Truong Trieu Duong: A high-caliber diplomat who has just passed away, the father of singer Nathan Lee

Truong Trieu Duong is a famous diplomat. He has held many important positions such as Vietnamese Ambassador to Spain, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chief Representative of Vietnam Senior Officials at the Asia-Europe Cooperation Forum, and Governor of the Asia-Europe Fund.

He is also known as the father of male singer Nathan Lee. Recently, people were extremely saddened when he suddenly passed away due to a stroke. Nathan Lee's father passed away in Hanoi, at the age of 70. The cause of Mr. Truong Trieu Duong's sudden passing was determined to be a stroke. Before Nathan Lee's great shock, many Vietnamese stars such as Ly Nha Ky, Duong Khac Linh, Thuy Hanh... sent their condolences and shared the loss. Mr. Truong Trieu Duong's funeral and memorial service took place on February 9 at the Ministry of National Defense Funeral Home, Hanoi, after which his body was buried at a cemetery in Phu Tho province.

Mr. Truong Trieu Duong has an extremely powerful family background. Accordingly, during his lifetime, Ambassador Truong Trieu Duong once said: "My maternal grandfather was one of the first national capitalists to be awarded the First Class Resistance Medal by President Ho Chi Minh to honor his contributions to the revolution. He and his wife made great contributions in responding to the Golden Week to raise funds for Uncle Ho's government right after the success of the August Revolution.

He was also the patron of the Han Thuyen Publishing House, a publisher with revolutionary and anti-colonial ideology in the pre-uprising period, and he was also the one who donated an entire printing house he owned to the revolution. This printing house was later moved to the war zone and became the first printing house of the People's Army newspaper.

All of their children, including their daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, participated in the resistance war and many became excellent military officers and intellectuals, making many contributions to the cause of fighting the French as well as the Americans later on.

Nathan Lee's father has a great influence on the singer's life. Nathan Lee once said he admired his father's dedicated and serious way of working. The two fathers also have a common interest in music and art. The last time the two appeared in public together was at an event organized by the singer, which took place in 2021.

Nathan Lee once shared about his father: "My father and I often meet each other. Every time we eat together, we only tell funny stories and don't ask too much about work. I often take a lot of my father's things, many of which are expensive and many of which have sentimental value. But my father loves his children so he doesn't care. Many times my parents call and ask: Where are you? Come home and eat with the family. I say: I'm in New York. The next day I say: I'm in Paris. My parents wait for me to fly for a few dozen hours and then come home to eat with them, they can't come home right away. I say that to show how my family lives. People who are not of the same class shouldn't compare themselves to me."

In 2017, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines Truong Trieu Duong was personally awarded the Sikatuna Gold Medal by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. This is the highest achievement of the Philippine Government for the head of a foreign representative agency in the Philippines in recognition of their particularly important contributions to the development of Philippine relations.

Speaking at the ceremony held at the Philippine Presidential Palace on January 10, President Duterte affirmed that the Philippines' most prestigious award is the sincere recognition and appreciation of the Philippine Government and President Duterte personally for Ambassador Truong Trieu Duong's contributions to developing and expanding bilateral relations between Vietnam and the Philippines, in which the brightest point is the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries at the end of 2015.

The Philippine President also expressed his gratitude for the results that the two sides have achieved in the past, as well as for the sympathy of the Ambassador, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines and the Vietnamese people in general when the Filipino people had to face the harsh consequences of natural disasters and floods, especially Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Ambassador Truong Trieu Duong expressed his deep gratitude to the President and the Philippine Government for this special and meaningful gift. The Ambassador said he was very surprised to be the only diplomat to date to receive this title from Mr. Duterte. At the ceremony, Ambassador Truong Trieu Duong also conveyed to President Duterte the gratitude of President Tran Dai Quang for the Philippines' assistance to the Vietnamese fishermen who have recently been repatriated.

Ambassador Truong Trieu Duong is the first diplomat to receive this honor since President Duterte took office in June 2016. Philippine Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay, along with representatives of several agencies, officials of the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines were also present and witnessed the ceremony.

Nathan Lee held his father's portrait in a daze at the funeral, unable to see his face one last time. Gia Nhi10:31:33 11/02/2025On February 6, Nathan Lee posted two photos from his childhood and adulthood with his father, Mr. Truong Trieu Duong - a famous diplomat, with the status line: Rest in peace, Dad, I love you.