90 years ago, on February 3^rd, 1930, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) was founded, creating a great turning point in the history of the Vietnamese revolution and marked a brilliant milestone on the development path of our nation. With the right political platform, the CPV raised the flag of national independence and socialism to open a new development path for the nation and the country and highlighted the organization of the peasant army that carried out revolutionary violence and acted as a core, in association with the entire people, to fight against the imperialism and feudalism and seize the power for the people. Under the leadership of the Party, several armed organizations were formed one after another in the struggle of the people against the French invaders.

In particular, on December 22^nd, 1944, implementing Ho Chi Minh’s instruction, the Vietnamese Armed Propaganda Unit for National Liberation - the first main troop of the Vietnam People's Army was established in order to meet practical requirements of the revolution. At the same time, the Party cell was also formed to lead and direct all activities of the Vietnamese Armed Propaganda Unit for National Liberation. With a viewpoint that attached more importance to politics than the military, in the process of organization and leadership, the Party and President Ho Chi Minh always put on top the building of a politically strong Army, constantly supplemented and completed the leadership mode and mechanism of the Party, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Party and political work, that was aimed at ensuring absolute, direct, and comprehensive leadership of the Party over the Army.

Historical reality has affirmed that the Party has always absolutely, directly, and comprehensively led the Vietnamese People's Army. The Party’s leadership is the decisive factor for the growth, development, combat, and victory of the Army. Over the past 75 years, regardless of the circumstances, even in the most difficult and challenging times, the Army has never flinched from sacrifice and hardships to be absolutely loyal, keep the whole faith, and firmly follow the glorious flag of the Party. It has also always upheld and promoted the nature of the working class and the senses of people and nation and steadfasted goals and ideals of fighting for national independence and socialism. Keeping faith and loyalty to the Party has become the tradition and nature of the Army as affirmed by President Ho Chi Minh “Our army is loyal to the Party, filial to the people, ready to fight and sacrifice for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland and for the socialism and to fulfill all missions, overcome all difficulties, and win all enemies”, deserving the Heroic Army of the Vietnamese heroic nation.

General Ngo Xuan Lich addresses at a conference of the CMC

In the current period, the cause of national renewal, construction, and defense of our people under the Party’s leadership is facing many favorable opportunities intertwining with difficulties and challenges. Although peace, cooperation, and development are still in the main trend, the world and regional situations are complicated with multiple unfavorable factors that cause instability, including major countries’ strengthening of their strategic adjustments to scramble for influence and interests; fierce trade and technology wars and territorial sovereignty disputes; increasing armed conflicts, terrorism, cyberattacks, and non-traditional security issues. Especially, in the East Sea, there are potential risks of instability in relation to security, politics, and national sovereignty. The hostile and reactionary forces continues to promote activities against the Party and the State through implementing the strategy of “peaceful evolution”, “apoliticization” of the Army and promoting “self-evolvement” and “self-transformation” internally with increasingly sophisticated and cunning tricks to eliminate the leading role of the Party and the socialist regime in Vietnam and to divide the Party, the State, and the Army with the people, threatening the survival of the Party, the regime, and the people’s peaceful life. In that context, the People's Army should continue to uphold the tradition, constantly sharpen their morale, enhance the combat power, and act as the core for the entire people to firmly defend the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

First of all, to maintain and strengthen the absolute, direct, and comprehensive leadership of the Party over the Army. The whole Army needs to focus on building a strong Military Party Committee in terms of politics, thoughts, organization, and ethics; to incessantly improve the leadership and combat power of the Party committees and organizations, especially those at the grassroots level and the quality of Party members. The Military Party Committee must be exemplary in the implementation of the 4^th Central Resolution (the 12^th Tenure) on building and regulating the Party; to closely combine the Party construction with defense and resolutely fight against hostile forces’ conspiracies and tricks of “apoliticization” of the Army of the manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” internally. In the immediate future, it is essential to proactively prepare all aspects and successfully organize the Party Congress at all levels and the 11^th Military Party Congress and actively contribute ideas to build documents submitted to the 13^th National Party Congress, especially in the field of military and defense, contributing to the success of the Congress and creating solidarity and unity within the Party and consensus in society.

In the face of the complicated nature of the world and regional situation and the fierce resistance of hostile forces, the whole Army needs to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Party and political work in its duties and ensure that this work is always the “soul and life circuit” of the Army. In particular, attention should be paid to promoting political education, ideological management, and internal political protection to make cadres and soldiers deeply aware of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh thoughts. Minh, the Party's lines and views, ideals and objectives of fighting; fully recognize of the situation, tasks, partners, and subjects; and strictly abide by State laws and disciplines of the Army and harmoniously resolve the relationship between officers and soldiers, the superiors and subordinates, comrades, teammates, etc. It is required to promote learning and following Ho Chi Minh's thoughts, ethics, and style, the Drive entitled “Promoting tradition and dedicating talents, deserving Uncle Ho's Soldiers” in the new period. At the same time, it is necessary to resolutely struggle with the manifestations of fading revolutionary ideals, diminishing beliefs, degradation of political thoughts, ethics, and lifestyle; promptly detect and solve the problems of negative thoughts and prevent mutations in thoughts.

