Vietnam is a Communist Country

My ArgumentsI. Doi Moi ReformsOfficially, Vietnam's economy is a socialist-oriented economy, not a communist economy. The definition of the debate says:"....a totalitarian system of government in which a single party controls state-owned means of production."However, Vietnam is not in a totalitarian system since totalitarianism is described as:"the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority" [1]The citizens are not totally subject to an abseloute state authority, thay have rights to build their own businesses and choose what they want to buy from state-owned businesses and private businesses. Wikipedia describes Vietnam's economy as:"The economy of Vietnam is a developing planned economy and market economy. Since the mid-1980s, through the "ĐN93;i MN99;i" reform period, Vietnam has made a shift from a highly centralized planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy which use both directive and indicative planning. Over that period, the economy has experienced rapid growth. Nowadays, Vietnam is in a period of being integrated into the global economy." [2]Vietnam cannot possibly have a communist system.II. Free Market IndexMy opponent says that I claimed Vietnam should not be "repressed" and this is correct. That is because it has been proven that Vietnam is not a "repressed" nation, but one with more freedom than a "repressed" nation. The 2013 Free Market Index simply calculates were a nation stand based on how free its market is. Vietnam is far from a communist nation and, like I said before, is more socialist-oriented. Even Wikipedia acknowledges that it has both a planned economy and market economy, meaning its not communist as it does have some capitalist virtues and is in a sense, going through a form of privatization. Vietnam did most notably increase its business freedom this year. [3]My RefutationsI. Vietnam's Communist GovernmentThe Communist Party does rule over Vietnam, but recently they have been allowing independent candidates to run. This proves that Vietnam is slowly moving to Democracy. Currently, the Communists hold 458 seats while there are 42 indepedent seats in the government. Surely, a communist government does not hold elections.Like I said, the government in Vietnam is no longer totalitarian nor does it contol all means of production meaning the Communist Party in Vietnam could be considered communist-in-name-only.II. People are still OppressedMy opponent has only dicussed the media part Vietnam, saying that there is censorship and this makes the country communist, but let's look at what's discussed before. The people can start their own businesses and buy from private ones rather than state ones. They also have a choice to vote, even if there is just one party.ConclusionI have proven that Vietnam's economy does not make it a communist state. In addition, citizens have the right to vote and elections are held. Vietnam is not totalitarian and it is socialist-oriented economy meaning that the state has influence and some control, but there is a rising presence of private businesses.Sources1. http://www.merriam-webster.com...2. http://en.wikipedia.org...3. http://www.heritage.org...