In response to the Party and government’s viewpoints and policies on aspiration and determination to rise in the new era - an era of strong development, prosperity, and happiness; hostile forces and political opportunists have launched false arguments to distort the meaning of the “new era” and spread skepticism throughout society. Therefore, identifying, confronting, and refuting these misguided viewpoints plays a crucial role in firmly safeguarding the Party’s ideological foundation. At the same time, this effort enhances awareness, reinforces trust, and unifies the thinking of cadres, Party members, and people from all classes under the Party’s leadership in this new period.

The term “the new era - an era of national rise of Vietnam” was first introduced by General Secretary To Lam during the meeting of the Document Drafting Subcommittee for the 14th National Congress of the Party on 13 August 2024; which was continued to mention in his closing remarks at the 10th Plenary Session (13th tenure) on 20 September 2024: “With the strength and position accumulated over 40 years of renovation, with the unity and concerted efforts of the entire Party, people, and armed forces, with new opportunities and favourable conditions, under the wise leadership of the Party, we have gathered all the necessary conditions and the documents of the 14th National Congress must outline strategic directions, key tasks, and solutions to unleash all productive forces, maximise internal resources, leverage external ones, placing internal resources, human resources as the foundation, and science - technology, and innovation as the breakthroughs to usher our country into a new era: an era of national rise of Vietnam”. Following that, with numerous important speeches and articles by General Secretary To Lam, the Draft documents submitted to the 14th National Party Congress has been clearly identified the theme of the Congress as: “Under the glorious flag of the Party, united in will and action, determined to achieve the national development goals for 2030; self-reliant, self-confident, bravely advancing in the era of national development for peace, independence, democracy, prosperity, civilisation, and happiness, resolutely advancing towards socialism”. This demonstrates that the viewpoint on “the era of national development of Vietnam” is not merely a personal viewpoint of the Party leader, but has become a breakthrough, strategic orientation of our Party in the new period.

The country has been developed more modern and beautiful as the wish of President Ho Chi Minh (Photo: xaydungdang.org.vn)

While the majority of Party members, cadres, and the Vietnamese people warmly welcome this breakthrough in the Party’s theoretical thinking regarding “the new era - an era of national rise”, hostile and reactionary forces, both inside and outside the country, have spread many false viewpoints on social media platforms to distort and sabotage these efforts; they claim that “it is a vague concept, merely a subjective statement by Vietnamese leaders”, or “an empty, meaningless slogan” (!). Currently, on the voatiengviet fanpage, Vu Duc Khanh proclaimed:  “Talking about the new era - an era of national rise, is nothing but a delusional fantasy of the Vietnam Communist Party; it has no scientific or practical basis” (!).  On the Facebook fanpage of the terrorist organisation Viet Tan, many opposing elements such as Le Trung Khoa and Nguyen Van Dai have published articles asserting:  “If Vietnam truly wants to “rise in a new era”, it must implement pluralistic democracy, multi-party opposition; the Communist Party must give up its sole leadership role in society” (!).  The purpose of those wrong viewpoints is to distort the correct and creative policies and guidelines of our Party; sow doubt in the Party’s leadership, divide the solidarity and unity of the great national unity bloc. This strategy seeks to undermine the people’s trust in the Party’s leadership, promoting “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within our society. In this context, we must remain vigilant, determinedly confront, and resolutely reject every distorted and hostile argument of these reactionary and opportunistic forces; at the same time, we must affirm that the Party’s viewpoint on “the new era - an era of national rise of Vietnam” represents a strategic breakthrough in theoretical thinking, fully aligned with the burning aspirations of the entire Vietnamese people in this new historical phase.

Firstly, the term “the new era – an era of national rise of Vietnam” is not a “vague concept with no clear connotation”, as distorted and misrepresented by hostile forces. On the contrary, it is a term with a very clear and transparent connotation, reflecting a new period of development, qualitatively different from the previous period, associated with fundamental and comprehensive changes in all aspects of our country’s social life. The connotation of this “new era” was clearly emphasised by General Secretary To Lam (at the training course for cadres planning members of the 14th Central Committee of Communist Party of Vietnam, on 25 November 2024) as an era of development and prosperity under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, successfully building the socialist Vietnam: a country with prosperous people, strong, democratic, fair, and civilised society. All people enjoy a prosperous and happy life, are supported to develop and build wealth; increasingly contribute to regional and global peace, stability, and development, for the happiness of humanity and the development of global civilisation. The starting point of this “new era” is the 14th National Congress of the Party, and its ultimate destination, as affirmed by General Secretary To Lam, is a prosperous and strong socialist Vietnam, standing shoulder to shoulder with major countries of the five continents. The top priority in this new era is the successful implementation of strategic goals: by 2030, Vietnam is to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income; by 2045, a developed, socialist-oriented nation with high income. This vision calls for a strong awakening of national pride, the spirit of self-reliance, confidence, autonomy, resilience, and the deep aspiration for national development; strictly integrating the national strength with the strength of the era. Thus, the goal of the “new era” is the realisation of the aspiration set forth at the 13th National Congress of the Party, now pursued with even greater determination and urgency, as the centennials of the Party’s founding and the 100th anniversary of the country’s founding draw near. Defining the upcoming period as “an era of national development” vividly and powerfully reflects the historic turning point for the Vietnamese people under the Party’s leadership.

