Thayer Vietnam: Civil-military Relations, 1946-2009

The Military in Communist States: Vietnam

Professor Carlyle A. Thayer UNSW@ADFA September 16, 2009

Outline 1.  2.  3.  4.  5. 

Introduction The Political System The Military and Politics, 1946-1991 The Military and Politics, 1992-2009 Explaining Vietnamese civil-military relations

①  Introduction •  Communist system of political control – Political officer system

•  Dual membership – party and military elites •  Military as a tool of ‘class warfare’ –  Fall of socialism in Eastern Europe 1989 –  Threat of peaceful evolution

•  External role of national defence –  Financing force modernisation

•  13th most populous country - 86m (2008) •  57th largest GDP (nominal) •  168th GDP (ppp) •  High economic growth rates •  Success in poverty reduction

②  The Political System •  •  •  •  •  • 

Leninist one-party Mono-organisational socialism Dual role elites Economic renovation (doi moi) 1986 Market economy with socialist orientations New state constitution 1992 – Armed forces have mandated political role •  Soft-authoritarian

Vietnam Communist Party The State

Armed Forces

Mass Organisations

THE STATE Administrative Divisions 59 provinces 5 municipalities Hanoi Haiphong Da Nang Ho Chi Minh City Can Tho

Nguyen Phu Trong - Chair •  500 deputies from 64 administrative units •  Bi-annual sessions •  Military represented

From collective leadership to ministerial responsibility. Minister of Defence is highest-ranking general.

People’s Armed Forces Luc Lưong Võ Trang Nhân Dân

Main Force (482,000)

Border Guard 40,000

Militia, Self-Defence Force and Reserves 5,000,000

Roles of the Military • national defence • socialist construction • defender of the socialist regime

Owns commercial enterprises and runs economic-defence zones

State

•  Government •  National Assembly

Military

Fatherland Front

•  Army •  Police

•  Mass Organisations

Central Committee 160 members

Politburo 14-15 members

Secretary General

Regularisation of Politics National Party Congress •  1951 Second •  1960 Third •  1976 Fourth •  1982 Fifth •  1986 Sixth •  1991 Seventh •  1996 Eighth •  2001 Ninth •  2006 Tenth

•  •  •  •  •  • 

The Congress: Approves the Political Report Approves 5-Year SocioEconomic Plan Amends Party Statutes Amends Party Platform Determines the size of Central Committee Elects Central Committee

Nông Đức Mạnh

10th National Congress April 2006

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

Party Control over Armed Forces

Party

Central Military Party Committee Military

Secretary and Deputy Secretary

③  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 security –  Economic production –  Political role

•  Vietnam War, 1965-75

Vietnam People’s Army 1946

VPA Officer Corps Four distinct groups: 1.  Political generals – communist revolutionaries first 2.  Ethnic minority leaders 3.  Prison generals - political revolutionaries jailed by French 4.  August 1945 generation

State-Building Roles, 1975-1991 •  Internal Security –  Re-education camps –  Suppression of armed resistance

•  Socialist construction –  Population resettlement in New Economic Zones –  Repair war damage to infrastructure –  Construction divisions created

Sino-Vietnamese Border War 1979

China ‘teaches Vietnam a lesson’ for invading and occupying Cambodia

Politburo Resolution 1987 •  Demobilisation – From 1.2m to <500,000

•  Budget Crisis 1989 – Equipment deteriorated – Service conditions worsen – Retention rates decline

④  Military and Politics, 1992-2009 •  Political –  Collapse of socialism in Europe (1989) and the Soviet 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)

National Defence and Security Council 1992

Impact of Collapse of Socialism •  General Le Duc Anh, former Minister of National Defence, elected state President, 1992-97 •  Former Commander in Cambodia

Financial and Domestic Crises of 1997

General Le Kha Phieu elected Secretary General, 1997-2001

•  Unrest in Thai Binh province •  Asian Financial Crisis •  Former head of Political General Department •  Political Commissar

Economic-Defense Zones 1998 •  Military Regions given responsibility for 13 zones •  Economy combined with defense •  Resettlement in remote areas •  Infrastructure development •  Socio-economic tasks

State-Building Roles, 2001-2009 •  State-building roles –  Internal security •  ethnic minority unrest in Central Highlands 2001-06

–  Economic and commercial activities •  Reform of State-Owned Enterprises/privatisation

–  Political role •  Military intelligence – General Directorate 2

•  South China Sea

Ethnic Minority Unrest in Central Highlands  Dega peoples  FULRO  ‘separatists’  Montagnard Foundation  Mass demonstrations in 2001 and subsequently  Army called in to provide security

