Coordinate propaganda, build "people's hearts" to firmly protect seas and islands

In particular, improving the quality of propaganda coordination is identified as one of the key, continuous tasks to contribute to building a "people's hearts and minds" posture to firmly protect the sea and islands.

Over the past time, the work of coordinating propaganda about the sea and islands has been deployed at many levels and in many sectors, attracting a large number of participants with increasingly comprehensive and in-depth content, forms and methods, always with innovation and creativity, suitable for each object and locality, creating breakthroughs and widespread influence. Through propaganda work, people's awareness of the sea and islands has been raised, contributing significantly to the Navy's efforts to firmly protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Navy Region 3 officers and soldiers support fishermen in distress at sea

Managing the Southwest sea area, where the largest number of offshore fishing vessels in the country are located, during propaganda campaigns, reporters from Naval Region 5 always go to the port, go down to each ship to propagate and guide fishermen on regulations when fishing in sea areas bordering other countries or historical waters between Vietnam and Cambodia. Fisherman Nguyen Binh Ngoan, fishing boat KG 93324TS in Hon Dat, Kien Giang shared: When officers from Naval Region 5 came down to the ship, they gave the national flag, life jackets, and distributed leaflets with a clear map of the sea area and a lot of useful information about fishing regulations, he and the fishermen were very happy and grateful. I promise to comply with the regulations and instructions of Naval Region 5 officers to exploit seafood safely and sustainably, and together with the Navy officers and soldiers, protect the Southwest sea area of ​​the Fatherland.

With the form of both storytelling and discussion, the reporter of Brigade 162, Naval Region 4 conveyed knowledge about sovereignty over seas and islands, stories about the feats of the generation of fathers and brothers who fought steadfastly to protect the sacred sovereignty of the seas and islands of the Fatherland, bringing many emotions to cadres, teachers, religious dignitaries, village elders, prestigious people, students... in the ethnic minority areas in the Southern Central Highlands.

"Summer Volunteer" Campaign of Naval Academy Youth

Ms. Cao Huyen, a history teacher at Phuoc Loc Secondary School, Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province, said: “A lot of useful information heard during the propaganda session will help me and other teachers gain more knowledge to teach students as well as propagate to parents through parent meetings.”

Over the past years, 63 provinces and cities and 16 central agencies, news agencies and press have strongly participated in and synchronously deployed solutions to implement the Party's resolutions and policies, the State's policies and laws on seas and islands; issued many documents to lead and direct the implementation of tasks; many localities established Steering Committees and Mobilization Committees for the movement "For Beloved Truong Sa" and "Fund for Seas and Islands"...

The propaganda sessions were conducted with many contents about the special position and role of the sea and islands in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland; the practical situation in our country's seas and islands; the legal basis to affirm Vietnam's sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa; the viewpoints of our Party and State in resolving disputes and disagreements at sea.

In addition to the contents on the sea and islands, the propaganda of Directive 45 of the Prime Minister on urgent tasks and solutions to overcome the warning of the European Commission on combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and regulations on fishing at sea is always of interest to the reporters of the Navy, because 28/63 provinces and cities have sea with more than 1 million fishermen and more than 170,000 boats fishing offshore. The propaganda of maritime law and regulations on fishing aims to work with the fisheries sector to soon remove the yellow card for our country's exploited seafood.

According to Mr. Bui Huy Thanh, Head of the Dak Nong Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, with many programs and activities, the propaganda work on sea and islands in the province has had many positive changes. Along with the effective coordination of the Dak Nong Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department and the 5 provinces of Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Thanh Hoa, Binh Duong, Hau Giang with Saigon Military Port, the Navy has promptly provided information, contributing to raising awareness of responsibility and creating high consensus in the whole society for the task of protecting the sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Ship Truong Sa 14 - Squadron 411, Region 4 approached and towed a fishing boat of fishermen from Khanh Hoa in distress at sea to shore.

Ms. Tran Thi Kieu Yen, President of the Women's Union of Ca Mau province shared: "In recent years, the Women's Union of the province has closely coordinated with Naval Region 5 and related units to strengthen propaganda to consolidate and raise awareness and responsibility among the people, contributing to promoting the combined strength in the struggle, protecting sovereignty and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment in the seas and islands of the Fatherland; at the same time, mobilizing children from localities to take exams to enter Navy schools to contribute to building the Navy to meet the requirements and tasks in the new situation".

VOV is a multimedia press agency with all types of press such as radio, television, and electronic media, which has propagated a variety of activities of the military forces, including the Vietnam People's Navy. VOV reporters have not been afraid of difficulties, accompanying units in the Navy, directly going to the units, near-shore islands, Truong Sa archipelago, and DK1 platform to reflect on the will and determination of officers and soldiers in protecting the sovereignty of the sea and islands, searching and rescuing, supporting fishermen to go offshore and stick to the sea. Mr. Pham Manh Hung, Deputy General Director of VOV, hopes that in the coming time, the Navy will coordinate more closely with press agencies, including VOV, to increase information and images that are more authentic, touching, and convincing, so that the image of marine soldiers is closer to the public.

Not only is it the core force in the cause of managing and protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the sea and islands of the Fatherland, over the years, the Navy has also performed well its core role in building a national defense for all people; supporting, assisting and protecting fishermen who make a living at sea; preventing and combating natural disasters, conducting rescue operations; actively participating in building a strong local political base, contributing to strengthening the relationship between the military and the people and firmly consolidating the "people's hearts" at sea.

Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Bong, Political Commissar of the Navy, affirmed that in recent years, the Navy has made great efforts in caring for and building a "people's heart" at sea with practical and effective actions such as promoting the implementation of the program of coordinating propaganda about the sea and islands nationwide. In particular, since 2019, the Navy has been effectively implementing the program "Vietnam Navy as a fulcrum for fishermen to go offshore and stick to the sea" and in 2022 the Navy will continue to implement the activity "Navy sponsors fishermen's children". Every year, the Navy sends a team of reporters to localities to inform about the situation of the sea and islands so that people can promptly grasp the information. In addition, every year the Navy also deploys many ships, bringing domestic delegations and overseas Vietnamese to visit the soldiers and people on the Truong Sa Archipelago and officers and soldiers on the DK1 platform. Through these specific actions, we have contributed to strengthening the military-civilian solidarity relationship and consolidating the "people's hearts and minds position" at sea more and more firmly.

After 5 years of implementing the program of coordinating propaganda on seas and islands, localities, agencies, departments and the Navy have contributed to widely spreading the position and role of Vietnam's seas and islands to people across the country, thereby building awareness and responsibility, strengthening the relationship between the army and the people, promoting the combined strength of the great national unity bloc for the cause of building and protecting territorial sovereignty, maintaining political security, safety of the sacred seas and islands of the Fatherland, successfully implementing the Resolution of the 4th Central Committee of the 11th and 13th terms on "Strategy for protecting the Fatherland in the new situation", Resolution 36 of the 12th term on "Strategy for sustainable development of Vietnam's marine economy to 2030, vision to 2045".