Our people’s Homeland construction and defence cause in the new situation has advantages and faces a lot of difficulties and challenges. Against that backdrop, all cadres, party members, and the masses should continue grasping the Party’s new thought on the Homeland protection and especially its salient viewpoint on “resolutely, persistently defending the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity.”

Why is it a basic, important viewpoint of our Party? The answer is that protection of the socialist Homeland is one of the two strategic tasks of the Vietnamese revolution. It is the cause of the entire Party, military and people. That noble mission must be frequently highly valued and closely attached to the task of national construction. The above-mentioned viewpoint is derived from the global and domestic situation, particularly the complex, unpredictable developments, and the hostile forces’ drastic sabotage against our country and from valuable lessons which have become our nation’s principles of existence and development in its history of “national construction and protection.” All of things mentioned above demonstrate the importance of this viewpoint. Moreover, the result of implementing this viewpoint directly connects with the survival of our political regime and country. Thus, in any circumstance, regardless of difficulties or advantages, we must resolutely, persistently defend the Homeland of Socialist Vietnam. That is the political responsibility and noble, sacred duty of all generations of Vietnamese people in the past, at present, and in future.

First of all, it is necessary to be fully aware of the connotation of this viewpoint. Defending the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification and territorial integrity is a whole whose components closely connect with one another; therefore, we should not disregard any component. In this regard, protecting the national independence is the primary principle. To gain and safeguard the national independence, freedom, and happiness and to be the master of the country, our people have sacrificed their blood, sweat, and tears. When he was alive, President Ho Chi Minh ever said that “nothing is more precious than independence and freedom” and that “we must gain independence and freedom even if we have to burn the Truong Son Range.” Those words are the truth and the appeal by Ho Chi Minh - the great leader of the Vietnamese revolution and nation. In 1946, amidst the country’s extreme hardships, before leaving for the Fontainebleau Conference, he asked leaders of the Party “to pit the unchangeable against the changeable.” The “unchangeable” here means “national independence,” we must safeguard it no matter how hard it is, and it is a strategic primary principle to deal with the “changeable.” To some extent, we could make concessions or even negotiate so as to achieve the revolution’s targets; however, those concessions and negotiation must not damage the national independence and freedom; furthermore, they must make contributions to defending the country’s independence. With the complex, unpredictable developments of the global and regional situation and the trend of globalization and today’s deep, wide international integration, defending the national independence and self-reliance is a matter of survival and a primary task of the entire Party, Military, and people. The nature of today’s task of national independence defence is not different from that in the past; however, this task now has new features and requirements. Notably, in the intertwined, complex international relations, it is imperative to avoid being dependent on other countries, particularly in the political and economic terms. Dependence means loss of self-reliance, and to some extent, it means loss of national independence. Thus, it is important to remain vigilant to prevent dependence and also isolation and actively expand our relations so that we could develop the country and protect the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity simultaneously.

Vietnam is a sovereign country recognized internationally, which could not be denied or violated by anyone or any force. Our country’s sacred sovereignty, independence, and freedom has been regained from invaders by our people, thanks to the revolution with numerous difficulties and hardships under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh. Therefore, it is a noble duty for each Vietnamese citizen of today and future to protect the national sovereignty and the rights to speech and respect in the international organizations, forums, and conferences in which Vietnam is a participant. The national sovereignty and territorial integrity must be safeguarded and comprehensively expressed in all fields as well as in the foreign and domestic affairs.

It is essential to maintain a sense of unity among Vietnam’s ethnicities. This is a target and requirement for the Vietnamese revolution and the Homeland construction and defence cause, being a fine tradition of the nation which should continue to be preserved and promoted. Due regard should be paid to preserving and consolidating unity among the people and religions so as to keep cementing the national great unity block via policies that are beneficial for the people. Notably, importance should be attached to maintaining a sense of unity within the Party “like protecting the apple of the eye,” ensuring that our Party is always pure, strong, and capable of leading the cause of national renewal, construction, and defence. Additionally, great value should be attached to fostering international unity and gaining other countries’ support for our nation, particularly for the Party and State’s viewpoints on settling the relevant complex issues in the region and the world. Unification must be based on unity. Only by maintaining unity could we achieve unification and vice versa as instructed by President Ho Chi Minh: “unity, unity, great unity; success, success, great success.” Reality has shown that maintaining a sense of unity and unification will help consolidate the nation’s source of internal strength to fulfil the Vietnamese revolution and facilitate the country’s rapid and sustainable development during its process of renewal and integration towards the future.

Safeguarding the Homeland’s territorial integrity is the political responsibility of the entire Party, Military, and people. It is an extremely important task as the situation in the East Sea continues to be complex and unpredictable and threaten our country’s sovereignty, sovereign right, and security at sea. It is worth noting that regardless of international law and practices, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), some country has brazenly violated Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty recently. Hence, more than ever before, we must remain vigilant and actively, proactively fight against all violations of the Homeland’s sovereignty and territory. Vietnam has never had intention of violating any other countries’ territory, and it will not allow any others to encroach upon its land. That is a consistent principle and viewpoint of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam.

Resolutely, persistently fighting to defend the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity is our Party’s basic standpoint and ideology throughout its process of leadership over the Vietnamese revolution. However, currently, the defence of the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity is being impacted by various factors. This task is multi-dimensionally affected by the global and regional situation, the hostile forces’ drastic sabotage, and other countries’ violations of our national sovereignty and territory. Moreover, we are confronted with the existing threats mentioned by our Party. According to V.I Lenin, “it is difficult to seize power, and it is even more difficult to maintain the power.” We could lose what we have gained as the line between “attainment” and “loss” is really fine. Moreover, the defence of the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity is the country’s highest target and benefit. Thus, the whole Party, Military, and people must frequently remain vigilant, resolutely combat the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and their plots and artifices to incite “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party and State’s offices and socio-political organizations, and proactively prevent violations of the Homeland’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially at sea. It is necessary to be fully aware that this is a fierce struggle which can’t be ended overnight. During this struggle, it is essential to adhere to the motto of “being resolute and persistent”, to be alert, cautious, proactive, flexible, and to be strictly firm in the principles. Furthermore, it is important to thoroughly grasp the Party’s guidelines on cooperation and combat as well as its policies on partners and opponents. “Those who respect our national independence and sovereignty, establish and expand friendship and equal, mutually beneficial cooperation with Vietnam is our partners; any force which has plots and acts to destroy our country’s targets set for the Homeland construction and protection is our opponent.” To deal with the complex issues in the East Sea, our Party and State adopt the consistent viewpoint on resolutely defending the national sovereignty and persistently settling those issues by peaceful means, on the basis of international law and agreements between relevant parties in the region, without the use or threat of use of force to handle the disputes over sovereignty and territory.

In conclusion, it is necessary to reaffirm that “resolutely, persistently fighting to defend the Homeland’s independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity” is a sound viewpoint by the Party during the Homeland construction and protection process. That viewpoint acts as a lodestar for our entire Party, Military, and people’s ideology and action in the struggle for safeguarding the national independence, socialist regime, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity as the country’s highest benefit. It also clearly demonstrates our Party and State’s consistent attitude and standpoint towards this issue. We will resolutely fight against the enemy without hesitation or negotiation; however, we will also persistently combat any violations by the enemy as this is a durable struggle which could not be ended overnight. Things mentioned above are the core content of the Party’s viewpoint that we should thoroughly grasp in order to well perform the task of defending the Homeland in the new situation.

Maj. Gen. Nguyen Manh Hung