Are the plots and tricks of "peaceful evolution" by forces hostile to culture and arts just an exaggeration, a "false alarm" or really alarming?

TCCS - In the process of implementing the renovation process, our country has had many opportunities for development, but also faces many risks and challenges. One of the challenges and risks that our Party has pointed out is the "peaceful evolution" plot of hostile forces with new tricks, including their thorough use of the media to attack more strongly on ideology and culture and consider this as a spearhead to sabotage our Party and regime. So what are the characteristics and manifestations of this plot? What solutions are needed to respond? These are urgent questions that need to be answered today.

1- Currently, in public opinion and among intellectuals and artists, there are different opinions and views on the impact of the plots and tricks of " peaceful evolution" of hostile forces on our country's culture and arts. There are opinions that strongly affirm and "warn" about the direct harm and very complicated reality of "peaceful evolution" in this field with many characteristics. There are also opinions that hostile forces carry out plots and tricks of "peaceful evolution" mainly in the fields of politics, organization, personnel, diplomacy..., and talking about "peaceful evolution" in the field of culture and arts is just an exaggeration, even a "false alarm". Therefore, we need to be calm and sober when identifying the manifestations of "peaceful evolution" and assessing the impacts and influences of "peaceful evolution" in the field of culture and arts.

It can be seen that researching and evaluating the impact of the plot and tricks of "peaceful evolution" on culture and arts is not simply a political issue, but it is both a political and a scientific issue. Therefore, it cannot be simple, mechanical, stereotyped, and it cannot be avoided or not recognized the sophisticated and complex impact of "peaceful evolution" on this field. However, the research and evaluation process needs to avoid the following two tendencies: One is to lose vigilance or deny the impact of "peaceful evolution" on the field of culture and arts. Two is to stereotype with a mechanical, rigid view, without fully understanding culture and arts themselves in the new period with many issues arising in practice, requiring the direct participation of culture and arts, contributing to the development of people and society.

2- Are there any plots and tricks of “peaceful evolution” in the fields of culture and arts? This is a seemingly simple question but requires an answer in both theoretical and practical aspects.

As early as 1959, President Ho Chi Minh pointed out that, along with the plot to invade our country by military means , the imperialist countries also carried out the plot to erase the traditional values ​​and fine cultural quintessence of our nation. His assessment was wise, because up to now, although the world has changed rapidly, the correlation and social form globally have undergone many changes, it can be seen that the resolutions and documents of our Party and State in recent terms still emphasize that hostile forces continue to carry out the plot of "peaceful evolution" against our country. In fact, many foreign researchers have raised concerns and worries that, in the past, Vietnam had the ability to resist the influence of foreign culture, but now, what measures will the Vietnamese people take to fight against bad and toxic information from Western countries to minimize the negative impacts on society and people... It is not without reason that US President R. Nixon, when implementing the "peaceful evolution" plot against socialist countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, loudly declared that the decisive step of strategic significance is to "disarm the enemy's ideological weapons" by all means and consider ideology, culture, and arts as the "open door" of "war without gunpowder", "color revolutions", "velvet revolutions"... to achieve "victory without war"...

Currently, a lot of comprehensive information, including many specific evidences, has shown us more clearly the plots and tricks of hostile forces against Vietnam. Through the media and social networks, bloggers have personally attacked the leaders of the Communist Party and the entire political and social system of Vietnam, the general strategy is to create economic, political and social instability. This activity has been and is being carried out vigorously along with the exploitation of non-governmental organizations, organizations hiding under the guise of protecting "human rights" and many people have received "support" and "sponsorship" from foreign agencies, cultural organizations, even directly from the governments of some Western countries. Culturally, the entire cultural weapon against the “ideological foundation” was designed, “produced” in the West, and then “transplanted” into countries in Central and South America, the South African region, into China, Russia, and increasingly into Vietnam.

