Lai Chau is a mountainous, border province located in the Northwest of Vietnam, sharing a 265.165 km-long border with China. There are 233 villages under 23 communes with a population of over 81,000 people from 10 ethnic groups in the border area. Over the past years, with due regard paid by the Party and the State, the province’s economy and society, particularly in the border area have attained developments; the people’s material and spiritual life have gradually improved; the political system has been consolidated; defence and security have been maintained and strengthened. However, due to historical reasons and many others, basically, Lai Chau is still a poor province with slow economic growth. In the border area, the poverty rate is higher than the province’s average one. The people’s intellectual level is not equal. The quality and effectiveness of the political system at grass-roots level is limited. Taking advantage of those difficulties, over the past years, the hostile forces have been enhancing acts of sabotage, such as illegally conducting missionary work and propagation work related to free migration or inciting Hmong people to establish the so-called "Hmong State”. Besides, crimes of all types, particularly drug and human trafficking and illegal immigration have had complex developments greatly impacting on political security and social order in the border area. Against that backdrop, as the core force in managing and protecting national border sovereignty and security, over the past years, under the leadership of the Border Guard Party Committee and High Command as well as the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council and People’s Committee, the Provincial Border Guard (PBG) has actively overcome difficulties, comprehensively performed the tasks, effectively fought against hostile activities and crimes of all types, and taken part in political base building, socio-economic development, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, natural disaster prevention and combat, search and rescue, and border defence diplomacy. Those efforts have contributed to safeguarding national territorial sovereignty, maintaining national security and social order in the border area, building a border of peace, friendship, and cooperation for development, facilitating the province’s socio-economic development. During the process of carrying out the tasks, the PBG has drawn the following lessons.

Legal propagation and dissemination for border locals

First, raising officers, soldiers and people's awareness of the task of managing and protecting border sovereignty and security. This is a matter of utmost importance to the task performance of the border guard force in general, the PBG in particular in all situations while providing the basis for promoting the strength of forces and all people to defend national territorial sovereignty and security. Therefore, the PBG Command has advised local party committees and authorities on stepping up the propagation work to render sectors, forces and all people fully aware of the Party’s guidelines on military and defence tasks presented in directives and resolutions, particularly the Party’s Central Resolution 8 (11^th tenure) on the Strategy to defend the Homeland in the new situation, the Resolution of the 12^th National Party Congress as well as directives and resolutions by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence on the work of border management and protection. At the same time, it has enhanced the work of disseminating and propagating basic points of the National Border Law, 3 legal documents on land border between Vietnam and China, the Law on Residence as well as plots and artifices of sabotage by hostile forces. Also, the PBG has directly conducted this work via various creative forms and measures, such as oral propagation, broadcasting, communal cultural meetings, and meetings with local party committees and authorities and villages. The PBG’s propagandists and speakers and mass mobilization teams have actively promoted their role and responsibility in the work of propagation. At the same time, the PBG has regularly cooperated with local party committees and authorities as well as sectors and organizations in strictly implementing the Project on “enhancing legal dissemination and education for cadres and people in the border area” and in building a contingent of propagandists who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about ethnic languages and customs. In the first half of 2018 only, the PBG conducted nearly 500 sessions of direct propagation for more than 27,000 people from border communes while cooperating with competent agencies in organizing tens of sessions of specialized propagation for cadres of hamlets and villages. Most notably, to make the propagation work widespread, the PBG has attached importance to recruiting and training ethnic officers and soldiers to border posts as the core to carry out this work. Consequently, the quality and effectiveness of the PBG’s propagation work has been improved, which has contributed to directly raising local party committees and authorities, officers, soldiers and locals’ awareness of the task of border management and protection in the new situation.

Second, adopting measures to fight against and prevent acts of sabotage and violation in the border area. This is a matter of importance to the improved quality and effectiveness of the province’s border sovereignty and security management and protection. Thus, the PBG Party Committee and Command have concentrated their leadership and direction on units, particularly in studying the situation, developing plans/projects, and implementing the tasks. In addition to stepping up the mass mobilization work and building political zeal of cadres and troops, the PGB Command has attached significance to fighting to unmask underground bases and neutralize intelligence activities as well as to enhancing the effectiveness of combating cross-border crime and successfully conducting the work of border defence diplomacy. To deal with hostile forces’ acts of sabotage, the province has enhanced border reconnaissance to grasp the situation along the border; regularly stayed close to the area to grasp the operation of hostile forces and crimes of all types; improved the quality of forecasts and followed the motto “active in prevention, proactive in combat”; and prepared in advance the projects to effectively, opportunely deal with all situations. Concerning violations of border security, even disputes among the people, the PGB’s border posts have promoted their core role in detecting and completely handling them right in the area to maintain security and not let the hostile forces incite sabotage or long-lasting, complicated “flashpoints” appear. When dealing with issues in the border area, the PBG has closely followed the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and regulations on the border but expressed a sense of cleverness and flexibility. Since 2009, the PBG has cracked 516 cases of drug trafficking, 120 cases of smuggling and trade frauds, 45 cases of human trafficking, rescued 47 victims, persuaded people to hand over 2,186 guns of all types and explosive materials. It should be noted that the PBG has detected and handled 79 people involved in propagation and establishment of the so-called “Hmong State”, ensuring political security and social order and safety in the border areas. Besides, the PBG has directly renewed and improved the quality and effectiveness of managing, inspecting and controlling exit and entry at the border gates while actively counselling localities to direct competent agencies to accelerate administrational reform to facilitate socio-economic development in line with the consolidation of national defence and security in the border areas.

Settling drug trafficking in the border areas

Third, stepping up the work of coordination with other forces in border sovereignty and security management and protection. Grasping and strictly implementing the Government’s Decree 77/2010/NĐ-CP, dated July 12^th, 2010, on regulations for coordination between forces in protecting national security and social order and safety, the PBG Command has directed border posts to cooperate with the Military and Public Security forces in the border area in building the coordinated regulations and stringently maintained the order for meetings at provincial, district and border post levels. Therefore, the work of grasping, anticipating and dealing with the situations, particularly in the border area has been closely, uniformly, effectively coordinated. Based on the situation of each area, the PBG has proactively advised local party committees and authorities on developing the regulations on coordination between the border guard and local committees, sectors and organizations in managing and protecting border sovereignty and security. Besides, it has actively taken part in building political bases via activities. For instance, it has dispatched experienced cadres of the border guard and party members of the border posts to work in hamlets and villages. The PBG and local party committees and authorities have strictly implemented the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies on building strong political bases to lay the foundation for coordination in border management and protection. At the same time, it has adopted poor children, organized Tet celebration for poor villages, provided medical examination and treatment, and called for the support of benefactors, offices and organizations to improve the people’s material and spiritual life. As a result, the people have actively joined the PBG in managing and safeguarding national border sovereignty and security. Moreover, the PBG Command has directed units to successfully carry out the work of border defence diplomacy and people-to-people exchange, such as joint patrols for law enforcement, friendship exchanges, and twinning activities between posts, stations, and groups of residents. Since 2015, the province has cooperated with Chinese forces in organizing 39 dialogues and 21 joint patrols. It is worth noting that the PBG has provided counselling for the Provincial People’s Committee about holding the 4^th Vietnam-China border defence friendship exchange (September 2017). Results of those activities have contributed to strengthening the friendship relationship between the two countries and effectively performing the tasks of border management and protection, consolidating the all-people border defence posture associated with the all-people national defence posture and the people’s security posture in the province’s border areas.

Sr. Col. Vu Van Trao, Standing Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Commander of the PBG