thayer vietnam: civil-military relations, 1946-2009

8/14/2019 Thayer Vietnam: Civil-Military Relations, 1946-2009

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The Military in CommunistStates: Vietnam

Professor Carlyle A. Thayer

UNSW@ADFA

September 16, 2009


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1. Introduction2. The Political System3. The Military and Politics, 1946-19914. The Military and Politics, 1992-20095. Explaining Vietnamese civil-military

relations

Outline


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Introduction Communist system of political control

Political officer system Dual membership party and military

elites

Military as a tool of class warfareFall of socialism in Eastern Europe 1989Threat of peaceful evolution

External role of national defenceFinancing force modernisation


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The Political System Leninist one-party Mono-organisational socialism Dual role elites Economic renovation (doi moi) 1986 Market economy with socialist orientationsNew state constitution 1992

Armed forces have mandated political role Soft-authoritarian


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Vietnam Communist Party

The StateArmedForces

MassOrganisations


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THE STATE

Administrative Divisions

59 provinces

5 municipalities

Hanoi

Haiphong

Da Nang

Ho Chi Minh City

Can Tho


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Nguyen Phu Trong - Chair

500 deputies from 64administrative units

Bi-annual sessions Military represented


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From collective leadership to ministerial responsibility.

Minister of Defence is highest-ranking general.


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Peoples Armed Forces

Luc Long V Trang Nhn Dn


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Main Force (482,000)


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Border Guard

40,000


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Militia, Self-Defence

Force and Reserves5,000,000


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Roles of the Military

national defencesocialist constructiondefender of thesocialist regime

Owns commercial

enterprises and runseconomic-defence zones


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State

GovernmentNationalAssembly

Military

Army Police

FatherlandFront MassOrganisations


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CentralCommittee

160 members

Politburo14-15

members

SecretaryGeneral


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10th National Congress

April 2006

Nng c Mnh


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160 full and 21 alternate members, required to meet inplenary session twice a year. Military 10.6% in 2006.


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Party Control over Armed Forces

Party

Military

CentralMilitary

PartyCommittee

Secretary and

Deputy Secretary


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Military and Politics, 1946-1991 At war for 36 years From guerilla force to conventional army 1987 fifth largest military in world 1.26m State-building roles, 1954-65

Internal securityEconomic productionPolitical role

Vietnam War, 1965-75


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Vietnam Peoples Army 1946


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Four distinct groups:

1. Political generals communistrevolutionaries first

2. Ethnic minority leaders3. Prison generals - political

revolutionaries jailed by French

4. August 1945 generation

VPA Officer Corps


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State-Building Roles, 1975-1991

Internal SecurityRe-education campsSuppression of armed resistance

Socialist constructionPopulation resettlement in New Economic ZonesRepair war damage to infrastructureConstruction divisions created


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Sino-Vietnamese Border War 1979

China teaches Vietnam a lesson for

invading and occupying Cambodia


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Politburo Resolution 1987

DemobilisationFrom 1.2m to


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Military and Politics, 1992-2009 Political

Collapse of socialism in Europe (1989) and theSoviet Union (1991)

Threat of peaceful evolution 1992 new State Constitution

defence of the socialist regime 2nd wave of state-enterprise reform (1998) Law on Officers (1999)


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National Defence and

Security Council 1992


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Impact of Collapse of Socialism

General Le Duc Anh,former Minister of

National Defence,elected state

President, 1992-97

Former Commanderin Cambodia


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Financial and Domestic Crises of 1997

Unrest in Thai Binhprovince

Asian FinancialCrisis

Former head ofPolitical General

Department

Political CommissarGeneral Le Kha Phieu electedSecretary General, 1997-2001


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Economic-Defense Zones 1998

Military Regions givenresponsibility for 13 zones

Economy combined with defense Resettlement in remote areas Infrastructure development Socio-economic tasks


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State-Building Roles, 2001-2009

State-building roles Internal security

ethnic minority unrest in Central Highlands 2001-06Economic and commercial activities

Reform of State-Owned Enterprises/privatisationPolitical role

Military intelligence General Directorate 2 South China Sea


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Ethnic Minority Unrest in Central Highlands

Dega peoplesFULROseparatistsMontagnardFoundation

Mass demon-strations in 2001 and

subsequently

Army called in toprovide security


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Ninth Party Congress April 2001

