Vietnamese journalist to follow grandpa's passion in fostering Vietnam-China ties

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Vietnamese journalist to follow grandpa's passion in fostering Vietnam-China ties

By Le Thi Phuong, Zhang Jianhua (Xinhua) 20:10, August 26, 2013

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HANOI, Aug. 26 -- Ha Thi Tuong Thu, a lady journalist from the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA), has vowed to emulate her late grandfather's passion in preserving the long and enduring ties between Vietnam and China. "Vietnam and China are close neighbors and our two peoples have shared common aspirations and a long-standing friendship, especially during our long revolutionary struggle for national liberation in the past and up to now during our national development efforts,"Thu told Xinhua shortly before she departed for Beijing in late August where she has been assigned as chief of the VNA's Beijing Bureau.

Thu, who has worked for VNA for more than 15 years, said that she is happy to follow the footsteps of her grandfather who served both their native Vietnam and China during the revolutionary period.

Thu is the granddaughter of Nguyen Son Hong Thuy (Hong Shui in Chinese, 1908-1956), a Vietnamese eminent military official who had been known as"a general of the two nations."In 1948, Son was given the title of"General of the Vietnam People's Army" and in 1955 the title of"General of the China People's Liberation Army." He was the sole Vietnamese ever granted such an honorable title and is the sole foreign general of the People's Liberation Army ( PLA) of China.

Besides his notable achievements in the long revolutionary struggle in Vietnam from 1945 to 1950 and in China from 1925 to 1945 and 1950 to 1955, Nguyen Son was also a journalist. In 1938, Son was the editor in chief of the"Fighting Against the Enemy" newspaper and in 1951 of the"Training for Fights Review"of the PLA. "I am proud of being an offspring of a famous general of both Vietnam and China," Thu said, recalling the achievements of her grandfather as told to her by her mother.

"My grandpa died in 1956 at the age of 48 when my mother Nguyen Thanh Ha was only seven years old. Later, my mother spent a lot of time and efforts in collecting documents about my grandpa's life when the latter lived in China and in Vietnam," Thu said.

Thu said she was always fascinated by the revolutionary activities of her grandfather and his work as a journalist, adding that it was always her ambition to become a journalist like her grandfather.

In 1998, Thu graduated from the Beijing Language and Culture University after four years of study with Chinese linguistics as her major subject.

Returning home, she was recruited by the VNA to work as a reporter for"Vietnam Pictorial", one of VNA's publications issued in many languages, including Chinese. "My knowledge about China and the Chinese language has helped me a lot in my job at VNA. I am really looking forward to my stint in Beijing to further advance my knowledge of China,"Thu said.

According to Thu, the VNA has now 30 overseas bureaus, including one in Beijing and another in Hong Kong, China.

VNA and Xinhua have a close working relationship. The two agencies have regular exchange visits of officials and reporters besides an exchange of news and other publications.

Thu said that Beijing is her first overseas job for VNA and it made her excited and worried at the same time. "I am so glad to be back in Beijing, where I had so many memories of my former student life. However, China is a large country where there is a lot to cover as a journalist. My biggest challenge now is that I have to compete with other foreign correspondents in China as well as with local Chinese reporters," Thu said.

Thu said that she hopes Chinese colleagues, particularly those from Xinhua, would be able to help her acclimatize to her new job at least in the next few years.

She said over the past years, with efforts made by both sides, the Vietnam-China comprehensive partnership has vastly improved. "Definitely, there is now a closer VNA-Xinhua ties as well as among Vietnamese and Chinese journalists,"Thu said.