Vietnamese diplomatic corps abroad hold services for late Party chief

Salvador Valdés Mesa, Politburo member of the Communist Party of Cuba and Vice President of Cuba, pays homage to late Party chief Le Kha Phieu. (Photo: VNA)

 Vietnamese diplomatic agencies abroad, on August 13 and 14, held ceremonies and opened books of condolences for people to pay their respects to former General Secretary of the Party Central Committee Le Kha Phieu, who passed away on August 7.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Cuba held a tribute-paying and a memorial ceremony for the late Party chief and opened the book of condolences on August 14.

Salvador Valdés Mesa, Politburo member of the Communist Party of Cuba and Vice President of Cuba, on behalf of the Party, Government and people of Cuba, expressed deepest condolences to the Party and people of Vietnam as well as the family of late Party chief Le Kha Phieu.

The same day, leaders of Cuba’s ministries and agencies and representatives from foreign missions in Cuba visited the embassy to pay respect to the late Party chief.

In the US, at the services organised by the Vietnamese Embassy, Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc highlighted the life and revolutionary career of Phieu and his contributions to the cause of national construction and development as well as to the country’s external diplomacy, including the Vietnam – US relations.

Representatives of the US authorities and parliament, diplomatic agencies of other nations in Washington D.C, and Vietnamese expatriates, among others, wrote in the online book of condolences and sent flowers to the ceremony.

On behalf of the US Department of Defence, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Reed Werner expressed his deepest condolences to the loss and his respect toward the strong leader, who, he said, had contributed to steering the two nations’ defence ties in a positive manner since the beginning of their normalisation of diplomatic relations.

Co-chairs of the Communist Party USA Joes Sims and Rossana Cambron highlighted the Party chief’s contributions to Vietnam’s national protection, reform, industrialisation and modernisation processes as well as to international solidarity and Vietnam – US people-to-people friendship.

A similar ceremony took place at the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, which saw the attendance of Andreas Zimmer, head of Protocol for Diplomatic Missions and Consular Representations of the German Federal Foreign Office, who came on behalf of the German President and Foreign Minister.

The embassy opened a book of condolences online from August 14 and 17.

Both the permanent Vietnamese mission to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and other international organisations in Geneva and the Vietnam Embassy in Switzerland held ceremonies to pay tribute to the late leader, with their respect-paying services and funeral books opened on August 14 and 17.

In New York, staff at the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN) and Vietnamese representative agencies observed one minute’s silence in commemoration of the late Party leader.

The mission’s services for Le Kha Phieu and funeral book remain open from August 14 to 17 (local time).

The ceremony held by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, meanwhile, saw the attendance of representatives of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and of other countries’ embassies, who came to express their deepest condolences and stressed their nations’ solidarity with Vietnam.

Similar ceremonies took place in Mexico, Canada, Chile, Venezuela, Poland, Hungary, Argentina, Belgium, Ukraine, and Mozambique to show respect to the Vietnamese former Party leader.

Former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu passed away at 2.52am on August 7 at his home.

Over the course of his more than 70 years of revolutionary activities, comrade Phieu made substantial contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. He was awarded a Golden Star, an insignia for 70 years of Party membership, and many other Vietnamese and international orders and medals./.

VNA