The spectacular success of the 13^th National Party Congress has greatly encouraged the entire Party, people and military to keep striving to turn Vietnam into a socialist-oriented, high-income, developed nation by 2045. The Congress has also set out the guidelines for Vietnam’s development together with various significant strategies to facilitate the country’s national renewal, construction and protection for the sake of “rich people, strong nation, democracy, equality, and civilisation.” Moreover, according to the Resolution of the Congress, it is necessary to “build revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern People’s Army and People’s Public Security with a number of services, corps, and forces moving straight to modernity.” “By 2030, the People’s Army and the People’s Public Security will be made compact and strong as a solid foundation for building revolutionary, regular, elite, modern, and politically, ideologically, morally, organisationally strong armed forces.” To that end, the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) must focus their leadership and direction on making the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) strong comprehensively and capable of playing a core role in protecting the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland in the new situation. The VPA must be politically strong as the basis for raising its synergy, power, and combat capacity.

In fact, the building of a politically strong VPA is to keep improving our Military’s working-class nature, people-ness, and nation-ness and ensuring that in any circumstance our VPA will always be absolutely loyal to the Homeland, the Party, the State, and the people, remain steadfastness in the goal of national independence and socialism, readily undertake and successfully fulfil all missions assigned by the Party, the State, and the people. Since the VPA’s inception, under the leadership of our Party and beloved Uncle Ho, the building of a politically strong VPA has always been a top priority. In our resistance wars, the VPA always stimulated revolutionary heroism, determined to fight and to win, overcome all hardships, and readily fought for national independence and freedom as well as the people’s happiness. In the country’s national renewal, construction, and protection cause, the building of a politically strong VPA has provided a foundation for ensuring that our Military would always be “immune” to the hostile forces’ sabotage scheme and strategy to remove the Party’s leadership over the VPA.

Being fully aware of the necessity of making the VPA politically strong, the Communist Party of Vietnam, especially the Politburo, the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, the CMC, the MND, and the General Political Department (GPD) have always concentrated their leadership and direction on turning the VPA into a political and combat force absolutely loyal to the Homeland, the Party, the State, and the people as well as on making it ideologically strong and “immune” to the hostile forces’ sabotage and social negative impacts. In addition to training and combat readiness, the Military has always successfully fulfilled the “combat mission in peace time,” overcome non-traditional security challenges, and proactively fought against wrong, hostile viewpoints to defend the Party’s ideological foundation. It has actively taken part in socio-economic development, helped the people with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, consolidated political bases, and built new-style cultural life, particularly in the strategic, isolated, remote, border, sea, and island areas. The entire VPA has grasped, assessed, and anticipated situations correctly, while resolutely, persistently, flexibly, opportunely, effectively dealing with issues, even traditional and non-traditional challenges to avoid passivity. At the same time, it has played a vanguard, core role in natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, search and rescue, and the handling of environmental incidents. In any moment, the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” have always been bolstered in the people’s hearts and minds.

In the upcoming years, the world will witness complex developments. Peace, cooperation, and development will still be the mainstream; however, there will be difficulties. Basic contradictions of the times will continue existing and developing. Strategic competition between major powers and local conflicts will take place in a more diverse, complex, intense manner. The world scene will change in the multi-polar, polycentric direction. Major powers will both cooperate and compete with one another, while intervening in other countries’ internal affairs. Non-traditional challenges, particularly cyber security issues, terrorism, natural disasters, and epidemics will be complex. There will be new forms of warfare profoundly impacting on all nations.

Domestically, our country’s national synergy and international prestige are increased. However, we will be confronted with a large number of difficulties and challenges, especially the impacts made by economic downturn and social negative practices. Besides, we will have to face the issues relating to the defence of our seas and islands. Meanwhile, the hostile forces will enhance their “peaceful evolution” strategy, promote “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” and encourage their plot to “depoliticise” our VPA together with increasingly cunning artifices. Things mentioned above will greatly impact on the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, the Homeland protection, and especially the building of a politically strong VPA. In order to realise the Party’s guidelines on the military-defence task and the Homeland protection and the Resolution of the 13^th National Party on the building of a politically strong VPA, party committees, commands, and competent offices within the Military should well implement several measures as follows.

