Current Affairs

The story of President Ho Chi Minh's birthday in England.

Vuong Thua Phong - Former Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee's Foreign Affairs Department, former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union. • May 14, 2025 14:26

In 1998, I was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the United Kingdom. Just a few days after arriving in London to take up my post, one of my first actions was to take my wife and children to visit the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site in England.

This is the building formerly occupied by the Carlton Tower Hotel on Haymarket Avenue, right next to the historic Trafalgar Square in the heart of London, which later became the headquarters of the New Zealand Embassy and other representative offices in the United Kingdom (New Zealand House).

Nearly 115 years ago, after leaving Saigon to seek a way to save the country, the patriotic young man Nguyen Tat Thanh arrived in France. In early 1913, he decided to go to England, which at that time was considered the birthplace of capitalism and colonialism, the most powerful empire in the world with the symbol of "the sun never setting on England." In May 1913, he boarded a ship from the port city of Dieppe in Normandy, northern France, crossed the English Channel, and arrived at Southampton in southern England. At that time, Southampton was a world-famous port, as it was the departure point of the legendary Titanic for New York, which later met with disaster and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in September 1912.

Upon arriving in England, President Ho Chi Minh stayed briefly in Newhaven before taking a train to London. According to his English friends, the Carlton Hotel, a luxurious and prestigious hotel in the British capital at the beginning of the 20th century, was a frequent lodging place for many prominent figures in politics and major business tycoons from Europe and around the world. During his time at the hotel, President Ho Chi Minh had the opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with workers, communist fighters, and revolutionaries from various countries.

One thing I remember vividly is that when I presented my credentials in Ireland, the country's leaders told me about the friendship and camaraderie between our President Ho Chi Minh and the Irish revolutionaries who were then fighting for independence from British rule. It was during his time in England that our President Ho Chi Minh began to approach and embrace Marxism and Communism on his arduous revolutionary journey to find a way to liberate the nation.

Our British friends have long admired our President Ho Chi Minh. In 1990, when UNESCO passed a resolution honoring President Ho Chi Minh as a "National Liberation Hero and Cultural Figure," organizations and associations in the UK, primarily the British-Vietnamese Friendship Society, the Committee for the Support of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the British Communist Party, and the K. Marx Library, jointly proposed a way to permanently commemorate President Ho Chi Minh's name in the UK by erecting a memorial plaque on the wall next to the main entrance of the New Zealand Embassy on Haymarket Avenue.

Regarding this matter, friendly organizations had to overcome many procedural obstacles that dragged on for two years. The Blue Plaque was finally unveiled at a solemn ceremony attended by city authorities, friendly British organizations, representatives from the Vietnamese and New Zealand Embassies, and a large number of Vietnamese expatriates in the UK. The plaque bears the simple inscription: "HO CHI MINH (1890-1969), the founder of modern Vietnam, worked at the Carlton Hotel here in 1913."

Since I took office, every year the Embassy and my friends and the Vietnamese community in the UK have held a solemn ceremony to lay wreaths in front of the memorial plaque dedicated to him here.

In early May 2000, the Vietnamese Embassy in the United Kingdom was preparing to celebrate the 110th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birth. At that time, Vietnam's economy was facing many difficulties, and the Embassy's foreign currency budget was very limited. Our leaders had not yet decided to hold the celebration abroad. Despite this, I still met with the staff at the Embassy, ​​emphasizing that this year was an even-numbered year and that the United Kingdom was a special place with significant ties to President Ho Chi Minh's activities. Therefore, the Embassy needed to find a way to organize a solemn celebration, inviting both local guests and members of the diplomatic corps in London. Given the limited budget, the staff discussed and proposed a plan to hold the celebration at the Embassy, ​​while maintaining a spirit of economy. However, at this point, I had the idea of ​​organizing a celebration of President Ho's birthday right at the historical site where he lived and worked in London during his early years of revolutionary activity, searching for a way to save the country – that is, right at the New Zealand Embassy headquarters.

