State President delivers message of national unity to overseas Vietnamese

State President Nguyen Minh Triet left Washington on June 22 for Los Angeles where he met with nearly 1,000 overseas Vietnamese, representing more than 1.5 million Vietnamese nationals residing across the US. His message of national unity received rounds of thunderous applause from audiences.
Overseas Vietnamese praised Mr Triet’s visit to the US, describing it “a historic visit”. They also welcomed his presence in Los Angeles City and Orange County – the home to the majority of Vietnamese nationals in the US. In his speech, Mr Triet described June 22 as “wonderful”, given that his talks with President George W. Bush in Washington were successful and that the get-together in Orange County, Los Angeles, left good impressions on him and the overseas Vietnamese community in the US.
“Orange County is home to many Vietnamese Americans. It is a good chance for us to be here and express our sentiments and desire to meet you…. Notably, Nguyen Cao Ky (vice president of the former Saigon regime), who is staying in Vietnam, also flew here to attend after having heard about the meeting. This means we are Vietnamese. Whatever our past, we should love and unite together to build the Vietnamese fatherland ever stronger,” said Mr Triet.
He called on all overseas Vietnamese to eradicate prejudice, break with the past and join hands to build the Vietnamese fatherland.
He said the fatherland always opens its doors to all Vietnamese nationals and that they have no reason to let pending differences affect national unity or the task of national construction and development.
“We should not hold prejudice against those who have different views. We understand that they have not got full access to information about the fatherland or have not had a chance to return and see with their own eyes the fatherland’s rapid development,” said Mr Triet.
The president also announced that as of September 1, 2007, the Vietnamese State will exempt visas for all overseas Vietnamese if they want to return to visit or run a business in the homeland. He went on to say that Vietnam is considering amending its regulations regarding overseas Vietnamese’s dual citizenship status and the purchase of houses in the country.
Quach Hung The, a Vietnamese national living in California, said he was moved to hear Mr Triet’s message.
“The President flew to the US and had equal talks with President George W. Bush to promote mutual understanding and foster cooperation. I agree with President Triet that we were born not to have hatred against each other because we have the same mother (The Vietnamese fatherland). I really hope that the goal of national unity will be realised very soon.”Nguyen Cao Ky welcomed Mr Triet’s first visit to the US and expressed his hope that those who are of different views or filled with hatred against the nation will break with the past and join in dialogues to promote understanding and love for the fatherland.

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President Nguyen Minh Triet arrives in Washington

President Nguyen Minh Triet arrived in Washington D.C. on June 20 (local time), continuing his official visit to the US. Just after his arrival, the President held a meeting with the local Vietnamese community, during which he stressed the significance of the first official visit to the US by a President of an independent and reunified Viet Nam, saying that the visit will help promote the friendly and cooperative relations between Viet Nam and the US, and affirm Viet Nam's rising prestige in the regional and international arenas. President Triet also affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always consider the overseas Vietnamese an integral part of the Vietnamese community of nationalities. He said for Viet Nam to rise to its current position, many generations of Vietnamese, regardless of whether they are in or outside the country, have made unceasing efforts to contribute to the cause of national construction and defence, especially the reforms over the past 20 years. The State leader called on overseas Vietnamese to keep close connection with the home country and pass onto young generations their Vietnamese culture, particularly the Vietnamese language. Before leaving for Washington, President Triet and his delegation were banqueted by the Asia Foundation and met with representatives from different social circles in New York. The President conveyed to the US political, business, and scholar circles the message that the Vietnamese people hope and are willing to join efforts with the US people to raise the two countries' current fine relationship to a new height. President Triet stressed that in spite of the geographical distance, both Viet Nam and the US want to build a friendly and cooperative relationship. Since normalisation, Viet Nam-US bilateral relations have grown rapidly, bilateral cooperation in many areas has been expanded, he said. The President went on to say, "The Vietnamese people want peace and stability for their national construction and development, so Viet Nam is expanding diplomatic ties with other countries, and hope to befriend all countries". The same day, President Triet attended a lecture on education at the Harvard University . Addressing the lecture, the President said the Vietnamese Party and State paid special attention to education and called on US universities to promote cooperation with Vietnamese universities. The Vietnamese state leader also visited the New York headquarters of General Electricity.-Enditem

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