of renewal and in the context of the new situation and major issues facing the country, the diplomatic sector will continue to innovate mindset and action, consulting and building new solutions to supplement the Party's foreign policy and guidelines, and properly realise the guiding viewpoint stated by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam that "the task of ensuring national defence, security and promoting foreign relations is essential and regular".
As an important driving force for renewal, the diplomatic sector is determined to continuously strive to both effectively support security and development interests, enhance the country's position, and contribute to building a fair international order, ensuring the legitimate interests of countries, including Vietnam.
Son underscored that the sector will leverage, upgrade, and make the most of opportunities from strategic partnership and comprehensive partnership frameworks, while strongly promoting the role of diplomatic methods and channels such as high-level diplomacy, specialised diplomacy, locality-to-locality diplomacy, and scholar and business channels, participating more proactively and responsibly in solving common international and regional issues, proving the core and leading role of multilateral diplomacy in important issues and mechanisms of strategic significance.
Particularly, it will give high priority to building the sector, building the Party and developing a contingent of diplomatic officials with high capacity, good ethics and absolute loyalty to the Fatherland and the Party ideology. Alongside, the sector will continue to closely coordinating with other external relations forces with key pillars being Party diplomacy and people diplomacy, maximising the synergy and specific advantages of each pillar in the unified whole of comprehensive, modern, and professional Vietnamese foreign relations and diplomacy, Son underlined.
Promoting the glorious tradition and great achievements the sector has gained over the past 79 years, and looking forward to the great milestone of the 80th anniversary of the sector’s foundation, following the spirit of serving the Fatherland and the people, under the leadership of the Party, Vietnamese diplomacy will continue to move forward, writing golden pages of revolutionary diplomacy, contributing worthily to the cause of building and defending the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam, he stated./.
