Passing of Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam
It is with profound sadness that the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) informs you that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong passed away in Hanoi on July 19. Despite his illness in the last while, Comrade Nguyen carried out his duties with distinction till the end. For his great service to Vietnam, the day before his passing, Comrade Nguyen was presented with the Order of the Gold Star, the highest award that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam can bestow on a citizen for exceptional services to the country. His death is a great loss to the Communist Party of Vietnam, to the people of Vietnam and also to the international Communist and Workers’ Movement.
• Special Communiqué from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
• General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong Leaves a Strong Mark on National Development
– Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Nhan Dan –
• Excellent Leader with Imprints in Vietnam’s Diplomacy
– Bui Thanh Son, Nhan Dan –
Message from the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
Anna Di Carlo, National Leader of the Communist Party CPC(M-L), sent the Party’s condolences and profound sympathies to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam upon receiving the news of the passing of Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, on July 19. The letter reads:
“Dearest Comrades,
“With great sadness we learned of the death of Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, highly respected and beloved General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. On behalf of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), I send our deepest condolences to the Communist Party of Vietnam and the entire Vietnamese people at this hour of their great loss. Please also express our condolences to Comrade Nguyen’s family members.
“We have always been greatly inspired by Comrade Nguyen’s contributions and example. Since a young age he devoted himself to making sure the Communist Party of Vietnam played its important leading role throughout all the trials and tribulations.
“Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong ably elaborated a program to transform Vietnam into a powerful and prosperous nation which knows how to weather this period of historical transition. This is a great feat achieved because he has stood steadfast in leading the Communist Party to put the well-being of the Vietnamese people in first place such that Vietnam is respected worldwide for always standing up for the justice of its cause and the cause of humanity itself.
“We express our confidence that the great party of the historic leader Ho Chi Minh, following the recent the example of Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, will continue to lead the Vietnamese people by turning their grief at his great loss into strength.”
“With deepest heartfelt sympathies”
[Signed]
Special Communiqué from the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Vietnam
– July 19, 2024 –
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and his family inform with deep grief:
Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, born on April 14, 1944; native place: Dong Hoi commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi city; residence: No. 5, Thien Quang street, Nguyen Du ward, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi city. He started working in 1967 and joined the Communist Party of Vietnam on December 19, 1967. He is member of the Party Central Committee of the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th tenures; Politburo member of the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th tenures; permanent member of the Political Bureau in the 8th tenure; Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) in the 11th and 12th tenures; General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee in the 11th, 12th and 13th tenures; President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the 2016-2021 tenure; Chairman of the National Defence and Security Council; Secretary of the Central Military Commission, member of the Standing Board of the Central Public Security Party Committee, head of the Central Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Corruption and Negative Phenomena. NA deputy of the 11th, 12th, 13t, 14th and 15th tenures.
After a period of illness, despite the wholehearted treatment and care by the Party, State, leading medical experts and his family, he passed away at 1:38 pm on July 19, 2024 due to old age and severe illness at the age of 80 at Central Military Hospital 108.
Throughout his 60 years of work, he has made great and exceptionally outstanding contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation. He has been conferred with the Gold Star Order, the 55-year Party membership badge and many other noble orders and medals of Vietnam, foreign countries and international organisations.
His passing away is a great loss to our Party, State and people, and his family. In memory of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front decide to hold the funeral of Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong with the national mourning etiquette.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
The National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong Leaves a
Strong Mark on National Development
– Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Nhan Dan –
The passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong causes deep grief for the entire Party, armed forces and people. He was one of the Party and State’s most outstanding leaders. During more than 13 years as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, he has remained steadfast in the Party’s reform policy, independence and self-reliance policy. He was at the helm and led the country, along with the Party, to overcome numerous challenges and record impressive achievements in all fields.
While working alongside the Politburo and the Central Committee to promote the building and fine-tuning of socialist-oriented market institutions, he saw the risk of deterioration in the Party and State apparatus and directly oversaw the fight against corruption and negative phenomena to clean up the internal apparatus and safeguard the fruits of development.
History will judge the contributions and legacy of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. During these sad days, as a person who has been working closely with him for more than ten years, I’d like to highlight some of the most profound impressions of him.
As a Party theorist, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made great efforts to apply Marxism-Leninism and the Ho Chi Minh Ideology to Vietnamese reality. After the Soviet Union and the socialist system in East Europe collapsed, the theory of building socialism in Vietnam faced many challenges. Therefore, he directed the Party’s theoretical agencies based on the country’s reality and the international situation, to perfect the theory of building socialism on the foundation of the Doi Moi reform launched by the Party in 1986. He also published many important theoretical works on this issue.
Building socialist-oriented market economic institutions must first have a full market economy. The socialist orientation is using the State’s resources to ensure that the economy is strong enough to cope with crisis risks, eliminating the manipulation of “group interests” and ensuring equal opportunities for all subjects of the economy. This ensures enjoying policies, accessing national resources, and the best social security for the people, with priority given to the disadvantaged sectors.
