We must act in a manner befitting a great nation!

(Baonghean) - CNN recently interviewed the Vietnamese Ambassador to the US, asking many questions about Vietnam's views and attitude regarding China's violation of Vietnam's rights and territorial sovereignty at sea by deploying the Haiyang 981 oil rig in waters under Vietnam's sovereignty. Among those questions was one particularly sensitive and delicate one. The CNN reporter asked: "What do you think when the Chinese Ambassador to the US, in his interview with CNN, said that China is a great country?"

Our ambassador replied that: In today's world, small and large countries are equal and have the same rights. As the ambassador of a sovereign nation, that was sufficient for our ambassador to give such a response.

Throughout history, no one has ever called China a small country, even during periods when this vast nation was carved up by imperialist and colonial powers. Therefore, even now, this large country, with the world's largest population (1.4 billion), the world's second-largest GDP, a powerful military, one of the very few countries in the world possessing nuclear weapons, and a space power, still constantly reminds other nations: "We are a great nation." Is this perhaps excessive?

When the Chinese ambassador to the US says China is a great country, he fears that Vietnam might forget or misunderstand that Vietnam is only a small country. We believe that the entire Vietnamese nation will never forget that China is a great country! Perhaps the Chinese ambassador forgot that from ancient times to the present day, the Vietnamese people have never submitted to any great power, even if that great power used all its brutal strength to enslave Vietnam and its people. The Chinese ambassador to the US needs to remember that throughout thousands of years of history, Vietnam, though not vast in land and population, and with less economic and military potential than some great powers, possesses a strength of national unity built on the principle of "Nothing is more precious than Independence and Freedom," which is in no way inferior to any great power. In this respect, Vietnam has never been a small country.

It is known that over the next 10, 15, or 20 years, China is aiming to realize its "Chinese Dream." The exact details of this "Chinese Dream" are unclear, but it is generally understood that China will become the world's number one superpower. Everyone respects this Chinese "dream." And when this "dream" is realized, perhaps someone appointed as China's ambassador to the US will say: China is a truly great country! And rightly so! And there's nothing wrong with that.

The only thing is: As a great nation, and soon to be an extremely great nation, it must behave in a manner befitting a great nation, not the other way around. The Chinese have a saying: A gentleman and a petty person. Hopefully, great nations will act in accordance with the principles of a gentleman, and not the other way around!

China, on its path to realizing the "Chinese Dream," has affirmed: Building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Regardless of the characteristics, socialism must naturally be scientific socialism, as Karl Marx pointed out. Therefore, let me reiterate Marx's thesis: A nation that oppresses another nation is not free!

The Chinese ambassador to the US must have learned about this, right? And, surely he also knows this: “The time when big countries imposed their will on smaller countries is over. That time officially ended after the Russian October Revolution, even more so after the success of the Chinese Revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic of China, and forever ended after Vietnam had the great honor of being a small country that bravely defeated two great empires…”

Truong Cong Anh