https://tienphong.vn/ong-co-van-nguoi-bac-nhip-cau-quan-he-viet-my-post1433926.tpo
After 1975 until the 1980s, under the state-owned economy, "blockade" policies, and rationing system, Vietnam's economy collapsed and fell into a deadlock. In early 1980, officials from the Vietnamese Embassy in France contacted me. By the end of 1980, I began directly assisting them. In early 1980, Pham Hung sent a delegation to meet me in Paris to explain that Vietnam's economy had hit a dead end.
After the border war with China in 1979, the country was left extremely vulnerable. The people were poor, and the state was weak. They asked for my advice. The leadership of the Vietnamese government and the Communist Party, especially Pham Hung, who was then Vice Chairman and later Chairman of the Council of Ministers, tasked the delegation to consult with me on economic issues.
The discussion was long, but ultimately, when I met with Pham Hung's delegation, I made it clear: the centrally planned, state-owned economy they were operating under could not develop. Their system of centralized distribution through state subsidies was fundamentally incapable of growth. On top of that, the policy of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the idea of the poor seizing leadership, was a theoretical fantasy. In reality, it had failed.
I told them bluntly: from ancient Athens, Rome, to the Qin Dynasty and beyond, no nation has ever become strong based on a poor population. A country can only be strong if its people are wealthy because the strength of a nation rests on its citizens. If you impoverish the people, the nation remains weak. Therefore, they needed to rethink their strategy. They had to create conditions for the people to participate actively in economic development in order to build the country.
It was a long conversation, but in the end, Pham Hung said to me, "I'm in a very difficult position. I understand what you're saying, but I can't report it to the Party. Because in our ideology, the word "wealth" is the enemy of communism. The bourgeoisie must be eradicated". That was the reality of 1980, 1981, and 1982.
Eventually, I told him, "I know you can't report it verbally. So I'll write it down for you, one page. When you return, just hand this document to the leadership. It will explain that your mission was to meet with Bui Kien Thanh and receive this advice: the people must become wealthy for the nation to be strong. The economy must belong to the people, not the state. Let the leadership read it. If they agree, good. If they don't, then that's that".
He said, "If I report to the Party leadership exactly what you said, I'll be expelled".
So I wrote down a brief statement for him to take back. Four months later, they returned and told me that my document had been submitted to the Party leadership, and the leadership agreed: the people must be wealthy for the nation to be strong.
From that point, I met with them more regularly, exchanged discussions, and they reported back to the Party. Gradually, we built the terminology that would become part of the 6th National Congress of the Communist Party, researching and understanding the steps necessary for the process of Doi Moi.
What did the 6th Party Congress approve? Vietnam would have a multi-sector economy, no longer solely a state-owned economy. The word "multi-sector" itself marked a revolutionary shift, restoring the people's right to engage in economic activities. Before, if you tried to engage in private economic activities, you could be arrested. Raising a chicken without reporting it could get you arrested. Raising a pig without permission could too. Now, Vietnam had a multi-sector economy. That single word, "multi-sector", represented an enormous revolution.
Next, the economy would operate according to market mechanisms, no longer under the subsidy system, no longer ration cards. A market meant operating under the capitalist method: there are buyers and sellers, not top-down distribution.
The first sentence of the Central Resolution of the 6th Congress was a historic revolution. Vietnam's economy would be a multi-sector economy, the people had the right to economic activity again, and the economy would operate under market mechanisms. Vietnam would engage economically with all capitalist countries around the world.
And for what purpose? Not for a poor, proletarian class to rise, but for the people to become wealthy, because without wealthy citizens, there can be no strong country. Poverty weakens a nation.
The concept of "wealth" itself was another profound revolution, effectively abolishing proletarian ideology and the notion of destroying the bourgeoisie.
The goal was wealthy people, strong nation, leading to a democratic, just, and civilized society. A democratic society meant no more dictatorship, because under Marxist-Leninist theory, you had to have the dictatorship of the proletariat to rule. Now, the focus was no longer theoretical, it was practical, starting with the 6th Central Committee Resolution of 1986, which became the foundation of Doi Moi reforms.
From 1980 to 1986, my work was to assist in reshaping their ideological framework, crafting language carefully enough to be accepted by the Party at the Congress, to achieve a revolutionary transformation peacefully.
From there, the strategy became clear. Build a market economy. To enter the market economy, Vietnam needed access to global markets. The largest market in the world, which countries like Japan, France, and Germany relied on after World War II, was the American market.
Aside from the US, there were other capitalist markets like Japan, France, Germany. Vietnam had to find a way to integrate into the global capitalist economy.
Thus, it became necessary to negotiate normalization with the US and lift the US embargo. No one else in Vietnam could handle that, so I had to take it upon myself to negotiate with the Americans step by step, to dismantle the embargo, and gradually establish diplomatic relations with the US.
Establishing diplomatic ties with the US was the gateway to rebuilding Vietnam's relationship with the entire world, and to integrating with democratic and civilized societies.
@Menthol @Viet