Socialist orientation is mainly implemented using market tools and social security policies, not non-market intervention in the economic operation. Vietnamese Party fully affirmed this viewpoint when Nguyen Phu Trong was General Secretary. Currently, 72 countries recognise that Vietnam has a market economy, including all ASEAN countries and large market economies, such as Japan, the UK, Canada, and Australia.
Building a socialist rule-of-law State. For the first time, the Vietnamese Party determined that “The Vietnamese State is a socialist rule-of-law state,” in the Platform for National Construction in the period of transition to socialism (amended and further developed in 2011) at the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party (January 2011), which decided to appoint Nguyen Phu Trong as General Secretary for the first time. Also during the time that Nguyen Phu Trong was General Secretary, the socialist rule-of-law State was written into the 2013 Constitution. The Constitution also stipulates human rights and civil rights for the first time, stipulating that “Human rights and citizens’ rights may not be limited unless prescribed by a law, solely in case of necessity for reasons of national defence, national security, social order and safety, social morality and community well-being.” (Clause 2, Article 14).
On behalf of the Party Central Committee, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong signed Resolution No. 27-NQ/TW on “continuing to build and perfect the law-governed socialist Vietnamese state in the new period” on November 9, 2022, after it was approved at the 6th Conference of the 13th Party Central Committee. This was considered a “key task in innovating the political system” while “respect for the Constitution and the law becomes the standard of conduct for all subjects in the society.” This resolution needs time to be legislated and brought into life.
At the 13th Party Congress (January 25, 2021 – February 2, 2021), General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed: “Our country has never had such opportunity, potential, position, nor international prestige as it does today.” That statement is completely correct.
The results of implementing the 10-year socio-economic strategy for the 2011-2020 period proposed at the 11th Party Congress raised the scale of the economy by 2.4 times, whereby the scale in 2020 was 1.4 times higher than that of 2015. Vietnam ranks 35th among the 40 largest economies in the world and is one of the 16 most successful emerging economies in the world. The economic growth rate was high, and Vietnam was among the 10 countries with the highest economic growth rates in the world in the 2016-2019 period. The process of hunger eradication and poverty reduction has achieved spectacular achievements. In the last five years of the strategy, the poverty rate decreased from 9.88 per cent in 2015 to 2.75 per cent in 2020.
According to the World Bank, universal health care in Vietnam has made progress while living standards have been increasingly improving. The universal health care coverage index is 73 (out of 100), higher than the regional average and the world average. Vietnam’s average number of years of schooling is 10.2 years, ranking second in the region, only behind Singapore. Vietnam’s human capital index is 0.69 out of a maximum of one, ranking highest among economies with the same income level. People’s access to infrastructure has been significantly improved. As of 2019, 99.4 per cent of the population are using electricity for lighting, compared to 14 per cent in 1993.
During the 2016-2019 period, Vietnam was among the 10 countries with the highest economic growth rates in the world.
With its international position and reputation, Vietnam has established comprehensive partnerships with 12 countries and strategic partnerships with 18 countries, of which seven countries are comprehensive strategic partners. Most of these partnerships were established during the period when Nguyen Phu Trong was General Secretary. Of the seven comprehensive strategic partnerships with Vietnam, excluding that established with China in 2008, six partners were established during the time Nguyen Phu Trong was General Secretary.
The Vietnamese economy has been integrating more and more deeply into the global economy. Of the 16 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has signed and are currently in effect, half of the FTAs, of which all five new generation FTAs were signed during the period of Nguyen Phu Trong serving as General Secretary.
FTAs, especially the new generation FTAs, have not only strongly promoted free trade and positively impacted economic growth, but their very high integration commitments have promoted and shortened the completion of the system. The legal system is compatible with the market mechanism, quickly building and perfecting the institutions of a socialist-oriented market economy.
The notable achievements that have driven the aforementioned strong development of the country are the collective efforts of the Politburo, the Party Central Committee, the Government, and the entire political system over many tenures. They are the inheritance and continuation of the achievements from the nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal), with the significant role of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong as the Party leader for over 13 years.
At the most recent Party Congress, I was assigned by the General Secretary to head the Sub-Committee on Socio-Economic Affairs. Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong fully supported new perspectives and provided sharp directives for the Sub-Committee to propose new policies, especially in building a socialist-oriented market economy and constructing a socialist rule-of-law state.
Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong has also shown particular interest in cultural development. Notably, he chaired the National Cultural Conference on November 24, 2021. This conference was of historical significance, commemorating the 75th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh chairing the first National Cultural Conference (November 24, 1946). This conference summarised and drew lessons from the cultural development process over the nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renewal) and marked a turning point in cultural revival and development, meeting the comprehensive development requirements of the country in the new situation and bearing the strong imprint of Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong.
