Come back, Sir Donald – the govt needs a Special Envoy for a funeral in Saigon
More travel plans have been set out on the government’s official website over the past 24 hours.
They tell us not only what current ministers are doing. Foreign Minister Winston Peters – for example – will travel to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.
They also tell us what a former Foreign Minister is doing, thereby drawing attention to the death of Vietnam’s long-serving leader Nguyen Phu and our government’s decision to be represented at his funeral by a bloke who is older than Joe Biden.
We refer to Sir Donald Charles McKinnon ONZ GCVO PC (born 27 February 1939), described by Wikipedia as a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and the minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. He was the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008.
Winston Peters has announced that Sir Don will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government.
Peters’ press statement explains:
“It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations.
“It is for that reason that we invited Sir Don to travel to Ha Noi this week as our Special Envoy to attend the General Secretary’s funeral. His attendance is a demonstration of the deep respect that New Zealand has for the Vietnamese people and its government.”
Sir Don leaves New Zealand today and will return this weekend.
In a report on the death of Nguyen Phu Trong, the BBC said –
As the general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party since 2011, and at one point also double-hatting as president, Mr Trong was seen as one of the country’s most powerful leaders in decades.
Besides overseeing the supercharged growth of Vietnam’s economy, the 80-year-old was known for his “blazing furnaces” anti-corruption campaign.
Mr Trong’s death comes at a time of political turbulence for Vietnam’s Communist leadership. In recent months three top leaders quit following unspecified accusations of wrongdoing.”
According to an official statement released on Friday, Trong died “due to old age and serious illness”.
The despatch of Sir Don McKinnon to Trong’s funeral was announced among this batch of fresh posts on the government’s official website –
We refer to Sir Donald Charles McKinnon ONZ GCVO PC (born 27 February 1939), described by Wikipedia as a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and the minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. He was the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008.
Winston Peters has announced that Sir Don will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government.
Peters’ press statement explains:
“It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations.
“It is for that reason that we invited Sir Don to travel to Ha Noi this week as our Special Envoy to attend the General Secretary’s funeral. His attendance is a demonstration of the deep respect that New Zealand has for the Vietnamese people and its government.”
Sir Don leaves New Zealand today and will return this weekend.
In a report on the death of Nguyen Phu Trong, the BBC said –
As the general secretary of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party since 2011, and at one point also double-hatting as president, Mr Trong was seen as one of the country’s most powerful leaders in decades.
Besides overseeing the supercharged growth of Vietnam’s economy, the 80-year-old was known for his “blazing furnaces” anti-corruption campaign.
Mr Trong’s death comes at a time of political turbulence for Vietnam’s Communist leadership. In recent months three top leaders quit following unspecified accusations of wrongdoing.”
According to an official statement released on Friday, Trong died “due to old age and serious illness”.
The despatch of Sir Don McKinnon to Trong’s funeral was announced among this batch of fresh posts on the government’s official website –
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Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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