On thoroughly grasping President Ho Chi Minh’s spirit of Patriotic emulation, over the past few years, together with the whole Party, people and army, Vietnam Coast Guard has ceaselessly promoted the Determined-to-win emulation movement, made the great spiritual motivation and successfully accomplished all missions contributing to the firm protection of the sovereignty, sovereignty rights and national interests at sea, the security in the territorial waters and islands of the Homeland.

Vietnam Coast Guard, which is a specialised force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam taking a key role in enforcing the law and protecting the national security, order and safety at sea, has its main political mission of protecting the national sovereignty, sovereignty rights, jurisdiction, security and national interests; the natural resources, marine environment; the possessions, legal rights and interests of offices, organisations and individuals at sea.

This is a specific but highly dangerous mission which is regularly conducted for a long time on high seas and over a large space in severe conditions of winds and waves, etc., meanwhile the staff, facilities and other supports of the Coast Guard have been poorly equipped to meet their requirements and missions. In order to well accomplish their assigned duties, in recent years, the Coast Guard’s Party Committee and Command have attentively led and directed the comprehensive implementation of all working fields with many synchronous and suitable solutions, of which, the emulation and commendation, the promotion and implementation of the Determined-to-win Emulation movement appeared to be the most important ones.

Closely following this guideline and responding to the emulation movement of “Being united, creative and emulated to build and safeguard the Homeland” in the period of 2021-2025, the Coast Guard’s Command has launched many emulation movements, such as: “The Coast Guard Youth strike to master the Homeland’s seas and islands”; “Vietnam Coast Guard excellently train, strictly discipline, master weapons, technical equipment and make absolute safety”; “The Coast Guard Youth train morality, develop talent, be ready, creative and determined to win”, etc. to create an ebulliently and widely emulating atmosphere, a great sense of training and the will of struggling for the sovereignty over seas and islands, preventing the criminals for cadres and soldiers.

In the face of the complex situations in the region and the South China Sea, the Coast Guard units have regularly intensified their tradition of “Being determined, brave to overcome difficulties, make solidarity and strictly enforce the law”; emulatively improved the general quality and combat readiness; built the determination and bravery for 100% cadres and soldiers so that they could be ready to receive and carry out their tasks for a long time on high seas and in all weather conditions. Hence, there have appeared many typical models who took the lead in struggling against all criminals at sea; many brave examples who were ready to search and rescue, protect fishermen’s possessions and life, which was a solid fulcrum for fishermen to feel secure to do their offshore fishing and protect the sovereignty over seas and islands. Since 2012, the Coast Guard has made over 900 uses of ships and boats doing their duties at sea with over 200,000 sea miles; detected and driven away 2,078 foreign ships violating the law; made reports, marked the nautical charts and released 55 ships. They have coordinated with other forces to monitor and strictly supervise foreign ships and rigs crossing the Vietnamese waters; prevented dozens of ships making their illegal entrance and exit by sea; protected the economic-defence zone in Spratly Islands; effectively prevented the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; been determined and patient in struggling by the law and peaceful solutions against all activities violating the sovereignty over seas and islands, avoiding the passiveness and suddenness, etc., which contributes to maintaining the peace, stability, security and safety for territorial seas; well protecting all marine economic activities; and creating favourite conditions for all organisations and individuals to make their production, especially their exploitation of oil, gases and seafoods.

Conducting propaganda about IUU fishing for fishermen

Presently, over the Homeland’s territorial waters have appeared many violations of the sovereignty, sovereignty rights, jurisdiction and national interests at sea with increasingly sophisticated and dangerous plots which contain the danger of conflicts. In these situations, the Coast Guard’s activities of law enforcement and firm protection of the sovereignty, sovereignty rights and national interests at sea have been considered difficult and complex, which demands for the promotion of the general strength from many factors, of which, it is a must to take as the key solution the enhancement of the Determined-to-win emulation movement to create a spiritual motivation, foster the desire for devotion, encourage the Coast Guard cadres and soldiers to overcome difficulties and successfully accomplish all assigned missions. For this reason, it is necessary to well carry out several contents and solutions as follows:

Firstly, strengthen the leadership and direction by the all-level party committees and commands on implementing the emulation and commendation work and the Determined-to-win emulation movement. On thoroughly grasping the Direction No. 507-CT/QUTW, dated 28 July 2014 by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on “Continuing to renovate the emulation and commendation work in the Vietnam People’s Army”, the Coast Guard continues to renovate the emulation work and organise the emulation movements in a practical and stable way, focusing on the implementation of the resolutions and directions by the Party, CMC, Defence Ministry, especially the ones by the Coast Guard’s Party Committee and Command and the movement of “Four goods, four nos, four againsts”. It needs to conduct the emulation movement comprehensively and widely in all activities with contents and targets closely following the main political missions, turning it into the active, self-conscious and targeted action movement for each cadre and soldier. Simultaneously, it is necessary to well combine the emulation with commendation, closely coordinate the emulation movements by the Coast Guard with the ones and campaigns by other levels, agencies, the Military public unions, the Central commissions and branches. It is necessary to regularly consolidate, strengthen and strictly maintain the working regulations, greatly prove the responsibility of the councils or groups of emulation and commendation at all levels; improve the quality of advisory work for the political offices and cadres doing their emulation and commendation work; bring into play the roles of the public unions and the potentials, strength of each office and unit to create the general strength for the emulation work to develop further and comprehensively, and turn the emulation movements into the motivation helping offices and units successfully accomplish all assigned missions.

Secondly, continue to renovate the contents, methods and forms of the emulation movements towards the effectiveness, practicality, continuous and stable development. On closely following directions and instructions by the superiors, the party committees, commands, councils and groups of emulation at all levels need to flexibly and creatively concretise them into guidelines and solutions in the periodically leading resolutions to make the emulation movements profound and suitable with units, related to their main tasks and breakthroughs, especially the missions of protecting the sovereignty, sovereignty rights and national interests at sea. Offices and units attentively lead and direct the promotion of patriotic emulation traditions; direct the emulation to the main political duties; develop the emulation movements in depth and width with interesting methods and launching forms, easy-to-remember names, detailed and suitable targets for each collective and individual. At the same time, they need to use the effectiveness of these emulation movements to thoroughly solve the shortcomings and hardships, making complete changes in all offices and units, towards the improvement of the combat readiness and general strength for each office, unit and the whole Coast Guard.

Thirdly, enhance the propaganda, education and improvement of the awareness, responsibility for cadres and soldiers in implementing the emulation movements. It is necessary to attentively grasp and propagandise the position, roles, purposes and meanings of the emulation work and the emulation movements; help all cadres and soldiers thoroughly understand that emulating is the most important solution for them to grow and make progress. It also needs to study and research to comprehend the emulation topics and contents, build the right emulation motivation so that every cadre and soldier could have high self-awareness, responsibility and self-consciousness, contributing to turning the emulation movements into the action ones towards the preset targets. At the same time, it needs to well propagandise the emulation activities and results in the whole Coast Guard to spread the emulation spirit, the positive effects and deep encouragements in the whole army and society.

Fourthly, strengthen the retraining, building, multiplying and timely awarding the typical and excellent examples. The party committees and commands of offices and units regularly take interest in discovering and nourishing new staffs, good models, creative and persuasive working methods to attract collectives and individuals to studying, following and creating keys for the emulation movements to significantly develop and widely spread in all working fields; strictly implement the regulations and process of emulation and commendation, making sure the democracy, objectivity, factuality, right people and right work; request the authorities to timely award new staffs, collectives and individuals gaining great  achievements, at the same time, closely combine emulation with commendation; take emulation as the basis and standards of commendation, commendation as the condition and motive to promote emulation. It also needs to value separate and sudden commendation; well commend collectives and individuals directly doing their offshore duties in hard conditions; enhance the evaluation and supervision, timely complete emulating contents, solutions and targets to make them suitable with the reality; timely discover and absolutely repair the weaknesses and shortcomings in the emulation and commendation work; firmly correct wrong awareness and activities affecting the general emulation movements of the Coast Guard; focus on partial and total summaries, learning from experience and making the emulation movements develop regularly and stably. Looking forward to the 25^th Anniversary of its Traditional day (28 August 1998 – 28 August 2023), Vietnam Coast Guard has been implementing activities of emulation and commendation, and many great and meaningful emulation movements. These are important activities for all cadres and soldiers in the Coast Guard to participate, ebulliently emulate, devote their strength and talents, create new achievements and feats of arms, making contribution to building the “revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled and modernised” Vietnam Coast Guard which could keep pace with its duties, firmly protect the sovereignty, sovereignty rights and national interests at sea, and together with the whole Party, Army and people successfully implementing the Strategy on safeguarding the Homeland in the new situation.

Major General TRAN VAN XUAN, Deputy Political Commissar of the Vietnam Coast Guard