The most precious thing of human is Life and Honor to live.

Identifying corruption as one of the major risks threatening the survival of the Party and the regime, the Party and State always pay attention to the fight against corruption and negativity. This is one of the vital tasks of Party building and rectification, and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of State management.

The 13th Party Congress Resolution clearly identifies that one of the key tasks in this term is to continue to promote the fight against corruption and negativity.

The fight against corruption and negativity has truly "become an irreversible movement and trend", receiving the consensus, support, and appreciation of officials, party members, and people, and recognition from international friends.

Thanks to that, corruption has been gradually controlled and prevented, contributing significantly to maintaining political stability, socio-economic development, and strengthening the trust of cadres, party members and people in the Party and State.

Handbook on anti-corruption work

The book “Resolutely and persistently fight against corruption and negativity, contributing to building our Party and State increasingly clean and strong” by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is considered a handbook on the work of preventing and combating corruption and negativity. The book also provides an important theoretical and practical basis to refute erroneous and hostile viewpoints.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is very thoughtful and concerned about the title of the book on anti-corruption and negativity under his name.

“The General Secretary did not intend to write a book on anti-corruption and negativity under his own name, and did not want to promote himself. However, after reading the entire content of the book and especially after reading the preface stating that the Central Internal Affairs Commission coordinated with the National Political Publishing House Truth to compile this book, the General Secretary agreed,” said Mr. Nguyen Thai Hoc, when he assumed the position of Deputy Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission, at the book introduction on November 11, 2023.

Part 1 "Some issues drawn from the practical work of fighting corruption and negativity in Vietnam" includes the general article "Fighting against corruption and negativity: A necessary and inevitable task; an irreversible trend!" by the General Secretary; 4 concluding remarks by the General Secretary at the National Conferences on corruption prevention and control in 2014, 2018, 2020, 2022 and conclusions at 36 sessions and meetings of the Steering Committee and the Standing Committee of the Steering Committee.

The second part "Consistent with the motto: "Preventing corruption and negativity, early, from afar, from both the tip and the root", includes articles showing the sharp thinking and superior political vision of the General Secretary on "the fundamental issue in the fight against corruption and negativity is to prevent it from afar, from an early stage, focusing on building and rectifying the Party and especially preventing and combating ideological, moral and lifestyle degradation among cadres and Party members, that is, to eradicate corruption and negativity".

The third part, “Unanimity from top to bottom, clarity from top to bottom” gathers the opinions of people from all walks of life, politicians, scholars, and international friends, expressing recognition, support, and deep trust in the fight against “internal invaders”.

The General Secretary said: “Corruption (embezzlement, harassment) is a negative, evil social phenomenon that exists in every era, every regime, and every country; it is a “congenital defect” of power.”

In the process of leading the Vietnamese revolution, our Party has soon realized and increasingly identified more clearly the risks and harmful effects of corruption and negativity on the Party, the regime and the cause of national construction. Therefore, it is necessary to have a mechanism to control power, not allowing power to be "degenerated". The General Secretary emphasized: "All power must be strictly controlled by mechanisms; power must be bound by responsibility; where there is power, there is responsibility, the higher the power, the greater the responsibility; anyone who abuses or takes advantage of power for personal gain must be held accountable and punished for violations".

Therefore, those assigned positions and powers must constantly cultivate, practice, regularly self-reflect and self-correct; at the same time, they must strengthen supervision and effectively control the exercise of power.

In any era, any regime, any country, corruption cannot be completely eradicated in a short period of time. Therefore, in the fight against corruption and negativity, there must be high determination, great effort and the right method; one cannot be subjective or hasty. This is also an important orientation for our Party and State to determine the motto of synchronously combining "building" and "fighting" in the fight against corruption and negativity.

"The most precious thing for human is Life and Honor to live"

However, there are some opinions that focusing too much on fighting corruption will "discourage" and "retard" those who dare to think and act, and slow down the country's development. With thorough analysis and explanation with a lot of information and actual data, the General Secretary affirmed: "The fight against corruption and negativity has made a very important contribution to promoting socio-economic development, maintaining political stability, especially gradually regaining and strengthening the people's trust".

In the fight against corruption and negativity, “prevention is the main, fundamental, and long-term task; combating is important and urgent”. The General Secretary’s consistent viewpoint in the fight against corruption and negativity is “to closely and synchronously combine active prevention with proactive detection and timely and strict handling of corrupt and negative acts; in which prevention is the main, fundamental, and long-term task; detection and handling are important and breakthrough”.

However, to prevent effectively, a mechanism must be built. That mechanism must ensure feasibility and high efficiency, the General Secretary requested: “We must build a strict prevention mechanism so that corruption and negativity are “impossible”; a strict deterrent and punishment mechanism so that corruption and negativity are “not dared” to occur; a culture of integrity must be built so that corruption and negativity are “not wanted”; and a guarantee mechanism so that corruption and negativity are “not needed”.

The General Secretary especially emphasized that cadres and party members, first of all leaders, must know how to respect integrity, maintain honor, and feel ashamed when they or their relatives commit corrupt or negative acts.

“The most precious thing for a human being is Life and Honor to live, because a human life is lived only once. We must live so as not to feel pain and regret for the years we have lived in vain, wasted; so as not to be ashamed of mean, cowardly actions, or being despised by everyone; so that when we close our eyes and pass away, we can be proud that: All my life, all my strength, I have devoted to the most beautiful cause in the world - the cause of fighting for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for the longevity of the Nation, the glory of the race and the happiness of the people!”, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed.