Over the past few years, apart from well performing its advisory function for the Party and State as well as directing ethnic minority work, the Commission for Ethnic Minority Affairs, which is a ministerial-level agency under the management of the Prime Minister, has attached importance to leading, directing, and implementing defence, military work effectively, contributing to safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

Over the years, deeply perceiving the Party’s position and guideline on carrying out two strategic missions - building and defence of the Fatherland - the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (hereafter referred to as the Commission), besides fulfilling every task, has paid attention to accomplishing its defence, military mission successfully and achieved many outstanding results, notably the increasingly improved awareness of the Commission’s cadres, party members, civil servants, and employees on defence, military work in ministerial-level agencies, government departments, and localities. Education and cultivation of defence and security knowledge have been attached importance to and conducted in the direction of renewing content, form and extension of learners, ensuring increased quality and in congruence with characteristics and missions of each unit. In fact, the Commission has taken many measures to closely combine the strengthening of efficiency and effectiveness of state management of ethnic minority work with the consolidation of defence and security in each region, area and nationwide, making contribution to making the all-people defence, all-people defence posture, and people’s security posture increasingly robust and bringing into play the strength of the people’s great unity in building and safeguarding the Fatherland.

In addition, the Commission’s Party Executive Committee and leaders have attached importance to the staffing and operation of its affiliated Military Command; developing self-defence force and reserve to ensure their sufficient quantity and increasingly high quality, particularly in politics, capable of playing the core role in undertaking tasks of combat readiness, security and safety maintenance, and settlement of emerging situations. Due regard has been paid to inspection, examination and oversight over the realisation of defence, military work in departments and units of the Commission, especially meeting, reporting, preliminary summing-up, and summation. Consequently, the Commission has accomplished defence, military work annually, appreciated by the Government and Prime Minister. The Commission’s Military Command becomes one of the leading units in the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement at the ministerial, central levels.

However, in fact, some civil servants and employees’ awareness of defence, military work has not been really sufficient. Some even consider this as a mission of the Commission’s Military Command and self-defence force. People who are in charge of defence, military work are holders of several official positions. They lack intensive training in defence, military work, thus affecting the effectiveness of this work. Some local ethnic minority affairs units have shown a lack of synergy in advising their respective party executive committees and authorities to implement projects, programs, and policies on ethnic minorities in association with the building of defence zones, all-people defence posture, and people’s security posture, thereby resulting in poor sustainability in the implementation process.

In the coming time, international and regional situations will continue to witness complex developments and various potential factors that may cause instability. Exploiting policy on ethnic minorities, religious freedom, democracy, human rights, socio-economic difficulty, some ethnic people’s insufficient awareness, etc., the hostile forces escalate their acts of sabotage by means of newer, more malicious tricks in the country. They identify the ethnic people as a key target. In addition, smuggling, illegal possession transportation of drugs, explosives, counterfeit money, trafficking in women and children, illegal border crossing, free migration, etc., by ethnic people in border areas witness complex developments, which cause many difficulties for implementing ethnic work and strengthening defence and security. In such contexts, to bring into play recorded achievements, successfully complete defence, military missions, and improve the effectiveness of state management of ethnic minority affairs, the Commission has determined to take appropriate, scientific measures in a synchronous, drastic manner as follows.

1. Promoting education and propaganda with a view to raising knowledge of cadres, party members, and employees about defence, military missions in ministries and branches. This is the measure of utmost importance, which serves to create unanimity of awareness and action in each division and the whole Commission towards this important mission. To fulfill that task, first and foremost, the Commission needs to focus on enhancing the education and propaganda of defence and security knowledge for various subjects, particularly the corps of leading cadres at all levels. On the basis of thoroughly grasping the Politburo’s Directive No. 12-CT/TW (Tenure X) on “Strengthening the Party’s leadership over defence, security education in the new situation,” Regulation No. 07-QĐ/BTCTW of the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission on the standard of defence, security knowledge, Special resolution of the Commission’s Office Party Executive Committee on the leadership over defence, military work, etc., Party Executive Committee and leaders of the Commission have instructed their affiliated departments and units to successfully carry out defence, military missions annually. The Commission has also taken initiative in collaborating closely with functional agencies of the Ministry of National Defence and local military commands to check and manage closely cadres and party members who are suited to defence and security education to work out training plans and send party members to participate in the higher echelons’ class. Every year, the Commission strives to complete 100 per cent of the prescribed defence and security norms.

