What is the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union?
The HCMCYU is the biggest political and social youth organisation in Vietnam. Created by president Ho Chi Mihn and the Communist Party of Vietnam, we are recognised as the one true youth organisation which is in charge of youth affairs. We safeguard youth rights and obligations, as well as coordinating with other ministries and organisations to create youth law in Vietnam, including the youth policy 2021-2030. So, we can say that we are the one organisation in charge of the development and affairs of the Vietnamese youth. We ensure that they are provided the best environment to improve their skills, their careers and their own personal development. We now have more than 6 million members, we are proud of this. We run daily programs to support them in their lives as well as ensuring that they contribute back to the country.
What is your role in the HCMCYU?
My name is Minh Tran and I am the deputy head of the international department of the youth union and a member of the executive committee of the HCMCYU at the national level. My daily responsibilities include international affairs with our 80 other partners around the world. We also have partnerships with other youth organisations, youth ministries and youth councils at the national level, as well as doing our duties as a member of multilateral organisations such as ASEAN and the UN. As a member of the executive committee I am also in charge of some youth work in Vietnam. For example, the international department is in charge of the military youth, security youth and public sector youth, so I assist with their work on a daily basis.
What is the relationship between the HCMCYU and the Communist Party of Vietnam?
As I mentioned before, the youth union was established by the CPV, so we have a similar system in the youth union to the party. We get our orientation and guidance from the Communist Party, they orient our work so we can contribute well to the economic and social development of Vietnam. In the papers of the party they will orient youth affairs and it is up to us to turn this into an actual plan which we can carry out.
Do the Vietnamese youth of today still possess an interest in Marxism and Communism?
In every university Marxism is one of the main classes taught. We do not teach Marxism in highschool and the lower levels but at the university level every student will be taught Marxism. In the HCMCYU we organise the largest contest for students which is a Marxist learning competition. The best universities will bring together their best students to compete with teams from other universities. I cannot remember the number of participants but I know it is the largest academic competition in the country.
What have been the greatest successes of the Communist Party in Vietnam since reunification in 1975?
In my personal opinion the biggest success of the party and the state was the Doi Moi in 1986. At that time there was a severely weakened Soviet Union, so allied countries had to adjust their economic policy. We had the Doi Moi, or “New Revolution”, which proved to be the right path for us. We do not follow the same planned socialist economics anymore, now we have free-market oriented socialism, which has helped us build the economy much faster than before. The second great achievement of the party and the state was to open up alliances beyond just a few countries but instead to work with countries all over the world; including Britain, USA and many others. We are now willing to work with every country that will not harm Vietnam and will engage with us. So, now the HCMCYU has many friends around the world. We have diplomatic relations with 193 countries around the world, we are very proud of that. I think this was another decision of the party and state which was right for Vietnam.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing Vietnam right now and how is the state dealing with these challenges?
The first one is Covid-19, which brought many economic difficulties for the state and the Party which we had to recover from. After Covid-19, the economy has improved gradually but now we have gained more trust from the people of Vietnam, as there was a great feeling that the Party and our leader did what they could to support and do good by the people. We gained a lot of trust from our citizens. The second one is that right now we head toward the next national congress of the Party in 2026. For us this is very big, as the sole ruling party this event has huge meaning for the country, so right now we are preparing for this which is a huge task. We have to prepare the paperwork and hold local congresses before we can do the national. National congress will take place in January 2026 so all this must take place next year.
So you mentioned Doi Moi, the opening up of the economy, similar to what China had under Deng Xiaoping. There are certain people who would argue that these policies stray from the path of Marxism, how would you respond to that?
So again, all of us are taught Marxism at university and in order to progress in the Party we must constantly pass classes on Marxist theory in order to be promoted. Which shows it is still important to the Party and to the leadership that the population be educated in Marxism and that we still have a shared trust in Marxism and Ho Chi Mihn ideology. For the youngsters, I don’t have the exact number, but overall the youth still have a very strong trust and belief in Marxism and, especially, Ho Chi Mihn ideology, which contains many lessons from Marx and Lenin. The majority of our population still respect and love Ho Chi Mihn and Ho Chi Mihn ideology.
So a couple of international questions for you; one of the things we are observing in Britain is a shift in global politics, with the rise of China to a great and powerful nation, the USA is no longer the sole unipolar power in global politics. What opportunities does a multipolar world create for Vietnam?
Last year we welcomed Joe Biden to Vietnam, then two weeks later we welcomed Xi Jinping, so it is fair to say that Vietnam is willing to be friends with everyone who is willing to be friends with us and do no harm to us. We have a strategic partnership with China as well as a comprehensive strategic partnership with the USA, so we can work with both of them to get more investment in Vietnam. On your opinion, you are correct that China is rising but the USA remains a very powerful country and I don’t think personally that there will be a situation like before with the Soviet Union and the USA. There is still Russia, Japan, Korea and many other countries which are not as powerful as the USA or China but all these countries have to work together. There will not be two countries who can solely influence others like before.
What is the current relationship between the Vietnamese communist Party and the Chinese Communist party?
Currently it is very good. Last year Xi Jinping came to Vietnam and met with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Together these two powerful men hosted an interface with the youth, which I organised. We chose 100 excellent youth of Vietnam who were able to meet the two powerful men. It was very meaningful for me. For now I think as the party level the relationship is very good, we remain one of the few countries which have the same political systems, like with Loas and Cuba, who are also our very good friends.
You mention that you have a good relationship with both China and the USA, one thing communists in Britain are concerned about is increased imperialist aggression towards China. We see a rise in rhetoric from the British and American states that is very hostile to China and its growth. We are seeing military pacts created with countries such as the Philippines and Australia which appear to specifically encircle China, particularly in the South China Sea. Are you worried about this increased aggression?
We have a very clear policy in Vietnam that we do not make alliances with other countries, we do not make military pacts with other countries, we do not allow other countries to build military bases in our lands and finally we do not interfere with other countries political systems. We make this very clear to other countries that this is our law, we call it “the four noes”. For us it is not the South China Sea but the South East Sea, we make it very clear that we will defend our claim in the Spratly and Paracel Islands, but in a peaceful way and with respect to international law. We want to do everything in a peaceful way, but we claim our sovereignty there.
What can British Communists learn from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union?
We have very different situations, I think we can learn about each other’s situations and learn from each other. For example, I also want to learn about you and apply what I learned in Vietnam. I can give you some information about the work which we do best, which right now is the volunteer campaign. You can learn about that and if you think it is suitable you can take it back and I can learn about the drug addiction campaign that you are doing and learn from you. Sharing is the best way to learn.
Final question, what message would you like to send to young communists in Britain?
I know that you had your national congress last year, which means you will have your next national congress next year, so I wish you the best for that! I hope that you will grow in both quantity and quality, becoming a very strong organisation which takes care of all of its members who will trust you along the way.
Excellent, thank you very much for meeting with us and for the interview!
Matt Chapel is a member of the Young Communist League’s Manchester branch
