Garrisoning and performing tasks in the strategic and vital water and islands, Coast Guard Region 3 (hereinafter referred to as the Region) prioritises strengthening legal measures, maintaining law enforcement at sea, and effectively combating various crimes and legal violations to contribute to maintaining security, order, and safety in the assigned water, thereby safeguarding the sovereignty, maritime security, and sacred islands of the Fatherland.

To manage and protect extensive water under challenging climate and weather conditions, and amid increasingly sophisticated and complex criminal activities, particularly smuggling, trade fraud, and the activities of foreign vessels violating sovereignty, illegal mineral exploration, and illegal fishing, in recent years, the  Region has implemented comprehensive solutions to overcome challenges to resolutely maintain security, order, and safety at sea, create a favourable environment for economic development and diplomacy, and firmly protect national sovereignty, territory and islands.

Especially in recent times, responding to requirements and complex developments in the maritime criminal and legal violation situations, the Region Party Committee and Command have vigorously implemented and enforced the regulations of the Party, state laws, Government Steering Committee 138, National Steering Committee 389, and Ministry of National Defence Steering Committee 1389 on crime prevention and law enforcement. Based on these efforts, special resolutions have been issued to lead and develop plans for the high-intensity period of combating crime, smuggling, trade fraud, drugs, and legal violations. Simultaneously, it has directed the subordinate units to coordinate the Public Security, Customs, and Border Guard in enhancing patrol, inspection, and control of goods to resolutely handle violations as provide.

Accordingly, the Region has directed to grasp the situation, precisely process information, proactively implement preventive measures, and organise prevention and combat against the schemes and tactics of hostile forces and criminal entities. The Region has closely coordinated with the Border Guard, Public Security, Customs, and provincial port authorities and valued the intelligence of various forces and the people operating at sea in gathering necessary information. Simultaneously, it has directed subordinate units to implement operational measures to accurately grasp the situation, focusing on monitoring key maritime areas, foreign drilling rigs, research and exploration vessels, military and law enforcement vessels, and fishing vessels in waters under the management, operations of Vietnamese fishing vessels in adjacent, overlapping, or bordering areas with risks of violating foreign waters, and the activities of transport and commercial ships showing signs of violating the law. Since the beginning of 2023, the Region has deployed hundreds of patrols to monitor the situation related to national security and the struggle against crime and legal violations at sea, especially in the Spratly archipelago, DK1 platform, and the southern waters. Due to stringent and scientific organisation, it has timely verified over 800 pieces of information related to sovereignty and security at sea, reported dozens of cases of Vietnamese fishing boats violating illegal and unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, foreign vessels pursued, inspected, and seized properties, and incidents involving distressed fishing boats. To jointly combat IUU yellow cards, the Region has collaborated with Coast Guard Region 4 in enhancing IUU prevention efforts in the areas between Viet Nam and Malaysia, Viet Nam and Thailand, and the overlapping region of Viet Nam, Indonesia, and Thailand, achieving positive results.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Le Huy Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence checks Coast Guard Ship No.8021

To enhance the capacity and effectiveness of law enforcement, the Region emphasises legal training, professional training, experience dissemination, and skills improvement in the struggle and handling of incidents and situations for cadres and soldiers as well as promotion of propagation to enhance awareness of law observance for local people. The practice shows that the coast guard force operates independently with a high degree of autonomy, and incidents and situations occur at sea in complex weather conditions, day and night, with sophisticated criminal artifices, especially smuggling and trade fraud. If cadres and soldiers do not have strong political will, proficiency in tasks, and a solid understanding of Vietnamese and international laws, the mission will not be accomplished. Therefore, in addition to prioritising the enhancement of political awareness for cadres and soldiers, the Region has directed agencies and units to strengthen professional fostering and training, improve legal knowledge, foreign language proficiency, and practical skills in crime prevention and law enforcement, and transmit combat experience through diverse forms and methods. This includes closely combining hierarchical training and self-study, mutual training, enhancing combat readiness training, patrols, inspections, control, and law enforcement to improve practical capabilities for cadres and soldiers. In 2023, the Region organised 7 specialised training sessions and participated in 9 online training sessions on law enforcement conducted by the Coast Guard High Command and deployed forces to participate in 2 training sessions on anti-crime organised by the U.S. Government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Additionally, the Region regularly collaborated with local departments, agencies, and sectors in strengthening legal propagation and dissemination for fishermen, students, and citizens. The focus was on key topics such as the Party’s principles and directions, state policies and laws on sovereignty, maritime security, islands; the situation of crime and legal violations at sea; the responsibility of fishermen in their fishing and seafood exploitation missions combined with protecting the security, sovereignty, and islands through various suitable forms and methods such as direct propagation, mass media, social networks, flyers, etc. Thereby, people from all walks of life are deeply aware of the Party’s guidelines, policies, and viewpoints and clearly understand their rights and obligations in protecting sovereignty and security of the sea and islands and promote responsibility in participating in detecting and denouncing violations and crimes, building a solid “people's heart-and-mind posture”, creating a foundation for the Region to fulfil its assigned functions and tasks.

