To meet the requirements set by the global and regional situation and the Homeland protection, the 8^th Central Party Committee Plenum issued the Resolution on Strategy to safeguard the Homeland in the new situation. The Resolution, which has a special significance, was specifically designed for the Homeland protection. By clearly defining the objectives, views, motto, tasks, and measures in the Strategy to safeguard the Homeland, it aims to provide all Party, people, and military with a guide to successfully implement the tasks in the Strategy.

Basing on revolutionary theory and practice, we could affirm that associating national independence with socialism is the only truly sound path that Party, President Ho Chi Minh, and people chose. It was stipulated in our Party’s Brief Political Platform, Brief Policy, and 1930 Political Thesis that Vietnam’s Revolution would experience two phases: first, launching a revolution of national liberation and people’s democracy; second, carrying out a socialist revolution moving forward to socialism, skipping the period of capitalist development.

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In light of Marxism-Leninism and Russian October Revolution, experiencing bloody and fierce wars against invaders, our Party came to confirm that national independence associated with socialism is the overarching objective, two of which are closely connected and influence each other in a dialectical relationship. National independence is the prerequisite for socialism to be built, and socialism is the foundation for the firm protection of national independence.

When the country got unified, peaceful, and began moving forward to socialism, our Party continued thoroughly grasping and flexibly realizing the objective of national independence associated with socialism. This is a new period in which we carry out reforms, industrialization, and modernization, creating qualitative changes in social life to successfully implement the revolution’s two strategic tasks, namely socialism construction and protection of the socialist Homeland.

Nowadays, the global and regional situation is complex and unpredictable; the trend of globalization and international integration is developing in both depth and breadth. Accordingly, it has a multidimensional impact on our people’s cause of Homeland construction and protection. It is worth noting that hostile forces are promoting their acts of sabotage in various areas in order to abolish the Party leadership and the socialist regime in our country. The internal and external factors all coexist, which provides us with opportunities and poses new challenges. Internally, bureaucracy, corruption, and the degradation of political ideology, ethnics, and lifestyle are planting seeds of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”, which cannot be underestimated. Thus, more than ever, all Party, people, military must uphold the objective of national independence associated with socialism, raise a sense of alertness, proactively and effectively respond to all cases to firmly protect the independence, sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity as well as Party, State, people, and the socialist regime.

First, we need to make levels, branches, localities, forces, and all people thoroughly understand the inner meaning of national independence and socialism in the new context. This is a very important matter, laying the foundation for us to define appropriate contents and steps. National independence must be thoroughly and comprehensively understood in all the areas of social life. Among these, the most basic and requisite matter is to maintain the independence, autonomy in Party’s political line, ensuring that our nation’s path to socialism is not dependent on any power. That political line must be loyal to Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s Thought, creatively applied to Vietnam’s conditions, and become the ideological foundation for the whole society. However, our maintenance of that stance in the cause of innovation must ensure the country reforms without changing our path, integration without changing national identity in the multi-polar world whose current situation is rapidly and complicatedly changing.

Additionally, there should be a thorough grasp of contents of independence and autonomy in the areas such as economics, defence, security, foreign relations, culture, etc. The consistent understanding of national independence’s inner meaning will guarantee our right actions in the construction of socialism and protection of the socialist Homeland in the new period.

It can be said that national independence and socialism are, at the same time, the revolution’s basic objective, the country’s fundamental interests, and Party’s consistent viewpoints. To this end, we need to have a thorough grasp of the view: to consider economic development as the centre, Party building as the key, and socio-cultural construction as the spiritual foundation of society, defence and security strengthening as the critical and frequent task. Besides, firmly upholding the objective of national independence associated with socialism requires us to frequently grasp and effectively implement the two strategic missions of the socialist Homeland construction and protection; respect close combination between socio-economic development, defence and security, and foreign relations; create and maintain a peaceful environment to build, safeguard, and develop the country. In the era of globalization and international integration, we should promote the spirit of independence and autonomy, combine flexible acquisition of the era’s new achievements with Vietnam revolution’s evolution to map out sound line, ensuring consistency of strategic rules and flexibility, creativeness in measures, organization, and implementation.

Manh Ha - Quang Chuyen