Building the all-people national defence is a strategy by our Party and a central, routine task of the entire political system and people in the Homeland construction and protection. Being fully aware of this task, over the years, the Party Committee and People’s Committee of Dong Anh district have focused their leadership and direction on performing this important work via many drastic, synchronous measures and achieved significant results, thereby creating a favourable condition for the district’s rapid and sustainable development.

Dong Anh is an outlying district located in the North of Hanoi capital city, surrounded by the river of Ca Lo and the Red river, with many key roads, such as the National Highway No.3, Vo Nguyen Giap Road, and Vo Van Kiet Road which connect Hanoi with Northern provinces and the Northeast region. It has the famous Co Loa Citadel Relic Site characterising Vietnam’s defensive art. Clearly understanding the district’s important position within the general defensive posture of the capital city and the country, the District Party Committee and People’s Committee have always attached significance to directing the performance of the military-defence work and especially the building of strong all-people national defence.

A leader of the district giving presents to new recruits

To successfully implement the Party’s strategy on making the all-people national defence solid, the district has strengthened all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and direction and promoted the core role of military and public security offices in counselling and performing this important task. Grasping and executing higher echelons’ resolutions, directives and guiding documents on the military-defence task, the District Party Committee Standing Board has issued the Plan 29-KH/HU, dated June 18^th, 2009 on continuing to implement the 9^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.8 on “the Strategy for the Homeland defence in the new situation,” the Resolution 05-NQ/TW on “enhancing the Party’s leadership over the militia and self-defence force and the reserve force in the new situation,” the Programme 05-CTr/HU on “strengthening national defence and security, ensuring social order and safety, improving corruption prevention and combat, practising thrift, and fighting against wastefulness in the period of 2016-2020,” and the Plan 246/KH-UBND, dated December 18^th, 2013 on “developing documents for defensive combat.” Annually, grounded on the assigned task and the practical conditions, the District Party Committee and People’s Committee promulgate a system of documents on directing the performance of the military-defence task and the building of all-people national defence, strengthen the State’s management of national defence, and consolidate the district’s councils and steering boards both qualitatively and quantitatively.

In recent years, the district has witnessed rapid urbanisation which has posed a new threat to political security and social order and led to land disputes and issues on land clearance. Meanwhile, the hostile forces and political opportunists have taken advantage of localities’ weaknesses in handling incidents relating to the people’s benefits to undermine local party committees and authorities’ prestige among the public. Against that backdrop, bringing into play the recorded results, the district has stepped up political, ideological, defence and security education to raise the awareness and responsibility of all cadres, party members and people for the building of strong all-people national defence. It has also focused on consolidating Defence and Security Education Councils at all levels, formulating the plans for defence and security education, and dispatching cadres to attend defence and security education courses under the regulations. At the same time, importance has been attached to organising defence and security education courses for heads of villages, trade union cadres, forepersons, managers in industrial zones and clusters, and religious dignitaries. The district has promoted mass media and propagandists at offices, units, and localities to propagate and disseminate knowledge of national defence and security to all people. Besides, emphasis has been placed on raising the quality of political system, building pure, strong party organisations, making authorities comprehensively strong, well executing the Regulations on Grass-Roots Level Democracy, and opportunely identifying and settling issues to avoid flashpoints. Due regard has been paid to well implementing the policy for military families and the “Gratitude” movement, helping the people with economic development, hunger eradication, and poverty reduction, thereby achieving a consensus between localities and the people about the Party and State’s guidelines and policies on the building of solid all-people national defence.

