A requiem will be held on Truong Sa Lon Island, part of Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the East Sea this month to commemorate martyrs of Vietnam People’s Army, all soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (1955-75) who sacrificed themselves while protecting Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in 1974, and all “boat people” who lost their lives at sea, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Thanh Son.
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“Boat people” here refer to Vietnamese who left the country by boat after 1975 for different reasons. It is believed that thousands of boat people have died at sea during their journeys.
The requiem will be held during the ten-day visit to Truong Sa this month by a delegation of overseas Vietnamese, the deputy minister who is also chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, Deputy Minister Son said.
The event will be chaired by the committee, in conjunction with the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and the Government’s Religion Committee.
Besides Buddhism, fiver other religions including Hoa Hao Buddhism, Cao Dai, Protestantism, Christianity will also take part in the requiem. Representatives of each of the six religiona will conduct their own rituals during the event.
Collective requiem
Naval soldiers of the Army Republic of Vietnam who were killed in action on Truong Sa did not belong to Vietnam People’s Army, “but they fought invaders to protect the country’s sovereignty over seas and islands, so “we need to recognize that fight as an objective historical event and recognize the fallen combatants’ contribution to the country,” Son said.
Like soldiers of Vietnam People’s Army who were killed in a battle on Truong Sa in 1988, the foregoing soldiers of Vietnam People’s Army laid down while protecting the country’s sovereignty over seas and lands, not while on a front against the Vietnamese people, so it is a just deed to recognize their sacrifices to the country, Son said.
“I think that people across the country are in favor of such recognition,” he added.
Therefore, “the upcoming requiem, conducted in the Buddhist rituals, will be intended for “the heroes and martyrs of Vietnam People’s Army, for all eminent people of previous regimes who laid down protecting the country’s sovereign of seas and islands in the East Sea, and also for our international friends and all boat people who died in the East Sea,” the official said.
Beside visiting Truong Sa for the collective requiem, the foresaid delegation, including those who are developing large projects in Vietnam and those who will return to Vietnam for the first time, will also attend the death anniversary of King Hung Vuong in April, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese said.
A TV program “Dien Bien – Hanoi – Truong Sa” with the theme “Heroic Memories – Firm Sovereignty ” will be held later on May 3.
‘Victim of war’
Many heartbreaking stories have occurred in the East Sea for the past decades, Deputy Minister Son said. “Many boat people left the country by sea for different reasons, including the country’s difficulties, economic circumstances of each family, or the lack of knowledge of the new regime after 1975.”
Of these boat people, many lost their lives in the East Sea for different causes, including being killed by pirates and deaths of accidents at sea, he said.
“No exact statistics are available, but it is estimated that thousands of people have lost their lives in the East Sea after they left Vietnam by boat. In a number of cases, all or two-thirds of the people aboard a boat died at sea, while there were very few cases in which all the boat people aboard a boat completed their journey safely. This is a reality,” Son said.
However, “we are now no longer concerned about the goal of leaving Vietnam of about 4.5 million Vietnamese who are living abroad,” the deputy minister said.
“We should call Vietnamese people who left Vietnam before, during and after 1975 as ‘victims of war’,” he said.
National reconciliation effort
A joint team of the Government made a working trip to the US, Canada and South Korea from March 9-29 to contact many dissidents to the Vietnamese regime, Deputy Minister Son said.
In the US, the team met with the leaders of movements agaisnt the current Vietnamese regime in Texas, New York and California.
Deputy Minister Son said that four or five such leaders will take part in the foresaid delegation of overseas Vietnamese to take a journey to Truong Sa that will last for ten days.
“They will contribute their voices to propagating the true information related to Vietnam’s sovereignty over seas and islands. I hope they will let themselves convinced of how firmly our seas and islands are being protected,” Son said.
“I believe that when they [dissidents] can look at and assess every issue of Vietnam honestly, it will take not long for the national reconciliation issue to be resoved,” the official said, adding that “what they fear the most is that we may offer or sell our land and sea to foreign countries, going against the interests of the nation.”
“The deep hole of hatred will always exist if there is no breakthrough solutions to level it or if there is no people who are ready to get together to act as sincere bridges,” the deputy minister said.
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