VietNamNet Bridge - A telephone call from the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco offered an invitation that surprised Ms. Phung Tue Chau, the owner of Tieng Que Huong Radio.

Chau, who runs Tieng Que Huong Radio for overseas Vietnamese in San Francisco (USA), said:  "I have done nothing to get the invitation…" over the phone when she got the invitation to take part in the 9th National Patriotic Emulation Congress from Ms. Cao Vu Mai of the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco.

Chau is a Vietnamese American who left Vietnam a long time ago. Chau admitted that her connection to the home country had long been through radio programs that look towards Vietnam, produced by her own channel.

These programs, according to Chau, aimed to promote exchanges between the US and Vietnam and to help overseas Vietnamese who still hate the Vietnamese state to understand and love their home country again.

"We are honored to be invited to attend the patriotic emulation congress this time. I hope that my honor will attract other overseas Vietnamese who are still eager to follow our voices and actions to return to serve the country," she told VietNamNet.

She also said that each time she returned home, she saw big changes in Vietnam.

"The Vietnamese people are living in peace," she said.

Regarding Resolution 36, she said that the State has invited overseas Vietnamese to return home and desires harmony and reconciliation with overseas Vietnamese. But there are still many overseas Vietnamese, who have extreme opinions, who still look back to the past and still oppose the Vietnamese state.

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"But that opposition has become outdated, especially after the visit to America of the Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. That visit is a victory of the Party and the State of Vietnam," she said.

As one of the representatives of the Overseas Vietnamese community at the 9th National Patriotic Emulation Congress, Mr. Bui Minh Phong, Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese in Hungary, praised the policies to attract overseas Vietnamese intellectuals to return home to lead research institutions, or establish funds to support research works of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals.

"I think this is the great effort of the Party and the State. Of course, to have good studies, we must have money. Perhaps the State should have more comprehensive policies. Money is not the most important issue but it is the creation of an appropriate working environment for overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, creating good conditions for their studies," he said.

He added that the recent policies for expatriates are very open, and overseas Vietnamese have received many favors from the State of Vietnam.

Phong said that Vietnamese live far from their home country for different reasons but their hearts always stay in their homeland.

"We wish to contribute something to the country. If we can do anything, we will try our best," Phong said.

Thu Hang - Duc Yen - Huy Phuc