Under the Resolution of the 13^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the New Situation, the Party Committee and Command of the Border Guard Force (BGF) have been focusing their leadership and direction on building strong all-people border defence as the basis for safeguarding territorial sovereignty and border security, avoiding falling into passivity in any circumstances.

Building strong all-people border defence and firmly protecting territorial sovereignty and border security constitute a central, routine task of the entire Party, Military, political system, and people, with the BGF serving as a core force. Over the years, the BGF’s Party Committee and Command have regularly grasped the Party and State’s lines, particularly the Resolution of the 13^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the New Situation, actively giving advice to the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on strategies to protect the Fatherland early and from afar, closely cooperating with local party committees and authorities in synchronously, drastically taking various measures to build strong all-people border defence.

BGF Command works with Quang Ninh Provincial Border Guard Command

Thanks to efforts made by cadres and soldiers of the BGF, awareness and a sense of responsibility among party committees, authorities, sectors, and all people towards territorial sovereignty and border security management and protection have been gradually raised. Staff work and coordination have been regularly, closely, effectively maintained to assist border localities in building strong political bases, developing political, spiritual, security, diplomatic potentialities, fostering socio-economic, cultural, scientific, technological development, and improving the people’s material and mental life. All-people border defence and posture of all-people border defence have been increasingly strong; the movements on all people’s participation in protecting national sovereignty, territory, borderlines, border markers, political security, and social order and safety in border and border gate areas have been constantly carried out. The BGF has assisted the CMC and MND in recommending the Party and State to exercise their leadership and direction over the Strategy for National Border Protection and defensive plans in border areas; it has cooperated with localities in organising the “All-people border defence day” via diverse activities, thus creating a joyful, united atmosphere, turning that event into “All-people border defence festive day”, achieving synergy for territorial sovereignty and border security management and protection right at grass-roots level.

However, several local party committees and authorities together with a section of citizens have yet to be fully aware of the task of sovereignty and border protection; the political system in some places has yet to comprehensively meet the requirements of border defence work; synergy from authorities, sectors, forces, and the people for the building of all-people border defence has yet to be brought into play; socio-economic and cultural development in border areas has yet to be sustainable; the people’s life, especially in the remote, isolated, border areas have been still in difficulty.

In the upcoming time, disputes over sovereignty, territories, seas, and islands, including the East Sea will be still complex. Domestically, socio-economic development will continue to be maintained; defence and security will be strengthened; diplomatic work will continue to be enhanced; the country’s fortune, potential, position, and international prestige will be raised. However, non-traditional security challenges will continue to be on the increase; hostile forces will step up their sabotage efforts against our Party, State, and socialist regime; more demanding requirements will be imposed on the protection of national independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity.

That situation necessitates the BGF continuing to grasp resolutions and directives by the Party, CMC, and MND on Fatherland construction and protection, better promoting its core role in collaborating with sectors and other forces to build strong all-people border defence, safeguard territorial sovereignty and border security, and avoid falling into passivity in any circumstances, with a focus on several basic measures as follows.

First of all, continuing to step up propagation and education work to raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among cadres, party members, and citizens towards the building of strong all-people border defence. In fact, conducting propagation and education to raise public awareness and responsibility towards defence and security consolidation and Fatherland protection represents one of the primary tasks and measures in the execution of the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the New Situation. Hence, the BGF’s Party Committee and Command will direct party committees and commands of border guard offices, units, and posts to closely cooperate with sectors and localities in improving the quality of propagation and education to render cadres, party members, and citizens fully aware of the importance of building strong all-people border defence, posture of all-people border defence, and “posture of people’s hearts and minds” in border areas and raising their responsibility for territorial sovereignty and border security management and protection. Emphasis will be placed on disseminating resolutions, directives, and legal normative documents by the Party, State, CMC, and MND on building all-people border defence and protecting territorial sovereignty and border security. Due attention will be paid to disseminating the role of all-people border defence, the nation’s revolutionary tradition, our Party and State’s lines and policies on ethnicity and religion, the Strategy for National Border Protection, and the Strategy for Fatherland Protection in the New Situation.

To raise the effectiveness of propagation and education, border guard offices, units, and posts shall diversify and renew forms and methods of propagation and education relevant to each group of citizens, the particularities of each border area, and their assigned tasks, while promoting synergy from local party committees, authorities, and political - social organisations in this work. Propagation and education will be included in conferences, refresher courses, legal dissemination, communal meetings, cultural and artistic activities, traditional festivals of ethnic groups, social welfare programs, and projects to help the people with economic development, hunger eradication, and poverty reduction. Besides, due regard will be paid to closely working with central and local press agencies to carry out propagation and education work.

