Ottawa (VNA) – A hybrid international seminar marking President Ho Chi Minh’s 136th birth anniversary (May 19) spread his values of peace, friendship, and international solidarity to Canadian audiences and international friends.
Co-hosted by the Canada-Vietnam Cultural and Educational Council (CVCEC) and the Canada-Vietnam Society (CVS), the event drew foreign scholars, researchers, students, young overseas Vietnamese, and members of the Vietnamese community in Canada.
Through academic presentations, book introduction and discussions on music, poetry, and cultural diplomacy, the gathering brought an image of Vietnam as a peace-loving nation rich in humanitarian traditions and committed to international friendship to the Canadian public.
On the sidelines, CVCEC founder Phan Quynh Trang told Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Ottawa that organisers aimed to seed Vietnamese values in Canada through three goals. These include promoting Ho Chi Minh Thought as a peace-and-friendship research subject through objective perspectives of international scholars; deploying art, specifically “The Ballads of Ho Chi Minh”, as a soft-power bridge carrying a lasting message of friendship; and stoking national pride while nurturing a global citizenship mindset among younger generations.
The seminar also underscored how Vietnamese cultural and educational organisations in Canada are driving people-to-people exchanges, building mutual understanding and deepening bilateral ties on the basis of culture, education and shared humanitarian values.
A centerpiece was the rollout of “The Ballads of Ho Chi Minh” by CVS Director Dr. Nguyen Dai Trang, a collection of 25 songs and poems about the late leader written by authors from the UK, the US, Russia, Chile, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Through music and poetry, the book demonstrates how President Ho Chi Minh’s image has long since crossed Vietnam’s borders to become a source of inspiration for artists, intellectuals and friends around the world.
Assistant Professor Joe Pateman from the Department of Politics at Canada’s York University said President Ho Chi Minh’s efforts to cultivate international solidarity and friendship yield insights that extend well beyond national contexts while remaining grounded in practical principles of independence and diplomacy.
According to Pateman, the broader significance of Ho Chi Minh’s legacy lies in demonstrating that international cooperation and solidarity can be advanced through balanced and flexible diplomacy that both safeguards national independence and contributes to global peace and stability.
Participating scholars agreed that Ho Chi Minh Thought remains highly relevant as an important reference framework in today’s increasingly complex international environment.
His legacy is not only part of Vietnam’s historical memory but also a source of values capable of engaging the contemporary world. As global uncertainties pile up, the messages of peace, independence, friendship, mutual respect, and cooperation for shared development left by President Ho Chi Minh continue to hold profound significance.
Those values, they noted, are tied not only to Vietnam’s struggle for independence but resonate loudly in ongoing debates on international relations, cultural diplomacy, and people-to-people exchanges./.
