From its very inception and throughout the revolutionary struggle, the Communist Party of Vietnam has consistently affirmed: socialism is the ideal goal of the Party and our people, advancing toward socialism is an objective requirement and an inevitable path of the Vietnamese revolution. This is a truth that no hostile force can distort or deny.

Distortions and subversive plots against the socialist path in Vietnam

The victory of the August Revolution in 1945 and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) marked the beginning of a new era for our nation - an era of national independence closely associated with socialism. Advancing toward socialism has been the consistent path and ultimate objective of the Vietnamese revolution; it is a historical inevitability chosen by our nation and increasingly realised across all aspects of social life in our country. The great and historically significant achievements that our country has achieved, especially in nearly 40 years of renovation, stemmed from the correct choice and steadfast determination of our Party and people in pursuing the goal and path toward socialism. That is an undeniable truth. However, despite this reality, hostile and reactionary forces at home and abroad continue to collude with each other, trying to distort, attack, and sabotage the path to socialism in Vietnam. In recent years, their subversive activities have become even more aggressive, focusing on two main directions: First, hostile and reactionary forces seek to distort Vietnam’s choice of advancing toward socialism, they foolishly claim that it is a “historical mistake”, a “misguided path”, and “going against” the trend of human development, arguing that socialism is “not a superior regime”, has been “terminated” and “degenerated for a long time”. If Vietnam follows socialism, it will inevitably “repeat the downfall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe”. Second, they attack and distort the real socialism in Vietnam, saying that socialism does not yet exist in our country and that remaining steadfast is therefore meaningless; that socialism is merely an “illusion”, a “utopian dream”, with no real foundation; and that Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy is, in essence, capitalist. Thereby, upholding the socialist path is nothing more than a form of “self-reassurance”, etc.

The above arguments are nothing new, but they are repeated over and over again, with increasing intensity and frequency, sometimes blatant, sometimes very sophisticated, showing high-level reasoning, with different levels, in the style of “a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth”. With the “support” of modern media, the internet, and social networks, such rhetoric is widely spread, making it especially dangerous. However, these are nothing but “old tricks in new disguises”, “rehashing old books”, “old wine in new bottles”, designed to mislead the public. Their purpose is clear: if they cannot abolish socialism in Vietnam or overthrow the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, they at least seek to sow doubt, cause hesitation, and erode the people’s trust in the Party’s leadership and in the path toward socialism.

Military troops march in the excitement of the people

It is impossible to distort or mislabel Vietnam’s path to socialism as a “mistake”, a “misguided path”, and “going against” the trend of human development

It must be affirmed that Vietnam’s path toward socialism is both clear in theory and logical in practice, in line with the trend of the times and the inevitable movement of national history.

In theoretical terms, it must be emphasised that “the development of socio-economic formations is a historical-natural process” governed by certain objective laws. Accordingly, human society must pass through socio-economic formations from lower to higher stages, regardless of the human subjective will. Whether such development proceeds step by step or bypasses a particular socio-economic formation also constitutes part of this “historical-natural process”, determined by specific objective historical conditions. Vietnam’s path toward socialism follows this objective law of the “historical-natural process”, in line with the broader trend of the era opened after the Russian October Revolution in 1917. Vietnam’s transition toward socialism, bypassing the stage of capitalism, conforms to both the laws of development and the specific historical characteristics of Vietnam, it lies within the connotation and constitutes a concrete manifestation of the “historical-natural process” of social development as indicated by Marxist-Leninist theory on socio-economic formations.

In practical and historical terms, immediately after the French colonialists fired the first shots of invasion, from 1858 to 1930, numerous patriotic movements arose vigorously, with different standpoints and guidelines for national salvation, expressing the desire for independence and freedom of our people. However, “from the standpoint of the Can Vuong movement to the standpoints of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois, all were tested by history and ultimately failed”. These failures clearly revealed the deadlock in choosing the path of national salvation, the lack of a capable leading force, and the absence of a “guiding doctrine” for our nation at that time. At the same time, they “revealed” and created the “real ground” for the emergence of a correct “alternative path” for national salvation, a new ideology and a new leading force capable of guiding our people. Thus, the history of Vietnam has set forth and our people's aspirations have also required national liberation and demanded which path and ideological standpoint to follow to develop the country after achieving national independence.

These demands and requirements were thoroughly and fully resolved by the dynamics of national history in the new era, in close connection with the global history and reality following the Russian October Revolution of 1917, when a new social system - socialism, was established on the vast territory of the Soviet Union; the working class became the central class of the era; national liberation revolutions around the world developed with new character and new appearance, in which success and thoroughness required that they follow the orbit of the proletarian revolution, as an integral part of it, based firmly on the standpoint of the working class. This was the objective trend of the era.

