Key achievements of the Party’s external affairs work during the first half of the 13th National Party Congress’ term
WVR - Viet Nam’s Party diplomacy has been implemented in a proactive and creative manner, and yielded numerous tangible results. Such efforts have served as meaningful contributors to reinforcing the political foundation for Viet Nam’s bilateral ties with other countries, and elevating the stature of the Party and country in the international arena.
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| General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, President of the Cambodian People’s Party Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith had a high-level meeting in Hanoi on September 6. (Photo: VNA) |
The 13th National Party Congress identified a number of missions for Viet Nam’s external affairs work. These entail “harnessing the pioneering role of foreign affairs in creating and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment; resolutely and steadfastly protecting the country’s independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; mobilizing external resources for national development; improving the country’s position and profile, and simultaneously contributing to the common struggle movement of progressive forces worldwide”.
The Congress also underscored the need to “proactively and actively engage in international integration in a comprehensive, extensive, flexible, and effective manner, and build a comprehensive and modern diplomatic service on the basis of three pillars, including Party diplomacy, State diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy.”
Identifying Viet Nam’s new stature and mindset
At the first National Conference on Foreign Affairs in December 2021, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong elaborated on the guiding thoughts, principles, directions, and tasks of Viet Nam’s foreign affairs, and emphasized the fact that “foreign affairs today is not only a continuation of domestic policy, but also a strong driving force for the development of the nation.” He highlighted the unique diplomacy of the Ho Chi Minh era imbued with an identity akin to the “Vietnamese bamboo”, and requested the diplomatic service to determine its new stature and mentality, seek novel ways of thinking, and take bold and creative actions to meet the requirements of this new phase of development.
Given the guideline of fostering a comprehensive and modern diplomacy based on three pillars of Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy at the 13th National Party Congress, Resolution no. 34-NQ/TW of the 13th Politburo has determined the particular role of each pillar. Accordingly, the Party’s external affairs work plays a pivotal role in shaping Viet Nam’s foreign strategies, orientations and policies; developing good relations with political parties, and building and strengthening the political foundation conducive to Viet Nam’s ties with other countries and partners.
In the first three years of the 13th National Party Congress’ term, the global and regional landscape has witnessed numerous major, rapid and increasingly complicated changes, with profound and multi-dimensional impacts on the world, the region and Viet Nam. Under the close, regular, and timely leadership and instruction of the Politburo and the Party Central Secretariat with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the helm, Party diplomacy has been conducted in the spirit of proactiveness and creativity, and recorded a wide range of substantive outcomes. These endeavors have thus contributed to strengthening the political foundation for Viet Nam’s bilateral ties with other countries, and elevating the stature of the Party and Viet Nam as a whole on the international stage. Party diplomacy in the first half of the 13th National Party Congress’ term has witnessed many significant changes, and has been promoted in a comprehensive and targeted manner, thereby adding further depth and stability to the Party’s relations with partner parties, and making meaningful and important contributions to the country’s diplomatic successes. Such achievements include maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, successfully containing the Covid-19 pandemic, fostering post-pandemic economic recovery, creating more favorable conditions to attract external resources, promoting national socio-economic development, and further enhancing the international profile of our Party and country.
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| Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong hosted a welcoming ceremony for US President Joe Biden on September 10, 2023. |
The Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee have issued numerous important guiding documents on foreign affairs, particularly Resolution no. 34-NQ/TW dated 09 January 2023 of the Politburo on a number of major orientations and guidelines in implementing the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress. This is the first comprehensive Resolution of the Politburo on external affairs since Resolution no. 13 (of the 6th Politburo) in May 1988.
The Politburo and the Party Central Secretariat also adopted a number of other important directives and master plans on foreign affairs and relevant fields, such as defense, security, and economic matters, so as to create a common awareness and ensure the holistic and effective implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress. These documents include Directive no. 12-CT/TW dated 05 January 2022 of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee on strengthening the Party’s leadership and improving the effectiveness of people-to-people diplomacy in the new situation, Directive no. 15-CT/TW dated 10 August 2022 of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee on economic diplomacy in service of national development towards 2030, Directive no. 24-CT/TW dated 13 July 2023 of the Politburo on firmly ensuring national security amid comprehensive and extensive international integration, Conclusion no. 12-KL/TW dated 12 August 2021 of the Politburo on overseas Vietnamese work in the new situation, and Conclusion no. 53-KL/TW dated 28 April 2023 of the Politburo on international integration and defense diplomacy towards 2030 and beyond.
The Politburo also conducted a review of the 10-year implementation of the Resolution of the 8th Plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee, and put in place an implementation plan for the Resolution of the 8th Plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee (Resolution no. 44-NQ/TW dated 27 November 2023) on the Strategy to protect the Fatherland in the new situation.
Significant outcomes
Foreign affairs activities of key leaders and high-level leaders were actively carried out with many important results, especially in bolstering the frameworks for stable external ties, creating drivers for the strengthening and deepening of multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and other countries, and addressing a multitude of significant diplomatic matters.
Since the beginning of the 13th National Party Congress’ term, key leaders have conducted over 180 important foreign affairs activities, both bilaterally and multilaterally. These included about 50 oversea visits and the reception of about 50 high-level delegations in Viet Nam. These leaders have also participated in around 90 other external affairs activities, both in-person and via videoconference, and nearly 30 virtual international conferences.
Most notably, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has been directly involved in around 100 foreign affairs activities, including events of historical significance that serve to lay the groundwork and outline long-term orientations for Viet Nam’s relations with other countries. These included the official visit to China in October 2022, the reception of US President Joe Biden during his visit to Viet Nam in September 2023, and the reception of Chairman of the United Russia Party (URP), Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev.
