Promoting the strength of the people, protecting national and ethnic interests
At the end of 2014, our country, under the Party's banner, continued to gain important achievements, bringing the renovation process to a comprehensive and increasingly solid development. On the threshold of the New Year 2015, great premonitions and great tasks are being placed before the entire Party, the entire people and the entire army, encouraging our nation to steadfastly move forward. On the occasion of welcoming the New Year 2015, Nghe An Electronic Newspaper respectfully introduces an article by Comrade Truong Tan Sang, Politburo member, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
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| Comrade TRUONG TAN SANG - Member of the Politburo, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
Together with humanity, we say goodbye to 2014, the year of the Horse. For us, 2014 was a year filled with many hardships, storms, difficulties and challenges, but we overcame them. Looking back, there are still mixed feelings of warmth and coldness, sadness and joy, and many things that are always on our minds that everyone can see and are working together to overcome and repair. As the spring of the new year 2015 is approaching, the entire Vietnamese people are excited, have new vitality, new determination, continue to strive for the successes in the Year of great events: 85 springs of our Party's birth, 70 autumns of revolution and National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 40 years of liberating the South and unifying the country, 125 years of the birth of beloved President Ho Chi Minh, 30 years of the country's innovation on the path of socialism, moving towards the 12th National Party Congress... with a new vision, new mission, new strength, new ways of action and belief in new successes.
On the threshold of the New Year, looking back at the past, we review ourselves, contemplate the big events, broaden our vision, prepare our luggage, continue to be proactive and steadfast in moving forward.
Sustainable development - a strategic choice
We are living in the era of globalization with all the complexities of opportunities and risks, fortunes and challenges intertwined and changing unpredictably; either falling behind, meaning being left behind, or breaking through, rising up to keep up with the times, mastering our own destiny, and if we stop, we are falling behind. And falling behind, especially economically, is a risk that our Party warned about twenty years ago, in January 1994, and for two decades the whole nation has been making unceasing efforts to overcome.
Therefore, more than ever, the only right path is for us to rise up, to develop the country sustainably, when the pace of humanity does not wait for anyone, global competition always carries the risk of "loss and gain", no country or nation is an exception, causing the balance of power between countries and regions in the world to constantly change. Falling behind means being swept away and submerged by globalization, inevitably falling into dependence, becoming the "backyard" of others, and will not be able to improve or enhance the people's lives. "Food is enough, military is strong", if we fall behind, it will be difficult to protect the independence and sovereignty of the country, difficult to have a worthy position in the international arena, let alone stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents.
Sustainable development, narrowing the gap in economic development level with advanced countries in the region and the world, for the goal of a rich people, a strong country, is an inescapable responsibility, a sacred mission, and the honor of each of us, the descendants of Lac Hong today. Therefore, in 2015 and the coming years, with the mettle, intelligence, and potential of the country and people of Vietnam, we must focus on handling and removing obstacles and blockages, overcoming limitations and weaknesses, quickly bringing the country's economy out of the state of decline that has lasted for several years, restoring growth momentum; continuing to promote the process of innovation, industrialization, modernization, and international integration creatively and effectively; successfully completing the task of renewing the growth model to create a new quality, a new, higher level for the country's economy, on par with advanced countries in the region. Sustainable development is the strategic choice of our country today. Development is a measure of Vietnam's mettle and intelligence in the global competition for the goal of national development. Development will determine the future image of our country, and will determine Vietnam's role and position in the world in the coming decades.
Protecting national and ethnic interests is the ultimate goal.
Over thousands of years, our ancestors, regardless of who they were talking to, or in any situation, always decided to take the interests of the nation and people as the ultimate goal in all their actions, thus creating a solid foundation for their descendants today. History has shown that doing otherwise is inviting disaster, not losing the country, becoming slaves, but pushing the country and people into misery and suffering.
In today's era, amidst the vast sea of globalization and life-and-death competition, the truth "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom" shines brighter than ever. Our country integrates with the world, with friends from all over the world to learn and absorb the quintessence of humanity and the times, to enrich and enrich the culture imbued with the national identity of Vietnam; to take advantage of external forces, to arouse internal forces, to turn external forces into internal forces, to build our country strong and prosperous, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents, our people to have a prosperous, free and happy life, and absolutely not to lose ourselves, not to fall behind or become dependent.
