As night descended over America, Vietnam was bathed in daylight. Our journey home took us from the darkness of one hemisphere to the brightness of another. Peering out of the airplane's window, I witnessed the gradual transformation of the sky, from dark to gray, and then to a soft, radiant brightness. Enormous clouds stretched out like rolling waves, revealing their milky white beauty right before our eyes. In the distance, a golden light pierced through the clouds, creating a mesmerizing scene. I couldn't help but wonder whether Mr. Tu Thuc, in his ascent to the heavens, had ever witnessed such a breathtaking sight. Where had he traveled with the fairies, so that he lost all sense of time and was startled to return to the earthly world, finding that generations had passed in the blink of an eye?

The flight was lengthy, and I divided my attention between the sky and the fellow passengers. Despite the plane being labeled as "almost empty," it was quite crowded. Apart from our group of ten Vietnamese, there were also three groups of Americans and Canadians. The majority of the passengers were Chinese, predominantly women and children, including infants cradled in their mothers' arms. Chinese women bustled about, chatting, laughing, and tending to their children's needs. Flight attendants moved through the aisles, offering duty-free items, primarily medicinal herbs and wines. It resembled a bustling market on rails, filled with chatter and activity. Traveling by plane appeared to be a daily routine for the Taiwanese Chinese, given their close ties to New York City. As previously mentioned, New York boasts a thriving Chinatown, drawing frequent business and family visits from Taipei's Chinese community. This routine travel was an essential part of their everyday lives, regardless of the looming fear of hijacking. It contrasted with backpackers and wealthy capitalists who might alter their travel plans due to concerns about flight safety.

The plane ascended to a higher altitude, pierced through layers of clouds, and encountered turbulent patches. Children cried out in the dark cabin. In less than a minute, the aircraft emerged from the clouds, revealing a brilliantly bright sky. It then descended once more into the gloomy clouds, flying within them. Below, a vast expanse of white clouds stretched out. Slightly higher, the sun cast a warm blush, resembling a thousand purple roses. Above, the sky remained a deep shade of blue. Elders often spoke of nine layers of clouds, whether it was true or not was beyond my understanding during this plane journey because the universe is so boundless.

The plane began to descend, and I pondered how many layers of clouds we would cross. Looking up, I saw a layer of gray clouds, while looking down, I spotted a layer of vibrant yellow clouds. The plane entered this layer, encountering a minor bump, before returning to a smoother flight. Entering a thinner cloud layer, the plane experienced another slight tremor. I gazed at a layer of white and gray misty clouds illuminated by the bright sunlight, marking our passage through three layers of clouds. This particular layer appeared thin and hazy, resembling mist and smoke. Though the plane only jolted slightly, it was enough to startle the slumbering children, prompting their cries.

As we neared Taipei, the sun shone brilliantly. The plane descended closer to the drifting clouds, entering the massive expanse of mist. While I observed the landscape, my ears rang due to the increased air pressure. I saw the ground, forests, fields, and lakes, along with familiar sights that people hold dear. The universe, so vast and generous, offered breathtaking beauty, but somehow, it had become a stage for "star wars." Space had turned into a realm of explosive mines and the tearing asunder of planes filled with people, making innocent travelers victims of terrorism. What's even more terrifying is that if civilian aircraft like ours raised suspicion, they could be ruthlessly shot down by U.S. air defense forces, following orders from President Bush. If the plane I was on, soaring amidst the clouds, were to suddenly explode due to a terrorist mine or an American anti-aircraft missile, disintegrating in the midst of this stunning, yet desolate void, where would the infants being breastfed, the elderly women resting with half-closed eyes, and the chattering women end up? What painful consequences would befall their loved ones on Earth? Why must peaceful individuals always bear the brunt of disasters or threats, all due to the insatiable human ambitions for power and unquenchable greed for gain?

Continuing our transcontinental journey, we departed from Taipei Airport on Vietnam Airlines flight CI.0925, bound for Hanoi. Nearly half of the seats remained unoccupied. It was a stark reminder that such vacancies could lead to financial losses for our country's airlines.

This is the fourth consecutive movie Vietnamese documentary won top prize at a prestigious international film festival. Friends from all over the world appreciate Vietnamese films for their humanitarian values. It is inevitable, living compassionately, loving peace and fighting tirelessly for peace is the tradition of our Vietnamese people. Those values have penetrated deeply into our activities as well as our literary and artistic works.Second, meet a group of actors from the Vietnam Circus Federation who just performed in Taiwan, returning home today to prepare to participate in the international circus festival in the French Republic. There are 15 children, including 4 girls, very young. In the group there is Nguyen Ngoc Truc, a talented and enthusiastic young male artist. Through talking with Truc, I learned that the Vietnamese Circus with 29 people had come to perform in Taiwan before the New Year, the brothers took turns coming and going. Truc's group has toured Taiwan for 4 months and 20 days. The performance location is a tourist area nearly 300 km from Taipei. Nowadays, the forms of performance are quite diverse, not only performing in theaters and selling tickets, but can also be accompanied by tours. This Taiwanese guy brought our circus troupe to perform for domestic tourists on tour. Amid the noise of the plane engine, Truc confided:- You invited me to perform, not necessarily because my circus art is superior, but because it is both novel and familiar, easily capturing the hearts of viewers. You like to act for a long time, signing contracts lasting 6 months, even 1 year.  Therefore, we had to drift in foreign lands for long days. Recently, we performed two shows every day. You pay each actor 15 USD for one performance, 25 USD for 2 performances, 35 USD for 3 performances. If you don't perform, you can pay 10 USD per day. You also worry about food and shelter. Truc said, the lives of people far from home are very sad and monotonous, they just go around eating, sleeping, and acting. Everyone misses home, especially those who have families of their own. However, performing abroad has two benefits: it contributes to exchange, friendship, understanding and solidarity between countries, and has more markets, more audiences and more income. To fill the void of loved ones, actors use their free time to practice, maintain and improve their professional skills. Young girls and boys still send emails and even "chat" online through the "chat" service. And the price of Internet services in Taiwan is cheap, not as expensive as ours. , also helps artists far from home to feel less lonely in their homeland. It's fun to think, this year our art has had a good harvest in a foreign land. Nearly a hundred art troupes, from water puppetry, circus, singing and dancing Music, including Tuong, Cheo, Cai Luong, and even symphony, has spread to dozens of countries, bringing artistic voices to delight the souls of many peoples, making you understand yourself, appreciate yourself, and connect with others. A bridge of friendship between Vietnam and friends across five continents. If only people were always related to each other through the bridge of culture and art, not through the bridge of war, then our earth would be peaceful. How many! However, there are those who do not want to bring art, but just want to bring bombs and bullets to other nations. The typical person among them, unfortunately, is the ruler of a country. which we just visited and have a lot of sympathy for - America. Perhaps in human history, there is no young country as warlike as the United States, with its "achievement" in just 212 years from 1789 to 2001, having continuously waged war for 154 years. . It's not because America has many troops and is rich and powerful that it invades everywhere, but because of the lust for power and profit of underground forces in America that has made this country "top of the world" as stated. statistics, without regard to human life and the will of the people, and even less so to the provisions of this country's Constitution.