First, frequently maintain and strengthen the Party’s absolute, direct leadership and the State’s management over the Military. Reality has proved that the Party’s leadership acts as a determinant to our VPA’s political quality, development, and victory. To maintain and encourage the Party’s absolute, direct leadership and the State’s management over the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection in the new situation, all-level party committees and commands across the Military should grasp the viewpoints and guidelines set by the 13^th National Party Congress as well as resolutions, conclusions, and directives by the Politburo, the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, the 11^th Military Party Congress, and the MND. It is important to correctly assess and anticipate situations to give advice to the Party and the State on defending the Homeland and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment as the basis for the country’s construction and sustainable development. Due regard should be paid to cooperating with sectors and localities in seriously executing the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law on the military-defence task, especially the Politburo’s resolutions and conclusions on the National Defence Strategy, the Military Strategy, the National Security Strategy, the National Border Protection Strategy, and the Strategy for Protecting the Homeland in Cyberspace. In any circumstance, the Military Party Organisation (MPO) shall observe the Party’s leadership and the State’s management. It shall continue raising the quality and efficiency of the party and political work during missions, while keeping a close eye on the situation to formulate measures for force building properly. Consideration should be given to undertaking researches into military-defence theories, military arts, and the building of a politically strong VPA to meet the requirements set by the Homeland defence in the new situation.

Second, build a pure, strong, typical, exemplary MPO with great leadership capacity and combativeness. It is necessary to build a pure, strong, exemplary, and politically, ideologically, morally, organisationally typical MPO and raise the leadership capacity and combativeness of party committees and organisations within the MPO to make contributions to enhancing the Party’s leadership over the Military and building a politically strong VPA. To that end, party committees and organisations within the MPO shall place emphasis on grasping and seriously implementing the guidelines on the Party building under the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress. Importance should be attached to effectively executing the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 (11^th and 12^th tenure) on the Party building and rectification in tandem with the Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW and the CMC Standing Board’s Directive 87-CT/QUTW on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle. At the same time, it is essential to improve the quality of political and ideological education for cadres, party members, and the masses across the whole Military to render them more fully aware of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the VPA’s task, and their own mission. Besides, they should be educated to identify and clearly distinguish partners and opponents as well as remain vigilance against the hostile forces’ sabotage plots and artifices.

Furthermore, significance should be attached to giving advice to the Politburo on supplementing and completing the mechanism for the Party’s leadership over the VPA, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection in the new situation. Due attention should be paid to adhering to regulations by the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on Party organisations and political offices within the VPA as well as on Party meetings. It is vital to enhance party committees and organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness, closely manage and educate party members, particularly the new ones, discharge ineligible members from the Party, raise the efficiency of the inspection and supervision work, and resolutely handle violations of the Party’s discipline, the State’s law, and the Military’s discipline. The Regulation on Democracy at Grass-Roots Level shall be strictly maintained, while collective knowledge shall be promoted. Cadres at all levels shall heighten proactiveness, creativity, and the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, and daring to take responsibility. Working and leadership regulations shall be reviewed, supplemented, and executed, while leadership style shall be renewed in a focalised, close, drastic, practical, and effective fashion.

Cadres and party members, particularly the key ones should be self-aware to improve their revolutionary morality and stringently execute regulations on the role model-setting responsibility. Moral examples should be encouraged, while immoral, unrefined acts within units should be resolutely criticised and removed.

Third, focus on building a compact, strong VPA and keep raising the Military’s synergy and combat power to deserve to be the core force in the defence of the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland. In addition to our VPA’s working-class nature, people-ness, and nation-ness, our Military’s political qualities are manifested in its effective organisation and task performance. According to President Ho Chi Minh, for military staff members alone, political qualities must be expressed during their fight against enemies. While grasping the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress, all party committees and commands within the VPA should be fully aware of the Conclusion 16-KL/TW, dated July 7^th, 2017 and the Resolution 15-NQ/TƯ, dated August 1^st, 2017 by the Politburo on the VPA’s force organisation and materiel. Great value should be attached to realising the goal of building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA with a number of services, corps, and forces moving straight to modernity. The building of a compact, strong VPA will have been accomplished by 2025. Several services, corps, and forces will have moved straight to modernity by 2030. And we will build a modern VPA with appropriate, effective approaches and measures from 2030. 

