Grasping and strictly executing the resolutions, directives, and decrees on the building of defensive zones, over the years, Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee have focused their leadership and direction on fulfilling the targets and tasks of the building and operation of defensive zone set in the Project on building Kien Giang provincial defensive zone between 2011 and 2015, with orientation towards 2020. In the process, the province has attached importance to comprehensively building the defensive zone, with the politico-spiritual potential as the core, the economic potential as an incentive for other types of potential, and the defence-security potential as the central part. Great value has also been attached to building the military posture and synchronously disposing defensive works. As a result, the all-level authorities have been consolidated while the efficiency and effectiveness of state management of national defence have been raised. The province’s economic growth rate has always been stable, at over 10% on a yearly basis. Up to now, the per capita income has reached 1,892 USD. The economic structure has been shifted in a right direction. The agriculture, aquaculture, industry, services, and tourism have been exploited effectively. The national defence and security education work has been put in order with the increasingly high quality. The leadership capacity and combativeness of the armed forces have been improved to meet the requirements for the Homeland defence in the new situation. The national territorial sovereignty, political security, and social order and safety have been safeguarded to attract tourists both at home and abroad.

The national online conference to review the 10-year implementation of the Politburo’s Resolution 28 in Kien Giang province

However, there have been several weaknesses in the building of defensive zone. For instance, the party committees’ leadership and direction have yet to be relevant to reality. The work of propagation and education relating to the building of defensive zone has been still formal. The system of documents in some offices and sectors has yet to be supplemented or completed. The combination of economic development and defensive zone building has yet to be on a par with the provincial potential or to meet the requirements. The budget for combat works has been still limited.

To overcome those weaknesses and make contributions to building the Military Region’s defensive posture and meeting the task requirements in the new situation, the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee have focused their leadership on implementing the following measures. 

First, continuing to conduct the work of propagation and education to raise the public awareness of the building of defensive zone. The all-level party committees, authorities, Fatherland Front, and unions should step up this work to raise the public awareness of the position and importance of the defensive zone, the all-people national defence, and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the people’s security posture to the Homeland construction and defence in the new situation. A focus should be placed on disseminating and introducing the 11^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW on “the Strategy for the Homeland defence in the new situation,” the Provincial Party Committee’s Action Program for the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, and new documents on national defence and security, especially the Decree 21/2019/NĐ-CP, dated February 22^nd 2019, on the defensive zones. Besides, it is necessary to actively render all citizens and the armed forces fully aware of partners and opponents, sabotage plan by the hostile forces and political opportunists, particularly by the Khmer Krom Organization. Doing so will enable cadres, soldiers, and the people to remain vigilant against the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy. In the process, offices, organizations, and individuals should grasp the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy, local situation and particularities, ideology and educational background of cadres, party members, and locals, especially in the remote, isolated, Khmer people-inhibited, religious, ethnic minority-inhabited areas. For the sake of the raised quality, the province has renewed the content and method of propagation and education, closely combined regular education with topics-based education, and promoted the role of organizations, forces, means of communications, and cultural institutions at the grass-roots level. At the same time, great value should be attached to the work of external information and propagation in order to expand and strengthen relations with partners in the region and the world and attract more foreign investments. In addition, consideration should be given to maintaining the tradition friendship relations with Cambodia, developing a comprehensive cooperation program with Cambodian border provinces, and cooperating with their forces in settling issues in the border areas and at sea.