American scientists, writers, poets and even congressmen, including former US presidents, have criticized the US government for its arrogant and aggressive attitude. Yana Jin, an American poet, wrote: "When we talk about the risk of a new, potentially destructive disaster, we are often not concerned with the origin of the disaster, but we often think of revenge. for a long time... The feeling of "superman" that America is always proud of, has turned America into a target of hostility, which could eventually put America under a Democratic sword... President Bush, put this dilemma bluntly and clearly, "either support America, or don't"... As a general rule, it is usually the rich and strong who defeat the poor and weak. This unfortunately, we are now entering the most normal period in history, when solidarity is understood as collective hatred, instead of tolerance and love.Vietnamese documentary won top prize at a prestigious international film festival. Friends from all over the world appreciate Vietnamese films for their humanitarian values. It is inevitable, living compassionately, loving peace and fighting tirelessly for peace is the tradition of our Vietnamese people. people. Those values have penetrated deeply into our activities as well as our literary and artistic works.Second, meet a group of actors from the Vietnam Circus Federation who just performed in Taiwan, returning home today to prepare to participate in the international circus festival in the French Republic. There are 15 children, including 4 girls, very young. In the group there is Nguyen Ngoc Truc, a talented and enthusiastic young male artist. Through talking with Truc, I learned that the Vietnamese Circus with 29 people had come to perform in Taiwan before the New Year, the brothers took coming turns and going. Truc's group has toured Taiwan for 4 months and 20 days. The performance location is a tourist area nearly 300 km from Taipei. Nowadays, the forms of performance are quite diverse, not only performing in theaters and selling tickets, but can also be accompanied by tours. This Taiwanese guy brought our circus troupe to perform for domestic tourists on tour. Amid the noise of the plane engine, Truc confided:- You invited me to perform, not necessarily because my circus art is superior, but because it is both novel and familiar, easily capturing the hearts of viewers. You like to act for a long time, signing contracts lasting 6 months, even 1 year. Therefore, we had to drift in foreign lands for long days. Recently, we performed two shows every day. You pay each actor 15 USD for one performance, 25 USD for 2 performances, 35 USD for 3 performances. If you don't perform, you can pay 10 USD per day. You also worry about food and shelter. Truc said, the lives of people far from home are very sad and monotonous, they just go around eating, sleeping, and acting. Everyone misses home, especially those who have families of their own. However, performing abroad has two benefits: it contributes to exchange, friendship, understanding and solidarity between countries, and has more markets, more audiences and more income. To fill the void of loved ones, actors use their free time to practice, maintain and improve their professional skills. Young girls and boys still send emails and even "chat" online through the "chat" service. And the price of Internet services in Taiwan is cheap, not as expensive as ours. , also helps artists far from home to feel less lonely in their homeland. It's fun to think, this year our art has had a good harvest in a foreign land. Nearly a hundred art troupes, from water puppetry, circus, singing and dancing Music, including Tuong, Cheo, Cai Luong, and even symphony, have spread to dozens of countries, bringing artistic voices to delight the souls of many peoples, making you understand yourself, appreciate yourself, and connect with others. A bridge of friendship between Vietnam and friends across five continents. If only people were always related to each other through the bridge of culture and art, not through the bridge of war, then our earth would be peaceful. How many! However, there are those who do not want to bring art, but just want to bring bombs and bullets to other nations. The typical person among them, unfortunately, is the ruler of a country. which we just visited and have a lot of sympathy for - America. Perhaps in human history, there is no young country as warlike as the United States, with its "achievement" in just 212 years from 1789 to 2001, having continuously waged war for 154 years. . It's not because America has many troops and is rich and powerful that it invades everywhere, but because of the lust for power and profit of underground forces in America that has made this country "top of the world" as stated. statistics, without regard to human life and the will of the people, and even less than to the provisions of this country's Constitution.

