International cooperation at sea in general, international cooperation in coast guard in particular constitutes an important area of work closely led and directed by the Party Committee and Command of the Viet Nam Coast Guard (VCG), thus contributing to improving the effectiveness of maritime law enforcement and successfully fulfilling the VCG’s assigned functions and tasks.

Viet Nam has a sea of more than 1 million square kilometres with over 3,000 big and small islands and 2 archipelagos, namely Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) and Truong Sa (Spratly Islands); being the space for the nation’s existence and long-term development, Viet Nam’s sea plays a role of importance in terms of politics, economy, society, defence, security, and diplomacy. Over the years, the situation in the East Sea has been basically stable, but it has been still confronted with many unpredictable destabilising factors relating to dispute over national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction. Violations of law, security, and order, particularly smuggling, illegal transport of goods and drug, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) have been complicated. Expressing its wish to deliver the message from the country and people of Viet Nam in general, from the VCG in particular to regional countries and the international community about the joint building of seas of peace, prosperity, stability, cooperation, and development, over the years, the VCG has synchronously taken various measures, with importance attached to promoting international cooperation, thereby earning positive results in this work.

General Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defence presents representatives at the first “VCG and Friend” exchange program with flowers

It should be noted that the VCG has grasped and strictly implemented our Party and State’s guidelines and policies on diplomacy and international cooperation as well as relevant resolutions and directives by the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND). The VCG has closely coordinated with competent offices both inside and outside the Military to comprehensively carry out the work of international cooperation in a safe, effective way. It has proactively developed bilateral cooperation with maritime law enforcement forces from 21 countries and many international organisations, with a focus on regional countries and maritime powerhouses. The work of international cooperation and defence diplomacy has been conducted in a comprehensive but focalised manner, with a lot of important breakthroughs especially in piracy, armed piracy, drug trafficking, smuggling, illegal transport of good, IUU fishing, and marine environment pollution prevention and combat as well as in humanitarian relief, disaster response, and search and rescue at sea. To create a legal corridor and deeply, practically, effectively encourage international cooperation, the VCG has signed 9 cooperation agreements, including memoranda of understanding (MOU), regulations on hotline, protocols, and letters of intent with its counterparts from South Korea, the Philippines, the US, India, Japan, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Noticeably, in 2022, the VCG initiated and successfully organised the first “VCG and friends” exchange program with the participation of leaders of the maritime law enforcement forces from Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, and Malaysia, thus enhancing mutual understanding and trust, promoting coordination and cooperation in performing tasks at sea. Moreover, the VCG has actively, responsibly taken part in 5 multilateral mechanisms and forums, boosting our chances of participating in professional training courses and experience exchange conferences, making contributions to improving the VCG’s capacity for law enforcement at sea.

The implementation of orientative initiatives and the active, responsible participation in multilateral and bilateral cooperation have significantly contributed to raising the VCG’s prestige, position, and maritime law enforcement, enhancing mutual understanding, building up strategic trust, improving credibility in coordination and cooperation between the VCG and other countries’ maritime law enforcement forces, building seas of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation, and development.

A joint patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin between the VCG and China Coast Guard

Currently, non-traditional and traditional security threats and issues on sovereignty, maritime environment, crime prevention and combat, and maritime security and safety maintenance pose threats that no single nation or force can settle. Against that backdrop, the VCG advocates encouraging and improving international cooperation to meet its task requirements in the new situation. To that end, it will focus on well implementing several main measures as follows.

