The People’s Public Security of Vietnam (PPS) and the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) are the crucial revolutionary armed forces of our Party and State, acting as “two arms of the people, the Party, the Government, and the proletarian dictatorship.” In all revolutionary phases, being led, educated, and trained by our Party and President Ho Chi Minh, the PPS and the VPA have always stood shoulder to shoulder with each other and maintained combat coordination to achieve landslide military exploits, defeat all invaders, firmly protect the Socialist Homeland, and ensure political security, social order and safety, and the people’s peaceful life. Coordination between the two forces has contributed to building up their glorious traditions, provided us with a lot of valuable lessons, and served as one of the most important factors in the successful fulfilment of the task of national construction and protection.

Immediately after the foundation of our revolutionary government, the PPS cooperated with the VPA in fighting both foreign and domestic enemies and defending our Party and fledgling revolutionary government. In the resistance wars against France and the U.S., the PPS and the VPA always heightened a sense of unity and revolutionary heroism; they closely cooperated with each other in fighting enemies, defending revolutionary bases and leaders and headquarters of our Party and Government, cleaning up areas, safeguarding battlefields, targets, and economic and defence facilities, keeping secrets of transport of troops, food, and weapons, wiping out the wicked, arresting and annihilating hundreds of groups of enemy infiltrators and spies, building political forces, launching mass movements, and protecting the people’s life and assets, thereby making significant contributions to gaining the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu that “resounded across five continents and shook the globe” and the Great Spring Victory of 1975, liberating the South, unifying the country, and commencing a new era of independence and freedom.

After the country was unified, the PPS and the VPA collaborated with each other in ensuring political security and social order and safety, exchanging and providing relevant information, profiles, and documents, disseminating our Party and State’s guidelines and policies, fighting against hostile forces’ sabotage schemes, winning victories in the struggle for national border protection, and fulfilling the international mission of liberating the people of Cambodia from genocide.

In the period of national renewal, industrialisation, modernisation, and international integration, coordination between the PPS and the VPA in performing the two strategic tasks of national construction and protection has been lifted to a new height. Against new, complex developments both at home and abroad, the PPS and the VPA have maintained close cooperation to grasp the situation, take the initiative, give strategic advice on national defence and security to our Party and State, and proactively, effectively deal with issues and challenges in the world and the region, thus greatly contributing to safeguarding national benefits, territorial sovereignty, and a peaceful, stable environment for the country’s development. It is worth noting that during the 12th tenure of the Party, the two forces have advised the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat on issuing and effectively executing many strategies, conclusions, resolutions, and projects on national defence and security. Typical examples include the National Security Strategy, the National Defence Strategy, the National Cyber Security Strategy, the Strategy for National Border Protection, the Strategy for the Homeland Protection in Cyberspace, and the Resolution on enhancing the Party’s leadership over intelligence work in the new situation.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Tan Cuong addressing the conference to review the implementation of the Government’s Decree 03/2019/NĐ-CP in the first half of 2021 (photo: bocongan.gov.vn)

The two forces have cooperated with each other in ensuring safety of key constructions and political, cultural, social, diplomatic events of the country, activities of leaders of our Party and State as well as international delegations and conferences held in Vietnam. They have given advice to local party committees and authorities on effectively realising our Party and State’s documents relating to mass mobilisation, organising the movement of all people’s participation in national security protection, and building provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones in the new situation. They have also actively taken part in building strong political bases, helped the people with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, encouraged many typical models and examples in the movement of all people’s participation in protecting national security, and safeguarded the country’s national sovereignty and border security. Over the years, the PPS and the VPA have always played a core, vanguard role in the fight against natural disasters and epidemics. During the peak period, the two forces mobilised over 230,00 cadres and soldiers to fight against COVID-19; they cooperated with each other in tracing infections, preventing the spread of the pandemic, organising large-scale quarantine zones, vaccinating citizens, treating patients, and ensuring social security and the people’s life. Doing so has helped bolster the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and “people’s public security soldiers” in the people’s hearts and minds.