Ninth Party Congress April 2001 •  Military Intelligence General Directorate 2 implicated in wire tapping of Politburo members •  Nepotism •  Allegedly conceded too much territory to China in land border treaty negotiations

Le Kha Phieu is replaced by Nong Duc Manh as Party Secretary General

Military Representation on the Central Committee 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%

--

9.2%

average

Military Representation on the Politburo 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%

--

11%

average

Nguyen Khac Nghien Chief of the General Staff

Phung Quang Thanh Minister of National Defence

Le Van Dung Head General Political Department

Paracel (Xisha or Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Nansha or Truong Sa) Archipelagoes

Off Shore Oil Platforms Bach Ho oil field

⑤  Explaining Vietnamese CMR •  Marxist-Leninist ideology –  Subjective political control

•  Corporate interests –  Families, veterans, commercial enterprises –  Lobby for increased budget

•  Increased professionalism •  Concordance –  Agreement among party elite, senior officer corps and society

Ethnicity and the Armed Forces:  Vietnam  Professor Carl Thayer  UNSW@ADFA  August 21, 2009 

Viet‐Nam 

Background  •  •  •  •  •  •  • 

1930‐41 poliLcal/revoluLonary struggle   1941‐45 preparaLon for armed insurrecLon  1946‐54 Resistance War against France  1954‐59 ParLLon ‐ regularisaLon of Army  1960‐75 LiberaLon War against U.S.  1976      Formal reunificaLon  1979‐89 Cambodian Conflict & China Border  War 

PreparaLon for Armed InsurrecLon  •  Importance of fronLer with China   –   base area  –  Tay 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 Son‐Vu Nhai base area (N = 24‐400) 

Bac Son – Vu  Nhai base area 

Vietnamese Military Leaders  Chu Van Tan, Nung  ethnic minority 

Vo Nguyen Giap 

PreparaLon for Armed InsurrecLon  •  May 1941 Party’s 8th plenum  – Viet Minh Front  – Orders creaLon of mobile guerrilla force  under command of Vo Nguyen Giap 

•  Vietnam Propaganda and LiberaLon  Army founded (22 December 1944)  

Vietnam Propaganda and LiberaLon Army  composed of 34 persons drawn from 500 miliLa 

Early Communist‐Led Armed Forces  •  Giap’s Platoon merged with ANS in April  1945 to form Vietnam LiberaLon Army  –  Chu Van Tan (1 of 5 commanders)  –  Name changes: NaLonal Defence Army (9/45),  NaLonal Army (5/46) to Vietnam People’s Army [VPA  or PAVN] (2/51) 

•  Liberated Zone (six northern provinces–  Viet Bac)‐ HQ at Tan Trao  •  August 1945 RevoluLon and DeclaraLon of  Independence (September 2, 1945) 

AnL‐French Resistance War, 1946‐54 

Protracted Guerilla War 

• Dec 1946 French  ajack Hai Phong  and drive  communists from  Hanoi  • Flight to Viet Bac  • 1949 Chinese  communists win  civil war aid flows  to Vietnam  • Maoist 3‐stage  war 

VPA Officer Corps  Four disLnct groups:  1.  PoliLcal generals – communist  revoluLonaries first  2.  Ethnic minority leaders  3.  Prison generals ‐ poliLcal  revoluLonaries jailed by French  4.  August 1945 generaLon 

Vietnam People’s Army  •  312th and 316th VPA Divisions were drawn  mainly from ethnic minority groups  •  316th Highlander Division  –  Commanded by Le Quang Ba (Nung)  –  PoliLcal Officer Chu Huy Man (Nung) 

•  Ethnic minoriLes accounted for 20% of all  regular communist forces  •  Fought at Dien Bien Phu 

Bajle of Dien Bien Phu  May 1954 

Ethnic Minority Military Leaders  Members of the Party Central Commijee  LT GEN Chu Van Tan (Nung) ‐ head Viet Bac Zone Party  Commijee  MAG GEN La Quang Ba (Nung) ‐ CO Viet Bac Military  Region  MAG GEN Le Hien Mai (Nung) 

Other leaders   Bang Giang ‐ CO Viet Bac Military Region   Luong Huu Chi (Tay) died in prison   Hoang Van Thu (Tay) ‐ party secretary northern region 

Purging of Ethnic Minority Generals  •  1977‐78 border tensions with neighbours  •  Generals Chu Van Tan and Le Quang Ba  placed under house arrest  –  Tan founder of the VPA  –  Ba head of NaLonaliLes Council 