Military IntelligenceGeneral Directorate 2implicated in wiretapping of Politburo

members Nepotism Allegedly conceded

too much territory toChina in land bordertreaty negotiations Le Kha Phieu is replaced by

Nong Duc Manh as Party

Secretary General


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Congress VPA Percent

6th 1986 9 of 124 7.3%

7th 1991 13 of 146 8.9%

8th 1996 17 of 170 10.0%

9th 2001 14 of 150 9.3%

10th 2006 17 of 160 10.6%average -- 9.2%

Military Representation on the

Central Committee


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Congress VPA Percent

6th 1986 2 of 13 15.4%

7th 1991 2 of 13 15.4%

8th 1996 2 of 19 10.5%

9th 2001 1 of 15 6.7%

10th 2006 1 of 14 7.1%

average -- 11%

Military Representation on the

Politburo


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Nguyen KhacNghien Chief

of theGeneral Staff

Phung QuangThanh

Minister ofNationalDefence

Le Van DungHead General

PoliticalDepartment


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Paracel (Xisha

or Hoang Sa)

and

Spratly (Nansha

or Truong Sa)

Archipelagoes


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Off Shore Oil Platforms

Bach Ho oil field


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Explaining Vietnamese CMR Marxist-Leninist ideology

Subjective political control Corporate interests

Families, veterans, commercial enterprisesLobby for increased budget

Increased professionalism Concordance

Agreement among party elite, senior officercorps and society


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Ethnicity and the Armed Forces:Vietnam

Professor Carl Thayer

UNSW@ADFA

August 21, 2009


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VietNam


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Background

193041 poliLcal/revoluLonary struggle 194145 preparaLon for armed insurrecLon 194654 Resistance War against France 195459 ParLLon regularisaLon of Army 196075 iberaLon War against U.S. 1976 Formal reunificaLon 197989 Cambodian Conflict & China BorderWar


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PreparaLon for Armed InsurrecLon

Importance of fronLer with China base areaTay and Nung ethnic minoriLes straddled

border September 1940 Bac Son Uprising Army for NaLonal SalvaLon founded (ANS)

February 1941)

Commander Chu Van Tan (Nung)Bac SonVu Nhai base area (N = 24400)


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Bac Son Vu

Nhai base area


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Vietnamese Military eaders

Vo Nguyen GiapChu Van Tan, Nung

ethnic minority


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PreparaLon for Armed InsurrecLon

May 1941 Partys 8th plenumViet Minh FrontOrders creaLon of mobile guerrilla force

under command of Vo Nguyen Giap

Vietnam Propaganda and iberaLonArmy founded (22 December 1944)


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Vietnam Propaganda and iberaLon Army

composed of 34 persons drawn from 500 miliLa


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Giaps Platoon merged with ANS in April1945 to form Vietnam iberaLon Army Chu Van Tan (1 of 5 commanders) Name changes: NaLonal Defence Army (9/45),

NaLonal Army (5/46) to Vietnam Peoples Army [VPAor PAVN] (2/51)

iberated Zone (six northern provincesViet Bac) HQ at Tan Trao

August 1945 RevoluLon and DeclaraLon ofIndependence (September 2, 1945)

Early Communisted Armed Forces


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AnLFrench Resistance War, 194654

Dec 1946 Frenchajack Hai Phong

and drive

communists from

HanoiFlight to Viet Bac1949 Chinesecommunists win

civil war aid flows

to VietnamMaoist 3stagewarProtracted Guerilla War


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Four disLnct groups:

1. PoliLcal generals communistrevoluLonaries first

2. Ethnic minority leaders3. Prison generals poliLcal

revoluLonaries ailed by French

4. August 1945 generaLon

VPA Officer Corps


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312th and 316th VPA Divisions were drawnmainly from ethnic minority groups

316th Highlander DivisionCommanded by e Quang Ba (Nung)PoliLcal Officer Chu Huy Man (Nung)

Ethnic minoriLes accounted for 20% of allregular communist forces

Fought at Dien Bien Phu

Vietnam Peoples Army


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Bajle of Dien Bien PhuMay 1954


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Members of the Party Central CommijeeT GEN Chu Van Tan (Nung) head Viet Bac Zone Party

Commijee

MAG GEN a Quang Ba (Nung) CO Viet Bac Military

RegionMAG GEN e Hien Mai (Nung)