Thus, although there are still people who doubt, avoid, "ignore", or even consider it a "false alarm", the reality shows that the plot of hostile forces to carry out the strategy of "peaceful evolution" against Vietnam is real, and this "product" has even been proposed, determined to be implemented for a long time, with a specific roadmap and has been raised to become a strategy in the new period from the 80s of the 20th century until now. In that strategy, ideology, culture, and literature are always the "open door", "breakthrough door to disarm the opponent's ideological weapons", thereby aiming to defeat the opponent from within, from above, from the root of the "ideological foundation".

3- In recent years, the "confrontation" between the "peaceful evolution" plot of hostile forces in the field of culture and art with the forces operating in the field of culture and art in our country (leaders, managers, creators, performers...) has taken place seemingly quietly but in fact is very fierce, complicated, both directly and indirectly.

Although hostile forces and political opportunists are increasingly active in sabotage, it must be affirmed that our culture and arts are still developing in the right direction, contributing positively to the common cause of the nation. The creative forces and those active in this field, according to the Party and the people's wise assessment, are trustworthy, loyal, have many contributions, love the country, the nation, the people, and are dedicated to the cause of innovation and their profession. That assessment is objective, honest and has been proven in practice.

Although hostile forces and political opportunists are increasingly fierce in their sabotage, our cultural and artistic fields are still developing in the right direction, contributing positively to the common cause of the nation. _Photo: Document

However, it is also impossible to avoid the fact that the impact of the plot and trick of "peaceful evolution" in the field of culture and arts has been increasingly evident and more sophisticated, both directly and indirectly, in the stages of the process of creating, managing, promoting, disseminating theories and criticizing literature and arts. There have appeared "works" with clear political intentions that deny the revolutionary path and cause of our people, through blackening historical reality or using "images" with dark metaphors to mock the revolutionary path of the nation that our Party and people have chosen. Vu Thu Hien, Bui Tin in previous years, the "open mouth" group in the late 20th century and even the short stories of some young writers recently have clearly revealed this tendency. Following that trend, critics and introducers have sought to exalt such types of “works”, considering them as “honest”, as the “power” of the margins, of the periphery attacking to “solve” (dissolve) the center, as unique “creativity” and “discovery”. In essence, they have used artistic techniques to slander, distort, and defame national cultural values ​​and revolutionary achievements both in the past and present.

Reality shows that, in order to achieve complete victory, national independence and national unification, during 30 years (from 1945 to 1975), our people had to undergo countless sacrifices and extreme hardships. That is the historical truth, and that sacrifice was not in vain or meaningless. We did not want war, but the enemy brought swords and guns to this country, so "the enemy used bullets and bombs, we fought back with bullets and bombs", for the sake of the survival of the entire nation, for the sake of independence, freedom and national unification. That historical truth is clear, but hostile forces, political opportunists and some "naive" young people have sought to distort that truth. Some literary and artistic works have described our nation's just war as dark, deadly, tragic and meaningless; Completely denying cultural and artistic creations during the war, considering them as “illustrative”, as beautifying, as superior, as standing above reality. We do not deny the historical limitations of literature and art during the war, but we cannot use the name of “innovation” to defame the nation’s just struggle by only depicting the dark side, death and human degeneration during the war. This tendency is one-sided and dishonest to history.

For a long time, in the West and in the US, there has been a rumor circulating that the war in Vietnam was “manipulated” or that it was a “civil war”. In recent years, that argument has been “produced” by some Western politicians and has been quickly “imported” into Vietnam, influencing the thinking and opinions of some intellectuals and artists. That argument has entered a few research “products”, some literary and artistic creations and criticisms. In some works, the authors have deliberately inserted that “imported” argument as their own “new discovery”. Perhaps, because most of them were outsiders to the war, they did not understand the deep aspirations of millions of Vietnamese people who fought and sacrificed for independence, freedom and national reunification, or some people followed the "trendy" political trends without understanding, or even "not wanting to understand" the historical truth that had long been recognized. Reality has proven that someone's argument that the resistance war for national independence and national reunification of the Vietnamese people was a "proxy war" is completely "naive" or a deliberate distortion of history .