First, continuing to grasp and comprehensively perform the task of international cooperation in maritime law enforcement in accordance with the guidelines, resolutions, and directives set by the Party, State, CMC, and MND. This measure plays a central role in ensuring that the VCG’s international cooperation activities will be carried out uniformly in accordance with the pre-set orientations, goals, and requirements. To do so, the VCG Command will direct offices and units to grasp the Party’s guidelines and viewpoints on foreign affairs, particularly the Politburo’s Conclusion 53-KL/TW, dated 28 April 2023, on international integration and defence diplomacy and the CMC’s Resolution 2662-NQ/QUTW, dated 26 February 2024, on international integration and defence diplomacy towards 2030 and beyond. Grounded on those documents, the VCG will enhance all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over international cooperation, while rendering cadres and soldiers fully aware of the necessity and importance of international cooperation, the viewpoints, guidelines, goals, requirements, and principles relating to the VCG’s international cooperation as well as advantages, difficulties, and hostile forces’ plots and artifices in order to build up their motivation and determination to better perform this important task. Also, the VCG will direct its competent offices to actively research and complete the system of regulations and guiding documents on international cooperation in accordance with the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law, international law and practices, and its particularities as a favourable legal corridor for the sake of effective cooperation.

Second, attaching importance to advising the Party, State, CMC, and MND on international cooperation. Bringing into play its experience and recent good results, the VCG will continue studying, grasping, and anticipating possible situations at sea to give advice to the Party, State, CMC, and MND on strategies to deal with incidents and on diplomatic and international cooperation-based activities to opportunely, flexibly settle disputes and differences on the basis of international law and maintain peace and stability for national development. Besides, it will renew and diversify the content, forms, and methods of international cooperation, while upgrading cooperative relations with other countries’ maritime law enforcement forces at both Command and unit levels. Due attention will be paid to opportunely, resolutely fighting to prevent hostile forces from distorting and undermining the VCG’s relations with other countries’ maritime law enforcement forces.

Third, effectively realising the signed agreements on cooperation and accelerating the signing of new MOUs with other countries’ maritime law enforcement forces. To that end, the VCG’s Party Committee and Command will keep developing strategies, plans, and programs for international cooperation, with priority given to implementing orientative, practical, effective initiatives and enhancing bilateral and multilateral international cooperation. Great value will be attached to accelerating the signing of an MOU between Vietnamese and Malaysian Governments on law enforcement and search and rescue at sea, represented by the VCG and its Malaysian counterpart, facilitating the signing of an MOU between the VCG and Thailand’s Maritime Enforcement Command Centre, bettering the operation of the VCG’s hotlines with the Philippine Coast Guard, the National Committee for Maritime Security of Cambodia, and the Indonesian Coast Guard, and organising bilateral conferences with the China Coast Guard, the Japan Coast Guard, the Republic of  Korea Coast Guard, and the Indian Coast Guard. At the same time, consideration will be given to holding exchange programs and non-combat exercises, enhancing cooperation in IUU prevention and combat, and implementing other cooperation projects to improve the VCG’s maritime law enforcement capacity.

Fourth, making more investments and training a contingent of cadres and officials in charge of international cooperation. In addition to exploiting the existing means and equipment, the VCG’s Party Committee and Command will recommend higher echelons to invest in modern means and equipment under the Projects on “Building the VCG towards 2025 and beyond”. In this regard, priority will be given to acquiring equipment and means of communication and improving the capacity of cadres and officials in charge of international cooperation with a view to quickly sharing information and holding online working sessions with their foreign counterparts. At the same time, those cadres and officials will be trained in professional competence, foreign languages, knowledge of diplomatic work, and working skills in the international environment. In the medium term, emphasis will be placed on well implementing the Project on training foreign languages for the VCG in the period of 2022 – 2030 and attracting high-calibre human resources from the outside to meet the requirements of international integration.

Thoroughly grasping resolutions and directives on diplomacy and international integration by the Party, State, CMC, and MND, the VCG will continue concretising those documents into action plans/programs for coast guard international cooperation and diplomacy as a contribution to maintaining security and order in sea and island areas, fostering international integration and sustainable marine economic development, and consolidating the postures of national defence and security at sea.

Maj. Gen. VU TRUNG KIEN

Deputy Commander in charge of law of the VCG