As the core force in managing and defending the national border, over the years, in addition to its border defence task, the Provincial Border Guard of Lai Chau has always actively, proactively carried out the diplomatic work under our Party and State’s guidelines and policies to make contributions to firmly protecting the national sovereignty.

Thoroughly grasping the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy on foreign affairs, particularly documents by the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, and the Border Guard High Command, the Provincial Border Guard (PBG) Command has always proactively cooperated with sectors and other forces in advising the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on synchronously adopting proper measures for border defence and people-to-people diplomacy. Via its diplomatic activities, the PBG has proactively fostered cooperation with China’s border guard force in employing measures to effectively fight against crimes of various types, the establishment of secret organisations, and violations of border sovereignty and security, thereby contributing to managing and safeguarding the national border sovereignty and security, and building a border of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation and development.

A dialogue about land border between Vietnamese and Chinese delegations

It is worth noting that the PBG Party Committee and Command have closely combined military and border defence diplomacy with people-to-people diplomacy. The PBG has proactively worked with the neighbour’s border guard force to exchange information, organise dialogues and joint patrols, prevent and combat crime, and opportunely settle incidents right on the field in accordance with our strategy, thereby avoiding complex situations along the border. Also, it has maintained the operation of pairs of friendly Posts-Stations and twinned residential clusters from the two sides of the border. The two sides have frequently organised exchange programmes on national holidays and in political events. Typically, the PBG Party Committee and Command have given advice to the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on cooperation with the Ministry of National Defence in successfully holding the 4^th Vietnam-China Border Defence Friendship Exchange Programme in Lai Chau (Vietnam) and Yunnan (China), making an important mark in the relationship between the two countries.

Furthermore, the PBG has proactively cooperated with China’s competent forces in COVID-19 prevention and control. The PBG has presented thousands of face masks and pieces of medical equipment, while closely cooperating with competent forces in organising patrols to control and prevent the epidemic from spreading onto our country via the border. Doing so has enabled the relations between the two governments and the two peoples along the border to develop more profoundly, practically and effectively.

To make the work of border defence diplomacy more practical and effective, in the upcoming time, the PBG will more thoroughly grasp the Party’s foreign policy and resolutions and directives by the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence and the Border Guard High Command on border defence diplomacy. First of all, due attention will be paid to comprehending our Party and State’s foreign policy, particularly the 11^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated October 25^th, 2013 on the Strategy for the Homeland defence in the new situation, the Politburo’s Resolution 22-NQ/TW, dated April 10^th, 2013 on international integration, and the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 806-NQ/QUTW, dated December 31^st, 2013 on military diplomacy and international integration towards 2020 and beyond. Great value will be attached to maintaining meetings, dialogues, and cooperation with China’s competent forces in exchanging information relating to crimes of various types and settlement of incidents along the border. At the same time, cooperation programmes between the two sides will be effectively executed to manage and protect the border as well as prevent and fight against crime, illegal immigration, smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeits. Consideration will be given to strictly implementing the three legal documents on the land border signed by the Vietnamese and Chinese Governments, the Agreement on border defence cooperation between the Ministry of National Defence of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of National Defence of the People’s Republic of China signed on November 12^th, 2017 in Hanoi (Vietnam), and the Minutes of the Dialogue between the Border Guard High Command (the Ministry of National Defence of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) and the National Immigration Administration (the People’s Republic of China) on enhancing border defence law enforcement along the land border and at border gates signed on June 27^th, 2019 in Beijing (China). Besides, mechanisms for cooperation in enforcing border defence law, such as dialogue, information exchange, hotline, joint patrol, and cross-border prevention and combat between the provincial border guard forces of Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Lao Cai and Ha Giang (Vietnam) and the General Station of Yunnan Immigration Inspection (China) will continue to be maintained and well implemented.

To raise the effectiveness of diplomacy, the PBG Command will improve the professional knowledge and skills of cadres in charge of the diplomatic work, with emphasis placed on the regulations and procedures for inspecting and controlling border gates and maintaining the order for immigration. At the same time, great weight will be attached to exchanging information and specialised knowledge, maintaining cooperation comprehensively, applying information technology to controlling immigration automatically, actively giving advice on renewing administrative procedures for immigration at border gates and standardising the work of managing and issuing immigration documents, and building a favourable customs environment to contribute to fostering socio-economic development along the border.

Ground on the good results of cooperation between posts and stations, the two sides will continue holding joint patrols, conducting the work of legal propagation, and delivering legal leaflets to citizens along the border and travellers at border gates. Doing so will help the two sides to opportunely detect and settle incidents in the border area and raise the law-abiding awareness of citizens. Adhering to the leadership and direction by the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee, the PGB Party Committee and Command will closely work with all-level party committees and authorities and promote the synergy of sectors, forces and citizens to firmly protect the national territorial sovereignty and border security, build a border of friendship and peace, and make contributions to boosting the province’s socio-economic development and international cooperation.

In addition to the diplomatic work, the PBG will attach great value to building comprehensively strong offices and units, improving their synergy and combat strength, training cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and professional skills, and speeding up the execution of the three breakthroughs, especially in the quality of training. At the same time, emphasis will be placed on building a politically, ideologically, organisationally and morally strong Party Organisation, drastically, effectively implementing the Project on the Border Guard Force’s organisation in the period of 2017-2020 and beyond, raising the quality of training, actively applying technology to the tasks, and enhancing military standard order, discipline management and military administration reform. According to the Resolution of the PBG’s Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure, the PBG Party Organisation has established 7 groups of criteria, 3 groups of tasks, and 3 breakthroughs in order to fulfil a number of basic targets. To be more specific, all cadres and soldiers within the PBG will keep their mind on their work, readily undertake and fulfil all assigned missions. All offices and units will be absolutely safe, without any serious violation of discipline, and their rate of violations of discipline will be below 0.2%. All cadres and soldiers will join training courses under plans. All cadres and employees will master at least one ethnical language. Each border guard post will build and multiply one or two typical examples to help the people with economic development in the border area. Furthermore, the PBG will comprehensively execute its political tasks and cooperate with border communes in deploying border guard cadres to their areas, building many models of “clever mass mobilisation” at grass-roots level, and helping the people with economic development, poverty reduction, and settlement of natural disaster consequences.

Moreover, the PBG will well organise the twinning programmes, such as “posts and stations of friendship, border gates of concord, and peaceful border” between Vietnamese border defence posts and stations and China’s border guard units. At the same time, it will give advice to local party committees and authorities on effectively implementing diplomatic, people-to-people exchange, and twinning programmes and enhancing cooperation in order to build a border of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

Sr. Col. TRIEU QUOC NGUAY, Commander of the PBG