Secondly, the aspiration for “development” in the “new era” is not a “delusional or unrealistic ambition,” nor a “subjective and idealistic wish of a few Vietnamese leaders”, as claimed by hostile forces. On the contrary, this aspiration has a solid foundation in both science and reality, based on comprehensive assessments of both objective and subjective conditions. It reflects not only the will of the Party, but also the aspiration of the entire nation, embodying a profound harmony between the Party’s vision and the people’s desire. In terms of objective conditions, the global landscape is undergoing rapid and complex transformation toward multipolarity, multi-centricity, and multilayered; strategic competition between major countries and global centres are increasingly fierce in both scope and intensity, but “peace, cooperation, and development are still the major trend”. In this context, Vietnam enjoys many opportunities to participate in regional and global forums and contribute to addressing global challenges. These are golden opportunities for Vietnam to affirm and enhance its potential, position, and reputation on the world stage. Globalisation and economic integration continue to progress in new forms, opening doors for Vietnam to engage in global production and supply chains. These trends offer opportunities to expand markets, attract more investment, and apply science and technology in pursuit of fast and sustainable development, especially when Vietnam is now part of 17 next-generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with many countries around the world. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor chips, digital technologies, green and energy transitions,... offers a window of opportunity for developing and less developed countries to leapfrog and advance ahead. This epochal transformative is a powerful opportunity for Vietnam to enter the new era - rising toward wealth, prosperity, and happiness.

In terms of subjective conditions: After 40 years of Renovation, under the leadership of the Party and with the unity, consensus, and tireless efforts of the entire people, “our country has never had such a foundation, potential, international position, and prestige as it does today”. National independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity are firmly maintained; national interests are ensured. Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 194 countries around the world; building strategic partnerships, comprehensive strategic partnerships, and cooperative relations with all major countries both regionally and globally. Our Party’s foreign relations with ruling parties, political parties, communist parties, workers’ parties, and leftist parties worldwide have also been continuously expanded and deepened. Up to now, our Party maintains relations with 253 political parties in 115 countries, including 92 communist parties, 63 ruling parties, and 38 parties participating in governing coalitions or national administrations. Vietnam’s National Assembly also has relations with the parliaments and assemblies of more than 140 countries, etc. These are solid pieces of evidence affirming Vietnam’s international foundation and credibility on the global stage. In terms of economic development, Vietnam has established trade relations with 230 countries and territories. The implementation of a socialist-oriented market economy has brought about significant achievements; Vietnam has become a developing country with middle-income status. The scale and potential of the national economy have consistently grown, by 2023, it had increased 96 times compared to 1986; from merely USD 6.3 billion in 1989, Vietnam’s GDP reached USD 476.3 billion in 2024, ranking 32nd among the world’s largest economies, and among the top 20 economies in terms of trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction. In 2024, Vietnam was among the top 15 developing countries attracting the most FDI globally, enjoying macro-economic stability and low public debt, etc. Thanks to these achievements, the material and spiritual lives of the people have improved markedly. The poverty rate dropped significantly from 58% in 1993 to just 1.93% in 2024 under the multidimensional poverty standard, earning Vietnam recognition from the United Nations as one of the leading countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Culture-social affairs have witnessed positive development; socialist democracy has been increasingly expanded; and the people’s right to mastery has been further promoted. Efforts to strengthen and rectify the Party and the political system continue to be intensified, yielding significant results; particularly in the fight against corruption, negativity, and wastefulness, contributing to building a cleaner, stronger Party and political system.

The opportunities and advantages brought about by the international and regional context, together with the tremendous, historical achievements accumulated over 40 years of Renovation, form a solid practical foundation affirming that Vietnam has been converged all necessary and sufficient conditions to step into the “era of national rise”. To realise the aspiration of “national rise” in this new era, the Party has identified that it is imperative to promote the great national unity bloc,  overcome all challenges and difficulties, seize opportunities, and resolutely implement the strategic orientations such as: strongly renovate leadership methods; enhance the leadership capacity of the Party and government, ensure that the Party remains the great helmsman leading the nation to breakthrough and acceleration in the new era; strengthen Party-element in building and perfecting the socialist republic of Viet Nam “of the people, by the people, for the people”; focus on resolving the biggest institutional bottleneck among the three key institutional, human, and infrastructure bottlenecks; streamline the political system’s organisational apparatus to ensure synchronisation, cohesion, and smooth, effective, efficient operations; accelerate digital transformation, taking full advantage of the opportunities brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to leapfrog into advanced development; strengthen the prevention and fight against corruption, negativity, and wastefulness; build a capable, qualified cadre team to lead the nation into the new era; implement comprehensive strategic solutions for economic development, pushing back the risk of falling behind and escaping the middle-income trap; strive for GDP growth to exceed 8% by 2025, and achieve double-digit growth in subsequent years, etc.

To create consensus in awareness, clarify in ideology, and to further strengthen the trust of cadres, Party members, and the people in the Party’s leadership during the implementation of these strategic orientations, in the coming time, it is essential to intensify the dissemination and propaganda of the concept of the “new era”, so that cadres, Party members, and people both at home and abroad to clearly understand and deeply grasp the content, objectives, and missions, as well as the realistic foundation for actualising the national development aspiration in this new era, in accordance with the Party’s perspectives. At the same time, it is crucial to persistently and resolutely fight against and refute distorted, hostile views on this issue, contributing to firmly protecting the Party’s ideological foundation. This is the responsibility of the entire political system under the leadership of the Party, with the system of press, media agencies, the propaganda and mass mobilisation agency nationwide, serving as the pioneering, leading force.

NGUYEN NGOC HOI