International media pay tribute to General Giap
The life and career of Vietnam’s first great military leader Vo Nguyen Giap has been widely covered by international media after he passed away on October 4.
Many newspapers have described his death as a major loss, not only for the Vietnamese people but for millions of people who admire him around the world.
The Cuban press has run documentary photos of the life and career of Giap who was seen as an older brother to the Vietnam People’s Army.
The Granma newspaper, official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, has publicly printed valuable documentary photos featuring Giap’s life and his historic meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and President Raul Castro.
The newspaper applauded him as a master of war arts for revolutionary cause and a talented writer who wrote many important books noting his military experiences.
China's Xinhua News Agency has run various articles praising General Giap as a hero and a legend of Vietnam. The Global Times newspaper described him as a good friend of the Chinese people who greatly contributed to the normalisation of the Vietnam-China relations.
France’s Le Nouvel Observateur newspaper published an article written by former French ambassador to Vietnam Claude Blachemaisong who used to have meetings with the General.
The French diplomat recalled his unforgettable memories with Giap who he called “ the Winner of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign”.
On October 5, the Washington Post gave five pages of coverage praising Giap’s military strategy especially his art of organising the people’s war.
The US’ AP News Agency regarded General Giap as a brilliant commander who led the outgunned Vietnamese to victory first over the French and then the Americans.
“A national hero, Giap enjoyed a legacy second only to that of his mentor, founding president and independence leader Ho Chi Minh.” It said.
The New York Times described Giap as an elder statesman whose hard-line views softened with the cessation of the war that unified Vietnam.
He supported economic reform and closer relations with the United States.
A teacher and journalist with no formal military training, Vo Nguyen Giap had built a highly disciplined force that ended an empire and united a nation, the newspaper said.
“He learned from his mistakes and did not repeat them,” Gen. Marcel Bigeard, who as a young colonel of French paratroops surrendered at Dien Bien Phu, told Peter G. Macdonald, one of General Giap’s biographers. But “to Giap,” he said, “a man’s life was nothing.”
US Sen. John McCain, who as a Navy pilot was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for more than five years after his plane was shot down, marked Giap's death on the social network Twitter on October 4.
"Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap has passed away-- brilliant military strategist who once told me that we were an 'honorable enemy,'" McCain tweeted.
The Hindu newspaper of India said the deceased is one of the genius military leaders of the period after World War II.
Corriere della Sera, a leading newspaper of Italy had an article praising General Giap as a hero of the Vietnamese nation’s independence, while another newspaper, La Stampa, called him a hero of all the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Media houses from Japan, Thailand, Germany, Australia and Algeria also ran articles highlighting Vietnam’s greatest military commander.
Many newspapers have described his death as a major loss, not only for the Vietnamese people but for millions of people who admire him around the world.
The Cuban press has run documentary photos of the life and career of Giap who was seen as an older brother to the Vietnam People’s Army.
The Granma newspaper, official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, has publicly printed valuable documentary photos featuring Giap’s life and his historic meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and President Raul Castro.
General Vo Nguyen Giap met with former US Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara
in Hanoi in 1995 (Photo: AFP)
China's Xinhua News Agency has run various articles praising General Giap as a hero and a legend of Vietnam. The Global Times newspaper described him as a good friend of the Chinese people who greatly contributed to the normalisation of the Vietnam-China relations.
France’s Le Nouvel Observateur newspaper published an article written by former French ambassador to Vietnam Claude Blachemaisong who used to have meetings with the General.
The French diplomat recalled his unforgettable memories with Giap who he called “ the Winner of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign”.
On October 5, the Washington Post gave five pages of coverage praising Giap’s military strategy especially his art of organising the people’s war.
The US’ AP News Agency regarded General Giap as a brilliant commander who led the outgunned Vietnamese to victory first over the French and then the Americans.
“A national hero, Giap enjoyed a legacy second only to that of his mentor, founding president and independence leader Ho Chi Minh.” It said.
The New York Times described Giap as an elder statesman whose hard-line views softened with the cessation of the war that unified Vietnam.
He supported economic reform and closer relations with the United States.
A teacher and journalist with no formal military training, Vo Nguyen Giap had built a highly disciplined force that ended an empire and united a nation, the newspaper said.
“He learned from his mistakes and did not repeat them,” Gen. Marcel Bigeard, who as a young colonel of French paratroops surrendered at Dien Bien Phu, told Peter G. Macdonald, one of General Giap’s biographers. But “to Giap,” he said, “a man’s life was nothing.”
US Sen. John McCain, who as a Navy pilot was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for more than five years after his plane was shot down, marked Giap's death on the social network Twitter on October 4.
"Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap has passed away-- brilliant military strategist who once told me that we were an 'honorable enemy,'" McCain tweeted.
The Hindu newspaper of India said the deceased is one of the genius military leaders of the period after World War II.
Corriere della Sera, a leading newspaper of Italy had an article praising General Giap as a hero of the Vietnamese nation’s independence, while another newspaper, La Stampa, called him a hero of all the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Media houses from Japan, Thailand, Germany, Australia and Algeria also ran articles highlighting Vietnam’s greatest military commander.
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