Lê Thanh Trúc

"Truly, times have changed. When we defeated the Mongols, we sent them back on our own horses & boats, always with generous tribute and our excuses for defeating their armies after they crossed our borders. Now the invader sends his own transport and even an emissary to discuss the tribute amount."

“I realized that in the world there are two peoples who are similar in their heroic spirit and are very good at fighting the enemy. Those are the Russians and the Vietnamese.“

President Hồ turned his sun helmet upside down on the table. Running his slim fingers around the outer rim, he said, “This is the situation. Down there is the valley of Điện Biên Phủ – that’s where the French are with the best troops they have in Indochina. They will never get out.”

Liberal Americans whine about helping Ukraine while not even being able to point out where Ukraine is on a map — now it’s wannabe antiwar Westerners lecturing the world about the moral virtues of helping Palestine while not even being able to name the language that Palestinians actually speak.

Putin: US presidents come & go, but politics stay the same. When a person is elected, they may have some ideas. Then people with briefcases arrive, well-dressed, wearing dark suits. These people start explaining how things are done. Instantly everything changes. This happens w/ every administration.

‘Vietnam has shown the ability of “balancing geopolitical rivalries with an élan that has eluded other countries.”’

But Vietnam didn’t go down that path. Instead, Vietnam’s leadership firmly decided on their priority – their own country’s economic interests, not the desire of any outside power to turn Vietnam into a kamikaze.