The entire Military shall achieve a breakthrough in renewing the training work under the Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW, dated December 20^th, 2012 on “raising the training quality in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond” and the Conclusion 60-KL/QUTW, dated January 18^th, 2019 on continuing to execute the Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW. Offices and units should flexibly apply training viewpoints, principles, and connections, improve the quality of training, exercises and the building of defensive zones, and enhance cadres and soldiers’ political zeal, combat determination, skills, tactical knowledge, professional competence, creativity, courage, assertiveness, adaptability, and ability to resolutely, effectively handle situations. Additionally, offices and units should proactively, actively engage troops in training, exercises, combat readiness, and the settlement of non-traditional security challenges, foster the mass mobilisation work, and cement the close-knit bond between the Military and the people in order to contribute to raising the Military’s synergy, combat power, and task performance.

Fourth, exercise leadership and direction over the personnel work and the building of a contingent of cadres at all levels, particularly at strategic level, with sufficient qualities, capabilities, and prestige on a par with their task requirements. The MPO shall keep implementing 12^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 26-NQ/TW, dated May 19^th, 2018 and the CMC’s Resolution 109-NQ/QUTW, dated February 11^th, 2019 on the personnel work and the building of a pool of cadres. In this regard, emphasis should be placed on building a contingent of cadres with political zeal, absolute loyalty to our Homeland, Party, State, people, and socialist regime, pure revolutionary morality, comprehensive knowledge and capacity, a sense of discipline, great credibility, fitness, and proper age, ensuring a solid transition between generations of cadres, and satisfying the task requirements in both long and short terms. Due regard should be paid to evaluating, training, retraining, arranging, and using commanding and managerial cadres at all levels. Priority should be given to detecting and cultivating young or female cadres or those who are from ethnic groups. Great weight should be added to developing high-calibre human resources and training researchers, instructors, top experts, diplomats, and cadres tasked with designing, manufacturing, managing, and exploiting modern weapons and equipment. It is necessary to continue advising the Party and the State on well implementing policies for military staff members. Besides, offices and units should strictly handle violations of the Party’s discipline, the State’s law, and the Military’s discipline by party members and cadres, while fighting against the degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” Also, they should stringently carry out the work of inspection, supervision, and personnel evaluation and the work of training and retraining cadres, particularly at campaign and strategic levels.

Fifth, resolutely fight to foil the conspiracy to “depoliticise” our VPA and prevent the degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. This is a matter of urgency and importance to the defence of the Party’s ideological foundation and the building of a politically strong VPA. All-level party committees, commands, and political offices should drastically fight against the hostile forces’ strategy and cunning artifices aimed at denying the Party’s leadership over the Military and undermining the Military’s combat goal and ideal. More importantly, significance should be attached to fighting to thwart the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy which is designed to sabotage our Party, socialist regime, and revolution. Moreover, it is necessary to actively combat negative practices and the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” In the medium term, the entire MPO shall seriously study and flexibly apply the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress to the military-defence task and the Homeland protection. Being lazy to study resolutions should be seen as a sign of degradation in political ideology.

In the process, it is important to flexibly employ forms and methods of struggle, refute viewpoints by the hostile forces and political opportunists, and criticise negative practices and ideological deviations within offices and units. Due attention should be paid to promoting the role of press agencies, the system of political theoretical education, oral propagation, cultural institutions, social networks, and the Internet in propagating and disseminating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy. At the same time, consideration should be given to applying technical solutions to preventing and removing pieces of information or documents that distort the nature and tradition of our VPA, Party and nation as well as encouraging the role of research centres, academies, schools, scientists and the force 47 in fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints.

With the great political responsibility before the Party and the country, the MPO will grasp and seriously execute the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress, while placing emphasis on building a politically strong VPA as the basis for modernising the Military and making it capable of playing a core role in the protection of our Party, State, people, and regime, preserving the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers,” and contributing to the construction and defence of the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland.

Gen. LUONG CUONG, Member of the Politburo, Member of the CMC Standing Board

Head of the GPD