My idea stemmed from the fact that, within the large diplomatic corps in London, I had a very close relationship with the New Zealand Ambassador. Upon taking office, I proactively paid a courtesy visit to the New Zealand Ambassador. Mr. Paul East, formerly the New Zealand Minister of Defence, was appointed Ambassador to London about a year before me (the UK calls its member states' Ambassadors High Commissioners). Because the United Kingdom is a leading and important partner, New Zealand always sends very high-ranking officials to serve as Ambassadors.

Ambassador Paul East is a person with a fondness for Vietnam, having previously served in the Vietnam War in an engineering unit. After the Paris Agreement and the reunification of Vietnam, he has been very interested in promoting relations between New Zealand and Vietnam. Ambassador Paul East was very pleased to learn that I had studied at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, and remarked that I spoke Kiwi English. He shared with me that their representative offices are very proud to have their headquarters at the Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site where President Ho Chi Minh once lived and worked. He was delighted to know that I was born and raised in President Ho Chi Minh's hometown, and he also expressed his willingness to participate in commemorative activities about President Ho Chi Minh with our Embassy.

Although some of the staff at our Embassy still had reservations, I remained confident and decided to meet with Ambassador Paul East to request permission to use the New Zealand Embassy as the venue for the reception commemorating the 110th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birth. I was delighted that Ambassador Paul East immediately agreed to let our Embassy use the location and personally took me to see several functional rooms so we could choose the most suitable option for the event. Ultimately, we agreed on the largest and most beautiful room: the Ballroom on the 19th-floor Penthouse of the Embassy.

So we immediately set about preparing for the event. The result exceeded all expectations: Ambassador Paul East not only agreed to co-sign the invitation with me but also offered to handle all the logistics for the reception. He even generously provided all the New Zealand wine for this special occasion. Thus, all the embassy staff had to do was prepare some Vietnamese dishes to bring along.

On May 19, 2000, before the reception, Ambassador Paul East, along with all the staff of our Embassy and New Zealand diplomats, as well as numerous friends and guests, held a solemn wreath-laying ceremony in front of the Blue Plaque at the entrance of your Embassy.

Speaking at the reception in the Penthouse shortly afterwards, Ambassador Paul East praised Vietnam's achievements in innovation and foreign policy, and expressed his delight at the new developments in New Zealand-Vietnam relations. Expressing his respect and admiration for the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh, Mr. Paul East highlighted the honor and pride that the New Zealand Embassy is a historical site commemorating President Ho Chi Minh's activities in the capital of the United Kingdom, affirming that he always cherishes and carefully preserves the Blue Plaque commemorating him as a practical contribution to the development of friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam.

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Plate
A blue plaque bearing the name of President Ho Chi Minh is displayed on the building constructed on the site of another building.
The old Carlton Hotel, where President Ho Chi Minh worked during his years in Vietnam.
London.
Photo: VNA

The event commemorating the 110th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's birth in London that year was highly appreciated by the local public, the diplomatic corps, and the large Vietnamese community in the UK, leaving a deep impression of President Ho Chi Minh, as well as the country and people of Vietnam, in the hearts of international friends. A few days later, I wrote a letter thanking the New Zealanders for their heartfelt contributions and assistance. My wife and I also invited Ambassador Paul East and his wife to enjoy a delicious Vietnamese dinner at our residence on Victoria Road next to Kensington Garden.

It wasn't until 2012, when I led a delegation from our Party to visit New Zealand, that Ambassador Paul East, who had by then retired, heard the news and immediately flew from Auckland to Wellington to meet me. Both of us enthusiastically reminisced about the unforgettable event that had taken place 12 years earlier at New Zealand House in London.

I later learned that Ambassador Vu Quang Minh had successfully coordinated with friends and the British authorities to erect a commemorative plaque for President Ho Chi Minh in Newhaven, the first place he visited in England more than 100 years ago.

