Managing and protecting national border sovereignty and security represent a sacred task of strategic significance in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Fully aware of this, Lao Cai Provincial Border Guards have synchronously and resolutely implemented solutions to perform this important task thoroughly, contributing to building the border areas of peace, friendliness, cooperation and development.

Lao Cai Provincial Border Guards are responsible for managing and protecting over 182 km of border, neighbouring the Yunnan Province of China with 127 national border markers, two international border gates, two secondary border gates and three border openings. The border area of ​​the Province covers 26 communes, wards and towns in 04 districts, 01 city, and is a key strategic area in terms of national defence, security, economy and foreign affairs of the northern border, and an important gateway of the country. However, this is also an operating area of hostile forces and criminals with many potential factors of instability, causing major challenges for the management and protection of national sovereignty and border security.

Fully aware of the situation and its assigned tasks, in recent years, the Party Committee and Command of Lao Cai Provincial Border Guards have focused on leading and directing the synchronous and comprehensive implementation of solutions for managing and protecting border sovereignty and security, achieving significant results. Notably, they have advised and proposed to the Border Guard High Command, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council and the Provincial People's Committee to issue many leadership and direction documents on border management and protection, building a national border defence, effectively conducting patrol, control and combating all types of crimes. At the same time, they have actively participated in building political bases, socio-economic development, hunger elimination and poverty reduction in the border areas of the province and performing well the work of border diplomacy, contributing to maintaining peace in the border areas, creating favourable conditions for the socio-economic development of the province and the country.

Signing cooperative agreement with Chinese counterpart

In the coming time, the tasks of the Provincial Border Guards will have new developments with higher requirements; the depth of the border area will be expanded after merging communes according to the Party and State's policies, and the coordination with the military and police forces will be adjusted and supplemented with the absence of the district-level governments. In order to firmly manage and protect national border sovereignty and security, the Provincial Border Guards will continue to deploy all aspects of border work comprehensively and synchronously with drastic, scientific and effective solutions, focusing on the following main contents:

Firstly, continuing to advise the Border Guards High Command and the Province solutions to lead the implementation of border work effectively. Thoroughly grasping the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws and policies on the border and the characteristics and situation of the area, the Provincial Border Guard Command shall proactively advises the Party Committee and High Command of the Border Guards, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee on sound policies and countermeasures to promptly and effectively handle situations in the border area, avoiding being made passive or surprised. Accordingly, Party committees and commanders of border agencies, units, and posts continue to thoroughly grasp the resolutions, directives, and documents of the superiors on border work, focusing on legal documents on the Vietnam-China land border; Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW, dated 28 September 2018 of the Politburo (12th tenure) on the Strategy for National Border Protection, Law on Vietnam Border, etc. At the same time, they should synchronously deploy professional measures to grasp, study, evaluate, and accurately forecast the situation, proactively detect complex and prominent issues in the internal and external borders, especially the methods and tricks of various types of criminals, plots and intentions of bad guys taking advantage of ethnic and religious issues to incite and sabotage the Party, the State policies and guidelines related to territorial sovereignty, border management and protection, trade, immigration, etc. Thereby, they are to advise the Province to direct the synchronous participation of all levels, sectors and forces to perform border tasks effectively.

Secondly, focusing on building the Provincial Border Guards all-strong. Together with staff work, the Provincial Border Guards continue to build all strong, “exemplary and typical” agencies and units in the direction of "lean, compact, strong" with enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of operations, meeting the requirements and tasks of managing and protecting national sovereignty and border security; promptly consolidate and perfect the organisation and staffing in the direction of streamlined offices and reinforced posts to meet the requirements of the task of monitoring and grasping the border area. Border agencies, units and posts are to focus on renovating and improving the quality of training, combat readiness and exercises; continue to effectively implement the Project "National Programme on foreign language learning of cadres and public employees for the period 2019 - 2030" and learning ethnic minority languages. Invest in building and completing the system of border posts, border stations, border gates, border protection works, and combat works that are inter-connected, complete, and solid, capable of managing and firmly protecting national territorial sovereignty, border security, and defence in all situations.

Thirdly, improving the effectiveness of management and control of entry and exit through border gates; fight against crimes, maintain security and order in border areas. The Provincial Border Guard Command shall direct agencies and units, especially Lao Cai International Border Gate Station, Lao Cai Border Gate Post, Kim Thanh Border Gate Post to focus on patrolling, controlling and maintaining serious guard. Promote administrative reform and the application of information technology in the management and control of people and vehicles entering and exiting the country in a serious, smooth, safe and legal manner. Border guard agencies, units and stations should proactively research, evaluate, update and forecast the situation accurately, promote information exchange and proactively cooperate with functional forces and local Party committees and authorities in preventing and combating crimes in border areas; develop plans and deploy forces to fight and prevent effectively the sabotage plots and schemes of hostile and reactionary forces, national security criminals, illegal immigration and emigration, drug crimes, smuggling and trade fraud, etc.

Conducting patrol with the locals

Fourthly, building a strong all people's border defence posture. The Provincial Border Guard Party Committee and Command strengthen leadership and direction of border agencies, units, and posts to focus on propaganda and education work to raise awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members, employees, soldiers, and people for implementing the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws on territorial sovereignty and national border security to make them clearly aware of the plots and tricks of hostile and reactionary forces and the activities of all types of criminals in the border areas, thereby they will take appropriate counter-measures. Continue to promote the role of its party members participating in commune-level Party committees, party members deployed to the Party cells of border villages and hamlets, and party members in charge of households in border areas, thereby building and consolidating strong grassroots political systems in all aspects.

In addition, the Provincial Border Guards continue to implement programmes, movements, models, and campaigns of: People's Border Guard Festive Day, Border Guard joins hands to build new rural areas, Accompanying women in border areas, The Spring of Border Guard warms the hearts of villagers, Helping children’s schooling - Adoptees of border guards, etc., and helps people eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, promote economic, cultural and social development, associated with strengthening national defence and security, strengthening "people's heart and mind posture" and people's border defence posture in border areas.

Finally, promoting border diplomacy. Thoroughly grasping the viewpoints and policies on international integration and defence diplomacy of our Party and State and the documents and instructions of higher echelons on border diplomacy, the Party Committee and Command of the Provincial Border Guards shall strengthen leadership and direction of border posts and stations to proactively develop plans and programmes for border foreign affairs in accordance with their functions, tasks and the actual situation of border areas and border gates, to make border diplomacy really substantial, contributing to improving the effectiveness of management and protection of the national territorial sovereignty and border security. In particular, learning from the experience in holding the 2nd and 8th Vietnam - China Border Defence Friendship Exchange and the border foreign affairs of the Province over the past years, the Provincial Border Guards should proactively coordinate with Chinese counterparts to propose the establishment  and perfection of cooperation mechanisms at all levels. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain the regimes of talks, meetings, and exchange to inform the situations related to the management and protection of border lines, landmarks, and the fight against crime. Continue to implement agreements, cooperation mechanisms, coordination regulations, and signed memoranda; upgrade the  twinning activities of border posts, armed forces, residential clusters on both sides of the border and reconnect political exchange activities, etc.

Synchronously implementing the above measures will practically build a border of peace, friendship, cooperation, and mutual development, contributing to firmly protecting the Fatherland early and from afar.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN PHI KHANH, Commander of the Provincial Border Guard Command