Dien Bien a mountainous border province, located in the Northwest with a total area of 9,562.9 km², sharing a 455.573-km-long borderline with Laos and China. The province has 4 border districts, namely Dien Bien, Muong Cha, Nam Po, and Muong Nhe where nearly 120,000 people (73% of them are ethnic minority people, especially the Hmong group) are living. Over the past years, with the due regard paid by higher echelons, the effective coordination between local organizations and sectors, and the effort made by all people, the province’s border area has witnessed rather comprehensive development. The quality of facilities for socio-economic development has been raised; defence and security have been strengthened; the posture of “people’s hearts and minds” border and political bases in the border area have been consolidated; the armed forces have been made strong; the movement entitled “all people take part in protecting national border sovereignty and security in the new situation” has been carried out effectively.

Cadres and troops of the Border Defence Post of Tay Trang International Border Gate patrolling the border

Nevertheless, life of ethnic minority people and troops in the border area still faces a lot of difficulties while political security and social safety has complex developments with potential destabilizing factors. The hostile forces are stepping up their “peaceful evolution” and conversion strategy and making best use of the issues on democracy, human rights, ethnicity and religion to sabotage us drastically. They have promoted the establishment of “so-called Hmong State” and tricks to destabilize social order and incite free immigration. Fully aware of the situation, the Party Committee and Command of the Provincial Border Guard (PBG) have always directed units to promote their core role in managing and protecting the national border sovereignty and security, with a focus on building a firm posture of all-people border defence within the all-people national defence associated with the people’s security posture in the border area.

To that end, the PBG has advised local party committees and authorities on cooperating with forces in carrying out the work of propagation and education to encourage the people to observe the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy. This is an indispensable measure to build the all-people border defence posture in the border area. Focuses of this work have been placed on rendering cadres, soldiers, and ethnic minority people fully aware of the core points of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the Party’s guidelines, and the State’s law and policy on Homeland protection, particularly the Resolution of the 11^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Homeland Protection Strategy in the new situation, the 12^th Politburo’s Resolution 33-NQ/TW on the National Border Protection Strategy, the National Border Law, the Government’s Decree 34/2014/NĐ-CP on the Regulations for land border areas, the Regulations for land border between Vietnam and Laos, and legal documents signed by Vietnamese Government and Chinese Government. At the same time, emphasis has been placed on clarifying the importance and contents of the all-people border defence posture and unmasking the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution strategy” and tricks of self-evolution and self-transformation from within.

To earn the people’s belief, the PBG has promoted the role of organizations, mass media, and cultural institutions, while closely combining regular propagation with propagation based on the special topics. At the same time, it has actively renewed forms and methods of propagation in line with the people’s awareness and customs and stepped up the work of special propagation, border defence diplomacy, and people-to-people exchange. In this regard, great value has been attached to including legal dissemination and education in villages’ meetings, communes’ radio programs; combining propagation with free medical examination and treatment; conducting field propagation at border gates for the peoples from the both sides of the border. Up to now, cadres and party members, especially key cadres of border defence units and the people in the border area have clearly understood the necessity and role of the all-people border defence posture in building, managing and defending the national border.

An activity of the “Border and School” Model

In addition, the PBG has actively taken part in building strong political bases. The PBG’s Party Committee and Command have directed party committees, commands, cadres, and soldiers to stay close to the area, grasp the quality of political bases, and proactively advise local party committees and authorities on taking measures to raise the quality of party organizations, authorities and unions. At the same time, they have been required to coordinate and counsel the work of defence-security education for objects, with priority given to persons with great prestige, the militia and self-defence force, the reserve force, village and socio-political union cadres; to initiate new members into the Party. The PBG has frequently reviewed a contingent of cadres dispatched to border communes, organized training courses for them, and improved the quality of this staff; cooperated with local party committees and authorities in consolidating and building political bases. It has given advice to and cooperated with local party committees and authorities as well as organizations and forces in executing the Prime Minister’s Directive 01/CT-TTg on “organizing the movement of all people’s participation in defending national border sovereignty and security in the new situation”, the Project on “cooperating with local authorities in holding ethnic language training courses for the PBG’s officers and professional servicemen working in the ethic minority inhabited areas”, and the Project on “dispatching the PBG’s officers and professional servicemen to key border communes”.

Actively taking part in boosting socio-economic development and improving the people’s life in the border area has been seen as a basic, long-term measure and a prerequisite for building a firm posture of all-people border defence. The PBG has advised local party committees and authorities on the measures to combine economy with defence and security, facilitate socio-economic development, and improve the people’s life in the border area. At the same time, it has actively assisted local authorities and people in formulating the plans for promoting socio-economic development and improving the people’s life and intellectual level, while directly helping the people realize the models of socio-economic development in localities. The PBG’s cadres and soldiers have “lived, worked and spoken the ethnic language with the people” and helped the people change their old-fashioned farming practices, raise their intellectual level, and maintain socio-political stability. Border defence posts have effectively carried out the models for helping the people with socio-economic development, household economy, hunger eradication, and poverty reduction. At the same time, they have provided the people with free medical examination and treatment; cooperated with local medical sector in epidemic prevention and vaccination; organized the classes for children for the purpose of popularization of primary education; implemented the projects, such as “supporting children’s schooling”. Moreover, the PBG has cooperated with local party committees and authorities in encouraging the people to settle down with a view to keep them living in the border area. Consequently, the people’s life has been considerably improved while political stability and the building of border of peace, friendship, and development have been maintained and promoted.

The PBG has attached special importance to building and disposing the armed forces and systems of technical works to meet the requirements set by the task of managing and defending the border in all situations. We achieve a firm posture of all-people border defence only when promoting the strength of all people in managing and protecting the border sovereignty and security under the motto “each citizen is a border guard”. Thus, the PBG has attached significance to advising local party committees and authorities on the specific targets, programs and plans for building the border defence posture in both long and short terms in accordance with the requirements for managing and defending the border in the area and local capabilities, with a focus on building the posture and border of “people’s hearts and minds”. At the same time, it has concentrated on proposing measures to organize and use the armed forces in the border area and make the Military, Public Security, Border Guard, and Militia and Self-Defence forces capable of playing the core role in encouraging the people to build, manage, and defend the national border. Besides, consideration has been given to disposing and using the forces, investing in facilities and materiel, and building an inter-connected, firm posture of border defence to meet the requirements for border protection in all situations.

Leadership and direction over the building of all-people border defence posture is the political task of the Party, State, and especially local party committees and authorities in the border area; it is also the central work of the PBG’s party committees and commands. Therefore, on a yearly basis, the PBG’s Party Committee and Command proactively counsel the Province’s Party Executive Committee and People’s Committee to issue resolutions, directives, programs and plans on building and protecting the border. They also advise local party committees and authorities on developing resolutions, programs and plans to ensure the focalized, uniformed leadership, management and operation of all-level authorities and commands, thereby contributing to building an increasingly firm posture of all-people border defence and safeguarding the national border sovereignty.

Sr. Col. Hoang Minh Tuan

Commander of the PBG