Global conversations
When Margaret Thatcher was elected British Prime Minister I was fourteen years old, and about to take my first “O-levels” (school exams). When she resigned I had been through school, a university degree course, a managerial training programme, several other private sector jobs and a doctorate. She had been one of the world’s most prominent political figures through all of my formative years and, though I never met her, hearing the … Read more »Lady Thatcher
1. It is not official diplomatic channels but personal links that lie at the heart of the bilateral relationship. Vietnam became the world’s fastest-growing destination for British tourists, according to a survey. In the opposite direction, we issued a record 13,000 visas to Vietnamese citizens. 2. Nonetheless diplomacy has its place, and Britain started to celebrate forty years of diplomatic relations. Our launch and promotions around the London Olympics, Paralympics … Read more »10 diplomatic observations on the year of the dragon
When I first arrived in Vietnam, the complaint I heard more than any other was about our visa service. This struck home to me, not least because we want to make a good, happy (and efficient) first impression on visitors to Britain. In fact the complaints turned out mostly to stem from unhappiness about moving our visa processing operation to Bangkok. That is part of a worldwide move to process … Read more »How travel to Britain from South Vietnam just got a little easier
It began as just another dinner at my Residence. But genial discussion about science, education and the media was interrupted by a sudden explosion of passion when Professor Harry Kroto exposed the unfolding drama of a British national treasure under threat. The Nobel Prize winning chemist was in Hanoi to lecture at Vietnam National University as part of the International Peace Foundation’s “Bridges” event. The treasure under threat is the birthplace … Read more »Nobel Prize winner reveals heart-breaking news
I watch the General Secretary’s plane taxi off to a Heathrow runway. It had taken nearly forty years since the beginning of diplomatic relations to stage that historic handshake. But there was just enough time to return to Whitehall and then get out to Gatwick for the direct flight inaugurated a year ago. I arrived back in Hanoi just in time to welcome Lord Astor at Noi Bai. It is … Read more »How we made a little history in eight days
Outside the iconic No 10 door, on the crisp cold evening of 22 January, I watched the British Prime Minister shake hands with the Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the first ever such meeting. Inside, the atmosphere was gracious, workmanlike and constructive. The following morning I perched on the Speaker’s balcony in parliament alongside a group of Vietnamese delegates, above a noisy session of questions to the Prime … Read more »Two very different encounters with Prime Minister David Cameron
Over a cup of Lipton tea (yes, Sir Thomas Lipton was British) during a short break in a seminar at Hanoi University, the students told me about their dreams. English footballers like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney were mentioned, but many also spoke of ambitions to become diplomats. How did you become an ambassador, they asked. As one compelling young woman said, it is a rare privilege and responsibility to … Read more »How to become an ambassador
Along a dark corridor a line of twelve middle-aged faces stare into the British Embassy. These are the Ambassadors at Hanoi before me. The first face is that of John Fawcett, who was here in 1973 when the United Kingdom and the then Democratic Republic of Vietnam established diplomatic relations. The custom of keeping the photos former Ambassadors on the Embassy walls – not unique to Hanoi – appears to … Read more »Forty years of diplomatic relations
Jeremy Browne, Foreign Office Minister for Asia Pacific, is excited to be coming back to Vietnam next week. Late in the evening at the end of his first visit a year ago, we sat at a cafe overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake, and Mr Browne told me how impressed he was. Since then we haven’t looked back. There have been obstacles and problems. But the commitment on both sides has driven forward an ambitious agenda. … Read more »Welcome back Minister Jeremy Browne
“Your pens are offensive weapons to defend the just against the unjust” – President Ho Chi Minh. I pay tribute to many fine media professionals in Vietnam, both in journalism and in government. We are proud to support them, working together in a modest way on professionalism, ethical conduct, and tackling obstruction. So although I was pleased when a Vietnamese newspaper invited me to write an article for the occasion … Read more »Vietnam Revolutionary Journalism Day