Being fully aware that “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat is an important, routine task in parallel with the work of education and training, over the years, Infantry Officer College No.1 has formulated guidelines and measures for drastically, effectively, creatively implementing this task, thereby making contributions to maintaining the Party’s ideological foundation within itself.

Under the leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Ministry of National Defence (MND), and the General Political Department (GPD) as well as higher echelons’ guiding documents, over the years, Infantry Officer College No.1 has adopted a lot of creative, breakthrough measures to make the fight against “peaceful evolution” much more effective. As a result, all cadres, cadets, employees, and soldiers have been more deeply aware of the protection of the Party, the State, and the socialist regime; they have built up “immunity” against negative impacts from distortions and hostile viewpoints, flexibly, cleverly employed methods of fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints, and strictly adhered to regulations on using information technology equipment and ensuring information safety. Steering Board 35 of the College Party Committee has concentrated on directing the core force and cadres and lecturers to actively take part in writing articles to disseminate the revolutionary, scientific nature of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology as well as the Military’s nature, tradition, functions, and missions. At the same time, due attention has been paid to unmasking the hostile forces’ distortions and plots of “depoliticising” our Military in cyberspace, thus making contributions to maintaining the Party’s leadership over the Military. To achieve those encouraging results, the College has synchronously implemented several fundamental measures as follows.

First, raise all-level party committees, commands, and political offices’ awareness and responsibility towards “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat. This measure plays a decisive role in the raised effectiveness of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat, which is seen as a hard, complex, sensitive task and requires the employment of both theoretical and practical knowledge to combat the hostile forces’ extremely cunning artifices. Without a sense of responsibility, determination, and enthusiasm, this task could not be accomplished. Therefore, the College Party Committee Standing Board has focused its leadership and direction on grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, particularly the 13th Politburo’s Resolution 35-NQ/TW, dated October 22nd, 2018 on “enhancing the protection of the Party’s ideological foundation and the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints in the new situation,” the Project on “the Military’s peaceful evolution prevention and combat in ideological and cultural fields in the new situation,” and Directive 47/CT-CT, dated January 8th, 2016 by Director of the GPD on “organising the force in charge of fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints and political opportunism in cyberspace within the Military.” Doing so has enabled party committees and commands of offices, faculties, and units to be fully aware of the importance of preventing and combating “peaceful evolution.” All-level party committees and commands have formulated specific guidelines and measures in accordance with their offices and units’ functions, tasks, and particularities. Great value has been attached to taking the effectiveness of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat as one of the criteria for assessing all-level party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness as well as all-level key cadres’ organising and directing capacity. Standing Agency of the College Party Committee’s Steering Board 35 has always proactively undertaken researches into the situation and assessed the outcome of the fight against “peaceful evolution” and the hostile forces’ new plots and artifices to opportunely give sound advice on remedial measures in accordance with higher echelons’ orientations.

A refresher course on employing information technology equipment for “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat

Second, attach importance to improving capabilities of the force in charge of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat to meet the task requirements. In order to foil the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy, cadres, party members, and the masses must have great political zeal, knowledge, and “immunity” against a mixture of right and wrong. Therefore, in the education and training process, the College Party Committee Standing Board has determined to improve learners’ personality, knowledge, skills, and “immunity” against the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. To that end, the College has stepped up the work of political and ideological education to raise all troops’ political knowledge, revolutionary vigilance, and determination. Emphasis has been placed on educating troops on the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, and the Party’s guidelines as the basis for building up their faith and enhancing their capacity to fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints. The College has closely combined “building” with “fighting” and regarded the building of a fine cultural environment and the healthy participation in social networks as a measure for increasing troops’ “immunity” against the hostile forces’ malicious artifices on ideological and cultural front. Due attention has been paid to further studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle to improve cadres, instructors, cadets, employees, and soldiers’ qualities and revolutionary morality. Besides, the College has frequently organised refresher courses and invited experienced experts to deliver lectures on contents, methods, and forms of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat to its staff members. Affiliates of the College have held at least one refresher course directly chaired by party committee secretaries or commissars on a quarterly basis. This effective measure has continued to be implemented to keep enabling the force in charge of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat to improve their capabilities in recognising wrong viewpoints and writing articles.

Third, heighten a sense of “proactiveness” in “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat. Currently, the hostile forces’ plots and artifices are increasingly cunning, diverse, and complex; therefore, we must remain “proactive” anytime, everywhere, and under any circumstance. Being fully aware of that, the College Party Committee Standing Board has frequently directed Steering Board 35 to give instructions to all-level party committees and organisations on proactively researching and anticipating the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. Party committees and organisations have been required to work towards guidelines, measures, and methods in a diverse, flexible, timely manner so as to unmask and thwart the hostile forces’ plots of “depoliticising” our Military and undermining our Party’s ideological foundation in cyberspace. In the process, great value has been attached to providing new official information via politico-ideological meetings, news briefings, study, and work for the force in charge of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat in order to avoid information “gaps.” Moreover, consideration has been given to well carrying out the work of internal political protection to prevent leaks of military secrets and observing regulations on information safety and discipline of speech. The College has promoted knowledge of scientists to convincingly resolve new issues and opportunely orientate ideology of all troops and especially the core force in charge of fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints in cyberspace. The Standing Agency of the College Party Committee’s Steering Board 35 has directed units to actively establish websites, blogs, Facebook fanpages, Zalo chat groups, make proposals concerning the development of applications on the basis of the College’s digital transformation for the expansion of the fight in cyberspace, and design documents for training and improving knowledge and skills of the force in charge of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat. The College’s core force has always proactively researched into our Party and State senior leaders’ articles to widely share them in cyberspace and create forums for many other people to take part in combating wrong, hostile viewpoints. Due attention has been paid to opportunely making reports on negative, hostile, bad contents so that the College’s cadres, party members, and employees would not share or comment on them, or form hot issues.

Fourth, promote responsibility of all forces to create synergy for “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat. Being fully aware that the fight on ideological and cultural front is responsibility of all sectors and forces, the entire political system, and the entire people, with cadres, party members, and the specialised force playing a core role, the College has adopted various measures to bring into play responsibility of all forces for taking part in “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat. The College has frequently consolidated the specialised force and promoted this force’ role, while creating a favourable condition in terms of material and time for all forces, cadres, and party members to participate in “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat. It has combined various forms of propagation and education to arouse patriotism and revolutionary vigilance and encouraged cadres and party members to proactively prevent and combat wrong, hostile viewpoints. It has also encouraged all staff members to write articles for its web portal and Military Science Magazine and undertake scientific researches into “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat, while regarding high-quality articles in cyberspace as a criterion for assessing cadres and lecturers’ annual scientific research work. The College Party Committee has directed all-level Emulation and Commendation Councils to consider articles on mass media as one of the most important criteria for annual emulation, commendation, and classification of cadres, party members, and lecturers. As a result, a large number of cadres, lectures, employees, soldiers of the College have always actively participated in the fight against “peaceful evolution.”

Those above-mentioned encouraging results will provide an incentive for Infantry Officer College No.1 to keep raising the effectiveness of “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat to thwart the hostile forces’ plots of “depoliticising” our Military and protect our Party, State, and socialist regime in the new situation.

Maj. Gen. NGUYEN XUAN DIEP, Deputy Commissar of the College