Building provinces and municipalities into strong defensive zones is of paramount importance to preventing and thwarting all plots and acts of sabotage by hostile forces, maintaining political security and peace for socio-economic development and international integration, constructing and firmly protecting the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland.

According to the report on reviewing the 10-year implementation of the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated September 22^nd, 2008 and the 12^th Politburo’s Conclusion 64-KL/TW, dated October 30^th, 2019 on speeding up the execution of the Resolution 28-NQ/TW on continuing to build provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones in the new situation, over the years, authorities and sectors from central to local levels have grasped and strictly executed the Resolution 28 and obtained many significant results, thereby making contributions to defending the national independence, sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity, maintaining peace and stability for constructing and developing the country. The system of mechanisms and policies has been supplemented, completed and operated smoothly, synchronously and flexibly. The effectiveness of the mechanism in which party committees exercise leadership, authorities are responsible for management and operation, committees, sectors, Fatherland Fronts, localities, and organisations, especially Military, Public Security, Border Guard offices perform the staff work and core role in building defensive zones. The awareness of authorities, sectors, cadres, party members and citizens towards the building of defensive zones has been gradually raised. The synergy has been promoted effectively in building the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the posture of people’s security. The synergy and combat strength of the armed forces and the country’s defence capacity have been improved.

However, the awareness of several ministries, sectors, localities and individuals towards defensive zones has yet to be really sufficient. The work of leadership and direction in some places has yet to be timely or uniform. Coordination between forces and the synergy of the armed forces in some localities have been still limited. The combination of socio-economic development and defence-security consolidation in some fields and areas has yet to be effective. Hence, to raise the quality and effectiveness of building provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones, it is necessary to implement several tasks and measures as follows.

First, continue conducting the work of education and propagation to raise the awareness of organisations, forces and all people towards the building of provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones. It is important to encourage cadres and party members to grasp and well implement the Party’s resolutions and directives and the State’s policies and laws on national defence and security, particularly the documents on building defensive zones in the new situation. Localities and sectors should provide knowledge of national defence and security for all groups of people under the Law on Defence and Security Education, with emphasis placed on renewing the form, content, and method of education.  At the same time, due attention should be paid to carrying out the work of propagation via central and local media mass, with columns, reports, pieces of news, articles, and photos relating to the building of defensive zones. Doing so will help achieve a sense of consensus, mobilise resources, and encourage the participation of authorities, sectors, organisations and forces in the building of defensive zones.

Second, strengthen party committees’ leadership and authorities’ management and operation at all levels. This is a matter of principle and utmost importance as it is a determinant to ensuring that the building of defensive zones would be conducted in the right direction and would attain the established goals. Grounded on the characteristics of localities’ defence-security task, local party committees and authorities should opportunely issue resolutions, directives, action programmes and guiding documents as the basis for the implementation process of sectors and all people. Due attention should be paid to completing and ensuring the principles and mechanisms for ensuring leadership, command and coordination, mobilising and using forces to deal with complex situations relating to national defence and security in a uniform, effective, rapid manner. It is vital to maintain the principle that party committee secretaries are supreme commanders in the building and operation of local defensive zones. Consideration should be given to well performing the work of internal political protection, fighting to foil the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy, preventing and pushing back the degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. Doing so will contribute to building a contingent of cadres and party members, particularly the key ones with sufficient qualities and capabilities so that they could exercise close leadership and direction over the building of defensive zones. Moreover, it is essential to raise the quality of steering councils and boards on the defence-security work, heighten the role in staff work and execution performed by offices, committees, sectors and unions, particularly by military and public security offices under the motto of “on-the-spot command, force, means, and logistics.” Due attention should be paid to strengthening inspection and supervision, conducting regular reviews, commending and rewarding good localities and units, overcoming weaknesses and stringently handling violations.

Third, combine socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation and vice versa. Sectors and localities should thoroughly grasp the guidelines on facilitating rapid, sustainable development, improving the people’s material and mental life, and consolidating national defence potential as a matter of importance. Measures should be adopted to foster rapid, sustainable hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and narrow the intellectual gap between regions across the country. Besides, it is vital to ensure that each socio-economic development step will contribute to consolidating national defence and security. That combination should be included in the planning of industrial zones and clusters and constructions serving both socio-economic, cultural development and defence-security task when necessary. Notably, importance should be attached to combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation in the key, strategic, border, sea, island areas and strengthening the postures of all-people national defence and people’s security. Localities should make force adjustment, build stable residential areas within defensive zones, avoid letting border areas become devoid of residence.

Fourth, mobilise the synergy of forces and organisations in the building of defensive zones. Provincial-level party committees and authorities should seriously, effectively implement the 12^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 on the Party building and rectification so that party organisations would be pure and strong while authorities would understand and take care of the people. Doing so will help build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” and cement the people’s faith in the Party and authorities. It is necessary to well implement our Party and State’s guidelines and policies on people with meritorious service to the revolution, ethnicity and religion, preserve and promote national traditional identity, expand democracy, strengthen discipline and build national great unity block. All-level party committees and authorities should place emphasis on building comprehensively strong political bases, improving the quality of commune-level cadres, especially in the remote, isolated areas, and raising the responsibility of Fatherland Fronts, offices, sectors, and unions for building the all-people national defence and maintaining social order and safety. Doing so will allow them to promote the synergy right at grass-roots level as the basis for building solid defensive zones.

Fifth, bring into play the core role of the armed forces in the building of defensive zones. Grasping the Party’s Resolution on building revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern People’s Army and People’s Public Security as a loyal, reliable political, fighting force of the Party, the State and the people and a core force in defending the Homeland and ensuring national security, localities should make local armed forces comprehensively strong, particularly politically strong and capable of dealing with all national defence-related situations and states. Great value should be attached to renewing the contents and methods of training and exercise relevant to reality to ensure victory in all situations, especially in new types of warfare and non-traditional security issues, such as epidemic, search and rescue, fire and explosion prevention and control. Due regard should paid to encouraging the role of military and public security offices in counselling and appraising socio-economic development plans and projects under legal documents on national defence and security and well executing the Prime Minister’s Decree 03/2019/NĐ-CP, dated September 5^th, 2017 on coordination between the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security in maintaining national defence, ensuring social order and safety, preventing and combating crime, and performing the national defence task.

The building of provinces and municipalities into strong defensive zones in the new situation holds a position of strategic importance to constructing and defending the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland; it is a task of the whole Party, Military and people. Measures mentioned above attach to one another; therefore, in the process, it is essential to flexibly adopt them in accordance with each locality’s practical conditions and particularities in order to build solid defensive zones.

Col. NGHIEM KHAC TIEP, MA, The Political Academy, the Ministry of National Defence