Party Chief To Lam Calls for Modern, Elite Capital Armed Forces at 80th Anniversary

HANOI, Vietnam – Party General Secretary and President To Lam marked the 80th anniversary of the Capital Armed Forces' traditional day on 10 October by urging the force to become lean, efficient, strong, revolutionary, regular, elite and modern, as Hanoi's Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee and Fatherland Front Committee staged a commemorative ceremony.

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Lieutenant General Dao Van Nhan, a standing member of the Hanoi Party Committee and commander of the Capital Military Command, recalled how the Party Central Committee established Resistance Zone 11 on 19 October 1946 as a unified military-administrative body to command the capital's armed forces, noting that eight decades of officers and soldiers had carried forward revolutionary heroism and contributed decisively to the nation's victories.

To Lam, who also heads the Central Military Commission, credited the force's endurance to Party leadership, the guidance of the Hanoi Party Committee and the Central Military Commission, and public support, saying it had overcome every hardship while training, fighting, reinforcing and coordinating operations for national liberation, construction and defence. He told the force to fully grasp the Party's views on national and capital development and army building in the new era, and to advise the municipal Party Committee and People's Committee on defence and military policy, including the protection of Hanoi and the country.

He called for strengthening the city's defence zone and a modern all-people national defence tied to the people's security posture, with a strong standing force, large reserve and high-quality militia and self-defence force. Close coordination with army and police units in Hanoi, he said, was vital to anticipate situations, respond promptly and protect key targets and political events, and to defeat all subversive and sabotage schemes against political security, social order and public safety.

To Lam also stressed building a clean, strong Party organisation across politics, ideology, ethics and personnel, upholding the Party's absolute and direct leadership over the force, and cementing military-civilian ties to reinforce local political foundations and national solidarity. Together with the capital's Party organisation, administration and residents, he said, the force should help turn Hanoi into a civilised, modern and happy city of enduring culture, a global connection hub and an engine of national development.

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At the ceremony, the Party chief presented the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces to the Hanoi Capital Military Command.