Border guards and militia conduct border patrols

Cao Bang is a mountainous province in the Northeast of Vietnam sharing an over 333km border with China's Guangxi. Cao Bang's population is over 530,000 people, of which ethnic minorities account for 94.88%. Together with the Party Committees, authorities, and people of all ethnic groups in the province, Cao Bang border guards are responsible for protecting the integrity of national territorial sovereignty and ensuring security and order in the border area spanning 7 border districts.

In recent years, the Committee for ethnic affairs of Cao Bang province has advised the Cao Bang Provincial People's Committee to approve over 23,000 reputable people (more than 98% of whom are ethnic minorities) including village elders, village heads, retired officials, witch doctors, shamans, religious dignitaries, good producers and businesses, and people with great influence on ethnic minorities. It is reputable people who disseminate the Party's guidelines and State's policies and laws to the people.

As Cao Bang province has many border areas, the role and position of reputable people in consolidating and building the grassroots political system is highly valued. According to the Committee for ethnic affairs of Cao Bang province, reputable people have coordinated with party committees, authorities and functional agencies to advise localities at all levels to consolidate and strengthen 40/40 party committees of communes and border towns; split and establish 48 new Party cells, admit party members in 25 villages that previously had no party members; admit 392 party members; source 452 elite masses for the Party; help 08 communes from weak to average and 25 communes from average to good.

With the advice of reputable people, 243 officials and 121 organizations of border hamlets, communes and towns have been trained, replaced, strengthened and consolidated; 312 ethnic minority officials were sent for training and employment. Currently, 97% of commune-level officials are ethnic minorities in border areas. In addition, reputable people have coordinated with border guards to form friendly relationship between 13 pairs of residential clusters on both sides of the border; to organize 45 people-to-people exchanges on both sides of the border, which makes an important contribution to building a border area of peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

In recent years, the Party Committee and the Provincial Border Guard Command have paid attention to building "people's heart and mind posture" in the border areas with specific measures and forms. Propaganda and mobilization work to cadres and the masses to clearly see the honor and responsibility in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security has been well implemented. Accompanying the border guards to carry out this content, reputable people have become the core of the mass movement to participate in protecting territorial sovereignty and national security. They regularly coordinate closely with border guards in mobilizing people to actively participate in the movement "All people participate in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation".

Mrs. Ha Thi Tan, a reputable person in Ban Moi hamlet, Duc Long commune, Thach An district, said she had mobilized 100% of households to register to participate in self-management and protection of borders and border landmarks; propagandized people not to farm, reside or cross the border illegally; informed the border guards of many helpful information. She also regularly accompanies border guards to every household to propagate and help them see their responsibility in participating in protecting borders and landmarks.

As a result, in the past 5 years, reputable people like Mrs. Ha Thi Tan have contributed to building a network of 155 self-management and protection groups (with the participation of nearly 8,000 households and nearly 11,600 people) for borders and border landmarks and 392 self-management groups for security and order (with the participant of over 11,400 people) with the Party Committees, local authorities and border guards. Reputable people and people have provided border guards with over 3,400 helpful pieces of information to serve the management and protection of border security and order and the fight against all types of crime. Over 11,000 times with 87,000 people were mobilized to coordinate with border guards in border patrol. Over 2,300 times of clearing patrol roads and borderline paths were carried out. Nearly 27 km of border patrol roads have been repaired. 291 cases with 378 subjects related to drugs, 708 cases with 678 subjects related to smuggling, 7 cases with 12 subjects related to buying, selling, and storing illegal weapons have been handled.

Illegal missionary activities are prevented. Some H'mong and Dao ethnic households were mobilized to return to their traditional beliefs and religions. Many households were propagated and encouraged to write a commitment not to follow the illegal organization Duong Van Minh. Hundreds of ethnic minority youth were mobilized to join the border guards. Families in border villages and hamlets signed commitments not to violate the law and social evils, and not to illegally cross the border for employment.