RESOLUTION 23 – WHO DOES IT SERVE?

Resolution 23, the Vietnamese diaspora, and the distinction between the regime and the nation

THE REGIME AND THE NATION ARE NOT THE SAME

We need to make a clear distinction between the one-party ruling regime and our nation called Vietnam. These are not the same thing, and the question every overseas Vietnamese must ask is simple:

Who do we serve — the regime, or the people and nation of Vietnam?

RESOLUTION 23 AND ITS ORIGIN

Resolution 23 is being presented as a “national strategy,” but its origin is very clear: it comes from the one-party system responding to international pressure and the global demand for talent. If Vietnam wants to participate in the new AI and high-tech paradigm of the coming decades, the regime must find a way to compensate for its own long-term structural failures.

This pattern is not new. It is almost identical to Resolution 36 twenty years ago.

THE PATTERN OF EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE

When the regime lacked national capital — because corruption drained it — they turned to foreign loans and foreign investors to create the appearance of a rising economy.

The growth did not come from internal strength; it came from external injections of money. Meanwhile, the party accumulated substantial capital through these loans and investments, but that money never flowed into real national development:

• basic infrastructure
• education
• healthcare
• scientific capacity
• long-term talent cultivation

As a result, Vietnam today lacks technical capabilities and has a severe talent deficit.

RESOLUTION 23: THE PATTERN REPEATS

Now, with Resolution 23, the pattern repeats. Instead of building genuine domestic capacity, the regime tries to borrow foreign talents — especially overseas Vietnamese — to boost the party’s image and maintain its leadership position.

The goal is not national empowerment; it is political survival.

WHY THE DISTINCTION MATTERS

This is why the distinction matters.

Vietnam — our homeland, our culture, our people — deserves real development.

But the one-party regime seeks to use overseas Vietnamese talent to reinforce its own authority, not to uplift the nation.

THE DIASPORA MUST BE CLEAR-EYED

The diaspora must be clear-eyed:

Resolution 23 is not a party awakening — it is the party’s struggle for survival.