In both history and reality, the “incomplete” nature of bourgeois revolutions worldwide, together with the profound influence of the October Revolution, served as the “data” for President Ho Chi Minh to recognise, deeply grasp, decisively choose and identify that the Vietnamese revolution must follow the path of the proletarian revolution; with the ideal of national independence inseparably linked with socialism. This decision concentratedly reflected the objective movement of our national history in the new context, fully aligned with the trend of the era opened by the October Revolution. It was “a decision made by history itself, a decisive choice since 1930 with the founding of our Party”; “Advancing toward socialism is the aspiration of our people, the correct decision of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh, in line with the development trend of history”. This is a reality that cannot be distorted or falsified. Any arguments claiming that Vietnam’s path to socialism is a “mistake” or “going against” the trend of human development are groundless, distort history, falsify the truth, and deny the objective laws of both national and world history.

An illustrative photo of achievement in national construction

Socialism has been built and is developing strongly, affirming its noble values in Vietnam - A truth that cannot be distorted or denied

From 1930 to 1975, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh, socialism - while still at the stage of being a development direction, created tremendous momentum, leading to the victory of the August Revolution in 1945; when our people built socialism in part of the country, the achievements of socialism in the North generated great strength and became the “decisive factor” in securing the triumph of the resistance war against invasion, achieving national reunification, and setting the entire country on the path toward socialism.

Today, the socialist society that our people are building is a good, progressive, and superior society, with the fundamental characteristics clearly defined by our Party: “A wealthy people, strong nation, democracy, equality, and civilisation; mastered by the people; a highly developed economy based on modern productive forces and progressive, appropriate production relations; an advanced culture imbued with national identity; people living in prosperity, freedom, and happiness, with conditions for comprehensive development; equality, solidarity, mutual respect, and mutual support among the ethnic groups of the Vietnamese community; a socialist rule-of-law state of the people, by the people, and for the people under the leadership of the Communist Party; and international relations based on friendship and cooperation with countries around the world”.

The theory of socialism and the path toward socialism in Vietnam “has been increasingly perfected and gradually realised”, reflecting the loyalty and creative development of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology in Vietnam’s specific conditions. Not only has our Party identified the characteristics of socialism in Vietnam and development goals for socialist construction, “by 2030, to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income; and by 2045, to become a developed country with high-income”, it has also outlined the strategic directions for national construction during the transition to socialism; clarifying the major relations that must be addressed in building and developing the socialist-oriented market economy; identifying the driving forces and resources for socialist construction, the humanistic goals and values of socialism. In the theory of building and perfecting the socialist rule-of-law government; strengthening defence, security, protecting the socialist Fatherland and international integration; the Party leads, governs, builds, and rectifies the Party and the political system to be increasingly clean and strong, clear, and correct.

Furthermore, the tremendous and historic achievements in building socialism, especially throughout nearly 40 years of renovation, have affirmed the strong development, realism and good nature of socialism in Vietnam. Independence, sovereignty and a peaceful environment are maintained, politics and society are stable, the economy continues to grow, defence and security are firmly guaranteed; international relations and global integration are expanded and deepened; and people’s living standards are steadily improved. “From a poor and backward country, Vietnam has escaped the group of low-income countries since 2008. From a food-deficient nation, Vietnam has not only ensured food security for more than 100 million people but has also become one of the world’s leading exporters of rice and various agricultural products. The poverty rate has dropped from 58% (according to the old standard) in 1993 to around 1.1% (under the new multidimensional poverty standard) by 2025. Vietnam has become the fourth-largest economy in ASEAN and the 32nd in the world; per capita GDP in 2025 is nearly 25 times higher than three decades ago”. These achievements affirm that “Our country has never enjoyed such fortune, potential, position and international prestige as it does today”.

The above-mentioned issues are enough to show that socialism in Vietnam has been, and continues to be, a vivid and concrete reality in the country’s social life, both theoretically and practically in a unified relationship. Therefore, it is impossible to distort or say that Vietnam “does not have socialism yet”.

Today, our people are steadily advancing into a new era of development - the era of national rise - with a new posture: the posture of a people who are the masters of their own destiny and who know how to exercise such mastery; with a stronger national fortune, potential, a streamlined political system, the international position and prestige of a country that is independent, self-reliant, peaceful, and stable, on the path of development and proactive, positive, responsible in regional and global “playgrounds”. This reality will ensure that our people's socialist construction under the leadership of the Party reap greater achievements, our people will become more and more prosperous and happy. This is a reality and a truth that every Vietnamese citizen is proud of; a truth that is being followed with admiration and trust by many people around the world. Therefore, any rhetoric that distorts or denies Vietnam’s socialist path, or that deliberately rejects the evident truth and the superiority of our regime, is baseless, unhistorical, unscientific, and reactionary, which have been and will certainly fail.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN MANH HUONG, Assoc. Prof., Dr. and Colonel NGUYEN VIET TAN, MA.