From the article by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong: A more scientific, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive view of socialism.

Clarifying 5 new points

According to Professor Pham Quang Minh (former Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), this is a very complete, comprehensive, and profound article on the Vietnamese Communist Party's perspective on the most fundamental and important aspects of the Vietnamese revolution since the country achieved peace, independence, and reunification. These are the issues of building socialism and the path to socialism for the Vietnamese nation. In the article, the General Secretary raises crucial and decisive questions for the Vietnamese nation today, such as: What is socialism? Why did Vietnam choose the socialist path? How and by what means can socialism be gradually built in Vietnam?

According to Professor Pham Quang Minh, the significance of the article must be viewed, evaluated, and considered within the context of current practical realities, linked to three important factors.

Firstly, this article was published ahead of the 15th National Assembly elections and the elections for People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term, a momentous event when, on May 23, 2021, voters nationwide will elect their representatives to the highest power organs of the country. The General Secretary wants to remind everyone that it is the voters themselves who must raise their sense of responsibility and wisely choose those with sufficient talent and virtue to elect to the National Assembly. This is the body that makes important decisions about the path we have taken, the achievements we have attained, and will be the place to address future difficulties and challenges.

Secondly, this article is written in the context of our country celebrating the 131st anniversary of the birth of President Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the Vietnamese State, the leader and teacher of the Vietnamese revolution. It is an opportunity for us to review and reflect on what we have accomplished and the path ahead.

Thirdly, this is also an opportunity for the General Secretary to clarify Vietnam's viewpoint and position on the issue of socialism in Vietnam, in order to criticize the erroneous views, slander, and distortions of the regime by hostile forces aimed at lowering the Party's prestige, sowing doubt, and undermining the people's faith in the nation's path to socialism.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Former Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi)

Sharing his thoughts on the article's content, Professor Pham Quang Minh emphasized that the article analyzed and clarified five new points of great significance.

First, the General Secretary affirmed that the achievements of capitalism are undeniable and are common achievements and progress of humanity, and therefore we need to selectively absorb them. This is very important because, until now, some people have believed that everything from feudalism, capitalism, and the old regime is evil and wrong, and have completely rejected it. That is a conservative view, heavily tinged with ideological confrontation, clearly separating us from the enemy, friend from foe, believing that everything of ours is good and everything of the enemy is bad. The General Secretary emphasized: "We acknowledge that capitalism has never been as global as it is today and has achieved many great successes, especially in the field of liberating and developing productive forces and developing science and technology."

Secondly, when discussing socialism, the General Secretary mentioned three aspects, three meanings, and three capacities of socialism. These are socialism as a doctrine, a movement, and a regime. This perspective on socialism is more scientific, multifaceted, and comprehensive. Because, if someone only sees socialism as a movement, they are easily swayed by its "upward or downward" trajectory. If they only see socialism as a doctrine, they easily perceive it as "rigid, dogmatic, and outdated." And if they see it as a regime, they fear that the realities in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries will easily lead to skepticism.

Thirdly, we often say that Vietnam is moving towards socialism, bypassing the stage of capitalist development. However, in this article, the General Secretary has clarified that bypassing the stage of capitalist development means only ignoring the limitations of capitalism such as oppression, injustice, exploitation, and vices, but not ignoring the achievements and values ​​of civilization that humanity has attained during the capitalist development period, and selectively inheriting them. We need to be wise, alert, and selectively inherit the achievements and values ​​of civilization that humanity has attained, such as technology, economics, and medicine.

Fourth, Professor Pham Quang Minh also stated that, according to the article, building socialism, as the General Secretary described it, means creating a qualitatively new type of society, unlike any model in the world. Similarly, the socialist-oriented market economy is a theoretical breakthrough. These are unique characteristics of Vietnam, specific only to Vietnam. Professor Pham Quang Minh expressed his thoughts: “This is Vietnam’s biggest challenge because building a completely new type of society that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world will be extremely difficult and challenging. We cannot learn from the experiences of those who came before us; we must be the ones to forge our own path. But we will succeed, because, just like during the war against the US, many countries feared the US, didn’t dare, and didn’t know how to fight the US. But we explored, reflected, researched, and made the determination that we could fight the US, and we did win.”

Finally, appreciating the General Secretary's conclusion in the article: "We need to selectively absorb and supplement, in a critical and creative spirit, the latest achievements in thought and science so that our ideology and doctrines are always fresh, always invigorated, and breathe the spirit of the times, not falling into rigidity, stagnation, and backwardness compared to life," Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Minh believes that the General Secretary has clearly expressed the importance of learning combined with practice, theory must be closely linked to practice, learning must be critical and creative, and absolutely must not be dogmatic or mechanical, leading to intellectual rigidity and backwardness. More than ever, we must always raise the spirit of learning, creatively absorbing in a critical spirit; only in this way can we be "infused with new vitality."

According to Professor Pham Quang Minh, this also shows that, through the article, the General Secretary wants to convey to us that Vietnam's science seems to have not yet updated and absorbed the latest achievements in thought and science from the world, and has not applied those achievements creatively to the practical construction of socialism in Vietnam.

Advancing towards socialism is linked to a path of sustainable development.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi (Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Fisheries Association) stated that, as a Party member with 40 years of Party membership, he feels proud of the Party, has firm faith in its leadership, and, together with the Central Committee of the Party, leads the country steadily on the path of building socialism, successfully realizing the "Vietnamese Aspiration" outlined in the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

Agreeing with the General Secretary's assessment of global challenges related to the inadequate resolution of the relationship between development and the environment: "Along with the economic and financial crisis, there are energy crises, food crises, the depletion of natural resources, the degradation of the ecological environment,... posing enormous challenges to the existence and development of humanity," Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi emphasized that the consequences of an environmentally unbiased approach, development at all costs, and the failure to consider the environment and resources as mandatory factors when choosing development and consumption methods have left "the consequences of a socio-economic development process that prioritizes profit as the ultimate goal, considers the increasing accumulation of wealth and material consumption as a measure of civilization, and takes individual interests as the pillar of society," as the General Secretary wrote.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi (Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Fisheries Association)

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Chu Hoi argues that, in the article, through the lens of theoretical analysis, practical experience, and lessons learned regarding the relationship between socio-economic development and environmental protection, resource conservation, and cultural values ​​on a global scale, it is clear that the path to socialism is also linked to the sustainable development of the country in terms of economics, politics, society, culture, and the environment. This is a correct choice, of strategic importance, ensuring long-term economic efficiency and providing the country with resources.

From the perspective of his experience in the field of marine management, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fisheries Association shared that, in order to realize the great ideas of the General Secretary, it is necessary to review the Land Law; build a new law on the use of the sea to develop a green and sustainable marine economy, contributing to firmly protecting Vietnam's rights and interests in the East Sea. In addition, strengthening marine conservation activities in coastal areas and islands of our country, including both terrestrial and underwater landscapes, is very urgent…

Overarching and groundbreaking is the issue of human resources, in which people are affirmed as both the goal and the driving force for sustainable national development, decisively determining the success of the "Vietnamese Aspiration" process. Therefore, in this article, the General Secretary has identified and oriented: "People hold a central position in the development strategy; developing culture and building human resources are both the goal and the driving force of the reform process; developing education and training and science and technology are top national priorities; protecting the environment is one of the vital issues, a criterion for sustainable development; building happy and progressive families as healthy and strong cells of society, and achieving gender equality are criteria of progress and civilization." In particular, these are not only priority tasks in the country's innovation and creativity on the path to building socialism, but also demonstrate the superiority of socialism that our Party has steadfastly chosen and persistently pursued.