In 1965, the US imperialists sent troops en masse into the South of our country, starting the strategy of “local war”. But only a few years later, that strategy failed miserably. The US President publicly announced the switch to a new strategy of “Vietnamization of the war”, meaning that the US was still the mastermind, still providing aid and equipping the army and the Saigon government “to the teeth”. This plot was more sinister but from the beginning showed signs of failure. In early 1975, when we launched the campaign to completely liberate the South, the Saigon government called on the US for aid in money and weapons and when they failed to achieve that miserable request, they themselves “blamed” the US for their collapse. However, why are there still people who deliberately describe and comment on this war as a “civil war”? Did they “take the bait” of some Western politicians?

In recent years, there have been a number of works that focus on describing and portraying people who are pessimistic, deadlocked, empty, distrustful and unable to find the meaning of life. The characters in these works are often young people or people in their early teens. We do not deny that in today's society there is a small group that falls into that state of mind. However, exaggerating that to the point of denying the good things in life, creating a tragic picture of society, sowing in the young generation a deadlock is contrary to the humanistic nature of literature and art . For example, the lyrics of some songs in the album “Cai Nuong 8X” by musician Ngoc Dai with 9 songs, most of which express a mood of resentment, anger, and hatred, with lyrics such as “Goodbye. Goodbye to the miserable springs. The barbaric springs. The dark, sick springs. The springs that have died in the hearts of you and me and maybe of an entire nation. Slowly dying, slowly dying, really dead…” (song Goodbye ). “Spring is so stupid, boring, nauseating”, “wasteful, boring, sleepwalking steps…” (song Message of Roses )… These are songs that go against the traditions and customs of the Vietnamese people, propagandize against the Fatherland, against the people, defame and distort the regime. It can be seen that these are the distorted views of individual artists, so where is “peaceful evolution”? Is it the propagation of nihilism, pessimism, depression and skepticism? Its main goal is to create discontent, distort ideology, and weaken patriotism among the young generation. Such is the harmful and insidious impact of the “peaceful evolution” plot on the cultural and artistic fields.

4- The revolutionary cause of our nation has achieved great and historic achievements. However, in that process, there were times when we had shortcomings and limitations. For many years, especially recently, we have been determined to rectify and purify the Party and the political system, fight corruption, waste, bureaucracy... We have never asked culture and arts to "beautify" life. At the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations (July 2018), General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that literature and art directly participate in the cause of national renewal, describing well, truthfully, vividly and convincingly the emergence and development of new, good and noble things in life, courageously and severely condemning and criticizing evil, baseness, degeneration, corruption, bad habits, vices, and social evils, thereby actively contributing to the victory of the cause of human development and national development. That is the main task of Vietnamese literature and art today and for many years to come. Thereby, it also demonstrates the dialectical viewpoint and thinking, originating from the practice of our Party on the basis of a deep understanding of the mission and function of literature and art.

However, under the influence of the plot of "peaceful evolution" and "self-evolution" in a bad direction, some artists have only focused on "exposing" the negative side, the dark corners, the bad things of society and people with a mocking tone full of malice and insensitivity. The number of "works" of this type is not much but the harm is very great, because it attacks people's trust, it lures a part of cadres and the masses to separate themselves from life, consider themselves innocent so that they have the right to deny, mock, and judge. Those are the political opportunists in cultural and artistic activities.

Reality shows that since we began to implement the renovation process, opportunistic elements have appeared. They have separated themselves from the team, showing concern but boasting that they are wise, then maliciously and gleefully waiting for new failures of those who, regardless of danger, bravely pioneered new paths.