The country and the nation that our ancestors have passed down for thousands of years, our descendants today and forever have the sacred duty and responsibility to preserve, determined not to lose even a single bit of it. Our people have spent thousands of years building and defending the country, having gone through hundreds of uprisings and resistance wars against invaders, on all scales, with countless sacrifices and bloodshed; in dangerous moments, we have raised the will "even if we have to drain the East Sea", "even if we have to burn the Truong Son mountain range", we are determined to regain and firmly preserve the independence, freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. Today, more than 90 million of our compatriots are willing to do their best, willing to devote all their spirit and strength, their lives and property, ready to sacrifice even the last drop of blood for those priceless sacred things.
Our national interests are specific: Independence, sovereignty, unity, and sacred territorial integrity of the Fatherland; socialist regime, the country's prosperity, strength, and prosperity, freedom, and happiness of the people. This is the goal that we are ready to overcome all obstacles and determined to strive to achieve. It is also the basis for us to distinguish what needs to be done and what needs to be avoided, as Uncle Ho taught: Whatever is beneficial to the people and the country, we must do our best to do; whatever is harmful to the people and the country, we must avoid; it is the standard for us to identify who is a friend, who is an enemy, who is a partner, who is an object in each field, each specific situation and circumstance; the viewpoints of our Party: Those who respect independence and sovereignty, establish friendly relations and expand friendly relations, and cooperate equally and mutually beneficially with Vietnam are all our partners; Any force that plots or acts against our country's goals in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland is an object of struggle. To go against the law and harm the interests of the nation is to lose one's life and harm the country, is to commit a crime against our ancestors and generations of fathers, and is to betray the trust and confidence of more than 90 million compatriots!
Promoting the national treasure of the people is the fundamental lesson
The thousands of years of history of building and defending the country of our nation, as well as the history of the countries and peoples of the East, West, modern and ancient times in the world, all confirm and affirm the truth: The people are the ones who make history, the strength of the people is invincible. It is the people with muddy feet and hands, countless generations of hard-working people, working day and night, who have opened mountains and broken rocks to build the shape of the Fatherland and have countless times used their blood and bones to create a solid wall to preserve and protect the homeland, the country, and protect the achievements they created. Our ancestors, from the rise and fall of dynasties, from the heroic resistance wars against foreign invaders, have drawn conclusions, affirmed and reminded the next generations: the people carry the boat, the people also capsize the boat; leniency and the strength of the people as a plan to deepen the roots and maintain the foundation is the best policy to protect the country; the country must take the people as the root, if the root is strong, the tree will last. Having the people means having everything, losing the people means losing everything.
And, intact today, in the Ho Chi Minh era, the idea that people are the root, people's strength is invincible, that it is a hundred times easier to endure without people, a thousand times harder to complete with people, has been imbued, applied skillfully and promoted to the peak, creating the strength that has led to all the victories of the Vietnamese revolution over the past 85 years. The Autumn Revolution of 1945 was a general uprising of the entire people. Our sacred resistance wars, seemingly like "grasshoppers kicking elephants", have defeated the most brutal and powerful invading armies in the world. Those were people's wars, with the participation of the entire people, the entire people fighting the enemy, with the main force, the core being the army from the people, fighting for the people. The great achievements that our country has achieved in the past 30 years of renovation are due to the contributions of the entire people under the leadership of the Party.
Big boats going out to sea will inevitably encounter big waves and strong winds. Today, the cause of innovation continues to build our country into a “rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness, civilization” and firmly protect the land, sky, sea, borders, and islands that our ancestors left behind, protect the revolutionary achievements and the peaceful life of the people. In the coming time, there will be great opportunities and advantages, but difficulties and challenges will also be extremely fierce and intense. There are still those who want to hold us back, hinder us, and weaken us so that they can easily control us; there are those who are plotting to encroach on our land, encroach on our sea, and occupy our islands. Only the consensus and unanimity of the entire people, the great national unity bloc, is the invincible strength for us to overcome all the big waves and strong winds of the times.