In the special communiqué on organising the national funeral for Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, our Party and State acknowledged that “he has made great and exceptionally outstanding contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation.” As a close associate of the comrade, I believe that his contributions to promoting the renewal process in the country’s development, marked by the milestones I mentioned, are the most significant imprints.
Nguyen Xuan Phuc is a former Politburo member, former Prime Minister, former President. Nhan Dan is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
(July 23, 2024)
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong – Excellent Leader with Imprints in Vietnam’s Diplomacy
– Bui Thanh Son, Nhan Dan –
With nearly 60 years of experience in revolutionary practice; a strategic, scientific, and dialectical vision; and sharp political insight, always closely linking theory with practical summaries, and creatively applying and developing Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thought, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong has made crucial and outstanding contributions to building and perfecting the theory and platform of the Party on the country’s socialist-oriented development, guidelines and policies of the Party and State in many fields from politics, economy – society, defence, security to foreign affairs, Son wrote.
The contributions of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in terms of thought and theory are reflected in the Party’s leadership outlined in its resolutions, conclusions, and directives across fields.
These contributions are also reflected in his books and articles, which have been widely supported by Party members, people, and overseas Vietnamese; and highly regarded by scientific and theoretical research communities, and leaders of other countries.
These works have profound theoretical and practical values regarding socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam; the building of a clean and strong Party and a socialist rule-of-law State; military policies and defence strategies; the formation and development of Vietnam’s comprehensive and modern foreign affairs and diplomacy imbued with the “Vietnamese bamboo” identity; the building of a modern culture deeply rooted in national identity; and the reinforcement of national great solidarity, according to the article.
Diplomacy is one of the areas that bears many prominent imprints of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong. Under his leadership and direction as the General Secretary, the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat have issued numerous resolutions, conclusions, and directives on building and perfecting the Party’s and State’s foreign policy during the renewal period.
It can be said that Vietnam’s diplomacy imbued with the “Vietnamese bamboo” identity, which General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong frequently mentioned in his articles and speeches on foreign affairs, is the most comprehensive and complete reflection of the core and consistent contents regarding the philosophy, identity, viewpoints, thoughts, guiding principles, basic tasks, and implementation methods of Vietnam’s foreign policy and diplomacy based on the cultural identity and national characters of the Vietnamese people, shaped after thousands of years of national construction and protection.
For the first time in the history of Vietnam’s foreign relations, a national conference on external affairs was held in the 13th term of the Party. The Party leader also authored a book on the building and development of Vietnam’s diplomacy deeply imbued with the characteristics of “Vietnamese bamboo”, reflecting his intellectual contributions to developing the thought and theory, and perfecting the Party’s foreign policy.
Under the leadership and direction of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the foreign affairs of the Party and State achieved many important results and historical accomplishments, becoming an impressive highlight among the overall achievements and successes of the country.
One of the diplomatic “legacies” bearing the imprints of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong is that the country’s foreign policy has not only been kept stable to support national development amid significant and complex global changes but has also been elevated to a new level with improved quality, new strategic contents, higher political reliability, and more practical and effective cooperation in relations with neighbouring countries, powers, key partners, and traditional friends; as well as Vietnam’s new reputation and position on both bilateral and multilateral aspects, the minister wrote.
According to the article, the General Secretary always left a good impression on international partners and friends of Vietnam that is dynamic, rich in culture and amicable; upholds justice and righteousness; respects international law; and behaves reasonably and compassionately. Vietnam is seen as a faithful friend, a reliable partner, and an active and responsible member of the international community.
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is regarded as a sincere, close, and simple leader with great prestige, far-sighted vision, sharp thinking, and exemplary behaviour.
In addition to the national conference on foreign affairs in December 2021, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong attended and delivered guiding speeches at six diplomatic conferences, including five times in his position as the Party General Secretary. He especially paid attention to directing the development of the diplomatic sector’s staff with comprehensive qualifications, mettle, morality, and professional competence.
The diplomatic sector’s staff will always remember and thoroughly grasp the advice of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong that “A good diplomat and a skilled activist in foreign affairs must first be a good politician, always taking the interests of the nation, the people, and the regime as the guiding principle in their actions,” and “always remember that behind them are the Party, the country, and the people,” the article wrote.
Son also showed his admiration for the excellent Party leader, stressing that comrade Nguyen Phu Trong is a symbol of the noble qualities of Vietnamese culture and personality of Vietnamese people.
The Party chief continually studied and followed President Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle, upheld a resilient yet friendly spirit, treasured relations and righteousness, and heightened consensus and solidarity within the Party, the people, and the international community, Son wrote.
All these factors have contributed to the qualifications and stature of an intellectual and resilient leader with great prestige within the Party, the State, and among the people, who is esteemed by international friends, he underlined.
Bui Thanh Son is a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
(July 23, 2024)
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