•  Dec 1978 Vietnam invades Cambodia  •  1979 Sino‐Vietnamese Border War  (February‐March) 

Sino‐Vietnamese Border War 1979 

Officer Corps ethnically kinh (Vietnamese), minoriLes  subject to conscripLon but lower terms of service 

The Military and Business:   Vietnam  Professor Carl Thayer  UNSW@ADFA  September 18, 2009 

Vietnam: Background  •  1941‐45 resistance war against the Japanese   •  1946‐54 resistance war against the French  –  Self‐sufficiency in food and weapons  –  Chinese aid from 1949 

•  1954‐64 Socialist construcRon in North Vietnam  –  Economic construcRon and producRon (state farms)  –  Chinese and Soviet aid 

•  1965‐75 Resistance War against the United States 

Economic AcRviRes Before Doi Moi  •  ReunificaRon (1975‐76)  –  Infrastructure repair  –  New Economic Zones 

•  General Directorate for Economic  Development created 1976  –  Agriculture (including forestry and fishing)  –  Industry (oil and gas)  –  CommunicaRons and transport  –  Capital construcRon 

Economic AcRviRes Before Doi Moi  •  •  •  • 

Economic ConstrucRon Units  ConscripRon – service with labour brigades  War with Cambodia (1978‐89)  Border War with China (Feb‐March 1979)  –  ConRnued sabre ra^ling unRl 1987 

•  Economic Crisis of early to mid‐1980s  –  VPA role in the economy reinforced  –  Specialized units assigned to border area 

Economic AcRviRes A`er Doi Moi  •  Sixth NaRonal Party Congress (Dec 1986)  –  Adopted doi moi –renovaRon/reform  –  Central planning ended move to market economy  –  Strategic readjustment of military  –  Budgetary support promised 

•  Central Military Party Commi^e  •  Withdrawal from Cambodia (Sept 1989)  –  Wholesale demobilisaRon‐ from 1.26 m (1987) to  <500,000 (1993) 

From ConstrucRon to Commerce  •  Rapid involvement of military in economy  –  Economic General Department reorganised 4 Rmes  –  16 Economic ConstrucRon Divisions created 

•  Military enterprises placed on equal legal fooRng  with state‐owned enterprises (March 1989)  –  Independent economic accounRng system  –  NaRonal Defence Industry and Economic General  Department established  –  Nine major legal military‐run general  corporaRons  formed 

First Wave of Reform  •  Rapid expansion in number of legal military‐run  corporaRons shi` to consumer goods  –  1993 ‐  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 1995‐96 

–  Restructure, greater efficiency ‐ results mixed  –  335 enterprises reduced to 193 (1996) and 164  (1997) 

•  ClassificaRon (1997) 

4 Key General CorporaRons  •  Truong Son ConstrucRon General CorporaRon (12th  Corps)  –  Major infrastructure projects 

•  Service Flight CorporaRon  –  Oil and gas, tourism, medical evacuaRon 

•  Tay Nguyen CorporaRon (15th Corps)  –  Rubber, coffee, Rmber in Central Highlands 

•  Thanh An ConstrucRon and Assembly CorporaRon  (11th Corps)  –  Minerals, coal, construcRon, training 

TCQPTD 9/2006

Second Wave of Reform  •  CMPC iniRates Second wave May 1998  –  Restructuring to improve business efficiency and  ability to take on major projects  –  Loss making companies to be dissolved  –  OperaRonal units prohibited from commercial  involvement 

•  Economic‐Defence Zones (late 1998)  •  Economics Division upgraded to independent  Department responsible to Min Def (1999) 

Second Wave of Reform    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)    Revenue increases from US $230 m (2001) to  US $654 m to US $2 b (2006) 

Vietnam Seeks Global IntegraRon    Membership in World Trade OrganisaRon    Party Central Commi^ee ResoluRon (1/2007)    Business enterprises to be placed under state  management    Vietel and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank    VPA to retain businesses directly related to  naRonal security and defenee 

  Impact of high inflaRon (2007) and global  financial crisis (2008) slows divesRture 

Summary  •  Funds remi^ed to central budget  •  Central budget shorpalls to VPA alleviated  •  Commercial and entrepreneurial skills  acquired  •  Commercial acRvity has provided jobs for  those demobilized and for military  dependents  •  Capital raised has improved living and working  condiRons 

Summary  •  Dual‐use technology transfer  •  CorrupRon not as serious as China/Indonesia  •  Some diversion of military resources and  manpower   •  Inefficiency, mismanagement, wastage  prevalent in smaller sized military‐owned  enterprises  •  Issue of military professionalism growing in  salience