In 1973 when Le Duc Tho, the North Vietnamese diplomat who negotiated for the withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam, was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of that year with Henry Kissinger, he declined to accept the award on the grounds that peace has not been fully established in Vietnam. He elaborated in an interview,
“Unfortunately, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee put the aggressor and the victim of aggression on the same par. … That was a blunder. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the greatest prizes in the world. But the United States conducted a war of aggression against Vietnam. It is we, the Vietnamese people, who made peace by defeating the American war of aggression against us, by regaining our independence and freedom.”
Thus, spake a man principled and clear-minded enough not to be swayed by a runaway ego and a misplaced desire for recognition, especially not from a world which was somewhat complicit in the war against his people. Tho could have been the first Asian Nobel Peace Prize laureate but to him it was more principled to be the first Asian to reject being one.
In contrast, Kissinger, Tho’s counter-party in the negotiations, was unhesitating and openly gratified in accepting the same joint award. Clearly, adulation and plaudits were important to him and fodder for his ego.
All these brings to mind the recent conferment of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Michelle Yeoh by Joe Biden. Bearing in mind events which are taking place around the world, especially the hotspots of Gaza, Ukraine and a potential one in Taiwan, one can only rue that Yeoh has passed up an opportunity of doing a Le Duc Tho to send a clear message to the Devil that, “Thou shalt not fawn over me and make me a disciple to your mischiefs.”
The irony of being awarded a medal of freedom by a government leader who has no compunction in being complicit in the suppression of the freedom of the entire people of Palestine appears to have been lost to her. One wonders if she has not heard of the plaintive cries of the students in the US and elsewhere protesting against a genocide that is enabled by the US president. Whether she has or hasn’t, it is not very flattering of her.
She has been cited for efforts to advance,
It is lamentable that Yeoh in readiness to accept the award has chosen to ignore the above ugly presidential hypocrisies. It didn’t occur to her that looking at the state the world is in now, it is probably more historic to be the first Asian to decline the Presidential Medal of Freedom that being the first one to accept.
Will she dare now to speak out against the atrocities that are taking place in Gaza? The perpetuation of a futile war in Ukraine and the use of Ukrainians as battle-fodder? The sabre-rattling that might lead to war in Taiwan? Probably not.
And that is why you should be very careful when the Devil chooses to fawn over you.