Studying and following Uncle Ho’s teaching are orders from hearts and minds of the entire Party, people, and military. The content is also carried out by the Border Guard Soldiers of Lang Son Province on their own responsibility and sacred emotions, which creates important motives for successfully accomplishing their assigned tasks and firmly protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security, contributing to building borders of peace, friendship, cooperation, and mutual development.
Being imbued with the teaching of President Ho Chi Minh: “Emulation is patriotism, patriotism requires emulation,” emulation in following Uncle Ho’s teaching in the Border Guard Soldiers of Lang Son Province is led and implemented closely. Emulation content, method, and target are concretised in each activity and suitable for situation and mission of departments and units. All emulation activities aim to defend sovereignty and national border security firmly and care for the life of people at the border areas. Given flexible, creative ways of organising emulation, over the past few years, the Border Guard Soldiers of Lang Son Province have adopted many effective models successfully as follows.
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| General Phan Van Giang works with the Provincial Border Guard Command in August 2023 |
“People’s joint effort to combat crime”
Following Uncle Ho’s teaching for the Border Guard Soldiers: “Enhancing solidarity and vigilance; exercising integrity, uprightness, thrift, and diligence; completing missions; overcoming difficulties; displaying courage in the face of enemy; making ultimate sacrifice for the nation; being faithful to the Party; and being dedicated to people”, border guard posts regularly conduct political, ideological education well to foster cadres’ and soldiers’ political steadfastness, professional skills, bravery, fearlessness, and ingenuity in the face of various types of opponents, resolving to accomplish assigned tasks. They also advise and work with localities to successfully prevent social evils by organising the movement “All people participating in protecting territorial sovereignty, national border security, and social order and safety in the border areas”, the roundtable “Cadres and members of border commune women’s union preventing and combating crime, building happy families”, and the youth forum “Cadres, members, and young people in border communes saying no to drugs”; installing “Letter boxes to denounce criminals” in villages; establishing information and communication groups of border guard posts and border communes and towns, and so on. These activities aim to intensify propagation and encourage people to comply with guidelines of the Party and policies and law of the State, in particular those relating to border, border guard, security, and order as well as plots and acts of sabotage of hostile forces and reactionaries, criminal activities, and social evils, thus successfully bringing into play the role of mass unions, agencies, units, and organisations in the local political system and people to actively take part in denouncing and combating crime and social evils.
Additionally, border guard posts have taken the lead and cooperated with forces and localities on preventive activities, including grasping situation at internal and external borders firmly, carrying out in-depth basic professional work to closely monitor areas and suspects and timely discover criminals, conducting patrols to keep tight control over borders, border gates, and areas in order to proactively detect violations of law, wrongdoings, and social evils. They have also taken initiative in working out plans, adopting border guard measures synchronously, mobilising forces and equipment for combating crime, and seriously addressing criminal activities and violations of law.
The model of “people’s joint effort to combat crime” has helped to attract proactive, active involvement of levels, branches, and functional forces, especially people in the border areas, creating a widespread all-people movement. Over the past five years, the Border Guard Soldiers of Lang Son Province have detected, captured, and dealt with 901 cases and 1,020 offenders; worked with forces concerned to detect and capture 158 cases and 181 offenders; and cooperated with the locality to handle 7 security contingencies. Currently, all of 21 border communes and towns in the Province have been removed from the list of localities with complex security, order problems as provided by Decision No. 980/QD-BCA-V05, dated 28th February, 2023 of the Minister of Public Security. Outcomes from the above-mentioned model has made vital contribution to firm maintenance of political security, social order and safety conducive to socio-economic development of the province and border areas in particular.
