In 2020, the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and Homeland protection task faced a lot of difficulties and challenges. However, under the leadership and direction from the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Ministry of National Defence (MND), and all-level party committees and commands, the whole Military proactively, creatively strived for better task performance than 2019 and several missions were excellently performed, thereby making a huge positive change within units and offices across the Military.

The CMC's conference to issue the Resolution on the military-defence task and the building of the Military Party Organisation in 2021

It should be noted that the entire Military always maintained a high level of combat readiness, proactively, flexibly assessed situations, and opportunely gave sound advice to our Party and State on resolutely dealing with military-defence situations and especially complex, sensitive issues, thus making contributions to defending our national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity. In spite of complicated developments of natural disasters and particularly COVID-19 pandemic, the whole Military heightened a sense of political responsibility, well performed its function as an army ready for combat, for work, and for production, and promoted its core role in building the all-people national defence and safeguarding the Homeland. Three breakthroughs set by the 10^th Military Party Congress were drastically implemented and helped create a fundamental change in the Military’s organisational structure, education and training, discipline and legal management, and administrative reform. All offices and units seriously adopted measures for realising “the year of discipline.” The financial, logistics, technical, and defence industry work achieved good results. The Military’s synergy and combat strength were raised. Military international integration and diplomacy continued to be expanded and deepened together with many initiatives and flexible solutions in the year when Vietnam undertook responsibilities as ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, thereby contributing to raising our Military and country’s status and prestige in the international arena.

The Military continued promoting its revolutionary nature, keeping its absolute loyalty to the Party, dedicating itself to serving the Homeland and the people, and playing a core role in performing “combat missions in peacetime,” while successfully fulfilling the tasks of natural disaster and COVID-19 prevention and control. Cadres and soldiers across the Military always maintained a close-knit bond with the people and opportunely, effectively settled situations, thus deserving to be an army of the people, by the people, and for the people, bolstering the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period.

Party committees and organisations under the Military Party Organisation continued to play an exemplary, vanguard role in the Party building and rectification, make themselves politically, ideologically, morally, and organisationally strong, enhance their leadership capacity and combativeness, proactively fight against the signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle, and protect the Party’s ideological foundation. It is worth noting that the Military Party Organisation seriously grasped and executed the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 35-CT/TW and the CMC Standing Board’s Directive 747-CT/QUTW on making necessary preparations and successfully holding all-level party congresses and the 11^th Military Party Congress, while giving opinions of theoretical and practical value to the Draft Documents for submission to the 13^th National Party Congress. Moreover, the party and political work was creatively, actively carried out. The Military well organised the Army-wide Determination to Win Emulation Congress for the period of 2015-2020 and actively took part in the country’s major political events in 2020, thereby cementing the Military and people’s faith in the Party’s leadership and national construction and protection cause. Achievements by the entire Military in 2020 were very significant. However, there were several weaknesses in the task performance. The quality of training and exercises has yet to meet the task requirements. Some units have yet to close manage cadres and soldiers’ ideology and social relationships, thus leading to serious and extremely serious violations of law and discipline. The handling of shortcomings in national defence land management and use and the implementation of several projects were still slow. All-level party committees and commands within the Military should seriously draw lessons from those weaknesses and opportunely take remedial measures.

In 2021, peace, cooperation, and development will still be the mainstream on a global and regional scale. However, it is anticipated that there will be many rapid, complex developments of the global and regional situations. Strategic competition between major powers, sovereign disputes, ethnic conflicts, local wars, cyber attacks, and non-traditional security challenges will be more intense. The ASEAN Community will have to face new challenges and particularly issues on border, sea, and island sovereignty. Domestically, the 13^th National Party Congress, elections of deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level people’s councils for the 2021-2026 tenure will take place this year. It is also the first year that we realise resolutions by all-level party congresses for the 2020-2025 tenure. In addition to advantages, our Military and people will be confronted with a lot of difficulties and challenges. Climate change, natural disasters, and epidemics, especially the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to be in a complicated and extreme manner. Hostile forces and political opportunists will enhance their “peaceful evolution” strategy, promote “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within, and strive to “depoliticise” our Military with their cunning artifices. Against that backdrop, the whole Military should thoroughly grasp directions by the General Secretary and State President, heighten a sense of political responsibility, and drastically, synchronously adopt measures for performing the military-defence task better than 2020, maintaining peace and stability for national construction and protection, and providing a solid foundation for successfully fulfilling other missions in the 2021-2025 tenure.