In previous years, due to wartime circumstances and subjective limitations, we did not have an objective, comprehensive assessment of the cultural and artistic sector in the South of the US-puppet occupied area. It is a complex whole including many different tendencies, progressive and backward, revolutionary, patriotic and reactionary, national and foreign... In recent years, we have begun to have a new perspective, creating harmony to create the strength of great national unity. From that pure goal, we have been reviewing and making new assessments, finding good, progressive, patriotic, nationalistic, and humanistic values ​​in a number of works in the above cultural and artistic sector. That work cannot be completed yet. However, taking advantage of that context, hostile forces, political opportunists, and even people lacking alertness have republished and promoted indiscriminately even works with erroneous political and ideological intentions, anti-national, anti-regime. People think that on this occasion, they can confuse black and white, right and wrong, to disseminate such works to the public in order to "cover up" some works and authors that have been criticized by history and the people. This is a sophisticated activity in the plot of "peaceful evolution" in the field of culture and arts. In some universities, the trend of choosing the above works as research topics for theses and dissertations shows that we are still negligent and subjective about this trend with long-term harmful effects. To clarify the bad intentions of those who take advantage of us, here is an excerpt from an article by Thu Tu - son of Vo Phien, a writer who had shown erroneous political views and expressions in some of his works in the South during the anti-American war: “No one wants to point out the mistakes of their creator! We are doing this because we have just learned that a domestic non-governmental organization is planning to actively disseminate works by writer Vo Phien containing erroneous political content. Fearing that their actions may cause confusion among some readers and affect national unity, we have decided to refute this content ourselves... From one group to another, there will come a time when they will use Vo Phien's literary career in a way that is harmful to the country. We must make clear the erroneous political content in that literary career right now” ⁽¹⁾ .

5- Currently, our country is actively and proactively integrating comprehensively and deeply into the international community, affirming Vietnam's position in the international arena, being a reliable and responsible friend and partner in the international community. That is a requirement and also an objective need. The strong development of media, social networks, the internet, etc. is impacting our country every day, bringing new, modern, updated knowledge, while also importing into our country toxic, anti-cultural, anti-aesthetic and reactionary products in terms of ideology. This is the path that hostile forces at home and abroad, opportunists seek to "import" hostile and erroneous views into our country, including many cultural and artistic products. A part of the masses, especially the youth, are being influenced by such products, especially on websites, social networks and in publishing activities. Many manuscripts that were not published in official print editions have been posted online, causing confusion in the political awareness and aesthetic perception of a segment of the “citizens” of the internet. Without vigilance and decisive measures, more such products will continue to appear.

Resolution No. 35-NQ/TW, dated October 22, 2018, of the Politburo on “Strengthening the protection of the Party's ideological foundation, fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints in the new situation” has affirmed that firmly protecting the Party's ideological foundation and effectively fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints is a fundamental, important and vital content of the Party building and rectification work, and is the top priority task of our entire Party, people and army. In the struggle to protect the Party's ideological foundation, culture and arts are extremely important, delicate and sensitive areas. Therefore, firmly, proactively, steadfastly and flexibly protecting this area is a direct contribution to protecting the Party's ideological foundation. With that meaning and position, it is necessary to clearly affirm that this is a struggle to protect people, to "win" people for socialism and for the people's own aspiration for Truth - Goodness - Beauty./.

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(1) See https://www.nhandan.com.vn/binhluan/binh-luan-phe-phan/item/24502802-truong-hop-vo-phien.html

Source: https://tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/guest/chinh-tri-xay-dung-dang/-/2018/814003/am-muu%2C-thu-doan-%E2%80%9Cdien-bien-hoa-binh%E2%80%9D-cua-cac-the-luc-thu-dich-voi-van-hoa%2C-van-nghe-chi-la-su-cuong-dieu%2C-%E2%80%9Cbao-dong-gia%E2%80%9D-hay-thuc-su-dang-bao-dong%3F.aspx