General Secretary and President: Do not allow degradation, self-evolution, and self-transformation in the Army

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong attended and directed the Military-Political Conference of the entire army.

On the morning of December 7, in Hanoi, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense held the 2020 Military-Political Conference for the entire army. General Secretary, President, Secretary of the Central Military Commission Nguyen Phu Trong attended and directed the Conference.

Attending the Conference were Politburo members, Party Central Committee Secretaries: Vo Van Thuong - Head of the Central Propaganda Department; Truong Thi Mai - Head of the Central Mass Mobilization Department; Nguyen Van Binh - Head of the Central Economic Department; Phan Dinh Trac - Head of the Central Internal Affairs Department; Tran Cam Tu - Head of the Central Inspection Committee; Party Central Committee member, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and delegates leading central departments, ministries, branches, members of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee, Head of the Ministry of National Defense, Heads of agencies and units under the Ministry of National Defense. General Ngo Xuan Lich - Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of National Defense chaired the Conference.

The report at the Conference said that in 2020, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense led and directed the entire army to strive, overcome all difficulties and challenges, and comprehensively complete all tasks, many tasks were completed well, some tasks were completed excellently, creating strong changes in all aspects of work.

Notably, regularly grasp the situation, proactively, sensitively, promptly advise the Party and State to resolutely and flexibly handle situations, avoid being passive or surprised. Closely coordinate with central and local departments, ministries and branches to effectively implement the Politburo's resolutions and conclusions on the military and defense fields; promote the combined strength, effectively mobilize resources, build and consolidate the all-people national defense, the all-people national defense posture associated with the people's security, a solid people's security posture; firmly protect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. Promote well the core role, take the lead in preventing and fighting natural disasters, epidemics, rescue, and overcoming environmental incidents.

In particular, in the prevention and fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and in search and rescue, overcoming the consequences of storms and floods, officers and soldiers of the entire army do not fear difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices, always closely attached to the people, promptly present in difficult places; affirming the role of "the fighting army, the working army, the production labor army", worthy of being the Army of the people, by the people, for the people, shining the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" in the new era.

Speaking at the Conference, General Secretary, President, Secretary of the Central Military Commission Nguyen Phu Trong welcomed and highly appreciated the results that the military forces have achieved in the past year, a year of decisive significance to the implementation of the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress and also a year facing many difficulties and challenges due to rapid and unpredictable developments, especially the strong impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; strategic competition, great power authoritarianism, armed conflicts occurring in some places in the world, terrorist activities, cyber security, the East Sea issue and non-traditional security have been posing great challenges to the international community, including our country.

Overview of the conference.

The General Secretary and President also highly appreciated the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense for performing well their advisory functions to the Party and the State on military and national defense; regularly grasping the situation, being sensitive in research and forecasting, promptly proposing correct policies and measures, effectively handling situations, avoiding being passive and surprised. Proactively advising on firmly protecting the sovereignty of seas and islands and marine economic activities; closely coordinating with departments, ministries, branches and localities to effectively implement the resolutions and conclusions of the Politburo on military and defense strategy.

In particular, in the prevention and control of storms and floods in the Central region, the army and militia have proactively and flexibly followed the "4 on-the-spot" motto to organize the evacuation of people, actively search for missing people, quickly overcome the consequences, promptly resolve policies, and received high support and consensus from the people. The entire army also deployed tight control posts, trails, and openings on the border, mobilized many forces, vehicles, and barracks to create quarantine areas, determined to control the Covid-19 epidemic... Officers and soldiers did not fear difficulties and hardships, rushing into dangerous places, many officers and soldiers sacrificed their lives while on duty, worthy of being the Army of the people, by the people, for the people, further beautifying the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers".

According to the General Secretary and President, in order to achieve positive results in the past year, the work of building the Party organization of the Army to always be strong in politics, ideology and ethics has been focused on. The leadership capacity, fighting strength of Party committees and organizations, the pioneering and exemplary role of cadres and Party members have been enhanced. The work of organizing the military force has been focused on adjusting in the direction of "Refined, compact, strong", reducing 10% of the number of campaign and strategic agencies, prioritizing newly established units and combat units. From 2016 to now, 800 organizations have been reduced, and in 2020, 196 organizations have been adjusted. Along with that, the military forces have determined to resolve the backlog and difficulties in the management and use of defense land, strengthen solutions to prevent and combat corruption and negativity, strictly handle violations, with no "no-go zones" or "no exceptions", contributing to strengthening people's trust in the Party, State and Army.

