88 springs, the Party will last forever with the nation

On the journey with the nation to continue on the path of socialism, for a rich people, a strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization, although there are still many urgent shortcomings that need to be corrected, although there are things that are not really joyful, but every time Tet comes, Spring comes, every time the Party's birthday comes, we always remember President Ho Chi Minh - the founder and trainer of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Our compatriots always remember his words, with a spirit of protection, with a generous heart to protect the Party as when the Party was first born, hoping that the Party will be more worthy of the trust of the people, of the nation, of him and the love of friends around the world.

Over the past 88 years, following his teachings, the Party has strived tirelessly to always be worthy of being “a servant and a truly loyal leader of the people”, “moral, civilized. Unified, independent, peaceful, and prosperous”.

Faced with the new opportunities of the nation, responding to the hearts of the people, in the heart of the sacred Fatherland, before the vast ocean of the world, leading the nation to 30 years of implementing the renovation process and responding to the earnest requests of the people, the Party is making efforts to self-rectify, self-renew, and strive with the entire nation, all for the growth of the country, for the happiness of the people, for the development of the new regime of the people that over the past 70 years the entire nation has worked hard to build and protect at all costs.

The Party is open to self-criticism and criticism in a strict, sincere and profound manner, with the spirit of the Resolution of the 4th Central Conference of the 12th tenure "On strengthening Party building and rectification; preventing and repelling the degradation of political ideology, morality, lifestyle, manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the Party" associated with Directive No. 05-CT/TW, dated May 15, 2016, of the 12th tenure Politburo "On promoting the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle", the immediate focus is to resolutely repel the degradation of political ideology, morality, lifestyle, fight bureaucracy, corruption and other bad habits among cadres and Party members; train ourselves to be equal to the task of those "standing at the forefront" of history, trusted and entrusted by the Vietnamese people. The Party must be worthy of being a revolutionary - united - open to learning and progressive Party.

On the path of the country's international integration, not only in terms of scale, speed and depth, but more than ever, it requires us to have a broad and dialectical vision, to be alert, profound and subtle in every decision, to be humane and sustainable in every step, to be loyal, steadfast in principles and creative, constantly flexible in strategies of action... but the most fundamental and vital issue that runs through all thoughts and actions of innovation is to unconditionally uphold the immutable principle: Protecting the position, the thousand-year-old territorial integrity, the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland and the invaluable interests of our nation, our country and our people, regardless of any conditions. That is the "fire that tests gold" in terms of political vision, humane mettle... of our Party and State, in terms of patriotism, love for the nation... of each Vietnamese person, in terms of the courage to sacrifice, intrepidity... of each of our cadres and party members.

We must proactively protect the country while it is not yet in danger. We must calmly maintain our principles and act flexibly to protect national interests, which is the ultimate goal in the face of any influence or pressure from any side or anyone, for the independence, freedom, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. We cannot blame the past, and we cannot just try to win and do everything for the present. We need to foresee and immediately resolve solid and good premises for future generations.

We must keep “fortune for the future”. To do otherwise is to sow disaster for the future. Our entire Party and nation have been acting in this way, in the spirit of our ancestors who have sworn to protect this Fatherland, steadfastly: “The mountains and rivers of the South belong to the Southern Emperor”; Dai Viet “is a mighty ruler in one direction” and inviolable… bringing the work of building socialism and defending the Fatherland, the pinnacle of which is the cause of renovation, to continue to take more important steps, with greater historical significance, in the future.

That is the ideal of life, the goal of action, and the historical responsibility of our Party.

Therefore, more than ever, for the sake of the nation, for the sake of the nation, for the rights and interests of the people, now, we, without exception, all Vietnamese with conscience must join hands to condemn, stop and eliminate dangerous and deadly evils that are causing the downfall and even the decline of the nation. Because, otherwise, our vision and strategic political decisions will be violated; the strategic interests of the nation, of our people will be violated; the strategic opportunity for the country to take off will be missed, even forever; our national position in the international arena will be damaged, lowered,... and what is more painful is that the danger itself is created by ourselves; while the forces around us, far away from us, there are those who plot to make the Vietnamese nation weak and decline, the Vietnamese Fatherland of nearly 95 million of our compatriots fall into chaos, even become weak or fall into slavery. At that time, will any regret, even if sincere, be too late!?

And, never before has it been like now, when we proactively and actively step out into the world, the nation is united in preparing its strength to be strong enough to overcome all obstacles on the path to independence and prosperity, the flesh-and-blood, life-and-death relationship between the Party and the people requires more care and preservation than ever. Because when the people's hearts are in agreement and unity with the will of the Party, it will create invincible strength, as our nation has experienced for nearly a century.

And, more than ever, the enemy is using every means to create suspicion, deepen and attempt to separate the natural survival of the Party from the people, weakening the Party because it has lost its socio-political foundation, inciting the people to turn away from their own "offspring". Because, as our ancestors used to say: Whoever pleases the people will keep the world.

Therefore, morality and law must be twin children on this important and difficult journey. Anyone who violates must be admonished, and it is necessary to severely punish them. We are not afraid of any force, no matter how vicious and brutal. We are only afraid that our Party does not live in the heart of the nation and that our Party does not form a unified bloc. The history of our nation spanning thousands of years shows that when the king and his subjects are of one mind, the whole country contributes its efforts, and the people throughout the mountains and rivers are in harmony, no invader of the Fatherland, no matter how vicious and brutal, will be defeated.

However, the work at this time is much more difficult and urgent than the fight against invaders, because we must defeat the internal invaders - vested interests, national corruption, evils that alienate the people... that are "self-transforming" many people, with the risk of condensing into a "malignant tumor" that will destroy the regime, weaken the nation and bring about the demise of the Party... and all of these are within ourselves. This is a "giant battle", a "harsh self-surgery" for the survival of the regime, for the honor of our country and people. The integrity of each person and the national honor of Vietnam are united in each other.

Over the past 88 years, with the truth of “our will is sincere”, under the banner of the Party - the “son of the race” of the Vietnamese people, together with our nation, we have leveled all obstacles, defeated all invaders, preserved and continuously developed all the country and heritage that our ancestors passed down for thousands of years. World history from the past to the present, the complicated situation from East to West and the turmoil in some regional countries, right now, are still showing us urgent warnings of life and death about the strategic vision, about the strategic opportunity of the nation, about the strategic interests of the nation, especially about the main strategic driving force of the great national unity of the country’s revolution. The unified country, the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, the national interests of the nation on the path of socialism, must now be protected at all costs, on the foundation of the invincible strength of the people.

That is the strategic political vision, the strategic goal, and the strategic decision of the Party.

Over the past 88 years, the Party has vowed to strive and sacrifice for the position and stature of the nation, for the unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, for the longevity and sustainable development of the Vietnamese people, and for the happiness of the people. The Party is naturally “close to the heart of each of our compatriots”, regardless of those who plot to divide and sabotage, so as not to be ashamed of history, and determined not to be ungrateful to our ancestors. That is the morality, the integrity and the natural conscience of the “offspring” of the Party.

And, over the past 88 years, the Party has always been steadfast in protecting the purity of noble national friendship and sacred human affection. Regardless of the changing circumstances and the changing world, the Party is steadfast in joining hands with the Vietnamese people and progressive humanity to build a socialist Vietnam, contributing to preserving a peaceful, civilized and constantly progressive world in the 21st century./.

Nhi Le - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Communist Magazine