Wholeheartedly serving the people, taking care of improving the material and spiritual life of the people, protecting the peaceful life of the people is the duty and responsibility of our Party and State, and the duty of each of us, cadres, party members, civil servants and public employees, as Uncle Ho taught: "The people do not have enough salt, the Party must take care. The people do not have enough rice to eat, the people do not have enough warm clothes to wear, the Party must take care. The children do not have schools, the Party must take care."(1); “Our regime is a democratic regime, where the people are the masters. The government is the servant of the people.”(2)“If people are hungry, the Party and Government are at fault; if people are cold, the Party and Government are at fault; if people are ignorant, the Party and Government are at fault; if people are sick, the Party and Government are at fault.”(3).
Every party organization, every state agency, every cadre and party member must deeply remember and well implement Uncle Ho's teachings; prevent and repel the evils of bureaucracy, corruption, negativity, bullying the people, and indifference to the people's grievances, then they will certainly gain the people's trust and wholehearted support, and the great national unity bloc will be consolidated and strengthened. We are not afraid of any enemy, even the most brutal, we are only afraid of losing the people's hearts. The hearts of the people are the national treasure for building and defending Vietnam!
Acting sincerely, preserving and cherishing peace and harmony is Vietnamese morality.
Our people love peace, always wish to live in peace to build and develop the country; always wish for peace, friendship and cooperation with neighboring countries and all countries in the world. Our people are only forced to take up arms to fight against invaders, to protect our freedom, independence and national sovereignty. The glorious feats of arms of our people, admired by the world, are all feats in the resistance wars against foreign invaders. Being victims of many wars with so much pain and sacrifice, we wish to extinguish all the flames of war so that peace can come to all peoples and countries in the world. "Love others as you love yourself", what we do not want to happen to ourselves, we do not want to happen to others and we do not do to others. That is Vietnamese morality, Vietnamese humanity. Even for defeated invaders, our ancestors still provided food, horses and boats for them to return home. The remains of soldiers in the invading army were buried in the soil of Vietnam. We have created all conditions and participated in the heroic search for decades to return them and send them back to their birthplace and to their relatives. Where and how many people can do that if they do not live morally, altruistically, and humanely like our people? That peaceful and humane heart sows “good fruits” for the independence and freedom, for the “everlasting golden mountains and rivers” of our people.
Today, inheriting and promoting the good traditional values, humanity of the nation, in accordance with the nature of the times, our country and people integrate into the world, always wishing to have friendly relations, cooperation with all countries, on the basis of equality, respect for independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, political regime of each other, balance of interests, mutual benefit, for peace, stability and development of Vietnam, of the region and of the whole world. Vietnam is ready to be a friend, a reliable partner, a responsible member of the international community. In the context of the extremely complicated developments of the current world situation, we condemn wars of aggression, terrorist activities, riots, overthrow, interference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations; support the struggles for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress.
In particular, in the face of complicated developments in the region, the plots and acts of invasion, causing disputes in the East Sea, threatening the sovereignty of our country's seas and islands, we resolutely oppose. For us, the sovereignty of the seas and islands of the Fatherland is sacred, inviolable, a priceless asset left by our ancestors, our current generation has the duty to preserve and protect it to pass on to future generations. Inheriting the nation's tradition of loving peace, harmony, and humanity, we persistently resolve disputes by peaceful means, on the basis of international law, agreements between ASEAN and China, agreements between high-ranking leaders of Vietnam and China, to protect the sovereignty of the seas and islands of the Fatherland; at the same time, protect a peaceful and stable environment for the development of our country, peace and stability in the region; ensure freedom, security and safety on the world's most important maritime route. Justice and reason belong to our nation. We uphold the bright justice to unite and promote the strength of the entire nation, our compatriots at home and overseas; to seek and attract broad and strong support from other countries and the international community for our people's struggle. At the same time, we always actively prepare for other suitable solutions, ready to respond to all situations to firmly protect the sovereignty of the sacred territory, sea and islands of the Fatherland.
With the strength of Phu Dong, the heroic spirit of Dong A, the immortal spirit of Bach Dang and Dong Da, with the uprising of the August Revolution, the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu that shook the world and the rapid momentum of the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the Vietnamese people are steadfast, confident and strong on the path to socialism, continuing to bring our innovation to glory, to the shore of happiness, joining hands with progressive humanity to build a world of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation, prosperity and well-being./.
(1) Ho Chi Minh: Complete Works, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 1996, vol. 10, pp. 463 - 464
(2), (3) Ho Chi Minh: Op. cit., vol. 7, pp. 368, 572
TRUONG TAN SANG - Member of the Politburo, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam