October 14 & 15, 2022

The Japanese Communist Party on October 13 held its 10th theoretical exchange meeting with the Communist Party of Vietnam at the JCP head office in Tokyo. JCP Chair Shii Kazuo on the following day had a talk with CPV delegation head Nguyen Xuan Thang, CPV politburo member and chairman of the Central Theory Council, and agreed to hold the next theoretical exchange in Vietnam.

The 10th meeting took place with the theme, “The construction of real socialism in the 21st century - - a new approach for the theory and practice”.

On the first day, JCP delegation head Tanaka Yu, vice head of the JCP Secretariat, and CPV delegation head Nguyen Xuan Thang made keynote presentations. Yamaguchi Tomio, vice director of the JCP-affiliated Social Sciences Institute, reported on a theoretical connection between the JCP Program and Marx’s “Capital”. The Vietnam side reported on the reform of government handling procedures by the CPV, the building of democracy under the Doi Moi policy, and the construction of socialism-oriented market economy.

JCP Tanaka said that the collapse of the old colonial system led to the creation of many sovereign nations, and that this change in the world structure helped make a significant contribution to moving forward to eliminate nuclear weapons, building regional cooperation for peace, and promoting human rights internationally. He highlighted the fact that the JCP Program stands firm on the great cause of defending the international order for peace even when moves which would reverse world history like Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine occur. He said, “For the success of social transformation in highly-developed capitalist Japan, it is imperative for the JCP to become much stronger.” With this in mind, the JCP has been engaged in party-building efforts, Tanaka added.

CPV Thang pointed out three characteristics in socialism-building efforts in the 21st century: modernity, diversity/uniqueness, and humanity. Vietnam sets its development targets meeting people’s demands and the country’s needs. Thang reported that Vietnam is making efforts to establish socialism while pursuing the Doi Moi reforms, socialist-oriented market economy, progress in democracy, and law-abiding nation building. “Vietnam government policy centers on people and sees them as the biggest engine in all these projects,” said Thang.

In the meeting with Thang, JCP Chair Shii said that he pays attention to Vietnam’s people-centric Doi Moi reforms, and pointed out that Marx, a theoretical source for both the JCP and the CPV, had repeatedly underscored an important feature of socialism which is “producers are protagonists”. Shii said, “Various ways can be possible to realize socialization of the means of production. In whatever ways chosen, it is important to hold fast to the ‘producers as protagonists’ basis. Regarding democracy, if Vietnam maintains its progressive practice in its attempt to establish socialism in light of international norms, peoples will begin placing trust in socialism. I hope that Vietnam will proceed in this direction.”