Second, “each economic growth step must help consolidate national defence and security.” Grounded on the province’s master plan for socio-economic development towards 2020, it has focused on building infrastructure for the economic development, i.e. road, electricity network, and public works. Each sector, region, and locality’s socio-economic development program/plan must foster socio-economic development and serve the people’s life in peacetime and the national defence-security mission in wartime. Grounded on the approved master plan, Kien Giang has gradually completed the network of electricity, water, environmental hygiene, irrigation, and signal in the combat base and the army rear base, effectively executed the national projects/programs on employments and housing for low-income people, actively attracted investments, and properly exploited the potential of its marine economic zone, with a focus on ship building and repair, sea port, marine transportation, seafood processing, fishing, and marine tourism. Moreover, relevant offices and sectors should proactively report on building combat works, border guard posts and stations, and roads on islands to serve the people’s life and the purpose of national defence. The all-level military offices should advise party committees and authorities on directing offices and units to adjust the project on national defence assurance for the first year of a war, the Project on “National Defence Assurance,” the plan for shifting from the peacetime state to the wartime state, the plan for mobilizing materials and technical means for national defence in the event of a war. Priority should be given to allocating national defence budget and mobilizing resources to complete new constructions, transitional constructions, and unfinished constructions in the Project on building the defensive zone in the period of 2017-2020, with orientation towards 2025. In the medium term, the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee will focus their leadership and direction on building key works for national defence and security in the period of 2018-2020, such as Nui Nhon Shooting Range, provincial and district-level combat bases and army rear bases, several key defensive works in the border areas and on near-shore islands. Significance will be attached to building a standing militia flotilla for the defence of sea and island sovereignty in the new situation. The Military, Public Security and Border Guard forces should well maintain cooperation under the Government’s Decrees 77/2010/NĐ-CP and 133/2015/NĐ-CP to frequently grasp the situation, opportunely settle the issues right at the grass-roots level, and prevent the hostile forces from destabilizing political security and social order. The province will make efforts to fulfil the targets of defence-security education. The province and its districts and communes will hold defensive exercises in accordance with their condition. On a yearly basis, the Provincial People’s Committee and the districts’ people’s committees organize conferences to review the building of defensive zone.

A tactical training session

Third, making the military, public security, and border guard forces strong and capable of playing the core role in the defensive zone building. Units of these forces should well perform the work of political and ideological education to raise their cadres and soldiers’ political zeal, awareness, and responsibility for the two strategic tasks, make a contingent of cadres and party members and the all-level party organizations and committees strong and pure, build comprehensively strong offices and units, and strictly maintain the order for training and exercises so as to keep improving the technical, tactical, and professional competence and the capacity to effectively deal with the defence-security situations. 90% of cadres of the local forces shall hold bachelor’s degree; combat readiness units of the local forces shall maintain at least 95% of their strength; all targets of military enlistment shall be fulfilled; the rate of trivial violations of discipline shall be below 0.3%. 100% of commune-level military party cells shall have military party cell committees; 100% of militia platoon heads shall be party members; 100% of commune-level military command cadres shall be trained at military schools, colleges, or universities; all sections of the militia and self-defence force shall be trained; over 80% of this force’s members shall attend training courses; more than 65% of them shall achieve credit and distinction. Members of the reserve force and technical means of the economy must be frequently registered, managed, and re-examined. On an annual basis, the all-level military offices must grasp and mobilize this force for the combat readiness training work. All companies and battalions within this force must have party cells and party organizations respectively. Party organizations and cadres within the Provincial Border Guard Force must be morally strong and expert in military, professional, and legal knowledge; this force should build the all-people border defence and the posture of all-people border defence in the border, sea, and island areas, while constructing comprehensively strong border guard stations and posts in peacetime as the inter-connected, solid defensive positions in wartime. At the same time, the force should cooperate with other relevant forces in executing the Project on “building a border of peace and friendship to make contributions to fostering the socio-economic development and consolidating defence and security in the area of Kien Giang province.” The Public Security Force should adhere to the motto of “renewal, proactiveness, discipline, responsibility, and effectiveness”, frequently inspect and help sectors and localities to effectively implement the guidelines and resolutions on the defence of political security and social order and safety.

The successful execution of the above-mentioned measures will provide an important basis for Kien Giang to step up the defensive zone building, greatly contribute to making the Military Region’s defensive posture strong, and meet the requirements set by the Homeland construction and protection.

Sr. Col. Dam Kien Thuc, Standing Member of the Provincial Party Committee

Commander of the Provincial Military Command