Joint patrol is one of the main tasks of the Border Guard Force in general, Northern provincial border guards in particular, aimed at closely managing and firmly protecting the national border, and consolidating relations between Vietnam and its neighbours. Therefore, researching into measures to improve the performance of this task is of importance and urgency.

The land border between Vietnam and China stretches about 1,450 km (including nearly 384 km of river and stream borderlines) along seven Vietnamese provinces (Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, and Quang Ninh), with 1,780 border markers. In this region, there are many high mountains, jungles, rivers, and streams; therefore, the traffic system is extremely poor. Due to this region’s complex terrains and harsh climate conditions, crimes of various types, particularly smuggling, trade frauds, and illegal border crossing have been rather complicated.

Against that backdrop, grasping our Party’s foreign guidelines, the Vietnam-China Treaty of Land Border, three legal documents on land border between Vietnam and China as well as relevant regulations and guiding documents, over the years, a part from their regular and irregular patrols, Provincial Border Guards in the North Vietnam (hereafter the PBGs for short) have closely cooperated with China’s competent force in organising joint patrols. During such patrols, emphasis has been placed on inspecting and protecting the border, the system of border markers, and roads along the border, exchanging information, preventing and handling a lot of incidents along the border, particularly illegal border crossing by citizens from the two countries, thereby making contributions to maintaining security and order within border areas. It should be noted that since the outbreak of COVID-19, the two sides have frequently exchanged information about the pandemic and reached an agreement on measures to keep the pandemic under control, thus significantly contributing to building and cementing their friendship, solidarity, and cooperation for development.

The launch of joint patrols in Quang Ninh province

However, in addition to those encouraging results, there have been several weaknesses in joint patrols along the Northern border. More seriously, there have been violations of the Agreement on Land Border Management Regulations. For instance, the building of fences and embankments has affected currents of border rivers and streams. Besides, adjustments in China’s policies of immigration, export, and import together with the tightening of the border trade policy have certainly impacted on our export. As Beijing unilaterally expelled Vietnamese undocumented labourers and immigrants, there has been an increase in illegal border crossing. Meanwhile, cross-border crimes of various types, particularly smuggling and trade frauds have been on the rise, even with the use of firearms. Therefore, in addition to enhancing the management and protection of each country’s border security and order, the development and implementation of measures to raise the quality and effectiveness of joint patrols conducted by the two sides’ border guards as the basis for practically realising the signed legal documents on border management represent a matter of importance and urgency. Within this article, we propose a number of main measures to raise the quality and effectiveness of this important work for the sake of research, discussion, and application.

1. Strengthen all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over joint patrols. In essence, joint patrol work along the border is coordination between two forces of two neighbouring countries, aimed at resolving very specific border-related issues; therefore, there should be timely leadership and direction from all-level party committees and commands. That matter becomes more important when China’s border defence force is comprised of various components and has been dramatically changed in its functions, tasks, and governance. Thus, to meet their task requirements, the PBGs’ Party Committees and Commands should continue grasping the two countries’ border defence diplomacy policies and laws as well as border-related legal and guiding documents. Significance should be attached to introducing three legal documents on land border between Vietnam and China, Plan 1599/KH-BTL, dated August 26th, 2010 by the Border Guard Force Command on realising the three border-related legal documents, Decision 2483/QĐ-BTTM, dated December 17th, 2012 by the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army on Regulations for organising joint patrols along the border and at sea. However, as a joint patrol is conducted in a short period of time and a specific residential area, the PBGs could proactively cooperate with local party committees and authorities and competent forces in grasping and carefully evaluating political security and social order and safety of the two sides of the border to anticipate possible situations. Grounded on such evaluations and forecasts, they should develop specialised resolutions and practical measures of leadership. Importance should be attached to exercising leadership of the PBGs’ Party Committees over coordination with China’s border defence force, clearly identifying responsibility of each party committee member, and well carrying out inspections and supervisions of the implementation process.

2. Raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness and working competence for this important task to meet new requirements. Joint patrols between the two sides’ border defence forces are conducted at tactical level, but they are national affairs and international activities. Therefore, all-level party committees and commands of border guard units should enhance the work of propagation and education to improve political zeal and revolutionary morality of cadres and soldiers in charge of joint patrols. Those cadres and soldiers shall observe the Party’s laws and the Party’s guidelines on military diplomacy, particularly border defence diplomacy and on the protection of national sovereignty, border security, and the Homeland in the new situation. More importantly, troops must comprehend the contents of the signed agreements and documents between the two sides, especially on joint patrols as well as the characteristics and complexity of this task. Significance should be attached to employing measures and methods of education relevant to each unit and troops’ education background. Annual education programmes should be closely combined with tasks-based education, while common education should be aligned with individual education. Doing so will enable all cadres and soldiers to be fully aware that joint patrols not only help maintain security and order along the border and create mutual understanding, but also serve as a measure of importance to building and strengthening solidarity, friendship, and cooperation for development between the two countries right at grass-roots levels.

Furthermore, border guard units should focus on improving their staff members’ professional competence and knowledge of Chinese and English, bettering skills in coordinating the response to situations, and taking the training of cadres as the key solution, particularly at border guard posts and stations. Besides, the training of cadres should be stepped up when the Project on “modernising the technical reconnaissance force, the crime prevention and combat task force, and the border control force capable of approaching the 4th industrial revolution” will be implemented and the Border Guard Force will be provided with modern, hi-tech equipment. This is a good chance to raise the task performance of the Border Guard Force in general and the quality and effectiveness of joint patrols in particular in the new situation. 

3. Well carry out the work of preparation and coordination for joint patrols under regulations. During joint patrols, relevant forces must always resolutely but cleverly deal with complex situations. For that reason, grounded on the particularities of the security situation in each border area, border guard posts should actively, flexibly, cleverly work with China’s competent forces to reach an agreement on making intentions of conducting joint patrols via various methods, such as invitation letter, phone call, and direct meeting. Based on such intentions, commanders of border guard posts should formulate specific, practical plans for joint patrols, with great value attached to anticipating different situations and remedial measures, maintaining close, uniformed coordination, and sufficiently preparing weapons, hand-held GPS devices, laptops, cameras, maps, observation devices, supporting tools, and uniforms for commanding, directing, and conducting joint patrols. During joint patrols, it is vital to ensure smooth, secret, timely communication from the PBGs’ Commands to border guard posts and stations and patrol teams. Due attention should be paid to establishing channels of communication between patrol teams and other relevant forces to quickly, completely handle incidents in accordance with each country’s law and international law. It is essential to collaborate with China’s patrol teams in performing rituals in a sufficient, formal, solemn way, carefully examining each border marker to opportunely detect changes and incidents, and proactively, flexibly settling situations under each force’s authority. Moreover, after each joint patrol, it is necessary to co-organise meetings to carry out reviews and evaluations, draw lessons, and opportunely report serious incidents to higher echelons to be settled under regulations.

Joint patrols in the Northern border have been just conducted in recent years, but they have produced practical outcomes and especially made contributions to implementing the guidelines on border defence diplomacy set by our Party and State. Against changes in the situation, researches into the improved quality and effectiveness of joint patrols should be carried out and applied continuously, scientifically in accordance with new missions so as to contribute to building a stable, safe border and consolidating solidarity, friendship, and cooperation for development between Vietnam and China.

Col. NGUYEN HUY DU, MA, Border Guard Academy of Vietnam