American scientists, writers, poets and even congressmen, including former US presidents, have criticized the US government for its arrogant and aggressive attitude. Yana Jin, an American poet, wrote: "When we talk about the risk of a new, potentially destructive disaster, we are often not concerned with the origin of the disaster, but we often think of revenge. for a long time... The feeling of "superman" that America is always proud of, has turned America into a target of hostility, which could eventually put America under a Democratic sword... President Bush, put this dilemma bluntly and clearly, "either support America, or don't"... As a general rule, it is usually the rich and strong who defeat the poor and weak. This unfortunately, we are now entering the most normal period in history, when solidarity is understood as collective hatred, instead of tolerance and love.ng."Responding to President Bush's statement that the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was a sign of cowardice on the part of terrorists, Ms. Susan Zonta, a US congresswoman, declared: Dad: "Bombing thousands of miles away from America is much more cowardly.".New York eateries often put a piece of paper with proverbs about manners written in their dessert cakes, along with numbers to give customers a chance to win. After the September 11 disaster, when opening these lucky pieces of paper, people often see the sentence: "Forgiveness is the most beautiful thing!". Dear American friends, what you are experiencing today, our ancestors experienced thousands of years ago. The forgiveness that you consider the most beautiful thing, our ancestors repeatedly showed to the invaders of our country after they were defeated. After defeating the Northern enemy, our ancestors also provided food and clothing for their soldiers to return to their homeland. Even after the war of invasion by the US and its allies, Vietnam has abandoned hatred and opened its arms to welcome all nations as friends. Even when the beloved sons of many Vietnamese families died in the war in their country, until now the place where they lay has still not been found, but Vietnamese people still venture into the forest and the sea to help. American families search for their children's bodies. These are the people who listened to the American government and flew on planes to drop bombs on a country they did not hate, and then died fighting on a foreign land. With the United States, the most brutal invader has offended human history through the My Lai massacre and a series of terrorist acts aimed at killing civilians, with South Korea, a country with a brutal mercenary army. inhuman names called Blue Dragon, Bach Ma, nouns synonymous with murder, robbery and abuse... Vietnam has closed the past, established diplomatic relations, expanded cooperation for mutual development. development. development. Even during this tense period, Vietnam continues to carry out the slogan "Vietnam wants to be friends with countries around the world". Vietnamese Party and State leaders: General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, President Tran Duc Luong, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai all flew to many places around the world, expanding friendly and cooperative relationships. work. work. Thanks to its special foreign policy, built on humanistic traditions, Vietnam always receives acknowledgment in the international arena. Vietnam not only participates in cultural and sports events abroad, such as Sea Games 21 in Malaysia, Circus Festival in France, World Youth and Student Festival in Algeria, Vietnam Cultural Week in Argentina and Chile, the Francophone Cultural and Sports Congress in Canada, the Vietnamese Cultural Week in Belgium... but also invite friends to join and celebrate with the Vietnamese people through the International Film Festival, Cultural Day Russia in Vietnam, European Jazz Festival, European and International Film Day, Asia-Europe Conference on Cultural Heritage, concert program commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of the genius musician Vodi , Toyota Concert Program, Fine Arts Exhibition of Philip Morris, Peace Exhibition of 220 Japanese artists... Preparing for the 2001 Hue Festival event, we received overwhelming support from international friends. Surprisingly, in a context where the world is concerned about terrorism and the escalation of war from the US, friends from all continents still come to celebrate with the Vietnamese people.As I write these lines, I can't help but feel happy because I had a wonderful experience yesterday. That was when a close American friend, who always supported our group when visiting America, arrived from New York and we met in a peaceful space in Hanoi. That American friend is Marisa Lopez.

. At the same time, Tim Doling, a sophisticated English friend, arrived from London. On the rooftop of Sao Bac building, we enjoyed delicious dishes with traditional Vietnamese flavors with Marisa and Tim Doling. We recall the memories we had in America. We took commemorative photos under the cold northern winter breeze and in front of the poetic scenery of flowers on the streets of Hanoi.Marisa highly praised the beauty of Vietnam and the friendliness of the Vietnamese people.Tim Doling, elegant as usual, shared about his Vietnamese wife and his child - expected to be a daughter - who is only two months away from being born!Life always exists and develops. No matter how cruel the war, people always find ways to protect and develop life on this planet. The earth is round, and the earth always provides opportunities for messengers of friendship and cooperation to meet.We hope that the earth will forever be peaceful.

Niu-Yoóc - Oa-sinh-tơn - Hanoi October - December 2001 Pham Viet Long