In September 2002, the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK received a letter from Mr. Paul Tag, a retired British civil servant and cousin of Patricia Loseby, daughter of lawyer Francis Henry Loseby, who had defended President Ho Chi Minh and helped him escape imprisonment by the British colonial authorities in the famous Hong Kong case of 1931. In his letter, Mr. Tag stated that Patricia had recently passed away at the age of 83. Patricia had been a member of a sailing club in Hong Kong until a few years ago, when she fell ill and returned to England to live out her final years in a nursing home in Midhurst, West Sussex, in southern England.

Mr. P. Tag stated that, because Patricia had no husband, children, or close relatives, before her death she bequeathed to him the mementos that President Ho Chi Minh had given to the Loseby family. Of particular note was a photograph of President Ho Chi Minh welcoming the Loseby couple and their daughter Patricia in the VIP lounge at Gia Lam Airport in January 1960. At that time, Lawyer Loseby and his family had accepted an invitation from their former client, now the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, to visit Vietnam as honored guests of the head of state during the Lunar New Year of 1960.

According to Mr. P. Tag's account, the lawyer's family was deeply impressed by the trip, profoundly moved by President Ho's affection for their benefactor. Patricia was particularly impressed by the closeness and intimacy, the respect, simplicity, and sincerity of a head of state that President Ho displayed towards the Loseby family during that historic visit to Vietnam.

The news of Patricia Loseby's death – the daughter of President Ho Chi Minh's benefactor and lawyer – deeply shocked and moved me and my colleagues at the Embassy. The very next day, I wrote to Patricia's relatives and friends, expressing our deepest condolences on behalf of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for this immense loss. Our Embassy attended her funeral in Midhurst, and I immediately reported back to Vietnam, requesting that our Consul General in Hong Kong offer condolences and participate in the memorial service organized by the Hong Kong Sailing Club, where Patricia Loseby had been an active member for many years, to commemorate the deceased. The mementos that Mr. Paul Tag brought to the Embassy, ​​as per the Loseby family's will, were also promptly sent back to Vietnam for safekeeping by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

After completing my term as Ambassador to the United Kingdom, I had the opportunity to return to London many times, and each time I visited the Blue Plaque commemorating President Ho Chi Minh at the New Zealand Embassy. Most notably, in January 2013, I had the honor of being assigned to prepare, organize, and accompany General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on his official visit to the United Kingdom at the invitation of Prime Minister David Cameron. This was the first official visit to the UK by a General Secretary of our Party.

During the visit, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's arrival in England, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his delegation laid wreaths of fresh flowers at the memorial plaque dedicated to President Ho Chi Minh at the New Zealand Embassy. Ambassador Vu Quang Minh had contacted the New Zealand Ambassador beforehand to introduce General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the basement of the building, touring the hotel's kitchen area where President Ho Chi Minh had worked. The General Secretary and everyone present were deeply moved, reminiscing about the years our President Ho Chi Minh lived and worked in the British capital on his revolutionary path of "seeking the image of the nation." At that moment, someone in the delegation softly recited a famous poem by Che Lan Vien:

"And do you remember the London fog?"

A drop of sweat from a small person in the dead of night…”.

Throughout nearly 40 years of working in foreign affairs, including my time studying at university in the Soviet Union, I have had the opportunity to live, work, and travel to many countries with historical sites related to the activities of our beloved President Ho Chi Minh. I have witnessed firsthand and felt the profound affection of numerous international friends and Vietnamese expatriates abroad for the great leader of the Vietnamese people. I could list a long list of locations in dozens of countries around the world—Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America…—that I have had the honor and pride of visiting. All those places still bear the indelible mark of his footsteps!

For me, the memories of the activities commemorating President Ho Chi Minh at New Zealand House in London will forever remain the most memorable and profound, unforgettable memories.

Vuong Thua Phong - Former Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee's Foreign Affairs Department, former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union.