To meet the demanding requirements set by the building of all-people national defence in the Homeland protection, the district has adopted many measures for exploiting its potential and strength, fostering socio-economic development, and creating enormous material resources for the all-people national defence. Adhering to the guidelines on socio-economic development by the Municipal Party Committee and People’s Committee, the district has issued resolutions, directives, and policies on mobilising economic sectors’ resources to develop infrastructure, industrial zones and clusters, and handicraft villages, while encouraging investments in industries and cottage industries, creating employments, increasing income, reducing poverty, and maintaining political stability right at grass-roots level. It is estimated that the revenue from the district’s economic sectors will be over 156,000 billion VND in 2020; trade and services will account for 9.93%; industry and construction will contribute 88.82%; agriculture, forestry, aquaculture will make up 1.25%; the per capita income will reach 60 million VND/year. Under the Decision 5858/QĐ-UBND, dated October 21^st, 2019 by the Municipal People’s Committee of Hanoi on approving the Project to build Dong Anh into an urban district towards 2025, the district has reviewed, appraised, and supervised the planning of new economic, industrial and urban zones in line with its plan for national defence and security. In the process, the district has directed its military and public security offices to closely appraise and supervise the plans and projects for socio-economic development in the area, particularly the foreign-invested ones. Up to now, the construction of Thang Long industrial zone and industrial clusters of Van Ha, Lien Ha, Nguyen Khe, Thiet Binh, Duc Tu, and Thuy Lam has been attached to the national defence and security task. Peacetime production could be transformed to serve a war and combat task. The district has invested in building and making the traffic, health, post and telecommunications systems modern, widespread and capable of serving the people’s life and national defence-related situations.

Constructing the defensive zone is a central part of the building of all-people national defence. Hence, over the years, the district has attached great value to enhancing its leadership and direction over consolidating the defensive zone’s potential and posture. Under the Government’s Decision on national defence disposition associated with socio-economic development, the district has completed the plan for using national defence land in the period of 2016-2020 and the plan for the defensive zone’s posture in the period of 2016-2020, while adjusting the master plan for national defence disposition associated with socio-economic development towards 2030, with a vision towards 2050. At the same time, it has actively mobilised resources to construct defensive works under the preset roadmap. Since 2010, it has invested tens of billions of VND in building defensive works within the combat base, the army rear base, the headquarters, tunnels, and fire grounds to increase the potential and posture of the defensive zones of the district and the capital city.

In addition to building the defensive zone’s potential and posture, the district has placed emphasis on making the local armed forces strong and capable of playing a core role in building the all-people national defence. Grasping the Party’s guidelines on building the armed forces in the new situation, all-level party committees and authorities have exercised their leadership over the building of “compact and strong” armed forces with the proper structure. Priority has been given to building the forces tasked with manoeuvre and combat readiness, a contingent of military cadres, and all-level military and public security offices. As for the reserve force, the district has cooperated with military units in managing, training, and arranging reservists under the regulations. Moreover, due attention has been paid to building a “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence force with proper structure and improving this force’s synergy, political quality, combat readiness level, and capacity to cooperate with other forces in the area. Up to now, members of the district’s militia and self-defence force has made up 1.6% of the population. 17.6% of them are party members. Commune-level military cadres have been well trained and they have promoted their role and responsibility to give advice to local party committees and authorities on performing the military-defence task at grass-roots level.

A part from the above-mentioned measures, great value has been attached to building, adjusting, supplementing, and completing the system of combat documents and plans for national defence mobilisation, people’s air defence, natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue, organising training courses and exercises closely under the regulations and in accordance with combat reality. In the period of 2010-2020, the district has successfully held 2 defensive zone exercises, 8 district-level command and office exercises on maps, and 48 commune-level defensive combat, natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue drills, which has been appreciated by the capital city and its Military Command. All-level party committees and commands have closely, effectively executed the Decrees 03/2019/NĐ-CP and 133/NĐ-CP by the Government. As a result, political security and social order and safety in the district’s area have always been maintained without any “flashpoint,” while crimes, social evils, and traffic accidents have been reduced.

Bringing into play the recorded results and revolutionary tradition, in the upcoming time, the Party Organisation, Authority, and people of Dong Anh district will continue heighten self-reliance and promote advantages to develop a prosperous, strong, and civilised district as the basis for constructing and firmly protecting the Homeland, together with the capital city and the whole country.

LE TRUNG KIEN, Chairman of the District People’s Committee