In the upcoming period, the situation in the East Sea is predicted to contain many complex factors. Regional countries are increasing the mobilisation of military and law enforcement ships to illegally anchor at occupied positions, using a large number of fishing vessels to dispute fishing grounds and assert sovereignty, deploying law enforcement vessels to conduct surveys, violating Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone, and demanding sovereignty claims in bordering sea areas or overlapping regions. In addition, the situation of foreign fishing vessels violating Viet Nam’s waters and Vietnamese fishing vessels violating foreign maritime areas, engaging in illegal fishing, smuggling, trade fraud, remains complex. Maritime crimes and violations at sea are becoming more sophisticated, notably in the transportation, trading, smuggling, and diversion of petroleum products for seafood exploitation and cargo transport in the southern areas, Southeast Con Dao island, and the bordering sea areas between Viet Nam and Malaysia, Viet Nam and Indonesia. To manage this situation, the Region Party Committee and Command continue to lead and direct the synchronised implementation of measures to enhance the law enforcement capacity of cadres and soldiers. The focus will be on:

Firstly, strengthening the monitoring of legal violations; maintaining a strict combat readiness regime; effectively performing patrol, inspection, control, and law enforcement at sea; and resolutely struggling and efficiently handling legal violations to ensure safety in task execution. The leadership will concentrate on deploying augmented forces to actively monitor criminal activities and legal violations; intensify coordination efforts and information exchange between the Region Command and relevant agencies and forces involved in the fight against crime, prevention, and handling of violations in accordance with coordinated regulations.

Secondly, intensifying political and ideological education, management and training of cadres, staff, and soldiers, and building of model, comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” units. The Region will adhere strictly and implement rigorously superiors’ resolutions, directives, and guidance regarding security protection, especially Directive No.212/CT-ĐU, dated 10 June 2021, by the Coast Guard Party Committee Standing Commission, in association with doing well the work of ideological orientation and management, enhancing the awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members, and the public regarding the consciousness of law observance and military discipline. The focus will be on building units that is truly robust in political terms, with a special emphasis on maintaining and effectively implementing ideological and political education and law dissemination for various target groups, aiming to ensure that cadres and soldiers understand the characteristics, requirements, and tasks of the Region, the plots, tactics of the enemy, various types of crimes, as well as the difficulties and challenges that must be overcome…to develop resilience, determination, and a high sense of responsibility in performing tasks.

Thirdly, enhancing legal knowledge and the capacity to struggle and manage situations for cadres and soldiers. Agencies and units will implement graded training to enhance legal knowledge and capacity and transmit the experience of fighting and handling incidents to the soldiers. Special attention will be given to improving knowledge of laws and procedures and experience of struggling and handling incidents related to the responsibilities and tasks of each department and individual. Units will intensify training to enhance practical capabilities, ensuring that cadres and soldiers can effectively complete the law enforcement tasks in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guards Force.

Finally, promoting close cooperation and leveraging the comprehensive strength of various forces and means operating in the waters and areas under the management; mutually supporting in handling legal violations; proactively exchanging information and timely grasping the developments in the activities of violators, and protecting the sovereignty and security at sea and islands by promptly processing resolutely and appropriately; and enhancing coordination, international cooperation, and timely discovery and effective handling of violations as per regulations.

Major General NGO BINH MINH, Commander of the Region