 The mission of defending the Fatherland in the context of integration and globalization is posing a heavy task for the Army. To deserve the trust of the Party, the State, and the People, the Army should constantly improve the overall quality and combat power to meet the requirements of tasks. To thoroughly grasp and implement the Party's direction of building the Army; to continue to step up the construction of the “revolutionary, regular, elite, and gradually modern” Army; and to speed up the process of modernization of the Army, of which a number of services, arms, and forces move straight to modernity, creating a breakthrough in terms of qualifications, combat readiness, and combat power of the Army. At the same time, to thoroughly grasp and strictly implement the conclusions and resolutions of the Politburo on organizing the Vietnamese People's Army to 2021; to assure weapons and equipment to 2025; and to drastically arrange and adjust the organization and payroll towards “lean, compact, and powerful” direction. To promote innovation and improvement of the quality of training, education, fostering, regular building, discipline, and building of comprehensively strong and “exemplary and typical” units. To continue to well implement Resolution No.765-NQ/QUTW issued on December 20^th, 2012 by the Central Military Commission on improving the quality of training in the period of 2013-2020 and subsequent years. In particular, to actively renovate the contents, forms, and methods of training and drills; to attach importance to synchronous and intensive training, close to the reality of combat, operational areas, combat subjects and suitable to the staffing and development of weapons, equipment and military arts in Vietnam; to closely combine military training with political education, discipline training, and building of confidence in weapons and equipment available in the staffing and methods of combat and military art in Vietnam. To strengthen technical, tactical, and physical training and mastery of weapons and equipment, especially new and modern generation weapons; and to conduct training and drills to improve maneuverability and coordination combat, and sea, island and cyber defense operations.

In 2020, Vietnam will concurrently be in charge of ASEAN Chairmanship and Non-Permanent Commissioner of the United Nations Security Council. These are two regional and global important duties, both a responsibility and a great honor. Therefore, along with Party and State diplomacy, we need to promote international integration and defense foreign affairs towards essence and efficiency. The entire Army should continue to thoroughly grasp and well implement the Party and State's resolutions and directives on foreign affairs, especially Resolution No.22-NQ/TW issued on April 10^th, 2013 by the Politburo on international integration and Resolution No.806-NQ/QUTW issued on December 31^st, 2013 by the Central Military Commission on international integration and defense foreign affairs to 2020 and the subsequent years.

In the course of implementation, there must be a unanimous view that international integration and defense foreign affairs must be aimed at “firmly defending the national independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity; protecting the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime; protecting the cause of innovation, industrialization, and modernization; protecting national and people’s interests; protecting political security, social order and safety, and culture; maintaining political stability and peaceful environment”; and at the same time, “creating favorable conditions for other fields’ international integration to build and develop the country towards socialist orientation”. Agencies and units should effectively implement the activities of ASEAN 2020; promote bilateral defense cooperation activities with priority given to adjacent countries, ASEAN countries, traditional friends and major countries, gradually bringing defense cooperation into depth and effectiveness.

Be based on, united, and close-knitted with the people are the rule of development and the source of combat strength of and victory of the Vietnamese People's Army. Inheriting and promoting that good tradition, the Army should continue to consolidate and strengthen the solidarity relationship with the people, contributing to building a solid “people’s heart and mind posture”, creating a good foundation for implementation of the task of defending the Fatherland. All cadres and soldiers of the Army need to uphold responsibility, be exemplary in words and actions, and be absolutely loyal, fight for the sake of the people, take serving the people as an ideological goals, and preserve and constantly develop the solidarity relationship between the Army and the people. Promoting the achieved results, the entire Army continues to perform well the function of a “working army”; promote propaganda and mobilize people to implement the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws; participate in building a strong political base and raising the quality of operations of mass organizations, the effectiveness and efficiency of state management right from the grassroots level, especially in remote, deep-lying and remote areas, ethnic minorities, borders, islands and revolutionary bases. To effectively implement socio-economic development programs and projects; support and assist the people in production development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and construction of economic-defense zones, etc. To combine with building and consolidating the entire people's national defense, the people's national defense posture, the people's security and building a solid defense area. To proactively coordinate with the departments, branches, and localities to better implement the Army rear policy, the work of “reward and gratitude”, ... contributing to improving the material and spiritual life of the people and maintaining socio-political stability in localities. Along with that, the Army continues to promote its role as a main force in the prevention, fighting against, and overcoming of natural disasters and search and rescue, identifying this as a political task - “a fighting task in peacetime”. Thereby, to highlight the quality and tradition of “the Uncle Ho's Soldiers” and tighten the blood-flesh relationship between the Army and the people, contributing to consolidating the great unity bloc of the entire nation and “the people's heart and mind posture”.

The 90^th anniversary of the founding of the CPV (February 3^rd, 1930 - February 3^rd, 2020) is an opportunity for the entire Party, the entire people, and the Army to review the glorious journey of revolutionary leadership of the Party and the proud tradition of the Army under the leadership of the Party. To be proud of the glorious Party, the great Uncle Ho, and the heroic people, the Vietnamese People's Army pledge to keep its faith, be absolutely loyal to, firmly follow the glorious flag of the Party, constantly promote its good nature and traditions, and continue to strive to successfully complete all assigned tasks to worthy of “Uncle Ho's Soldiers” as the core, in association with the entire people, to firmly defend the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the new situation.

General Ngo Xuan Lich,

Member of the Politburo, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission,

Minister of National Defence