Apart from enhancing education and propaganda of defence and security knowledge, the Commission has directed its departments to carry out traditional education on the occasion of major holidays and key political events of the Party, State, and the military, especially the National Great Unity Day. Attention should be paid to disseminating ethnic guidelines and policies of the Party and State in association with strengthening defence and security in each region, area and nationwide. At the same time, it is important to praise prestigious ethnic people who do this job well, thereby enabling ethnic people in each locality to deeply understand defence, military positions and guidelines of the Party; sabotage plots and tricks of the hostile forces; and the need to step up military, defence work in all ministries and agencies, including the Commission for Ethnic Minority Affairs. This will help to create correct awareness and unanimity of awareness and action, contributing to successfully accomplishing the mission of safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

2. Closely aligning the implementation of political mission with the strengthening of national defence. Vietnam is a multiracial country, where people live harmoniously with each other. Ethnic people mostly live in remote, border, and island areas which cover vast areas of land and have low population density and uneven intellectual standard. Nevertheless, these are areas of significant importance in economy, ecological environment, defence, and security of the whole nation. Therefore, a close combination of economy, culture, and society and defence and security and vice versa plays a vital role in national building and defence. Given its assigned functions and missions, the Commission has taken initiative in collaborating with ministries, branches, and localities to advise the Party and State on implementing projects and plans to combine economic development with defence in areas inhabited by ethnic people and mountainous regions for the period of 2016-2020 and beyond in a strict, effective, and timely manner. At the same time, it has proposed the amendment to and the improvement in the existing regulations and policies to ensure their compatibility with reality, contributing to socioeconomic development and sustainable hunger eradication and poverty alleviation in association with defence, security strengthening in each locality. The Commission has continually monitored the situation in areas inhabited by ethnic people and mountainous regions in all fields, especially those in the realms of defence, security, natural disasters, epidemics, etc., to opportunely advise the Party and State to find solutions to stabilise people’s life, firmly preserve political security, and prevent the occurrence of hot spots, particularly in major areas.

In addition, the Commission has instructed local agencies for ethnic minority affairs to advise party executive committees and authorities at the same levels to develop action programs and plans to carry out policies, programs, and projects in congruence with the conditions of each locality. Priorities should be given to effectively executing the “National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction during 2016-2020” in association with building defence zones, robust all-people defence posture and people’s security posture, and strong all-people defence. Besides, it is important to closely collaborate with the Ministry of National Defence to promote implementation of the Planning and Development Project for Economic-Defence Zones under the Resolution No. 520-NQ/QUTW on “Leading the economic production and building in association with defence of the Military until 2020” with the aim of reorganising and stabilising the population and making clusters of villages in border areas, areas inhabited by ethnic people, remote areas, and resistance base areas politically strong, economically wealthy, and robust in defence, security terms.

3. Regularly staffing command organisations and building a strong self-defence force capable of playing the vital role in defence, military work. This is one of the most important solutions, which serves as a key driver to facilitate the Commission’s successful implementation of military, defence mission. Thus, the Commission’s Party Executive Committee and leaders have constantly attached significance to staffing organisations and improving the working, managing quality of their respective Military Command. Accordingly, the Military Command has been fully staffed with the right people as prescribed. Its members have regularly joined training courses to improve their awareness of positions and defence, military guidelines of the Party and States, as well as their political, military knowledge, making them well qualified for advising the Commission to successfully complete this important mission. Apart from building the Commission Office self-defence force – the leading force to execute military, defence mission, the Commission has also instructed the Commission Office self-defence force in training content and programs. Against the current backdrop, to enhance quality of the Commission Office self-defence force, the Commission needs to focus on educating its members on loyalty and pride in being part of the people’s armed forces and train the self-defence force to excel at weapon handling and rules on the use of weapons and equipment, making them competent to defend the position in any situations. Additionally, it has to pay attention to providing enough budget; implementing policies on the self-defence force and military families; regularly maintaining enough strength of the self-defence force and its combat readiness, making a vital contribution to successfully completing the mission of national building and defence.

Doctor Phan Van Hung, Vice Minister, Deputy Chairman, Chief of the Military Command