Other leaders

Bang Giang CO Viet Bac Military Region

uong Huu Chi (Tay) died in prisonHoang Van Thu (Tay) party secretary northern region

Ethnic Minority Military eaders


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Purging of Ethnic Minority Generals

197778 border tensions with neighbours Generals Chu Van Tan and e Quang Ba

placed under house arrest

Tan founder of the VPABa head of NaLonaliLes Council

Dec 1978 Vietnam invades Cambodia 1979 SinoVietnamese Border War(FebruaryMarch)


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SinoVietnamese Border War 1979

Officer Corps ethnically kinh (Vietnamese), minoriLes

subect to conscripLon but lower terms of service


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The Military and Business:

Vietnam

Professor Carl ThayerUNSW@ADFA

September 18, 2009


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Vietnam: Background

194145 resistance war against the Japanese 194654 resistance war against the French

Selfsufficiency in food and weapons Chinese aid from 1949

195464 Socialist construcRon in North Vietnam Economic construcRon and producRon (state farms) Chinese and Soviet aid

196575 esistance War against the United States


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Economic AcRviRes Before Doi Moi

eunificaRon (197576)Infrastructure repairNew Economic Zones

General Directorate for EconomicDevelopment created 1976

Agriculture (including forestry and fishing)Industry (oil and gas)CommunicaRons and transportCapital construcRon


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Economic AcRviRes A`er Doi Moi

Sixth NaRonal Party Congress (Dec 1986)Adopted doi moirenovaRon/reformCentral planning ended move to market economy

Strategic readjustment of militaryBudgetary support promised

Central Military Party Commi^e Withdrawal from Cambodia (Sept 1989)

Wholesale demobilisaRon from 1.26 m (1987) to


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From ConstrucRon to Commerce

apid involvement of military in economy Economic General Department reorganised 4 Rmes 16 Economic ConstrucRon Divisions created

Military enterprises placed on equal legal fooRngwith stateowned enterprises (March 1989) Independent economic accounRng system NaRonal Defence Industry and Economic General

Department established

Nine major legal militaryrun general corporaRonsformed


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First Wave of eform

apid expansion in number of legal militaryruncorporaRons shi` to consumer goods1993 300 enterprises employing 70,000 or 12%

main force involved (of which 49 joint ventures)

1999 100,000 or 20%25% of main force

First wave of reform 199596estructure, greater efficiency results mixed335 enterprises reduced to 193 (1996) and 164

(1997)

ClassificaRon (1997)


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4 Key General CorporaRons

Truong Son ConstrucRon General CorporaRon (12thCorps) Major infrastructure projects

Service Flight CorporaRon Oil and gas, tourism, medical evacuaRon

Tay Nguyen CorporaRon (15th Corps) ubber, coffee, Rmber in Central Highlands

Thanh An ConstrucRon and Assembly CorporaRon(11th Corps)

Minerals, coal, construcRon, training


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TCQPTD 9/2006


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Second Wave of eform

CMPC iniRates Second wave May 1998estructuring to improve business efficiency and

ability to take on major projects

Loss making companies to be dissolvedOperaRonal units prohibited from commercial

involvement

EconomicDefence Zones (late 1998) Economics Division upgraded to independent

Department responsible to Min Def (1999)


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Second Wave of eform

Military defends its corporate interests 2001 VPA operated 200 companies Vietel (Military TelecommunicaRons Company)

enters internet and mobile phone market

Joint ventures increase from 40 (2001) to 67(2003)

evenue increases from US $230 m (2001) toUS $654 m to US $2 b (2006)


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Vietnam Seeks Global IntegraRon

Membership in World Trade OrganisaRon Party Central Commi^ee esoluRon (1/2007)

Business enterprises to be placed under statemanagement

Vietel and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank VPA to retain businesses directly related to

naRonal security and defenee

Impact of high inflaRon (2007) and globalfinancial crisis (2008) slows divesRture


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Summary

Funds remi^ed to central budget Central budget shoralls to VPA alleviated Commercial and entrepreneurial skills

acquired Commercial acRvity has provided jobs for

those demobilized and for militarydependents

Capital raised has improved living and workingcondiRons


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Summary

Dualuse technology transfer CorrupRon not as serious as China/Indonesia Some diversion of military resources and

manpower

Inefficiency, mismanagement, wastageprevalent in smaller sized militaryownedenterprises

Issue of military professionalism growing insalience

thayer vietnam: civil-military relations, 1946-2009

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