The standing members of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, members of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, the Vice President, the Deputy Prime Ministers, the Vice Presidents of the National Assembly, and members of the Party Central Committee have also actively and effectively partaken in various diplomatic activities across Party-to-Party and State-to-State channels and through people-to-people exchange. As a result, Viet Nam has managed to strengthen political trust with its partners, mobilize resources for development, create favorable conditions to fulfil defense and security demands, enhance coordination in resolving international issues, and improving Viet Nam’s role and prestige in the international arena.
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| Permanent member of the CPV Central Committee’s Secretariat, Chairwoman of the CPV Central Committee’s Organisation Commission Truong Thi Mai received Chief Representative of the Komeito party Yamaguchi Natsuo, August 2023. (Photo: VNA) |
External affairs activities of Party agencies at the central, provincial, and local levels, especially in border provinces, and other socio-political organizations have been implemented in a synchronized and effective manner, thereby actively contributing to the overarching accomplishments of Party diplomacy, and of the entire country’s diplomatic work.
Viet Nam’s relations with neighboring countries have been further bolstered, with added depth, enhanced political trust, and novel developments. The Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership with China has been strengthened. The official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in October 2022 was a major political and diplomatic event, with outstanding successes across the board, marking a new phase of development in the relationship between the two Parties and countries.
The cooperation with Laos and Cambodia continued to thrive in breadth and depth. During the first half of the 13th National Party Congress’ tenure, the highest-ranking Party leaders of Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos held two meetings in Hanoi, in which the former meeting (convened in September 2021) was the first of its kind to take place in 30 years, marking a truly historic milestone. There were regular exchanges of high-level delegations, while political trust and effective cooperation among Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia were substantially strengthened, especially in 2022, the Viet Nam - Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year and Viet Nam - Cambodia Friendship Year.
| The important outcomes in external affairs work during the first half of the 13th National Party Congress’ term reflects the accurate foreign policy of the Party and State of Viet Nam, the due attention, able leadership, and wise instruction of the Politburo, the Party Central Secretariat, and the Party Central Committee, the participation of the entire political system, including the active involvement and coordination of relevant Ministries and agencies in the implementation of these external affairs tasks. |
Viet Nam’s relations with major powers and key partners also continue to be enhanced. With the United States, the two sides have engaged in a wide range of high-level foreign affairs activities. During President Joe Biden’s visit to Viet Nam (in September 2023), the two sides agreed to upgrade Viet Nam - US ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development. The new partnership will introduce substantive opportunities and benefits to both countries, and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. With Russia, high-level exchanges are conducted across Party, State, and Parliamentary channels. With the European Union, the official visits to several EU countries by Vietnamese leaders have yielded many important outcomes, thus adding greater depth, effectiveness, and substance to Viet Nam’s relations with EU countries.
The Viet Nam - Japan relations have been upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the occasion of the official visit to Japan by President Vo Van Thuong and the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries in November 2023). The relationship between Viet Nam and the Republic of Korea has been significantly enhanced after the two countries elevated bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. Viet Nam’s relations with India are ever-thriving in a more substantive manner. In addition, our country’s ties with traditional friends and partners in Asia, Africa, and Latin America continue to record welcoming developments. Many diplomatic activities with Cuba have been implemented with great substance and effectiveness.
The relations with the ruling parties of bordering countries and socialist countries have made important progress, thereby further guiding Viet Nam’s overall strategy and adding strong impetus to the deepening of Viet Nam’s relations with such countries. The ties with ruling parties, political parties and important parties of major powers, important partners, and regional countries, as well as other Communist parties, workers’ parties and traditional friends have been maintained and bolstered, with novel breakthroughs. Such efforts are conducive to strengthening the political foundation for Viet Nam to maintain its stable and long-standing ties with these countries. Our Party has also actively participated in and contributed to various multilateral political party mechanisms, such as the International Meeting between Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP), the Sao Paulo Forum, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), and other important international conferences organized by partner parties.
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| Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Head of its Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung met with Politburo member, Director of the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission Office and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi in Hanoi on December 2, 2023. (Photo: VNA) |
Party diplomacy, State diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy are carried out through closer coordination in a synchronized and effective manner, resulting in notable progress. This, in turn, creates a synergy that helps realize the country’s external affairs goals.
External communication work has also received due attention from the Party Central Committee. The Politburo issued Conclusion no. 57-KL/TW dated 15 June 2023 on the need to continue to improve the quality and efficiency of external communication work in the new situation. Through the Party and State’s external affairs activities, particularly those at the high level, we have effectively provided political parties and international partners with information about Viet Nam’s current circumstances and the Communist Party of Viet Nam’s guidelines and orientations, including Viet Nam’s foreign policy and positions on international and regional issues. Moreover, information work on economic diplomacy, Viet Nam’s sovereignty over seas and islands, its national border and territory, the South China Sea, and issues pertaining to religions, ethnicities, democracy, and human rights, is implemented through Party and people-to-people diplomatic channels in line with the principle of being “proactive, holistic, timely, creative, and effective”. International friends can thus constantly improve their understanding of and better support Viet Nam and its people.
The important outcomes in external affairs work during the first half of the 13th National Party Congress’ term reflects the accurate foreign policy of the Party and State
of Viet Nam, the due attention, able leadership, and wise instruction of the Politburo, the Party Central Secretariat, and the Party Central Committee, the participation of the entire political system, including the active involvement and coordination of relevant Ministries and agencies in the implementation of these external affairs tasks. Along with the tremendous support from international friends and partners, the results achieved in the first half of the 13th National Party Congress’ term constitute an important basis for external affairs work to maintain its active contributions to the implementation of key missions in the second half of the term, and the successful realization of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.n
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