In the upcoming years, the situation on a global and regional scale will have new, complicated developments. Peace and cooperation for development will still be the mainstream. However, strategic competition and local, ethnic, religious conflicts will be intense. In addition to traditional security challenges, non-traditional security challenges, such as terrorism, cyber attack, environmental pollution, natural disaster, and epidemic will threaten national security of all countries, including Vietnam. The situation in the East Sea will be increasingly complex and unpredictable and pose serious threats to the region’s peace, stability, and development. The hostile forces’ plots and artifices will become more dangerous. The COVID-19 pandemic will continue negatively impacting on all aspects of the social life, especially the people’s health and employment, leading to many social issues.

Against such a backdrop, the PPS and the VPA should continue raising the strength of unity and coordination to successfully fulfil the goal of “firmly protecting national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity, safeguarding the Party, the State, the people, and the socialist regime, maintaining political security, social order and safety, human security, economic security, and cyber security, and building a disciplined society” set by Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, with a focus on well implementing several central tasks and measures.

First, it is necessary to maintain cooperation to comprehensively, synchronously realise our Party and State’s strategies, resolutions, conclusions, and projects on national defence and security in the new situation, particularly measures to proactively prevent risks of war and conflict from afar, soon detect and opportunely deal with detriments, “defend national border,” and protect “the Homeland and national security in cyberspace” as well as “human security.” The two forces should work with each other to review the 10-year implementation of the 11th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.8 on “the Strategy for the Homeland Protection in the New Situation,” while giving advice on supplementing and perfecting legal documents and policies on national defence and security.

Second, great value should be attached to maintaining cooperation in exchanging and verifying information, assessing and correctly anticipating situations, clearly identifying risks and threats to national interests, political security, and social order and safety, and opportunely giving advice to the Party and the State on strategies to ensure national defence and security. Master plans and projects should be developed to readily firmly protect national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity, peace, and stability for the country’s development and avoid falling into passivity.

Third, the two forces should collaborate with each other in realising our Party and State’s guidelines on closely combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation in all socio-economic development strategies, plans, and projects. It is essential to give advice on opportunely handling social conflicts, particularly issues relating to land, environment, policy work, and labour relationship in order to avoid forming “hot spots.” The two forces should keep promoting their core, vanguard role in the fight against natural disasters and epidemics, actively participating in ensuring social security, restoring and developing all aspects of the social life, and further bolstering the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and “people’s public security soldiers” in the new period.

Fourth, due attention should be paid to maintaining coordination in reviewing, supplementing, adjusting, and organising training courses and exercises as well as effectively executing projects and plans to settle issues on national defence and security and protect offices of the Party and governments and crucial targets. The contents of those projects and plans must be detailed and appropriate to each area, together with specific scenarios; each force and office should be clearly tasked, while the work of command, direction, operation, and coordination and the work of logistics-technical support should be in accordance with the four on-the-spot motto. Besides, the two forces should cooperate with each other to ensure the absolute safety of national and local key political events, activities of leaders of our Party and State, and international delegations and meetings held in Vietnam.

Fifth, consideration should be given to enhancing cooperation to fight against the hostile forces’ plots and artifices within our country, especially intelligence activities, self-transformation, and strategies to incite illegal gatherings, riots, terrorism, and secessions in the strategic areas of Northwest, Central Highlands, and Southwest. Due regard should be paid to maintaining coordination to synchronously implement measures for crime prevention from afar and at grass-roots level. Cooperation should also be ensured to combat crimes, particularly the organised, trans-national ones, drug trafficking, smuggling, illegal cargo transport across the border, and human trafficking. Moreover, significance should be attached to organising joint patrols along the border to control immigration and maintaining coordination to manage foreigners in Vietnam, weapons, explosive materials, and supporting tools.

Sixth, it is vital to keep rendering cadres and soldiers of the PPS and the VPA fully aware of the importance and contents of coordination between the two forces. Cooperation should be promoted to successfully fulfil the goal of “making the VPA and the PPS revolutionary, regular, seasoned, and gradually modern, with a number of forces moving straight to modernity as a solid prerequisite for building revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern VPA and PPS from 2030.” Last but not least, great value should be attached to well carrying out the work of internal political protection within the armed forces, proactively propagating the close-knit bond between the PPS and the VPA, and opportunely fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints and distortions aimed at defaming the PPS and the VPA, causing a division between the two forces, and “depoliticising” our armed forces.

Gen., Prof., D.Sc TO LAM, Member of the Politburo, Minister of Public Security