First of all, raise revolutionary vigilance, grasp the situation, give sound military-defence advice to the Party and the State, and proactively deal with situations to safeguard the Homeland. The whole Military, particularly strategic and campaign level offices should grasp the Party’s military-defence and Homeland protection guidelines, proactively undertake researches to correctly assess and anticipate the situation, particularly at strategic level, and opportunely give advice to the Party and the State on properly settling disputes and differences, preventing the risks of war and conflict from afar, and opportunely handling military-defence situations to avoid passivity. Against an increase in traditional and non-traditional security challenges and arising issues, offices and units should closely cooperate with relevant forces in flexibly, proactively, creatively grasping the situation and making strategic-level assessments of our partners and opponents, forms of warfare, and adjustments by major powers and regional countries. Due attention should be paid to accelerating the building of the all-people national defence in terms of potential, force and posture as well as the Military build-up in the period of 2021-2025 and beyond under the Resolution by the 11^th Military Party Congress. Consideration should be given to advising the Party and the State to realise the Resolution by the 13^th National Party Congress on the military-defence task and the Homeland protection, particularly new, strategic thoughts, viewpoints, guidelines and solutions. At the same time, importance should be attached to successfully executing the promulgated strategies, resolutions, conclusions, projects and laws and continuing to build and perfect the system of legal documents on the military-defence work and the Homeland protection in the new situation.

The entire Military should heighten the spirit of determination to fight and to win, maintain regulations on combat readiness, proactively develop and complete the system of combat documents, plans, and projects, enhance measures for closely managing border, seas, airspace, inland, key areas, and cyberspace. Besides, it is essential to closely cooperate with the People’s Public Security Force under the Government’s Decree 03/2019/NĐ-CP. In this regard, great value should be attached to exchanging information, formulating and implementing projects and plans for safeguarding central targets, preventing and combating terrorism, riots, conversion, and crimes, foiling the hostile forces’ plots and artifices, fighting against other countries’ violations of our sovereignty, maintaining national security and social order and safety, and firmly protecting the national independence, unification, and territorial integrity. In the medium term, it is vital to protect the 13^th National Party Congress, elections of deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level people’s councils for the 2021-2026 tenure, and other major events of our country.

Second, encourage a core role in building the all-people national defence and increasing the country’s defence capacity. To that end, emphasis should be placed on giving sound advice to local party committees and authorities and cooperating with other forces in building the all-people national defence, the posture of all-people national defence associated with the posture of people’s security, and especially all-level defensive zones to meet the requirements of national defence in the new situation. Offices and units should keep grasping and executing the Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated September 22^nd, 2008 and the Conclusion 64-KL/TW, dated October 30^th, 2019 by the Politburo, the Government’s Decree 21/2019/NĐ-CP, dated February 22^nd, 2019 on building defensive zones as well as the Strategy for the Homeland Protection in the new situation, military and national defence strategies, the Militia and Self-Defence Force Law, the Reserve Force Law, and the Border Guard Law of Vietnam.  Significance should be attached to helping localities enhance state management of national defence, combine economic, cultural and social development with defence-security consolidation and diplomacy under the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, consolidating military-defence steering boards/councils and military commands after all-level party congresses and elections of deputies to people’s councils, and improve the quality of provincial and district-level defensive zones in line with military region-level defence. In addition, it is necessary to make the military posture within defensive zones increasingly strong and raise the quality of the militia and self-defence force and the reserve force, particularly coastal, standing militia and emergency reserve units. Units should continue well performing the task of national defence management, proactively reviewing and completing master plans for national defence disposition, and closely appraising strategies, plans, and projects for socio-economic development by committees, ministries, and sectors at both local and central levels in the period of 2021-2030. The whole Military should better perform the function as “an army ready for work,” actively take part in building political bases, well carry out the work of mass mobilisation, help the people with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and effectively implement the policies regarding the Army Rear to contribute to improving the people’s material and mental life and maintaining local politico-social stability. At the same time, it should play a vanguard role in natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, develop defence-economic zones, and build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds,” particularly in the border, sea, island, and strategic areas as the basis for the construction of the all-people national defence.

Third, synchronously adopt measures for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern People’s Army to meet the task requirements in the new situation. All-level party committees and organisations within the Military should thoroughly grasp the guidelines, targets, and tasks set by the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress. At the same time, drastic, synchronous measures should be taken to build a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern People’s Army, ensuring that by 2025 we will manage to build a “compact and strong” Army and by 2030 a number of services, corps, and forces will be modernised as the basis for building a modern Army from 2030. This is demanding task requiring great effort and resolve. To this end, it is vital to maintain and enhance the Party’s absolute, direct leadership over the Military, with a focus on making the Military politically strong. Offices and units should better conduct the party and political work during missions, well perform the work of political education and ideological management, and render cadres and soldiers fully aware of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the Party’s guidelines, and the nature of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers.” The whole Military should keep executing the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW, the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period, and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement as an important solution to make the Military politically strong. Besides, it is necessary to proactively detect and resolutely fight against the signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle so as to maintain a sense of unity within the Military, readily undertake and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