Ha Giang Provincial Border Guard gives presents to local people of Nghia Thuan commune, Quan Ba district

Second, actively taking part in building and consolidating political bases in border areas. Under the Resolution of the 13^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum, the BGF will actively, proactively participate in building and consolidating political bases in border areas to meet the task requirements of territorial sovereignty and border security protection in the new situation. The BGF’s Party Committee and Command will continue to direct border guard offices, units, and posts to grasp and effectively execute resolutions and directives by the Party, CMC, and MND on participation in building and consolidating political bases in border areas, especially Conclusion 68-KL/TW, dated 5 February 2020, by the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, on increasing the number of party committee members as border guard post cadres at district and commune levels within border, sea, island areas. In the process, the BGF will regularly keep a close watch on situational developments and local characteristics, taking the building of strong grass-roots areas as the goal, considering the development of political, economic, cultural, social potentialities, and the improvement of the people’s life as the measures to promote the strength of the entire political system and people in national sovereignty and border security management and protection.

Regulations on coordination between the BGF and all-level party committees in border areas will be well executed; the BGF will continue to nominate its border guard post cadres to party committees within border districts and communes and assign its border guard post party members to attend hamlet-level party cells’ meetings. It will frequently deploy its cadres to border, sea, and island communes in extreme difficulty to “stay and work with the people” and give advice to local party committees and authorities on building a strong contingent of officials and consolidating political bases at grass-roots level. It will continue to assist border localities in well performing political tasks, raising the efficiency of political - social organisations, and developing political, spiritual, security, diplomatic, scientific, technological potentialities to meet the requirements of border defence work, consolidate defence and security, and build firm postures of “people’s hearts and minds” and all-people border defence as the basis for making all-people border defence increasingly strong.

Third, building a revolutionary, regular, elite BGF towards modernity, worthy of a core force in protecting territorial sovereignty and border security. Under the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress on building an adept, compact, strong Vietnam People’s Army towards modernity, the BGF’s Party Committee and Command will focus on seriously implementing resolutions and directives by the CMC and MND on force adjustments. The BGF will effectively execute Projects on “planning of border guard posts and stations” and “organisation of the BGF” to ensure that border guard offices, units, and posts will be really “adept, compact, strong”, “efficient, effective”, and capable of managing and protecting territorial sovereignty and border security. Due regard will be paid to building strong party committees and party organisations within the BGF in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel, actively renewing methods of leadership, management, command, and operation among all-level party committees and commands in a focalised, close, synchronous, drastic, effective way, and promoting their vanguard, example-setting roles in performing tasks.

Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on developing high-calibre human resources, building a contingent of cadres at strategic level and within border guard posts, raising the quality of training and education at units and schools in a standardised, modernised manner, turning the Border Guard Academy into a “smart school capable of approaching the 4^th industrial revolution”, researching into and realising Projects, namely “renewing content and methods of training border guard troops” and “raising the quality of naval specialised training for border guard squadrons, meeting the task requirements in the new situation”. The performance of border guard tasks will be raised to make contributions to building an adept, compact, strong BGF towards modernity, worthy of a core force in protecting territorial sovereignty and border security.

Fourth, closely cooperating with sectors, forces, and localities in stepping up the movement on all people’s participation in protecting national sovereignty, territory, and border, maintaining political security and social order and safety in border and border gate areas. Under Prime Minister’s Directive 01/CT-TTg, dated 9 January 2015, on organising the Movement of “All people’s participation in territorial sovereignty and national border security protection in the new situation”, the BGF will continue to work with all-level party committees, authorities, Fatherland Fronts, and political - social organisations to encourage the people to take part in territorial sovereignty and border security management and protection under the mottos: “each frontier citizen is a living border marker”, “each frontier person is a border guard soldier”. It will well organise the “All-people border defence day”, people-to-people diplomacy activities, and twinning programs across the border to build a border of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation, and development.

Additionally, the BGF will continue to assist the CMC and MND in submitting Project on “building all-people border defence, posture of all-people border defence within all-people national defence and posture of all-people national defence associated with people’s security and posture of people’s security in border areas” to the Government for approval, while giving advice on realising Project on deploying “border guard Attachés to bordering countries”, the Politburo’s Conclusion 53-KL/TW, dated 28 April 2023, and the CMC’s Resolution 2662-NQ/QUTW, dated 26 February 2024, on international integration and defence diplomacy towards 2030 and beyond, and other exchange programs between the BGF itself and border guard forces from China, Laos, and Cambodia. It will actively take part in socio-economic and cultural development, hunger eradication, and poverty reduction, improving the people’s material and mental life in border areas via programs and models, such as “homes for the people in border, sea, island areas”, “breeding cows for the people in border areas”, “warm border Spring for the people”, “accompanying frontier women”, “supporting children’s schooling - border guard posts’ adopted children”, and “full moon festival in border areas”, with a view to cementing the people’s faith in the Party, State, armed forces in general, the BGF in particular, laying a foundation for making all-people border defence increasingly strong, contributing to firmly protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation.

Lt. Gen. LE DUC THAI

Member of the Party Central Committee

Member of the CMC

Commander of the BGF