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| Ba Son Border Guards implement the model of "Vietnamese border bamboo grove" |
“Vietnamese border bamboo grove”
When he was alive, President Ho Chi Minh used to recommend the Border Guard Soldiers to “rely on people, manage to strengthen solidarity, and assist people”. Being imbued with the teaching of beloved Uncle Ho, the Border Guard Soldiers of Lang Sơn Province have had many practical deeds to assist people at the border in steadily improving people’s living and intellectual standards. The Border Guard Party Committee and Command of Lang Son Province have led and directed border guard posts to implement the model of “Vietnamese border bamboo grove” since 2022. This is a practical deed to create a source of livelihood for people and help people with economic development and improvement of their living standard, contributing to building of new-style countryside. To operationalise instructions from the Provincial Border Guard Command, border guard posts have cooperated with local party committees and authorities to survey and compile a list of households who are collaborating with the Border Guard Soldiers in controlling and protecting national borderlines and border markers and have a desire for growing Bat Do Bamboos for economic development. Grounded on such a direction, border guard posts have recommended district-level people’s committees to provide funds for the projects. They also spent part of their funds raised by gardening and money donated by organisations, individuals, and businesses on buying bamboo varieties to give households. The Provincial Border Guard Soldiers have given 80 households over 15 thousand bamboo stumps worth more than VND 440 million since 2022 to grow along the 13 km-long borderlines. Results from the “Vietnamese border bamboo grove” contribute not only to management and protection of national borderlines but also to preservation of the environment, reduced influence of storms, floods, and natural disasters, creation of income for people in the border areas, and strengthening of the bonds between the military and people. This model has step by step helped people in the border areas to try their best to get rid of poverty and settle down, which provides a solid foundation for building the people’s heart and mind posture and firmly safeguarding national sovereignty and border security.
Construction of roads used for inspecting border markers and protecting borders
Lang Son has a 231.74 km-long borderline running through five districts and 474 border markers. Most of these border markers are situated in very high positions, thus making it difficult for forces to conduct patrol and inspection. The construction of access roads from the main border patrol road to border markers is a vital demand, which facilitates patrols to resolve incidents timely and effectively and protect borderline and border markers. To do so, the Provincial Border Guard Party Committee and Command have conducted surveys and instructed implementation of the model of building roads used for inspecting border markers and protecting borders since 2022 and identified this as a key task. The Provincial Border Guard Command has conducted exchange with the Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front of Lang Son Province and reached agreement among themselves; reported to and sought for guidance from the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Border Guard Command. Having got permission from the higher-lever authorities, the two agencies have advised the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee to publish an open letter on behalf of the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, People’ Committee, and Provincial Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front, which is intended to launch a special campaign to raise funds for building access roads to border markers. The Provincial Border Guard Command has set up a project to build access roads by socialisation.
To achieve synchronicity, unity, and effectiveness, the Provincial Border Guard Command requests its border guard posts to cooperate with departments of economic infrastructure of border districts to survey and design access roads to border markers before submitting for approval; inform relevant authorities of China about their intention; use their own cadres and soldiers for building roads; work with local party committees and authorities to mobilise cadres, civil servants, and public employees of bodies, members of the militia, Public Security, young people, and the masses to participate in road construction. Given high determination, enthusiasm, and responsibility for national sovereignty, the Border Guard Soldiers of Lang Son Province have received great attention and support from levels, branches, bodies, units, and businesses in the province and beyond as well as people from ethnic minority groups at the border. Many households are willing to donate their land and trees for road construction. The Provincial Border Guard Command got over VND 9.5 billion and construction materials, mobilised 16,500 working days worth about VND4.5 billion, and built 120 access roads to border markers between 18th November, 2022 and 25th September, 2023. The total length of these roads is 19,000m. The concrete roads for inspecting border markers not only enable the Border Guard Soldier to patrol, monitor, and resolve border incidents timely and effectively but also create favourable conditions for border people to travel, grow crops, develop economy, and improve their standard of living.
Following Uncle Ho’s teaching through vivid, realistic models of the Border Guard Command of Lang Son Province has produced a drastic, effective influence and a widespread all-people movement, which makes vital contribution to firm maintenance of political security, social order, and safety; enhancement of socio-economic development; and building a border of peace, friendship, cooperation, and mutual development. In the coming time, the Border Guard Party Committee and Command of Lang Son Province will continue to step up emulation to study and follow Uncle Ho’s teaching by more concrete, practical actions, which serves to further beautify the image of “Border Guard Soldiers - Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” at the northern border of the Fatherland.
Senior Colonel TRINH HUU TANG, Commissar of the Provincial Border Guard Command