Bringing into play the recorded results, right in the beginning of 2021, the entire Military should accelerate the implementation of the three breakthroughs under the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress in order to make a huge positive change in organisational structure, training and education, discipline and legal management, and military administrative reform. To do so, all-level party committees and commands should focus their leadership and direction on force adjustments in a “compact, strong” fashion, while accomplishing the organisation of the Military in 2021 under the Politburo’s Conclusion 16-KL/TW. At the same time, due attention should be paid to actively completing the Project on organising the Military in the new situation, identifying criteria for building a modern Army, and supplementing forces and equipment to effectively respond to non-traditional security challenges. Moreover, it is essential to well execute resolutions and directives by the CMC and the MND on combat training, especially the CMC’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW, and work towards new solutions for training and combat readiness in accordance with the Party’s new thoughts on the military-defence work and the Homeland defence in the new situation. Great value should be attached to renewing the contents, forms, and methods of training and exercises to raise the quality of training and meet the requirements set by modern warfare and “combat missions in peacetime.” Due regard should be paid to organising night-time, task-based, situation-based training and closely combining military training with political education and discipline management. Furthermore, it is important to train troops to master modern weapons and equipment, improve their manoeuvrability and capabilities in joint operations, sea and island protection, and cyber warfare in a short time. Offices and units should proactively, flexibly combine training and combat readiness with COVID-19 prevention and control, while “striving to improve the quality of exercises and contests on a domestic, regional, and global scale” as the theme of this year. Military academies and schools should actively renew, standardise and modernise their training contents and programmes, and raise the quality of foreign and ethnic language teaching and learning. Due attention should be paid to developing some military academies and colleges into “smart schools capable of approaching the 4^th industrial revolution” and fostering international cooperation in education and training to meet the requirements set by the Military build-up in the new situation.

The whole Military should continue building comprehensively strong, “exemplary, typical” units, observing the State’s law and military discipline, striving to reduce violations of law and discipline and training and traffic incidents, and completely dealing with weaknesses in national defence land management and use. Besides, importance should be attached to enhancing military administrative reform, especially at campaign and strategic level offices and units, and improving the logistics, technical, defence industry, planning, investment, financial, judiciary, cipher, scientific and technological tasks.

Fourth, foster military international integration and diplomacy to protect the Homeland from afar. Promoting the obtained results, in 2021, the whole Military should “actively, proactively, stably, flexibly, and effectively” perform the work of military international integration and diplomacy under the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress, and the CMC’s Resolution 806-NQ/QUTW. In this regard, priority should be given to developing practical, stable, effective bilateral defence relations, particularly with our neighbours, major powers, ASEAN member states, and traditional friends. At the same time, it is necessary to expand cooperation with potential countries, enhance political confidence, deepen defence cooperation, and increase the interweaving of strategic benefits with major powers. In the process, offices and units should closely cooperate with committees, ministries, and sectors at both central and local levels, observe the diplomatic guidelines and principles by the Party, the State, the CMC and the MND, while proactively combining military integration and diplomacy with other fields via proper measures, in a comprehensive but focalised manner. In the medium terms, it is essential to implement the Project on “military international integration towards 2020, with a vision towards 2030,” well organise annual defence diplomacy activities, proactively take part in military forums and exercises relating to humanitarian, search and rescue, as well as border defence friendship exchange programmes with China, Laos, and Cambodia, and make necessary preparations to deploy the Engineer Team and the Level 2 Field Hospital No.3 to the UN Mission in South Sudan. Doing so will help raise our Military and country’s status and prestige in the international arena and protect the Homeland from afar.

Fifth, build a pure, strong, exemplary, typical Military Party Organisation capable of leading the entire Military to successfully fulfil all assigned tasks. This is a matter of paramount importance. Therefore, it is vital to build a politically, ideologically, morally and organisationally strong Military Party Organisation and make cadres and party members within the Military absolutely loyal to the Party’s revolutionary goal and ideal. All-level party committees and organisations should grasp and effectively execute resolutions, directives and regulations by the Party and the CMC on the Party building and rectification as well as on the studying and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle. Due attention should be paid to strictly observing the regulations on party organisation and meeting and making the Military Party Organisation capable of playing an exemplary, vanguard role in preventing and pushing back the degradation in political ideology, ethics and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. At the same time, great value should be attached to actively renewing leadership styles, improving the quality of cadres and party members, and promoting the vanguard, exemplary role of key cadres. In addition, consideration should be given to enhancing the work of inspection, supervision, and Party discipline and resolutely, opportunely, completely dealing with violations of the State’s law and the Military’s discipline. Due regard should be paid to well performing the personnel work and building a contingent of cadres under the CMC’s Resolution 109-NQ/QUTW, dated February 11^th, 2019, supplementing, promulgating, and observing working and leading regulations for the 2020-2025 tenure. Besides, it is important to develop and realise the Action Programmes for the Resolutions of the 11^th Military Party Congress and the 13^th National Party Congress, and select military cadres as nominees for deputies to the 15^th National Assembly and all-level people’s councils for the 2021-2026 tenure in accordance with the regulations. Party committees and organisations should keep promoting democracy, fostering unity, and maintaining discipline in order to make the Military Party Organisation really pure, strong, exemplary, typical, and capable of leading the Military to successfully fulfil tasks, goals, and targets set by resolutions of all-level party congresses.

In 2021, the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection will impose more demanding requirements on the Military. Bringing into play the success of all-level party congresses and the task performance in 2020, the entire Military should continue heightening a sense of political responsibility and devote more effort to accomplishing all assigned missions as the basis for constructing and firmly protecting the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland in the new situation.

Gen. NGO XUAN LICH

Member of the Politburo

Deputy Secretary of the CMC

Minister of National Defence