Combating the hostile, wrong viewpoints to protect the Party’s ideological foundation is a task of paramount importance to the Party and all forces and organizations, especially the armed forces. Thus, the armed forces of Quang Ninh province have always devoted effort to successfully performing this task via various measures.

While conducting the task of defending the Party’s ideological foundation, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) and its Party Committee have always adhered to the mottos of “taking good against evil, multiplying the good to push away the bad,” occupying and using their propaganda space as our struggle space, gaining and encouraging the masses to join our struggle, and resolutely, persistently, flexibly fighting against the wrong, hostile viewpoints. To that end, the armed forces of Quang Ninh province have determined to adopt measures synchronously, with a focus on the following.

Enhancing the Provincial Military Party Committee Standing Board’s leadership and direction over the raised leadership capacity and combativeness of grass-roots level party organizations and over the work of discipline management within offices and units in order to effectuate “immunity” against the enemy’s harmful attack. It has taken various measures for grasping the all-level party committees and commands’ execution of resolutions and working plans within offices and units. Notably, importance has attached to maintaining the principle of democratic centralism in the Party’s meetings and grasping difficulties in fulfilling the targets and tasks set by the resolutions. The Provincial Military Party Committee Standing Board has also directly worked with grass-roots level party committees, particularly those with difficulties in performing their task, or with signs of disunity, or with disregard for enhancing the Party’s leadership, grasping the situation, orientating cadres and soldiers’ ideology, and managing discipline, thereby rectifying weaknesses in the work of leadership and direction, pointing out the responsibility of collectives and individuals for weaknesses and shortcomings. At the same time, as it has taken specific measures for overcoming the grass-roots level party committees’ weaknesses, their leadership and combativeness have been unceasingly improved. It has effectively implemented the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification, the 12^th Politburo’s Directive No.5, and the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” via specific methods and approaches, organizing political meetings on the theme of “self-review, self-correction,” requiring party cells to use “pink notebooks” and “brown notebooks” to record each cadre and party member’ good and bad deeds so that they could promote their strengths and rectify their weaknesses.

A conference to exchange experiences in writing articles against the hostile, wrong viewpoints

In addition, the party committees have strengthened their leadership over the strict maintenance of military discipline and State law and the work of internal political protection, detected the signs of violation of discipline and the damage to the qualities and image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers,” and taken remedial action opportunely. They have also directed offices and units to well maintain the order for infiltration prevention and secret protection, to grasp and stringently execute the regulations on the use of the Internet and social network within the Military. Due attention has been paid to inspecting offices and units’ execution of the regulations on the Internet and social network use, which has helped prevent the hostile forces from using secret information and images to slander and defame our Military.

Great value has been attached to well carrying out the work of political education and ideological orientation to enable Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology to occupy the salient role in cadres and soldiers’ spiritual life. The work of political and ideological education for cadres and soldiers have been conducted synchronously and regularly in various forms, such as introduction of the Party’s resolutions and directives, news briefing, political and legal education, Political and Spiritual Day within offices and units, history knowledge contest, dialogue intended for young officers or new recruits, and youth forum. Doing so has helped orientate cadres and soldiers’ ideology against the complex developments of the regional and global situation and render them fully aware of the Party and State’s major guidelines and policies. The PMC has paid special attention to compiling and making propaganda documents short, specific, easy to remember, and centred on the issues on which cadres and the masses are keen. Offices and units have cooperated with local Propaganda and Education sector in using and introducing those documents to locals in the areas. On a yearly basis, they inform their cadres and soldiers about the political security and social order situation and the hostile forces’ sabotage activities. Besides, they have analyzed and clarified the hostile forces’ plots, artifices, and purposes of propaganda and sabotage to enable their cadres and soldiers to correctly, opportunely identify the enemy’s wrong arguments and their staff members’ own responsibility for taking part in the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation.

Significance has been attached to raising the quality of defence-security education and military work-related propagation. Due regard has been paid to providing knowledge of defence and security for cadres, students, and the people and disseminating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy on the defence-security work, the Homeland defence, and the building of defensive zones and armed forces to cadres and the people. In this regard, a focus has been placed on disseminating the method of remaining vigilant against, preventing and combating the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. Consideration has been given to increasing the quantity and quality of articles relating to the defence-military work and “good people, good deed” examples and promoting the role of the PMC Portal to release documents on tradition, our leaders’ life and career, and political education. Doing so has enabled offices and units to look up and update information quickly, easily. Besides, due attention has been paid to studying and propagating “Uncle Ho’s teachings on this day” within the provincial armed forces so that cadres and soldiers could adjust their thought and action according to Uncle Ho’s example.

Emphasis has been placed on building and promoting the role of the core force in combating the wrong, hostile viewpoints in cyberspace. Offices and units have focused on grasping and effectively executing the 10^th Party Central Secretariat’s Directive 34-CT/TW on enhancing the fight against “peaceful evolution” and the 12^th Politburo’s Resolution 35-NQ/TW on “further defending the Party’s ideological foundation and combating wrong, hostile viewpoints in the new situation.”  Great weight has been added to promoting the role of the Steering Board 35, building the force in charge of cyber struggle - the Force 47, and assigning offices and units’ party committees and commands to exercise leadership and direction over and ensure facilities for this force’s operation. At present, within each office and unit, there are 5-10 cadres (including key cadres) in charge of cyber struggle. On a yearly basis, offices and units’ key cadres and core force are provided with a refresher course on the method of identifying and combating wrong, hostile viewpoints. Moreover, offices and units have frequently, actively shared positive information and “good people, good deed” examples on social networks. All offices and units have established open forums aimed at disseminating the political, socio-economic, cultural defence-security situation and drawing attention from cadres, party members, and the masses, thereby achieving a widespread propaganda effect.

The PMC has directed its Political Department to cooperate with relevant offices and units in promoting the synergy in the struggle. The Department has been asked to cooperate with the Party Building Committees of 14 districts and cities and the Party Committee of Quang Ninh Coal Corporation in grasping the situation and orientating the ideology of the people and members of the armed forces. A focus has been placed on maintaining a sense of unity and the regulations on cooperation between the Military, Public Security, and Border Guard forces under the Government’s Decree 77/2010/NĐ-CP to exchange and provide information relating to the hostile forces’ sabotage plots and artifices. On a regular and unexpected basis, these forces have organized meetings to develop the content and method of struggle and create the synergy for foiling the hostile forces’ sabotage plots and artifices. In addition, the Political Department has directed offices and units to well execute the program on cooperating with the Mass Mobilization Committees of the districts and cities in grasping the issues among the people and in the localities where the hostile forces could take advantage of the situation to conduct propaganda and incite the people’s gathering.

Against the situation’s complex developments, the PMC has proactively compiled and made propaganda documents short and cooperated with the Propaganda and Education Committees and Mass Mobilization Committees of the districts and cities as well as Quang Ninh Coal Corporation’s Propaganda and Education Committee and the province’s unions in disseminating those documents to members of the union, the reserve force, and the militia and self-defence force, and the people. It has dispatched its cadres to present speeches, report the situation, and orientate public ideology at localities’ communicators’ conferences. At the same time, via the activities of the mass mobilization work and new countryside building, it has cooperated with local forces in organizing culture and propaganda programs to orientate the people’s ideology in the remote, isolated areas.

Doing so has helped the armed forces of Quang Ninh province to raise their staff members and people’s awareness and vigilance against the hostile forces’ sabotage plots and arguments as well as enabled them to effectively combat the wrong, hostile viewpoints and defend the Party’s ideological foundation.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Trung Trinh, Commissar of the PMC