General Secretary, President Nguyen Phu Trong, Secretary of the Central Military Commission, chaired the conference. Photo: VNA

In addition to the achievements, the General Secretary and President also pointed out the limitations and shortcomings that need to be overcome, especially in management, cadres and soldiers, maintaining strict discipline, preventing and promptly handling serious violations, resolving backlogs in management and use of defense land, and corporate finance that have not been thoroughly resolved... These are the things that make us worry and think.

In the spirit of not avoiding shortcomings, the General Secretary and President suggested that it is necessary to discuss, clearly identify responsibilities, find the right causes and propose solutions to overcome them in the coming time. In particular, 2021 is the year that opens the new decade, the new development period of the country, the year of the 13th National Party Congress, the election of the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 term, in the context of the complicated and unpredictable changes in the world and regional political security situation. Hostile forces will continue to promote "Peaceful Evolution" activities, promote "Self-evolution", "self-transformation", and intensify sabotage against the Party, State and Army; the situation of natural disasters, epidemics, environmental pollution, climate change, and criminal activities will continue to have unusual developments. Those issues will certainly have a direct impact on the performance of the Army's tasks.

"The Central Military Commission and the entire army must continue to uphold vigilance, revolutionary offensive will, promote combativeness and resolutely direct the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the 11th National Party Congress of the Army. Perform well the advisory function, be proactive, grasp and accurately forecast the situation to advise the Party and State on policies to protect the country, maintain stability and peace, and lay the foundation for sustainable national development. Focus on effectively handling a number of sea, island and border issues, especially situations in the East Sea, the border line and the Southwest sea, international relations, firmly protect the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Fatherland. The army must not be subjective, complacent, and must not be passive or surprised...", the General Secretary and President emphasized.

The General Secretary and President also suggested that it is necessary to continue promoting the combined strength to build a strong national defense associated with strong people's security, build solid defense zones, complete the overall defense planning associated with socio-economic development; at the same time, coordinate with ministries, departments, branches and localities to effectively overcome the consequences of natural disasters with the spirit that wherever there are difficulties, hardships and dangers, there are soldiers, promptly protecting people's lives and property. In addition, it is necessary to continue to innovate training and exercises to improve combat readiness. Perfect the organization and staffing in the direction of "lean, compact, strong" by 2030 to build modern military branches and forces; strive to build a modern army from 2030, continue to do well in foreign affairs and defense cooperation. And the especially important point is to take care of building a strong army in politics, ideology, organization and ethics.

Focus on doing well the work of political and ideological education, deeply educating about tasks, fostering revolutionary sentiments, ethics, love for comrades and teammates for cadres and soldiers, ensuring that the Army is always an absolutely loyal political and fighting force, a solid and trustworthy support for the Party, State and people and fulfills its tasks well in all situations. Continue to fight against erroneous and hostile viewpoints that aim to sabotage our Party, State, regime and army. Fight against manifestations of opportunism, individualism, loss of confidence, ambiguity, loss of vigilance, not allowing degradation, self-evolution, self-transformation within. The Army must work harder, more systematically, more resolutely, more effectively...

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and delegates attending the Conference. Photo: VNA

"Currently, we are stepping up the fight against corruption, waste, and negativity. Corruption is now not only about money, but first of all, it is about degradation and deterioration in political ideology, morality, lifestyle, fading ideals... this is extremely dangerous. I must emphasize this very strongly: the Army and the Police must be the core force, taking the lead, determined not to let it deteriorate or become corrupt," the General Secretary and President stated.

On that basis, the General Secretary and President requested to continue focusing on doing well the work of Party building and rectification, strictly following the principle of democratic centralism, promoting the role of cadres at all levels, especially cadres in charge, who must truly set an example and be exemplary. We must proactively and resolutely fight against corruption and negativity within the Party, must courageously look straight at the truth, speak the truth, not be afraid of shortcomings, and even more so not hide shortcomings, not be considerate or evasive, and resolutely handle violations. Strengthen inspection and supervision, strictly maintain Party discipline and military discipline.

The year 2020 is gradually coming to an end with many events, difficulties and obstacles, but it is also a year that has left many positive and profound impressions on the entire Party, the entire people, the entire army and international friends with very important achievements and many valuable lessons. The General Secretary and President believes that with the spirit of solidarity, democracy, innovation, responsibility and high determination, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense and the officers and soldiers of the entire army will definitely complete the tasks of 2021, forever worthy of the title "Uncle Ho's soldiers" and the love and trust of the Party, State and people./.